The Hiding Place
Jared woke up in his room, with Theo in a
chair beside his bed, and Arcane pacing back and forth around the room. He sat
straight up, then fell back grabbing onto his shoulder, "What.... what happened?!?"
"You tried to destroy Jackie, and she,
uh... what did happen, Theo?"
"She hit you on your shoulder by your
neck, and suddenly you collapsed."
Jared sat up slowly, "How long have
I been out?"
"Four hours," they said at the exact
same time.
"Jackie.. the servant girl? Ooooh, I
oughta..." Jared tried to climb out of bed, but Theo stopped him.
"Jared, you haven't fully recovered
your strength. You can't request a rematch in this condition!"
"Oh I'm not requesting a rematch... I'm
getting her arrested."
"For what? What she did to you was out
of pure defence! You can't get her arrested for staying alive... can you?" Arcane
asked carefully.
"No, but I CAN get her arrested."
"For what?" Theo finally got him back
in bed.
"For teaching above her station."
Jackie skipped into the kitchen. Everyone
in it ran up to her, all talking at once.
"Are you hungry?"
"Good job!"
"You showed him!"
"Jared had it coming!"
"Can you teach me that?"
"Are you really a warrior who's just
hiding her identity to protect herself?"
"Are you gonna marry the prince?" Jackie
put her hands up and everyone was quiet, "No; thanks; I did, didn't I?; Yep,
he did!; No; Absolutely not!; and I don't think so." Everyone was amazed she
heard each of their questions. Suddenly the crowd parted and the head cook walked
straight up to Jackie.
"Hide, Jackie."
"What! Why?"
"Theo's maid told me that Jared is planning
on getting you arrested."
"For teaching above my station." She
said to herself, "But I haven't done it yet!"
Gigia stepped forward just then, "Arcane's
maid told me the same thing. And you know you're not important to Jared's class.
They'll toss you in the dungeon without any thought."
"I know, I know... I gotta go tell Alex."
"It's too risky!"
"No it's not. It's about dinnertime.
He always has his food brought up to him. I'll take it this time."
"Good idea!" One of the people around
her cheered.
The head cook handed her his meal and
gave her a push, "Hurry!"
Alex stumbled down the hallway, remembering
what Jackie had said about the communication that goes around the palace. He
turned to the two guards that constantly stood outside his door, and asked,
"Okay you two. Jackie says there's a giant gossip chain around here. What's
the current updates."
The guards glanced nervously at each
other. The one on the left said, "Jackie's gonna be arrested."
Alex's mouth fell open, "By who?!?"
The Kiko on the right said hesitantly, "Jared. He's really mad at her."
Alex took a deep breath, "I'll stop it."
"You can't. Your parents have heard about
the duel today, and they don't approve of Jackie hanging around you. They'll
be all for it."
Alex shook his head a little, trying
to get all this straight, "Tell Jackie to hide."
The Peophin on the left said, "The head
cook is trying to hide her. I suggested your room, but everyone knows that's
the first place she'd go."
He shook his head sadly, "This is insane.
I never knew having a friend would be this hard. Thanks for the info. Anything
else?"
"Yes. Jackie's coming with your dinner.
Don't make a big deal about it, either. It's supposed to look like the regular
girl is sick and Jackie has to do it."
Alex suddenly realised he was hungry,
and remember the shy little flotsam who used to bring his meals to him, "Right.
See ya guys!" He fell down on his bed and tried to figure out where to hide
her. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he hadn't explored half
of the palace. He decided right then and there that once everything wasn't settled,
he was going to explore every inch of the castle-
Jackie knocked on the door, "Your highness?
I have brought your dinner. Polli's sick today, so I'm bringing it. Can I come
in?"
"Enter." Said Alex in the most regal voice he could muster.
Jackie came in and shut the door. She
ran to his side, setting the tray on the chest at the foot of his bed, "Alex!
Jared's going to-"
"Arrest you. I know."
"How'd you-"
"The guards told me."
"Good."
"You've got to hide!"
"Everyone keeps saying that!"
"Well you should. I just don't know where
you should-"
"I do!"
"Where?"
"It's a secret place. No one knows about
it but me."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Alexia? Alexia!" Came a screeching shrill voice from the other side of the
door. Alex cringed.
"Who is it?" Called Alex, but he already
knew it was the little starry Lupe, with her screeching voice and her sickening
comments. It was the duchess's daughter, Skira.
"It's Skira, dear Alexia. May I come
in?"
Jackie dashed under the bed, "Sure, I
guess." Called Alex after pushing a bit of curly red hair under the bed.
Skira came in and quickly shut the door
behind her, "Where's Jackie. She's gotta hide."
Alex was surprised at the deep and rather
gentle voice that he was hearing, "Skira? Are you sure that's you?"
"Yes it is. I hate Jared. I LOVED it
when Jackie whooped him and his goons today. Where is she? I have a plan!"
Jackie crawled out from under the bed,
"What's the plan?"
Skira jumped at the site of her, "Oh
my! Well, see, I have arranged for you to be employed at my mother's castle,
but you can't leave until next week. You have to hide until then, but..." she
laughed rather nervously, "I don't know of any hiding spaces."
"What IS IT with you people! I know MILLIONS
of good hiding places, and neither of you know one. Well, follow me." Jackie
jumped up and dashed for the door. Alex and Skira stumbled behind.
She took them outside to the front of
the palace. When you look at it from the front, there is a grand stone door
with two marble statues of Eyries, the one on the left with its front paw facing
everyone looking, and the one on the right with its hands in an X shape over
its chest. There was a great stone wall that ran along the ground of the palace,
so it almost looked like a castle set atop a huge cake, with beautiful marble
steps leading up the front of the cake. There was a beautiful garden that ran
along the wall. Jackie was leading them along the left-hand side of the stairs,
through the garden. The garden had a row of equally-spaced glowmberry trees
that they had to weave through, and at their feet were blumps and yolkalias,
while up the walls were spine and ring vines. She stopped in front of a glowmberry
tree and ate one of the berries. Skira and Alex both gasped.
