THE ROYAL CROWN WARS

Chapter Nine

Lizzie smacked hard down into the bean bag chair and then bounced onto the floor. The blueprint flew down to the ground and landed next to her.

"Lizzie!" I cried. "Are you alright?"

Silence. Utter and complete silence. Her eyes widened, staring up at the ladder. "I-I think I'm OK," her voice shook, and her eyes watered. Pushing herself off the floor, she looked over her body. Her elbow and leg had a few small scratches.

Bile rose in my throat. What if she hadn't been alright? What if something happened to her?

"The bean bag chair was a good idea," Lizzie said. She bent down and picked up the blue piece of paper. She laid it out flat on the floor.

The blue piece of paper sprawled out across the floor. The entire castle sat in drawing form on it. It had everything. The ballrooms, the King's office, my room, and the secret passageway. Dozens of tunnels all interconnecting within one another went all over the palace.

"It's real," I muttered. "It's actually real."

This could work. We could make it all the way into the secret passageway, into the crown jewels room, and find them before I'd ever had to go away. We could do this.

"Let's roll it up and get it back to your room before anyone notices that we're in here."

I kneeled down on the ground and began to roll it up as carefully as I could. The blueprints couldn't have any wrinkles or tears in them.

CREAK!

I froze. What. Was. That?

"Is someone in here?" Lizzie whispered.

"Maybe they just went in the wrong door," I whispered.

Heavy footsteps cracked underneath the hardwood floors.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

They grew closer and closer with each passing second.

Stumbling over my feet, I grabbed the rolled-up blueprints and shoved them into the bottom shelf. Please don't tear. Please.

We needed to get away from the ladder. If someone saw us near the ladder then they'd probably be able to guess what we'd been doing. I shoved the bean bag chair into the corner far away from the ladder and grabbed two random books off the shelf. "Pretend to read this."

"What!?" Lizzie demanded.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

We threw ourselves onto the bean bag chair and partially onto the floor and opened the books. Dust flew out of it and directly into my face. My eyes water and I bit down on my bottom lip to avoid coughing.

Thud! Thud!

The footsteps grew heavier and heavier until someone rounded the corner.

Dean? What was he doing here?

Dean crossed his arms across his chest. "What the...." he trailed off. "What are the two of you doing?"

I pretended to look up from the book. "Dean? What are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to your father's office to speak to him about tomorrow's dinner for your grandmother when I heard someone scream," he shook his head. " What are the two of you doing here?"

"Reading," Lizzie said, far too quickly.

His brow rose. "Really? The two of you are reading books?"

Lizzie and I held up our books.

Dean waved his hand in the air. "Then why did I hear one of you scream?"

"I saw a spider," she said.

"A spider, huh?" Dean crossed his arms across his chest. "Jamie, did you see this spider?"

Why!? Why did he have to ask me!?

"The spider ran off before I could see it," I swallowed hard. It wasn't technically a lie. I didn't see a spider.

"Sure," he said, not sounding convinced at all. "Why don't the two of you come with me?"

"No! We CAN'T do that!" The desperation in my voice surprised even me.

Dean's brows shot up. "And why not? You're going to seriously tell me that two 11-year-old girls would rather spend their day in the library."

"I'm 12," Lizzie corrected.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. Come on, let's find something a little better for the two of you to be doing because this is just...odd."

"But-"

"No buts, Jamie," Dean interrupted. "What has gotten into you? You're acting so strange."

I shrugged. There was no way I'd be able to come up with another lie. And, why should I bother? Dean wouldn't understand. He'd tell me that this is just 'adult stuff' and I needed to mind my business.

"Let's go!" Dean barked when no one moved a muscle.

Lizzie and I glanced back at the blueprints hiding against the bookshelf. All of that hard work down the drain. I pressed my lips together. Lizzie could've gotten really hurt climbing up there, and we don't even have them.