A "Perfect" World

Chapter 6- The Truth

I absorbed every detail Eden had explained to us. My stare was blank as I tried to process everything that was going on and what we were going to have to do to get out of this. I only trusted Elena because she was our only chance of escaping, and I clearly didn't have a better idea.

"So how exactly is this going to work, like there is no guarantee that we won't get caught," Doaklan noted.

"I know my way around the castle like the back of my hand, your just going to have to trust me," Elena assured. "We should be arriving on Canadian soil in about twenty minutes.

I guess I really was tired. I had no idea we were almost there. I felt my stomach tighten but I didn't let my nerves show. These restraints were beginning to feel unbearably uncomfortable, but I told myself that they would hopefully be off soon.

"So...this girl Aurelia...is the Queen's daughter? How come we never knew that?" I asked Elena, genuinely curious.

"Well, Queen Drundel likes to keep most of her personal life private. She wasn't planning on telling anyone about her daughter until she was at least nearing her death and had to transfer her power. She was always afraid that someone would take her baby away from her. I guess that miscarriage really traumatized her."

"Good, I hope that bitch stays traumatized, I hope it kills her!" Eden said furiously.

"Shhh, don't let them hear you, if the guards know what we're up to we'll be done for," Elena said cautiously. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody was listening in on our conversation.

"So what do you think of Sir Arian, isn't he just wonderful?" I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh my gosh, he's an actual asshole. I can't stand him. There are actually rumors going around in the castle that the Queen had a 'thing' with him."

"I can see why they would make such a perfect couple. They're both batshit crazy." I laughed.

"Hey, guys? I think we're getting ready to dock." Doaklan said with a slight tremble in his voice. I saw him gulp and sweat started to form on his forehead. He inched closer to me and although we couldn't hug one another, the feeling of his arm against mine made me feel safe.

Guards immediately started grabbing people and dragging them off the boat. I witnessed a larger guard grab a teenage boy by his shirt and throw him overboard. He screamed and kicked but was thrown like a ragdoll. My eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing, I was deeply disturbed because I knew he didn't survive that. There would be no way the guard would've done that without know for sure he would be killed. His mother let out a scream that shook me to the core and I had to turn away, I couldn't bear the sight of this. This water was heavily infested with highly poisonous jellyfish. Plus I'm sure the Queen had dangerous creatures created to ensure unwanted guests couldn't easily reach Canadian soil. I'm sure people have threatened to assassinate Queen Drundel before, with her growing ambitions, and these were just protective measures.

Elena hurried us off the boat, not trying to look suspicious, and ushered us to the castle doors. The castle was beautiful, with great white pillars made of marble, and the stairs made of glossy white and gold speckled granite. I was breath taken by how big everything was, it made me feel like I shrunk to the size of an ant. We walked into the palace and I gazed at the high ceilings and the huge chandelier that hung above the grand entrance. I watched everyone's faces and we all were in awe.

After the amazement faded, terror quickly returned. Some people were kicking and yelling, while others just stood there horrified. Everyone was being taken through this steel door, off to the side of where we walked in. As guards were busy shoving people through that door and Sir Arian was leading the way, Elena quickly pulled all three of us off to the side and hid behind a big green leafy plant, which looked to be a Sabre Ficus plant. We ducked down and since we were in the back, we went unnoticed. We heard the steel door slam shut as the last person entered, and I'm sure there would be more people coming soon, so we had to act fast.

"Okay so we're going to head up the stairs, make a right and go through the first door you see. That's the Queen's file room where she keeps confidential documents. Only guards know the code to get in, so I'll quickly enter the code and Eden will come with me to grab Aurelia." Elena whispered assertively.

We quietly got up from hiding and sprinted to the stairs and ran up as fast as we could, before anyone could see us. We got to the file room and Elena entered the code, "2 0 9 5". I wondered why she picked that number combination but I instantly disregarded that thought and ran inside with Doaklan. We shut the door behind us and took a breath of relief as we saw Eden and Elena running down the hall to get Aurelia.

"Just hurry and grab any papers you can find that look important, or something valuable to the Queen that we could destroy," I told Doaklan while out of breath.

We rummaged through filing cabinets and everything just looked like gibberish to me. I scanned each cabinet and came across one that was bright red, which stood out against all the other black ones. I opened it and grabbed the papers inside. There were only a couple of papers which I found odd but I looked through them and my name caught my eye on one of them. I took a closer look and saw the name "Lark Drundel" under the "Child" box. I didn't want to jump to conclusions because my last name was Valentino. I glanced at the date of birth and it said "Eighth April 2095"...the day I was born. I gasped and my whole world felt like it was collapsing, even more than it was already. I looked further down the page and saw the box that said "Mother", and the name read "Ferra Drundel".

I quickly searched through the other papers in my hand and saw an adoption paper. I scanned over it and it basically stated that I would be adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Valentino on April ninth, 2095. I felt dizzy, my palms were sweating, and all I wanted was for this nightmare to end. I didn't think this could get any worse.