{"id":1455,"date":"2026-05-15T14:16:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2026-05-15T14:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:16:33","slug":"part-2-the-door-beneath-the-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/?p=1455","title":{"rendered":"PART 2 \u2014 The Door Beneath The Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nobody spoke as the old man turned toward the doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassian recovered first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou expect us to believe fairy tales?\u201d he snapped, though the edge in his voice betrayed him. \u201cAn immortal guardian? Ancient protections? What\u2019s next\u2014a dragon beneath the city?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The old man stopped walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without turning around, he asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHas no one told you why the bells ring at midnight?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several nobles visibly froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassian noticed too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His confidence faltered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside the palace\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">a bell began to toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ancient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sound rolled through the marble floor beneath their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then came the second bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The servants lowered their heads instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not out of ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Out of fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassian looked around sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An elderly steward near the far wall whispered hoarsely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey haven\u2019t rung twice in decades\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third bell sounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this time the candles dimmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not flickered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dimmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As though something underneath the palace had inhaled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A low vibration moved through the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Goblets trembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dust drifted from the ceiling beams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"742\" src=\"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-131.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-131.png 700w, https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-131-283x300.png 283w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">far below them\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">came the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A knock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not against the palace gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not against the banquet doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From beneath the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One enormous impact echoed upward through stone older than memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BOOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A noblewoman screamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassian spun toward the old man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, the old man turned back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the expression in his eyes was worse than anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey know I am leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another impact shook the hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BOOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This time cracks raced briefly across several marble tiles before vanishing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The musicians fled first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Panic spread with frightening speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The old man watched it all silently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cassian grabbed the edge of the table hard enough to whiten his knuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat <em>is<\/em> down there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The old man answered immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe reason your bloodline survived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fourth bell rang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And somewhere deep beneath the palace\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">something massive began to wake up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody spoke as the old man turned toward the doors. Cassian recovered first. \u201cYou expect us to believe fairy tales?\u201d he snapped, though the edge in his&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1457,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/1457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviechilltrailer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}