Domain of Power-The Dreamer (Book 3)

Chapter 26: Dare

I gripped his shoulder. "I promise we are going to find him, Romeos. I promise. You have my word on it."

His sweat-stained face slowly rose to face mines. "Thanks, but I do not want you to get in trouble with your father. You have a role in life already cut out for you. I do not want to ruin that. You will have the chance to attend the rhetoric school next year. You will have the chance to be the Mediator. You have it all. You always have except when you almost lost it all earlier this year. But you have the chance to regain it all. Troy, you have it figured it out whereas I have nothing to lose." He sighed. "It was wrong for me to assume you could risk your neck on our behalf. Julius is headed to the House of Detention, so hopefully I will hear back from him."

"What if your father is not in the House of Detention? Then what?" I asked.

"Then I will go to the Hole or wherever your father is keeping him!" he replied emphatically.

"How would you get in?"

He rolled his eyes. "I do not know, Troy. I did not think that far ahead yet." His narrowed eyes glinted with mischief. "Somehow I have to break in."

I wanted to laugh at how absurd he was sounding. "You would not!" I scoffed. But there was no hint of a smile on his face. My voice dropped. "Would you?"

"Maybe. Would you if someone you loved was taken from you?" he shot back. I stood there feeling helpless. It was a debilitating feeling. A feeling I had come to know all too well when I could not walk. I wanted to play by the rules, but it was a losing game. I was expected to be the good, obedient son. I was expected to follow the path everyone laid for me. But everything I was fed to believe, seemed to be crumbling in my mind. All this time I struggled to find my voice and make my own choices.

"I understand when someone you love is taken from you," I began softly. "If there was anything I could do just to see my grandfather again, I would do just about anything...but he is gone," I said steadying my voice.

Romeos' face softened. "That is why I want to see him. I do not know what will befall him. You either can come along with me to find my father and the real truth or you can stay here where you have it all figured out," Romeos said, pointing to my house in the background.

"To be honest, I am still trying to figure things out. What I have figured out is that my voice does not seem to matter to anyone anyway at least to my father. I supposedly have it all but it means almost nothing to me. What I have come to realize is that there are some things worth fighting for... I am going with you," I answered firmly.

Romeos face parted into a toothy grin. "I suppose we need to come up with a plan of some sort to avoid detection. We can form one together. But first we need the keys. Your father must hold all the keys. All you have to do is find the one we need," Romeos uttered. I nodded. Weeks ago, I would have flatly refused such a suggestion, considering it foolish. But now the suggestion taunted me in the face. I could not fail him. There was no room for failure!

I must have been still standing looking dumbfounded when he blurted, "Well, are you going to do it or what?" I would have said no but something else took over. With my fears aside I was ready!

I instructed Romeos to hide in the bushes behind the horse stable until I arrived back. Meanwhile I waited for the hallway to clear, before calmly strolling into his room. It was the last room in the 2nd floor, with a small window overlooking the garden. As I reached for the handle...it was locked. Now what? The next sound place to look was the study? I quickly made my way down the stairs until I approached the curtains that screened the study. When I peeked inside it was empty. I rushed in, wasting no time. I pushed aside some of the yellowed scrolls sprawled on the writing desk, and lifted the clay jars stuffed with styluses. No keys! I ran my hands through hair. If I was father where would I keep the keys? My hands reached for the top shelves before my fingernails slithered across a crack. I thought father had the walls recently plastered? I stepped onto a stool giving me added height to check above the shelf. To my surprise, the crack was a square cut out with a brass handle at the center. I pulled on the handle, slowly pulling the hidden shelf open.