A Royal Secret

Chapter twenty two

Chapter twenty two: picking locks

something shiny caught my eye. Suddenly an idea came to my head like a full on light bulb moment. "earrings! I could use the backs of my earrings, surely they're good enough to pick a couple locks right?'' I raise my eyebrows. "It's worth a shot." she says as i began to take out my left earring.

it wasn't as big as i thought but it was better than nothing. "i think i almost..." the earring suddenly fell from my hand. "Never mind, it's too small. oh, what about one of your hair clips? like in the movies?" i suggest. Aunt Lexi shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, let's give this a try." I say and jam the clip into the padlock. "It's our not so lucky but lucky day,aunt Lexi!" I beam at her as the locks drop to the floor, releasing my mother's hands which are now suddenly wrapped around me. "my genius niece. you're an angel, truly." "Let's go! we need someone to release us.'' I say as I run down the hallway and up the stairs hand in hand with my aunt. we bang on the door like there's no tomorrow in hopes that someone might just hear us.

Luka pov*
Milly loves me. She loves me!! "Ashley, Noah!'' I say, running towards the couple. "Hey, dude. did you talk to mari?'' Noah asked me. "yeah.. and then she um kissed me. she told me she loved me.'' I beam at my best friends. "I'm so happy for you, Luka." Ashley said letting go of Noah to wrap me in a hug. Noah soon followed her actions. "Speaking of, where is her majesty?" Ashley asked. "her father needed to speak to her. It looked and sounded urgent so I didn't really ask any questions. That was quite a long time ago now though." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I have a bad feeling." Ashley said, rubbing her stomach. Noah nodded his head in agreement. "You want to go find the king?'' I asked the two. "Yeah, let's go." Noah said before leading us out of the double doors to the throne room. When we entered it was so quiet we hardly noticed the king sitting there. "your majesty?" I stepped forward. He cleared his voice with a hefty cough before speaking. "Luka, my boy, please call me tom. What can I do for you?" He gave me a friendly smile. It was warm and welcoming. "We were wondering if you knew where Milly was? We have had a bad feeling ever since she left the ballroom and that was quite some time ago." I said.

"it has been a while hasn't it? I called Milly here to give her some news about my sister's sudden disappearance and she was determined to find her so I sent her with Liam and Jack but I haven't heard from them either. I was getting a bit anxious myself." he admitted. "c'mon, we have to go find them all." I turned around to Ashley and Noah. "I will accompany you, Luka. me and you will take the southside of the palace, Ashley and Noah you can take the north side. i'll have my guards placed east and west and we'll meet back here.'' Tom said, getting to his feet and sending signals to the guards at the back of the room to leave as he said which they did without hesitation. As soon as we all split up, it was a little bit of an awkward silence between me and tom. "so Luka.. how's school been?'' Tom asked, trying to make little conversation. "it's been okay. lost of homework to do though but i enjoy it anyways.'' I say with a little smile.

"I'm glad you're finding some enjoyment in your education. It's important. I admire that about you, my boy. you always manage to see the bright side of things don't you?" he says, absentmindedly. "I'll try my best at least. I know Milly does that too. it's one of the things that i lov- admire about her the most.'' I hope he didn't catch my mistake. "don't worry son, you can say love. I know the way you two feel towards each other. I see it in your eyes. I approve. now c'mon less of this chit chat, we've got to find them." he says before speeding up a bit more. He approves of mine and mari's relationship!!!!! if this wasn't such a dangerous situation i would be jumping for joy. but he's right. Milly and Lexi are the most important people right now.

"Hey Tom, what's this? we didn't go down there when we were on our tour around the palace.'' I asked as I pointed to a door under some stairs. "it's the...it used to be a torture chamber. back in the old days, my ancestors used to have slaves and if they disobeyed it tried to rebel against them they'd bring them down here and do unspeakable acts to them. acts that we definitely do not approve of here. The only good thing about this day and age is that rooms such as these aren't as popular or allowed. knowing these assassins, there is a good chance that they're in there. help me crack this door open will you?" he Said as he tried to pry the handle open. It took a few tries but we managed to get it open, only to find another door. "is this some kind of trap or maze?'' I ask. "no. it's a security issue.