Ruby and Stone

Chapter 3

Authors' Note

Hi guys, we're so sorry we couldn't update in this long, we have testing, which, as you all know, takes up most of everyone's time. So we were really busy with that and couldn't write. We hope you enjoy Chapter 3, and since testing will be over soon and summer is starting, we promise, updates will be much faster and longer.  

"Oh God. This can't be happening," Catherine was screaming, clutching her stomach. Mother and Father were weakly holding each other. 

The Royal Guard had already surrounded themselves around my family, but I was too close to the fire for them to come near me. The fire was already starting to spread, and my eyes were watering. As my adrenaline kicked in, I dropped to the ground and started crawling as far away from the fire as I could, which was very hard to do in a ball gown. I could hear lots of people screaming, but even down here, the smoke was too thick for me to see anything farther than five feet away. As soon as I got to my family, I realized that the Royal Guard had deserted them in order to save their own lives.

I knew those guards weren't sincere.

A few years ago, the last time I set the palace on fire, my governess requested my Father to bring in someone who could educate me on the dangers of flames. I spent that whole day learning about 'the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion that releases heat, light, and various reaction products', how to prevent it, and what to do in case of a fire. As you can see, I knew things that a typical Macedonian royal family member would not.

"Get to your knees!" I shouted up to whoever was listening.

"It'll help you see clearer."

Still not farther than five feet though.

In all this pandemonium and commotion, it hit me why someone would do this. Well, it was obvious the fire was intentional, right? I couldn't be sure if my suspicion was true, but I thought it was and tried finding a solution anyway. Whoever did this was probably after my sister. I just announced she was having a baby, who is the heir to the throne after me. And trust me, I should know, an heir has a lot of enemies. So it was understandable that they would want to put an end to my sister's life before her son/daughter was even born so that somehow they could become the king/queen. I knew this from experience, and I also knew that in a situation like this, if the enemy really was after my sister, the best thing to do would be hide my sister from everyone until we established who this enemy was.

Where would I be able to hide her? Wait a minute.... Aha! The secret passageway!

The secret passageway is a system of tunnels in the castle that were forgotten about a long time ago. I used to play there when I was a kid, and now I go there to think.

I got up on my feet and started searching for Catherine.

"Catherine. Come here!" I hoped she could hear me over all the chaos.

I saw her turn in response to her name and see me. I started waving my hands, gesturing for her to come to me. As she stepped out of a cloud of smoke, I saw that her husband, Charles, was also with her. They both hurried to me.

"Catherine, Charles, come with me. I think this fire was set on purpose, and if I am right, then they are probably after you Catherine," I explained, looking at her. "I know a place to keep you safe until this is all over. Come with me."

I didn't have time to go down the stairs of the stage, so I just jumped down, although the stage was pretty high. To my surprise, I landed in someone's hands. It was hard to see the face in all the grey smoke, but I realized who it was as soon as I heard his voice.

"Hello darling future wife," Edward claimed with that mocking tone in his voice. I was disgusted by him. Suddenly his hand started to move below my waist, onto my butt. He is such a gross and disgusting man. How could he even treat a princess in such a manner? That idiot!

"Uh, thanks for catching me, but, uh I really have to go, so uh ya." I jumped out of his grip and started running to help my sister and her husband.

As I was running, I looked back at Edward and screamed "I do not like you! So stop dreaming about making me your wife because that will certainly never happen!"

I saw my sister and her husband waiting for me at the corner of the stage.

"Follow me," I directed to them.

With that, I got down on my knees again and started crawling towards a blue tapestry that I hoped was farthest away from the place the fire started. I looked behind to make sure they were following me, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that they were.

When we reached the wall, I turned around.

"Okay, this is where we separate. See this tapestry over here? Go on the other side. You will find a secret door. At the other side you will find a path to follow. Just keep going down the path and you will be guided to the back exit of the palace that the servants sometimes use. From there, you will have to go on the journey to the kingdom Mercia. I know both of our kingdoms have enmity, but they are our only hope. Princess Maya is my friend. She will help you. I will meet you at Mercia as soon as this whole thing is over," I said to Catherine.

I turned to Charles.

"Take care of yourselves and the baby, Charles. Tell Maya you are my kin. She will help you. Be careful, and goodbye for now. I promise I will get there as soon as I can."

With that, I turned around, my eyes watering, partially because of the fire and partially because I had never been separated from my sister before.

I tried to locate my parents, but it was no use. They were simply gone.

"Your Majesty, we are here to help you. We will take you to a safe place," I heard a smooth male voice behind me, one which I would've associated with someone like Edward.

As I turned around, I felt a sharp prick at the back of my neck, almost as if stung by a bee.

"Hey! What is..." I began to say.

I realized that my heart was beating faster. I felt a surge of energy inside my veins. It felt different, something I've never felt before, but it seemed as if something was spreading inside of me. Before I could do anything, that sudden energy dulled, and I felt myself falling. I tried to fight it, but everything turned black.

Again, guys, we are so, so sorry for not updating in such a long time. As stated before, we had testing, and were really busy with that. From now on, we promise to update way faster, especially since summer is starting. Also, we know this chapter is short, but trust us, the upcoming chapters will be longer. We had to make this chapter small so you guys can experience the best in upcoming chapters.

Again, thanks for being patient with us and thank you for choosing this book to read! Enjoy!