36.

36.

“How much longer?” Caleb and I huffed together, leaning against the dark tunnel walls.
“Only about ten minutes more,” Noah replied.
“Dude,” Caleb groaned, “you have been saying that for the last two hours.”
“Well, what do you expect guys?” Liam shook his head. “This is a tunnel. Besides, we did tell you guys not to come. But, did you listen?”
Uhm…no. Of course not! This was about Soph and Mia after all.
“It isn’t helping that you two have the stamina of a doorknob,” Noah added.
Caleb and I glared at him.
“Well, then, who asked you to build such a long tunnel?” I retorted.
Noah let out a snort. “This tunnel was built in the year 1564, as a backup route in case the enemies ambushed the palace.”
That piqued everyone’s interest, and we resumed walking slowly.
“Whoa, your ancestors had the IQ of a pebble,” Caleb commented, on way. “Who builds such a long tunnel as an escape route?”
“This tunnel amasses the area of the whole palace,” Noah replied, “and, it leads to practically every nook and corner of the palace, that’s underground. And, oh well, there’s only the dungeons that are underground now.”
“Now?” I reiterated, “There used to be more than dungeons back then?”
Noah shrugged. “The soldier quarters, the queen’s second wing, the grand kitchen, the-”
Noah was cut off by Caleb’s loud gasp. “A grand kitchen?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, that’s the only thing he heard.
Liam chuckled. “They still have those things. Don’t worry, man. Only the location has changed.”
“Um, what’s a queen’s second wing?” I asked, turning to look at Noah and illuminating his face by shining my flashlight on him. I couldn’t control the laughter that escaped my throat, when he jumped and covered his eyes with his arms. Then, suddenly, it was my turn to jump when Noah started flashing his flashlight in my eyes.
“Kids,” Caleb muttered, rolling his eyes at us, then, he ran after Liam. “Hey Liam, can you tell me more about this grand kitchen and where exactly it is now?”
Who was the kid now?
“The queen’s wing consists of a bunch of rooms that are basically designed for the queen’s needs and comfort” Noah replied, after prying my flashlight away from his eyes. “Think of it as having your own home inside a home. It consists of everything from makeup room, to dressing room to study room, a private library, garden, and so one.”
Wow…
“Doesn’t it get a bit boring and…lonely in there at times?” I asked, hesitantly.
Noah shrugged again. “There’s nothing ‘not lonely’ about the life of royals, contrary to popular belief.”
I gave a slight nod in understanding. This much I had grasped in the time I spent here. The royals didn’t have it easy, and they certainly didn’t have it all merry and happy. In fact, it was more a life of restrictions and precautions than anything else.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt my phone vibrating against my pocket. I fished it out to see that it was my brother, Jordan…video calling me.
“Crap! Crap! Crap!” I exclaimed in panic. Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to me.
“Chloe, you can’t take the call right now,” Liam said, frowning in the phone’s direction.
“It’s Jordy!” Caleb exclaimed, peering at the screen, “if she doesn’t receive his call, he will fly over here right now, just to see why she did what she did.”
I could feel my palms getting clammy. Jordan had no idea about what I was up to here. Heck, he didn’t even know about Noah. All he knew was that my friends and I were vacationing here, that too as a part of some school project.
Yeah, I lied, okay? What else could I tell my brother who was weirder than a hobo?
“Just take it,” Noah finally said, leaning against the wall. “We will wait for two minutes.”
I nodded with a gulp, then, shot everyone a warning look. “Just keep quiet, you all. And, stay out of the range of the camera.”
“Why did you take a million years to receive the call?” Jordan’s voice travelled through the phone as soon as I pressed the green button. “Unlike you, I have a life, which entails doing important stuff.”
I heard Noah and Liam snicker in the background.
“Then, why are you calling me, Mr. oh-so-busy?” I asked my brother, drily.
“To make sure that you aren’t doing the nasty behind our backs,” he replied, making me gasp.
“Oh, poor Jordy has no idea, does he?” Caleb whispered under his breath.
“Caleb! Shut up!” I cried out indignantly, then, my eyes widened when I realized what I had done.
“Oh, is Caleb there?” Jordan started looking sideways at the camera. “Why are you hiding him from my view? And, where the hell are you? Why is it so dark?”
“Nothing!” I quickly blurted. “We are on site. You know, for some research on the project and stuff!”
“Sureeee,” Jordan stretched out, then, rolled his eyes. “I don’t believe you. Where are you?”
“I already told you!” I yelled at him, “now, stop bothering me, and hang up.”
“You are definitely doing the nasty,” he said after a beat of silence, “with Caleb. He’s lying shirtless there somewhere, isn’t he?”
“Ew, what?!” Caleb, Noah, Liam and I exclaimed at once.
There was another stretch of silence which was broken by Jordan snapping his fingers.
“Caught ya!” he grinned, triumphantly, “now, show me what you’ve been up to…oh, crap! Mom’s here!”
I felt like the ground was being pulled from underneath my feet. A little dramatic, I know, but, when it came to my mom…this was nothing.
“Is that Chloe?” I heard my mom asking Jordan, “Wait, I need to talk to her.”
I began sobbing in my head, when my mom’s face appeared on the camera. “Did you brush your teeth today? And take a shower? And have you been eating your meals regularly?”
“Mom, please!” I groaned, “I am not a kid.”
“But, really, did you brush your teeth?”
“Yes, mom!” I replied, embarrassedly, being hyper aware of the fact that Noah, Liam and Caleb were laughing quietly behind their shaking knuckles, in the background.
“Don’t give me that face, young lady! Last time, you forgot to brush your teeth for three days in a row!”
“Mom, I was seven, then!” I exclaimed, indignantly.
“And, who’s to say, you are not now?” she replied, rolling your eyes, “I had to clean up your messy room after you left to enjoy this vacation. You know what I found there? Piles and piles of unwashed clothes stuffed into the closet.”
