Royal Academy Diaries II

The Strongest Princess ⚜ Ch. 9

Devna followed the passage until she reached a door. There was a strip of light beneath it. She pushed the door slightly, and it moved. Slipping quickly into the room, she realized she was in a teacher's office. This stone door looked like it hadn't been used in ages, covered in pictures and a shelf. But just below the decorative foot of the shelf was a keyhole - perhaps the lock for her second key.

Seeing no one in the room, she crept to the door that led to the classroom, which had been left ajar. She gasped, seeing someone lying on the floor. It looked like the youngest brother. Another man in a mask was holding Elle, and seemed to be making threats.

"If you scream, I'll slit your throat. No matter how pretty you may be," he hissed. Elle whimpered in response.

Taking a deep breath, Devna pushed open the door and lunged at him.

"Gah!" Their swords met, and he shoved Elle aside. "You try to run, you'll regret it, Princess."

She crawled over to the visiting brother and pulled him away from the fighting. Devna still wasn't the best swordsman, and so every move was a very near miss. She gasped and groaned as their swords locked, and she tried to push him off. While she was strong, she coudn't beat him.

Her heart pounded as he fought viciously, trying to kill her. In desperation, she set aside her mantra of doing no harm, and decided to fight dirty. She let her sword slip, cutting his upper arm.

He snarled and slashed at her, catching her leg with the very tip of his blade.

She gasped and whined in pain, trying to keep going. If she couldn't hold him off, both she and Elle would have to face his wrath. And so she fought through the pain, staying as strong as she could. With another swing, she caught his leg, and he dropped to a knee.

Not hesitating, she bolted for Elle, grabbing her hand and pulling her back into the office. They pulled the stone door shut just as the man reached it. The engaging lock echoed.

"Come on!" Devna led her down the passage again, limping.

"You're hurt," Elle said, hearing the uneven pace in the darkness.

"I'm fine. We just have to get out of here. The passage is right through-" She reached out and felt a door where there had been empty space before. "What? But how did this close?"

"Maybe Negro came back and wanted to close us off," Elle suggested.

"I don't know, but if he manages to get that door open behind us..." Frantically, she felt for a keyhole, a handle, anything. All she felt were the pins in the door and the hinges. "Wait..." Taking her sword, she felt for the lip of one of the hinges.

"What are you doing?" Elle asked nervously.

"Help me push up." Together they pushed on the sword handle, and the pin in one of the hinges popped out. "Yes! Two more."

They pulled out the two other pins and the door swung open.

"Yes! Come on!" Together they rushed into the passage, hoping to find help on the other side.