The Prince or the Crown

chapter seventeen

A lot of other women had found their way to the dungeon, too. The 'chains and hearts' part of the riddle had been a clear reference to the chains you bind prisoners in. There were so many rows of cells that stretched endlessly into the horizon. 

"This is going to take ages to find the bomb," someone muttered.

"Are we going to have to look in every single cell?" another asked.

I furrowed my brow. There was no way they would make us aimlessly search through all the cells in this dungeon. That would be way too easy. I glanced down at the note in my hand. 

Where chains and hearts collide.

I gasped. 

The woman searching in the cell next to me peeked her head around the wall. "You figured it out."

"What?"

"The riddle. You know the answer."

I blinked, realizing my mistake. "Uh- Yes, it's... the gardens," I said, stumbling over my words.

"The gardens?" someone else echoed. 

"Yeah," I said a little more enthusiastically. "Chains can be like vines, right? Hearts... symbolizes all the lovers that go out in the gardens. Where far and wide connect... That could be all the different types of flowers from all around the world, right?"

"I guess that makes sense. But what about the name part?" 

"Well... flowers have different names depending on who you ask. Some people don't know the names of all the flowers. So the names could leave or lie, depending on the person who's in the gardens," I explained, lying through my teeth. I honestly had no idea what I was saying; it was mostly utter nonsense.

"That makes sense," another woman agreed. 

Suddenly there was a pause in the air, and then everyone was racing out of the dungeon, pushing past their friends to make it up the staircase. I took a step and feigned tripping on a rock, stumbling to the ground. Nobody paid me a second glance. 

I grinned as soon as they had all left, slowly standing to my feet. It wasn't the gardens. I wasn't sure how they all bought my explanations, but I was glad it got them off my back. They could search the gardens for hours before realizing it wasn't there. 

I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket and headed towards the chapel.

It was only a few hallways down from the dungeon, ironically, and when I opened the subtle wooden door, I found myself in a world of white roses. There were roses literally everywhere. On the seats, hanging from the ceilings, lining the windows, on the lectern... and on the archway that stood at the very end of the aisle, glowing in the sunlight streaming from the tall stained glass windows. 

I didn't waste any time and quickly shut the door behind me, rushing into the room. Suddenly another door opened near the front of the chapel, and I watched with gritted teeth as Maera stepped out of it. She spotted me and grinned. 

"Looks like there's one other person here who has a brain," she said with a laugh. "The other girls are digging in the dirt like animals."

I didn't respond, slowly walking down the aisle and pretending to check every seat. I didn't want to show her where I was headed. 

"Where do you think it is?" she asked, stepping onto the small raised platform. "The lectern? The windowsill? The cross? In one of these roses?"

I was so close. I took a few more steps until I was standing under the archway, staring at Maera from beneath the roses. I looked up, and sure enough, nestled between two white roses was a tiny black box, green and red wires sticking out of it. I plucked it off.