Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

60. The Rose Citadel

Lili inhaled sharply. She could do this. Of course she could. She was a magician of great power, raised on stories of adventures and horrors alike. Her mother had bent time to her will, her father had lead gangs and armies. If they could accomplish such impossible feats, she could break into the heart of the magical world to steal the hidden item buried within.

She just had to figure out how.

"Are we going to scale the walls?" Eternity asked.

"This isn't an action movie," Lili murmured back, the pair hidden in the shadow of a restaurant in town, just down the road from their destination. "Besides, while I can climb trees, I don't know about walls."

"I think I could make it up the wall," Eternity pointed out, "I used to climb out the window to avoid having to talk to people when I lived in a home in New York. But then again, we had a fire escape, so-"

"We aren't scaling the wall," Lili said firmly, shutting down that idea once and for all. Her magic was still replenishing from the effort it had taken to bring them to this time, otherwise she would have merely opened a portal into the garden housed within the elegant fortress. However, since that option wasn't possible at the moment, it was up to her to find another way.

The blonde teen's brow furrowed in concentration, "if I thought we could pull off the lie, I'd say we should trick our way in. But people would probably be too confused and suspicious of a pair of teenagers they've never seen going into their most important building, so that's a no go."

Eternity's eyes lit, like molten copper in the sunshine, realization painted all across her face, "maybe that's not believable, but I have an idea that just might be. Come on, follow me!"

Without explaining any further, she grabbed Lili by the hand, their friendship bracelets jangling as the pink haired teen pulled the younger girl along the side of the citadel and around to the back of it. Lili knew she should probably stop them, demand to know the plan before diving into the fray, because as much as she trusted Eternity, she should still be smart about the mission.

She didn't do that though. She just let Eternity drag her along. When, she wondered, had she become so entwined with the older adolescent that she would follow her anywhere and everywhere, to hell and back? Did the 'when' even matter at all, or was it enough that they were here now, and she felt this way?

"Mind explaining to me what we're doing here?" Lili inquired mildly, with no real bite to her words. The pair were standing at the back wall of the magnificent structure, and Lili had no clue as to why.

"There's a back-door to the kitchens and food storage room," Eternity filled her in, "either it'll be unlocked or we can sneak in or we can say we went out for the day and got a little lost and hungry and then if we get let in, we can slip away."

Lili shrugged, "not bad. It could work, and I don't have anything better. Let's do it."

That was enough for Eternity, and so they went to the back door, Lili's pale hand curling tightly around the brass handle, finding, to her delight, that it was unlocked.

"Huh, that's convenient," Eternity said.

Lili nodded her agreement, "they must keep the door unlocked during ordinary days so people can come and go. Makes things easier for us, so I'm all for it."

"Here here!" Eternity exclaimed with a little half-laugh. 

Silently, Lili lead the way as the pair pressed themselves to the wall and the shadows of the kitchen and store-rooms, keeping away from the sound of voices and people chatting across the space. It was a relief to both girls when they had escaped the kitchen, thankfully unseen.