"Jackie!! You might as well be dead now!!"
Skira shouted.
"Why?" Jackie shrugged.
"EVERYONE KNOWS THAT GLOWMBERRIES ARE
POISONOUS!!" Alex shouted at the top of his lungs.
Jackie laughed a trilling, melodic laugh,
"You people! You just don't trust what you don't understand!"
They kept walking, and Jackie stopped
just before she almost stepped on some dunkydoos, "Here we are!" She proclaimed.
"Here we are what?" Skira asked, glancing
disapprovingly down at the dunkydoos.
"Okay you two. You'll need to remember
this place. Just travel left until you see the dunkydoos. Then eat two (and
ONLY TWO!) glowmberries."
"No way are you getting me to eat those
vile things!" Skira shrieked, flinching as she pointed to a glowmberry tree.
"Oh nonsense. I haven't died, have I?"
"It takes a week for it to take effect,"
Alex noted.
"No no no. Glowmberries are VERY helpful!
They'll only kill you if you don't void out the effects in a week. To do so,
pry one of the orbs off of an orb plant and eat THAT. Yes, the orbs from an
orb plant ARE poisonous, but if you eat it within a week of eating a glowmberry,
you'll be fine. You have to trust me." She held out two glowmberries each to
Skira and Alex.
Alex took a deep breath and decided to
be brave. He took two of the berries and ate them, "Wow. They're sour!" He shook
his head violently and then swallowed, "But they taste like... strawberries
and lemon afterwards."
"Now, Alex? Look at the wall beside us."
"WOW! There's a door here!"
"Glowmberries enhance your ability to
learn, your ability to see, and they make you run faster. They probably have
other properties, but I've only noticed those three."
Skira took the other two berries and
ate them, then Jackie showed them how to press their hand into the small area
(that they could now see) marked by being raised just a few molecules. A door-sized
portion of the wall swung open to reveal a dark passageway with a lit torch
on the wall.
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Get in here!" Alex
and Skira scrambled into the passageway just as the door swung shut, "Sorry
about that. I forgot to tell you. You have an average of six seconds to get
in here before the door closes. If it does close on you, just press the pad
again and it'll open."
"Where does this lead?" Asked Alex in
amazement.
"Follow me and I'll show you!" Jackie
took the torch down and led the way down the passageway. It started out straight
and level, but soon it was turning uphill to the right. They saw light at the
end of the tunnel after a LOOOOONG time of walking. Jackie laughed at Alex and
Skira's exhaustion, and ran the rest of the way. Alex walked a little faster,
but Skira (being her normal I've-been-spoiled-all-my-life self, refused to move
the slightest bit faster.
What Alex saw (when he finally caught
up with Jackie) amazed him. There was a room with stone shelves on all the walls,
and two seats in front of two circle-shaped windows, looking out onto the palace
lawn. There was a seats beside those, with a hand-shaped pad in front of it,
just like the one used to get in. Along the shelves were all sorts of odds-and-ends.
"Where are we?" Skira asked when she finally caught up with them.
"Inside the Eyrie on the left. I think
this was set up to be where part of the army was kept... built back during the
war days."
"Why do you think that?" asked Alex.
"Easy. Watch through the eyes." She pointed
to the two chairs in front of the windows. She jumped into the seat and put
her hand on the pad. An aqua-coloured beam shot out from the Eyrie's upraised
paw and left a big burned hole in the ground.
"WOW!" cried Alex.
"Alex, Skira, listen to me. If the palace
is ever under attack, drag the royal family in here."
Alex nodded.
Skira turned on her heel toward the long
tunnel, her voice going back to its screechity again, "I don't much like to
hang around servants." She walked briskly down the tunnel, taking the torch
with her.
Alex turned to Jackie, "I'll bring you
some food later, k? You just stay in here. I don't know WHAT would happen if
Jared found you."
She laughed, but tears were shining in
her eyes, "You'll have to go clean out all my secret areas, and you'll have
to tell Gigia that she can't practice in the kitchen anymore, and you have to
tell the guards there are no more blueberry muffins coming, and you'll have
to tell Polli and Sheeta (my roommates) that the room will be cleaner, and you'll
have to tell the head cook she has to find another obnoxious Kyrii to bring
in spoiled cabbage and eat the good carrots, and..." she plunged her head into
her hands and began sobbing.
"Jackie, come 'ere." He went and sat
down beside her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I REALLY don't want to leave! What if
I never see you again?"
"Oh you'll see me again. It'll only be
a matter of time before my father has to go on some diplomatic mission to the
Duchess's, so I'll just tag along to see you and Skira. You know, she's not
as bad as I thought she was."
"I wouldn't count on that. She likes
you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She talks to herself. She pretends she's
talking to you, and she dancing around the room with the coat rack pretending
it's you."
"You've gotta be kidding."
"Nope. She'd probably act anyway that
you'd want her to, as long as you like her."
He shivered, "That's so freaky it's gross."
Jackie shrugged and looked Alex over,
"Although, ya' know, I don't know WHAT she sees in you..." She began laughing
at the frowning Alex, "Did you know that when you frown your head looks like
heart."
"Not funny... A heart?"
Jackie laughed.
"Keep laughing. It'll keep your mind
off of leaving. I've gotta go. I'll try and settle this thing with Jared, and
then you can come back, okay?"
"Gotcha," She said as she climbed
up onto one of the shelves and began reading a book that was up there.
Alex took the torch and went back down
the passageway.
To be continued... | 
