THE ROYAL CROWN WARS

Chapter Eight

The doors to the library stood tall. The metallic gold doors had two fierce bears engraved in them. The gold-plated doorknobs nearly froze my fingers with just one simple touch. I shoved the heavy doors open.

Creak!

Ugh! Could it be any louder? We didn't need anyone trying to find us in here. They'd ask way too many questions.

The intense smell of old musty books lingered in the air. Bookshelves lined the walls and touched the ceiling. All of the bookshelves were full, and most of the books appeared to be at least several decades old. The hardwood floor creaked underneath the weight of our steps. In the front corner sat a red satin couch, two small matching chairs, and a bean bag chair.

I peeked around the corner to see if anyone was in here. I breathed out a sigh of relief when it appeared that we were alone.

"People actually come in here?" asked Lizzie. She ran her fingers across one of the bookshelves and held them up to show the lack of dust on her fingers. "Do people even read physical books anymore?"

Our school library let us check out books on the kindle sometimes.

I shrugged. "We have cleaners that come in here. It isn't like the school library where someone stays in there all the time." At least I hoped they didn't. "Come on, we have to hurry." I grabbed Lizzie's hand and pulled her through the library.

She frowned. "How do you know we're going in the right direction?"

"I don't," I admitted sheepishly. "There's no one to ask where they'd keep a blueprint."

I wouldn't want to ask anyone anyway. They'd probably try to talk me out of it. Or, they'd tell my parents. I was supposed to behave all the time, and then I'd have to see the disappointed look.

Lizzie and I walked forever staring up and down rows and rows of books. Why would someone need this many books? There's no way anyone would ever get to read all of these.

"Are blueprints even blue?" asked Lizzie.

"I think so," I said. "Or they are in the movies."

I rounded a corner and a smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

A rather large piece of crumbled-up paper hung off the side of the bottom shelf and dangled onto the floor. Score!

I raced over and yanked the paper out from the bottom of the shelf! Catching on a loose nail on the bookshelf, the large paper tore right down the middle. My stomach churned.

"Did you just...." she trailed off.

"Er," I said. "We could tape it back together." I hoped.

Her brows knitted together. "If you say so."

Carefully as I could, I finished pulling the large piece of paper free and turned it out. My heart dropped.

This wasn't a blueprint but a world map.

"This isn't it," I said.

I tried to put the paper back exactly as I left it, ignoring the giant tear in it. "Come on, I'm sure they're here somewhere."

"You're sure they're real?" asked Lizzie. "Aren't they like a huge security risk?"

I nodded. "That's why we screen everyone who comes into the palace."

We wandered around for about 15 minutes before I rounded another corner.

"Look, up there!" I pointed to one of the highest shelves and noticed several large blue papers on the shelf. "Now, we just have to get it down."