“Mom! Who gave you the permission to enter my room?” I cried out, my cheeks reddening. “Why did you touch my stuff?”
“Oh, please!” my mom raised a hand, “spare me the attitude. You will thank me later. Also, when is your trip ending? When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know yet,” I sighed. “In two to three days perhaps.”
My mom’s face fell. “So soon? I was hoping there would be a few more days of peace at home. Can you request them to extend the dates and keep you longer?”
Noah beat me to reply. “Yup. I will be more than happy to keep her longer.”
My eyes widened, so did my mom’s and so did everybody else’s…
“Oops,” Noah whispered, rubbing his neck, then, gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t control myself any longer.”
“Who was that?” my mom finally asked, “I want to see your boyfriend, Chloe.”
Wha-? How did she know he was my boyfriend?
“Mom,” I fibbed, shooting Noah a glare “I don’t have a boyfriend!”
“Babe, I am hurt!” Noah said loudly from beside me, faking tears. I gaped at him, and he only smirked in return.
This annoying SOB-
My mom gasped. “Chloe! Give him the phone now!”
“Oh, yeah, sure, why not!” Noah answered for me, and grabbed the phone from my hands, waving at my mom through the camera. “Hi, Mrs. Scott! It’s so nice to finally meet you. If it were up to Chloe, this moment would never have happened. I am Noah, by the way.”
That’s it. My life was over. But, of course, not before I ended Noah’s too.
There was no reaction from my mom for a second, and I couldn’t see her face because Noah had hogged the phone. But, frankly, I was quite afraid to see her now…
My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I heard a high pitched scream. Caleb dramatically fell against the walls yelling ‘earthquake! earthquake!’ while Liam winced slightly. Noah smiled awkwardly and held the phone at a distance.
It took me a minute to realize that the scream was indeed coming from my mother. And, what was even scary was the fact that it was not those frustrated or angry screams. It was one of those fangirl screams.
“Oh my God!” my mom breathed, and I took that as my cue to brace myself for humiliation, “you are Noah, the crown prince-”
My mom never got to finish her sentence because thankfully, the signal gave up.
“Whoa, your mom knows me,” Noah beamed, “and she likes me.”
I didn’t reply, because I was too busy glaring at him for the stunt he had pulled earlier.
“Oh come on, stop making goo goo eyes at each other,” Caleb groaned, then, followed after Liam who had already started walking. “So, Liam, how big did you say the grand kitchen was?”
I snatched my phone from Noah’s hand, and turned on my heels, not paying him any attention. He started whining after me.
“Oh come on, you can’t be mad at me for that. I mean, I made your job easy. Now, your mom knows and perhaps your brother too. You are free from that side now.”
“Gee, thanks Noah,” I placed a hand on my heart, faking a gasp. “I don’t know how I will ever repay for this generosity, your highness.”
“Um…since, you are Chloe, I won’t ask much from you. Just help me find my fork, okay?”
This guy…was an eternal pain in the butt.
Soon, we reached an intersection, leading towards four different directions.
“They all lead to the four different wings of the dungeons. We will have to check one by one. Let’s split in groups of two.”
Imagine my joy when Caleb ditched me to with Liam, and I was stuck with Noah. Also, notice the level of my sarcasm.
I wanted to throw up as soon as I entered the first dungeon. My skin crawled by just imagining that Soph and Mia were locked up in some place like this. The first dungeon was empty except perhaps for the dead rats.
Noah grabbed my hand and pulled me out of there. We soon entered the second dungeon. Now, here’s the thing: this one was empty as well.
I quickly went towards the gate from where we had entered to find it…locked.
What the hell? What kind of sorcery was this?
“Caleb,” I yelled, hoping my voice would reach Caleb. “I swear to God, if you think this is funny-”
I was cut off by a hand over my mouth.
“Shh,” Noah whispered behind me. “I just heard the guards. I think they were here for their daily check. I don’t think it was Caleb.”
My eyes widened at that and I turned around to face Noah, removing his hand from over my mouth. “Do you think they saw us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
How- how was he so calm about this?
“Chloe? Noah?” I heard Liam’s muffled voice filtering through the gates and the walls. “We have been locked.”
Ah, crap!
“Tell me you found them, at least,” I asked hopefully.
“Um…we were actually hoping to hear that from you.” Caleb’s voice answered.
What?!
“But, they should have been in one of these dungeons!” Noah protested.
I turned to him. “What do you mean ‘should have been’? What did Will tell you?”
“He told me that they were locked up and…” he trailed off.
“And, you assumed that they would be here?” I finished for him. “God! Seriously, Noah, how dumb are you?”
“Hey, it was a tough guess!” he defended. “Now, that I think about it, Will must have done something about the lock up situation. Maybe, they are simply locked up in one of the rooms…”
“That’s right, my love.” A nasally voice interrupted us.
I turned around to see Alice standing at the gate, pinching her nose and jumping on her heels as if it was physically hurting her to stand here.
“It’s time for you all to join the queen for a dinner,” Alice declared with a sickly sweet smile.
Oh, this beach…


A/N: Sorry, if this chapter sucked lol, I wasn’t feeling too inspired. But, now, I know where I have to take this book. After a lot of thinking, I arrived at the conclusion that this book can be divided in three parts: first part is where they meet and all the school part, second part is from the moment they arrived at the palace and ongoing, third part is about to begin after the next chapter most probably (after I tie up some lose ends). And, well, the third part and the last part isn’t going to be too long but I hope it will be interesting enough. You will see what’s about to come.