Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

You Can Trust Me

It was Catherine.

"Oh, thank god it's you," I breathed, and only when Catherine shot me a suspicious look I realized that I had said that out loud.

"What happened?" she asked. "You're not acting like yourself. What do you mean you were so worried?"

I mentally smacked my forehead. "Never mind. I thought it was someone else."

"Right," she said with a suspicious look.

She's a spy too. Your lies won't work, I thought. But if I really told her what was wrong, then that would be quite a problem as I would die.

So I lied.

"No, really. I was thinking about Erica and I thought she'd be..." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

Catherine somehow seemed to buy my acting, and she nodded. "I'm also really worried about her. God, she's my own daughter. I try not to worry too much because she knows how to handle herself in even worse situations, but it's always bugging me. You know, motherly concerns."

I nodded. "We'll find her, right?"

"We will," Catherine replied. "We certainly will. She's Erica. She'll be fine."

I was supposed to be the strong one, but instead I found Catherine struggling not to cry and comforting me.

"Well, I'm going to call the others for lunch," she said, squeezing my shoulder and walking out of the room.

I put a granola bar in my pocket and headed to the dining room as well. The royal family was already seated. Catherine and the others still hadn't arrived yet, so I sat opposite to Piper, who flashed me a warm smile.

The Queen shot me a warning glare that quickly melted into a soft smile, while the king gave me the blankest of expressions. I assumed that the Queen hadn't informed him of the encounter yet.

Or...he was a really good actor.

Catherine walked in a moment later followed by my friends. Mr. E smiled warmly and she returned the smile, though I could clearly see through that she was faking.

"So...shall we begin?" he asked as soon as everyone was seated. We all nodded, and dug into our food. The adults were immersed in some conversation while Mike and Jamie started talking about video games. Zoe and Cynthia were also deep in conversation, talking and laughing.

It appeared that I wasn't the only one who felt like it wasn't the most appropriate time to be smiling. Piper was obviously disturbed, but she did her best to hide it by staring at her food the whole time.

"Piper," I whispered, trying not to attract any attention, but no one was focused on us anyways.

She met my gaze. What's wrong? I mouthed.

Can we talk later? She mouthed back. I stared at the rest of my team, then turned back to her.

Why not now? I mouthed, but she wasn't paying attention. I got back to my food only to realize that my sugar cookie was gone. Glancing around, I saw Mike's plate with two cookies, and he was awkwardly whistling.

I rolled my eyes and continued to pick at my food. Thoughts about Mr. E, the fake Ms. E, Erica and the Queen whirled around in my head.

Before I knew it, lunch was over and everyone was slowly filing out of the dining room. I caught up to Piper, who was waiting for me outside the entrance to the dining hall.

"Do you have a moment to spare?" she asked.

I nodded. "I have plenty."

Something about the way she smiled made me blush. Maybe she reminded me of Erica.

"I need to talk to you about something really important," she said. Her tone was filled with worry.

"What happened?" I asked. She led me past the doors and into a magnificent garden with all sorts of plants, flowers and fruit trees.

We sat on a bench, and she turned to face me. I was taken aback when I saw her teary-eyed.

"Ben, I don't know who else to go to, but help me, please," she said. Her voice was broken and one shiny tear rolled down her cheek, landing in her lap.

I took her hands in mine. "Don't cry. You can trust me. I promise. Tell me anything."

"My parents..." she started softly, "they called me to their room and...Ben, they're not good people. They want to kill you."

"I kind of know that," I replied. So Piper wasn't evil.

She nodded. "Of course you know, you're a spy. They told me to join them, so they could...take you down."

"I'm aware that your parents are SPYDER and pretty much want me dead," I said, and another tear rolled down her eye.

"They wanted an answer right then, so I...I said yes. I panicked."

I exhaled sharply, then turned to her. 'You kinda did the right thing. They probably would have killed you on the spot if you said no."

"But I'm their daughter!"

"It won't matter because they're evil," I explained. She looked mortified. "Look, I shouldn't have said that, but it's kinda the truth here. But there's a way out."

"What's that?" she asked.

I took a deep breath. "You're going to have to act as a double agent."

"A what?" Piper asked, dumbfounded.

"You're going to have to act like you're evil, but you're actually on our side. The good guys' side. Got it?"

She smiled. "That would work. So all I have to do is pretend to take part in their evil deeds?"
"Tell us if you get important info," I added. "That's the point of a double agent."

"Works for me," she said with a nod, though her expression changed almost immediately. "Oh! I almost forgot."

"What?" I asked.

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Your hoodie came back from the laundry, and I went to keep it in your bedroom, but this tiny piece of paper fluttered out of it. I figured it was important, so I didn't throw it away."

I took the crumpled up strip of paper. There were words written in fine print.

Blinded by the light, with only you to guide me through, my love.

I stared at it in surprise. Then I looked at Piper. She seemed genuinely confused. The line sounded like it was from a poem.

A poem. "Thanks," I said. "I have to go."

"Go?" she asked. "Do you have some work?"

"Yeah. I'll be right back," I said. "Urgent business.You'll be fine, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

I raced off and darted up the stairs, desperate to find Catherine.