The Luna Choosing Game

Things were direr than even Charlotte had made it seem.

My stomach twisted into knots. The people’s accusations weren’t limited to singular nouns. They weren’t just talking about Terry and no one else.

The use of plural told me they meant the entire royal family, including Nicholas. This meant he was in grave danger. If the people turned on the royal family, if they thought to overthrow them, they would not stop with just the King.

Flashes of Nicholas trapped in a prison cell came through my mind. Or worse. Maybe they would kill him. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

The dark thoughts took hold of my heart so strongly that I couldn’t remember where I had been headed. I only knew where I wanted to go now: to see Nicholas, to place my eyes on him. and know that he was safe.

I darted in the direction of his personal rooms. Along the way, I noticed the increased number of guards around the palace. At first, I chalked it up to the increase in the number of protestors. It made sense to increase the protection of the royal family when they were being threatened.

But then, as I came around the corner, I heard a set of voices, and recognized that these. guards were here for a more specific purpose.

To personally guard their princes, Nicholas and Julian. As well as to…

“We’ve thoroughly checked this passageway, Sir,” said one of the guards. “It was clear.”

“Good,” Nicholas said. “Keep a guard posted there. This one leads to the kitchens, which is a pivotal location. We cannot allow any intruders there.”

“Yes, Sir,” said the guard.

I stepped into the room from which I heard the voices, and found Nicholas and Julian peering over a familiar set of maps and blueprints. We’d used those blueprints to find the secret passageway that had led from the cellar to Terry’s mansion.

Several sets of guards were scattered through the room. Some were disappearing into an opening in the middle of the wall. A bookcase had been shoved out of the way. A painting had been knocked to the ground. No one had bothered lifting it.

Julian spotted me first. “Ah, Piper. There you are. We were hoping you would stop by.”

“You were?” I asked.

Nicholas looked up too, then. His eyes met mine, held them for a moment, and then dropped

Julian smiled wider, as if to compensate for Nicholas’s coldness. He didn’t have to do that. I knew I was the one to blame for the wall between Nicholas and myself now.

Julian waved me closer, so I walked to his side. He traced his finger over a secret passageway in the map.

“See this here?” he asked. “We’re checking this one next. One by one, we’ll get through them all.”

“We’re also searching for the ones that aren’t on this map,” Nicholas said.

Julian nodded, grim. “Terry made alterations on his own. We’ve had soldiers dig through his private documents, searching for his own personal maps, but so far we’ve come up empty.”

“He kept everything,” Nicholas said.

Terry shrugged. “There are many damning pieces of evidence against Terry in his mansion. Unfortunately, none of the ones we’ve found so far are the ones we need.”

“Why the search?” I asked. “What could be found in these passages?”

Nicholas lifted his gaze to mine again. “You know why.”

Jane. “Surely she left the palace while she had the chance. Without Terry…”

“It’s worse than you think, Piper,” Julian said. He glanced at his brother. “Worse than we thought too.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Julian sighed.

Nicholas spoke, “Jane has more influence than any of us have given her credit for.”

I blinked. I still didn’t understand.

Nicholas paused a moment, then spoke again, “We believe she might be Hawk’s right hand.”