Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

Acquaintances

"My bad, I'm sorry," I said, brushing myself off and getting up. When I looked down to help the other person up, I found out that it was none other than Princess Piper.

Piper smiled shyly. "No, it's alright, I wasn't looking."

"Hi. I'm Ben-" I began, but she cut me off."

"Ripley. Nice to meet you. I've heard so much," she said. At my confusion, she couldn't help but smile. "My parents have CIA connections, remember?"

I nodded, realizing that I was a fool not to remember. "Right."

"Do you like it here?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's a huge place, but it's very welcoming."

She laughed. "It's so big that even I get confused sometimes. Luckily, there are always floor guards who know what they're doing."

"How does it feel? To be royalty?" I asked.

PIper's face fell. She motioned for me to join her, and we sat at a small table. "It's honestly sort of tiring and it just...doesn't make any sense. I mean, we live in Alaska. Part of the United States. You guys have a government and a President. We don't exactly rule over any place."

"Yet there's a royal family?"

Piper twirled a lock of hair in her fingers. She was wearing a light pink dress with black leggings underneath. She also sported no crown on her head, just a small rose behind her ear.

"The thing is...I'm not going to get married to royalty when I grow up. I'll only marry some famous guy, and the royal line will not continue thereafter. My ancestors ruled over a part of Europe once, long before World War One."

"So, you're the last one?"

"Yeah." Piper looked down at her feet, then stood up slowly. "I guess I'll see you for dinner, then?"

"Yeah, of course," I said, almost too immediately, running a hand through my hair. "See you."

She walked away and I spun around to find Erica, who had a rather annoyed expression.

"What?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Nothing. Waiting for you. We need to talk. And also, if you're going to open your mouth to tell me about your conversation, don't, because I already heard it."

I closed my open mouth, trying to hide a smirk. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Doesn't she seem a little...shady?" Erica asked.

I frowned at her in confusion. "What do you mean? Piper's nice."

Erica grunted. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive, Erica." I started walking down the hallway, and she followed me.

"I'm not that convinced. I'm going to keep a close eye on her whenever she's around."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Do you have any clue where we are?" she asked.

"Yeah. We just have to go back downstairs," I said, but I couldn't find the staircase.

Erica muttered something under her breath and asked a nearby guard to guide us back. Five minutes later we were back in front of our rooms.

"See you later, then?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

That evening, we met for dinner in the dining room meant for about twenty people. The king and queen were already seated at the head of the table, and the rest of us piled into the rest of the seats and a chef served rows and rows of dishes.