Royal Academy Diaries II

The Missing Crown ⚜ Ch. 6

Teyrn didn't want to waste any time. As soon as he found an opportunity, he made his way over to the Arts castle up by the lake. The building's perfect symmetry made him hope that there might be more than one door to the dungeon.

Slipping inside, he ducked to avoid a group of students milling about after classes. He made his way towards the back of the castle, and found himself in the auditorium. There were people everywhere, apparently rehearsing for a ballet. Painters, set designers, and curious onlookers watched the stage.

Trying to think of a way to get past them so that he could investigate, his eyes fell on a suit of armour. With a smirk, he enchanted it to circle the room. People gasped as it came to life, marching noisily and robotically down the aisles.

With people sufficiently distracted - and perhaps thinking his cloak was a costume, he went to the hall behind the stage. He followed it around, intending to go down the next hall, but a large door caught his attention. It seemed out of place with metal rivets rather than delicate carvings. This had to be it.

He took out his key again and slipped inside the dark passageway. Like in the other dungeon, torches lit on his way down the stairs. The briny scent of the lake permeated the air as he descended deeper.

This place was cleaner, but looked too simple to be hiding what he was looking for. The dungeon was four straight walls with cells along three sides. The stairs hugged the fourth, with the lake just on the other side. He whispered a few words to create a fireball in his palm to use as extra light as he searched the fourth wall.

A curiously intricate pattern was repeated down the length of it. He stopped just under the stairs when a faint glow seemed to permeate one.

"Come on, show me what I'm looking for," he muttered.

Above the design, a glowing message appeared. He instantly recognized the language - that of the ancient Celtic kings. He grinned, anxious and excited as he read the words 'Descendant Of The Ancient Celts, Pass This Test Of Mind If Ye Would Be King.'

The circular stone pattern then began to move. It crossed in and out of itself, unyielding strong edges moving around each other like a kaleidoscope. In the center of it was the first piece of the spell.

Teyrn bit his lip. This was a test of mind? How? He had to be clever enough to get his hand past the stone at the right moment or else it would be crushed. He watched the stone's mesmerizing pattern closely, and then it dawned on him - there was a pattern. He just had to figure out which part of it offered him the best chance of retrieving the parchment.

His heart beat quickly as he memorized the movements, holding his hand at the ready. His left hand, just in case. Now he just had to overcome the voice in his head screaming at him to stop...

Three, two, one, now! He plunged his hand into the mechanism and grabbed the spell, drawing his hand back as quickly as possible.

The stone then stopped and returned to its original flat shape. Panting lightly, he looked at the piece of ancient parchment in his hands. He smiled broadly.

After all this time, the first quarter of the spell was now his.