Royals Through Time 3: The Russians

Part Four- Valeriya's Home

After about an hour of riding hard and fast, the five girls reached the palace of Volgograd. The villagers around the area were much happier than those of Zakhar. Probably because Valeriya had actually paid attention and tried to make her small part of Russia better. That was one of the reasons Myah had chosen her as the heir. Even so, Valeriya's people had an underlying current of unease that came from her disappearance. Upon entering the house, no smell of death greeted them, and that relieved all the Royals. What got them unsettled again was the complete lack of life. No human, cat, nor mouse stirred in the great empty place. No evidence of anything living lay anywhere. Except.... "Myah! There's something on this paper!" Sarah pulled it from where it had been hanging on the wall. Scrolling lines were drawn on with lead pencil. It was Averia who spoke the shape's name first. The curved lines were what had brought mystery to her life: "It's a key! Like the ones we found that led to the Arches!" Something bothered Myah about this, and from the looks on Sarah and Lunden's faces, they were too. Averia was trying to find a secret message in the paper. Gracina was looking dreamily into space. Sarah called her name, and Gracina snapped back to reality. But now they were curious; "What was that about?" When Gracina looked away and blushed slightly, the others knew everything. "Ohhhhh..." And they made up their minds to say nothing more until the mission was over. The key drawing could mean one of three things. It could be that Valeriya was leaving a clue to her whereabouts. Or it could be that she just enjoyed drawing keys. Or it could be that she knew of the Royals and of the circumstances that had brought them together. As they silently considered these options, Averia found something on the parchment: a barely noticeable figure of a horse in one corner, with a letter "E" in calligraphy beneath it. Something in Myah's mind seemed to scream for attention, but she could not make any connections. They left the mansion shortly afterwards, with almost no gain. Valeriya's home held secrets that they could not yet uncover. And though they didn't know that, the figure watching from a green hill did know. The figure turned its horse, a dappled silver mare, and headed towards St. Petersburg.