Prologue
Prologue-7 years ago-Callestancia Castle
It was a dark and stormy night. Rain beat against the windows, streaming down in little streaks. A girl sat on her bed with the covers pulled high overhead, a small Pomeranian dog next to her. She shivered back and forth, her long brown hair swaying. There she cowered, unable to get out and warn the others. She felt paralyzed.
There was a quiet creak of a door opening. She pulled the covers higher. She heard footsteps climbing up the stairs. Creeping closer. They were here. Her father had been right.
Now they were in the hallway. She heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed as well as a few whispers. The footsteps went to the end of the hallway.
There was a sudden shriek and the sound of a sword being swung, waking everyone up and creating chaos. The guards that hadn’t been ambushed realized that the castle was under attack. Some ran to the aid of the king and queen, trying to protect them against the heavily armed attackers. Maids and staff that were unarmed were scurrying away from the attackers while there was a lot of shouting and running.
Suddenly the girl’s door flew open and a man appeared in the doorway. The girl peeked from under her covers and realized who the man was. She flung away the covers and sprinted towards him. He scooped her up in his arms and ran into the hallway, her dog following behind.
He ran, with her still in his arms until he reached a door. He threw it open stepping inside the room.
It was a simple closet, or so it seemed. Just a maid’s closet holding cleaning supplies.
He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He removed one of the cleaners on the shelf which revealed a lever. He hurriedly pulled it down and the shelf swung open, showing a hidden staircase that led into darkness.
The little girl gaped silently at it in surprise. She had never known that the castle had secrets like this.
The man lit a match and used it to light a lantern that was hanging from a hook on the wall in the maids closet. Then he shut the secret door and hurried down the staircase, still holding the girl. The dog followed loyally behind.
They walked for five minutes in the underground tunnel that the staircase had led into. Then, at last, they reached their destination. The girl looked in front of her at the door as the man put his hand on the wall and pushed hard, opening the thick wood door.
The man pushed the door open farther and walked inside. He shut the door and locked all the latches on it to keep out the enemy. Then he set the girl down on the bed and lit the torches on the walls of the small room.
Looking around the room, the girl saw that the room was very simple with only two beds, a chair, a carpet, and a cabinet. She looked over at the man and saw that he was looking through a small peephole in the door. The man felt her staring at him so he turned around. “They’ll be okay,” he told her, “They’ve got guards to keep them safe. If they don’t come to this safe house they will surely make it to the other.”
The girl knew that the man was talking about. Her brothers Prince Michael, Prince James, and Prince Thomas. She nodded at him, although she was unsure if this was true. With a sigh she lay back on her bed and fell asleep, holding her dog close.
The girl awoke several hours later to the sound of more footsteps. She sat up, frightened by the sound. The man, who was also her guard, stood up and looked through the peephole. He looked at her alarmed, and she knew that they had been found.
Her guard ran to the back of the room and moved the cabinet aside, revealing a small hole in the wall. The man pushed the girl through it and went in behind her.
The passageway was very small so they had to crawl. They went with the girl in the front, her dog behind her, then her guard.
They had been crawling for several minutes when they heard shouts in the passages behind them. They doubled their speed if that was possible as they reached the end of the passageway. The girl pushed on the wall and it gave way into a big meeting room.
The girl looked around in amazement at the room they were in. It was the King’s Council meeting building, Hellet Hall. She had never known that one of the underground passages went here. She didn’t have much time to think about this though since within seconds of arriving they departed.
After that though she forgot which way they went. They ran for a while and eventually lost their pursuers. Then, once the guard decided they were safe, he started to walk. She fell asleep in his arms, since at the time she was only five, as they walked to safety and their new life.
