Hidden Secrets

Chapter Ten

Sirens were what woke Mehdi up from his deep slumber. At first, he thought it was part of a dream, but when Reyan burst into his room at three o'clock in the morning, he knew that was not the case.

"Why are you still in bed?!" Reyan exclaimed. "The rebels have breached the gates!"

"Oh shit!" Mehdi clambered out of bed, grabbing his robe and slippers. He turned back to Reyan who was wearing nothing but her light pink silk nightgown that stopped at her knees.

"I didn't have time to grab anything."

"Here," Mehdi said, tossing her his robe.

"Your Highness', if you could follow me quickly, please," the guard said as they stepped out into the hall. Mehdi noticed that it was the guard Theo was talking to at the party. Winston, Mehdi recalled.

They followed him down the hall to the right, Mehdi's robe flying out from behind Reyan, her feet slapping the marbled floors as they lightly jogged. They moved to the end of the hall to where the king and queen's bedroom was, past the stairs where yelling could be heard. Winston stopped in front of the wall to his left.

"Why are we stopping?" Mehdi asked.

"There is a safe room...behind here if I can just find the—Ah-ha! Got it!" Winston said as he searched the wall and his hand found the button.

The wall made an unlocking sound and slowly opened, revealing a set of stairs that lead somewhere down. Mehdi's mouth gaped in astonishment. Even living in his palace for 18 years, you would think Mehdi knew every little secret.

He was brought back to reality when more shouts reached his ears.

"Ladies first," Winston said.

"I don't think now is the time to be polite, but thank you," Reyan answered and made her way down the staircase.

"Your parents are already down there," Winston said to Mehdi, glancing back when there was a loud bang.

"Thank you," Mehdi replied and stepped forwards onto the stairs. Immediately, the wall closed behind him.

It was, surprisingly, not as dark as Mehdi would've thought. There was light coming from the bottom of the stairs that illuminated the stairs just a tiny bit.

Anyone could've guessed that this safe room hasn't been used in years. Cobwebs hung onto the corners of the stone walls, which were covered in thick grime.

The closer he got to the room, the quieter the yells were from the other side. However, more sounds of voices came into hearing from the lit room.

And just like Winston had said, Mehdi's parents were already there. They were huddled together on a bench in their robes and slippers. His mother had a stressed appearance, but his father was completely laid back. Mehdi had no idea how he did it. No Idea.

Reyan was already settled in, sitting on one of the makeshift beds, but was just as bad as the queen. She was staring out into space and chewing at her bottom lip aggressively.

"Son," his father spoke.

Mehdi turned back towards his parents. "How are they here?" Mehdi asked, his voice strained.

The king sighed. "I don't know."

"Someone is a trader," Reyan said without glancing over.

"Why would you say that?" Mehdi's mother now spoke.

The princess shrugged. "Well, how else would they be able to get through the gates? It could've been anyone from the party that helped."

For once, the king didn't have anything to say. He looked at Reyan helplessly.