The Missing Regent (A "The False Prince" Fanfic)

NINE

A/N - I'm so sorry to all my readers for such a late update. I have been so busy with school these past few months and finals are right around the corner. There will be many more new updates on all of my stories once summer finally starts. Thank you to all who have read! It means so much to me. Also, make sure to check out my collaborative story Trust the Rain. I hope you enjoy the latest update of The Missing Regent!

Fortunately for us, the secret passageways in Farthenwood were something I knew quite well. Whoever had trapped us in here clearly did not know that. Grabbing Hazel's hand, I started down the narrow passageway. Hazel squeezed my hand even harder. I looked down to see that she had noticed the millions of cobwebs that lined the walls of the passageway. I held her closer to me.
When we had finally reached the end of the passageway, I stopped. We were about to enter Bevin Connor's room. I opened the door just enough to peek inside. Everything was exactly the same as it had been the last time I was here. It was a fairly large room. Connor's bed was on the far side of the room, opposite to the secret door. I've snuck into Connor's room far too many times to forget about his desk, which remained unmoved directly next to the secret door. I closed the door and sighed, remembering Connor's stunned expression as he watched me repeatedly roll a garlin over my knuckles.
I didn't want to exit the passageways into Conor's room. Plus I still had no idea who had locked us into the room and why they did it. We continued down the dusty tunnels until I found the door I was looking for. It led to the kitchen. I had no idea if the block of knives was still there but Farthenwood looked untouched so I could only hope.
I eased the door open and looked around. It seemed quiet.
"Stay here," I whispered into Hazel's ear.
She nodded and I slipped into the kitchen. Then I closed the door to the entrance of the secret passageway. The knives remained in the block just like they always had been. The only thing that concerned me was that one was missing. And that was the last thing I thought of when I heard an ear piercing scream. Hazel. I ran as fast as I possibly could to the door of the secret passageway. I pushed as hard as I could but the door wouldn't budge. Hazel's scream filled my ears again. This time, it seemed as if she was getting farther and farther away from me. Panicked, I tried again to open the door, throwing my entire body into the wall, praying that it was just stuck. I mean, Farthenwood was pretty old. Again, the door failed to open. My heart pounded as I scrambled back into the kitchen to grab a knife. My eyes widened. Now two knife were missing. Quickly, I grabbed a knife off the wooden block. It wasn't the biggest one but it would have to do. I stood in the middle of the kitchen, knife in hand, ready to attack anyone who dared to come near me. Behind me, I heard the sound of footsteps running towards me. As I whirled around to face my perpetrator, I found that no one was there. Suddenly, someone lunged at me from behind and tackled me to the ground. The knife flew out of my hand and slid to the opposite side of the kitchen, farthest away from the secret passageway. Facefirst on the ground, I struggled to regain control as the mysterious person pinned my arms behind my back. I could feel shallow breaths on my neck as the person leaned closer to me. He started to whisper something into my ear but was quickly cut off when I threw my head back enough to hit him in the face. Caught by surprise, he let go of my arms and stumbled backwards. I used this opportunity to grab the knife off the ground. Clutching the knife, I faced my attacker. He was tall and muscular with hair that stuck up in every direction. He didn't strike me as an intelligent being either. But only one thing caught my eye immediately. Staring at his upper arm, I could see a symbol branded into his skin, barely visible through his dark arm hair. Even so, I would've recognized that symbol anywhere. It was the symbol of the pirates.