Photo by Matt Kochar on Unsplash
Paris whistles, "Annie, you look stunning."
I blush, looking down at the soft yellow gown I wear, it hugging my waist before flowing out at my hips. "Thank you." I look at her black dress, tiny diamonds glittering along the hems. I nudge her, "You don't look too shabby yourself." Paris laughs at this.
"You nervous for the elimination tonight?" she asks as we both make our way to the Great Room for night two of the kingdom parties.
I look at her in surprise, "It's tonight? I thought it was tomorrow."
Paris shakes her head, "No, Anne told us it was tonight...you must've been zoning out as usual. Like girl, what do you have on your mind to risk the wrath of Anne?"
I laugh, "I'm just so tired. I haven't been able to sleep very well, you know, worrying about the outcome of all this." It's closest to the truth I can tell Paris.
"I could not agree more," she smiles. "I hate that we all have to compete against one another, though."
"Yeah, it is unfortunate," I agree.
"Annie! Parrie!" I hear Monica squeal, running to us as we enter the Great Room. "Don't the decorations look amazing!" she gushes.
I look around, seeing the bright yellow flowers on the edges of the round tables scattering the room, a dance floor in the middle. Silk drapes along the walls, offering a cozy and humble effect. Monica is dressed in deep violet and Piper, like Paris, in black. We all wear Ast's core colours in hopes to gain more points, as Anne said, the kingdom has never been in an alliance with Ilea.
"It truly is, we pulled it off well," I grin.
*~*
~*~
After greeting all the guests, Jason attempts to pull me from the room. I hiss at him, "It'll draw too much attention, I must mingle first."
Jason rolls his eyes, "Surely searching for bombs in the palace is more important than sucking up to the Royals of Ast."
I yank my hand from his, "It'll only notify Cruz, remember? She's in here. I have to be a couple of steps ahead of her, she's no fool."
"Okay, fine, just meet me in the hallway as soon as you can," Jason pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
And so, I mingle, laughing and exchanging intelligible conversations with advisers, nobles, even the princess of Ast. The King and Queen do not let me get near them, however, but by the time I slip out of the room to meet Jason, I do not care.
He raises his eyebrows at me, "Ready?"
Tying my hair, back, I walk past him, "I want to check the wall first."
"The wall? What wall?" he says, jogging after me.
"Weeks ago, I caught Adam Barber staring at this wall outside Percy's office," I explain. We weave down the hallways, me leading the way. "I wanted to check it out further but instead I followed them, and then I was too occupied after that. It is the only lead I have with these bombs."
"What if Cruz was lying about the bombs? What if she's trying to scare you?"
"Cruz is someone who speaks through actions, I doubt she was lying about this. Even if she was, it doesn't hurt to make sure the palace is secure." We begin ascending the spiraling staircase.
"Which it's not."
"Exactly."
Finally, we come up to the wall after climbing all those dreadful stairs. The moonlight casting hazily through the window is the only way for us to see the wall. I begin running my fingers over every crevice, thoroughly examining it. Jason kicks it in serval places, pushing in every brick imaginable.
We come up with nothing. I lean back on my heels in annoyance, huffing. Jason kicks it more and I refrain from telling him off, only staring at the wall, wishing it to reveal what is behind. If there is anything behind at all.
Jason sighs, "Maybe he was just zoning out while waiting for Percy?"
I shake my head, "He was examining it too, holding the stolen map tightly in his hand." I look to him, "Was there any tunnels leading near here on the map we have?"
"I know there were tunnels the Royals stopped from going on the map because it's their last resort for safety and that cannot be trusted on paper, no matter how guarded it could be."
"There has to be a way in," I mutter.
"I seriously don't think there is Annie, we're wasting time by this point," he says.
I flick my wrist, "Then go, I'm figuring this out."
He doesn't go, just as I already knew, only standing with arms crossed and watching me. I start at the end of the wall, right before it curves around the corner, running my hand up and down it. When I reach the ground, my bleeding fingers roughly go over the crevice under the bricks. They reach something cold and I stop, not daring to breathe. I curl my fingers around this cold metal, trying to push it in. That doesn't work, so I try sliding it sideways. Doesn't work either.
I yank at it, and a trap door in front of my sore knees falls open at the bottom of the wall. Air and dust drift up to me and I exhale sharply, "Bingo."
"You didn't," Jason says, sliding to his knees beside me.
Staring into the dark abyss, I say cockily, "Oh, I so did."
I make a move to jump down, but Jason grabs my arms. He says, "It's not safe, we need back up."
I give him a look, "Sparky, we're doing this. You said yourself, we haven't much time. Now, come on."
The tunnel we drop into is dark and the air holds a cloud of heavy dust. We carefully step down the narrow tunnel, my hand following the wall with the other displayed out in front of me. Jason steps where I step, his breath on my back.
The tunnel begins to decline in a steep ramp. I furrow my eyebrows, calming my anxious thoughts. The curiosity triumphs over my hesitant fear of what's ahead. This tunnel was not traced on the map and that knowledge puts me a little on edge.
Jason whispers, "Do you think she knows we're here?"
The thought sends a spike of fear through my heart, but I keep a cool head, saying back, "It's possible, but we're just going to operate like she doesn't."
"You aren't good at reassurances."
I look over my shoulder at him, "I wasn't trying to reassure you. We know the risks and now we must take them."
"How're you going to explain your dusty, stinky dress when we go back to the party?"
"I'll worry about that when we aren't in the middle of locating bombs in the palace," I snap back.
We continue working our way through the tunnel in silence, the only sound is our shoes against the stone. I regret wearing high heels, but it was expected for hosting Ast. My dress itches my underarm but I ignore it, seeing a glint in the darkness. If it weren't so dark and I wasn't looking for anything I wouldn't have seen the small dot in the stark darkness.
When we reach it, I can make out the cylinder metal object. "You think that's the – you know," Jason asks.
I travel my fingers over it, wishing I thought to bring some sort of light. "I think it could be one of them. We have no clue how many there are."
Jason leans down, his eyes squinting in the pitch darkness. "Where did that glint come from? When we spotted it. That would need light."
I crane my head around me and see it. A small opening in the ceiling. A hole. "Jason, do you think we're under the gardens?"
He scoffs, "That's a stretch."
I point to the opening, small but there. "Then how do you explain that?"
He looks above him before reaching up. I watch as he pries it open a little more before peeking out. A noise gurgles in his throat, "I can't believe it."
"What – what?"
"We're under the willow tree in the garden."
"Which means we have another way in," I say more to myself than him.
Jason looks to the small diamond earrings I have on. He opens his hand, "Can I have one of those?"
I don't question him, instead just placing it in his palm gently. Watching him hold it up to the light, he sends a beam of reflecting sun onto the metal cylinder. I take it from him, and he crouches to read the letters as I inch the light over each one slowly. Jason mutters the words to himself, his shoulders growing tauter with each passing letter.
Finally, he speaks, "These are bombs for sure."
"How bad?"
"Bad. You only need two of these to burn this place down," he says, the words hanging in the air. I blow out a weighted breath.
Have a great day/night wherever you are! - The Fangirl