The sun was streaming through her window and covering everything in a nice warm light. The North Tower had the best views, and her bedroom was one of her favorite places in the whole world. She especially loved to watch the unicorns grazing in the pasture. From her window seat she could see Kiwi and Scorpio, her parents’ unicorns, and Glimmer. Their soft coats shone under the sun. Everything looked like it was perfect in Crystal Kingdom.
But it isn’t, Bella thought. Today was Day Four. Day Four out of the seven that Queen Fire had given her to find the vault containing the crystal. On each of the previous days, Bella, Clara, and Ivy had searched the castle, checking room after room for the vault. Queen Katherine had allowed Bella’s friends to stay after school for three days in a row when Bella told her that they had a special project together. They did: finding the vault.
The girls checked in with Violet often with updates and where they had searched. This crystal was harder to find than a piece of a spelled secret note! The number of rooms checked kept going up while the amount of time left kept going down.
Thankfully, Queen Katherine and King Phillip had been busy with a new Crystal Kingdom project—a royal secret, of course. Bella didn’t even care what the secret project was—she was grateful that it kept her parents busy. Poor Lyssa—the princess’s handmaiden, who was like an older sister—was out with the flu. As much as Bella wanted Lyssa to be well, it made it easier for Bella and her friends to search without her at the castle.
Only today, Friday, and Saturday are left, Bella thought. She buried her head in her pillow, trying not to panic. She took a few deep breaths and remembered that she had Violet, Clara, and Ivy on her side. They would find the vault.
She picked a pretty purple dress that had a dark-purple hem. The effect looked like the edges of one of Crystal Kingdom’s beautiful sunsets. It was the perfect dress for Bella, and she was happy because it was the color of her aura. She pulled on her silver shoes and admired how they sparkled.
“Bella! Breakfast,” Queen Katherine said on the intercom. Bella’s tummy rumbled. She remembered how Queen Fire could seem like a person and not an evil queen for a moment. The smell of pancakes came into her room, and she shook her head free of anything but the thought of her breakfast with her parents for now. Bella hurried over to the intercom and pushed the button before her mom could call again.
“Coming!”
Bella quickly yanked her comforter up to the top of her bed and fluffed her pillows. They were a little sideways and lumpy, but it would have to do.
She darted out of her bedroom and skipped downstairs, ready to fill her belly with the cook’s delicious food. Her feet flew across the castle’s floors as she hurried into the great dining hall.
She took her place in her favorite chair, which had a big, soft velvet cushion. As Bella sat down, one of the kitchen staff, Rebecca, came in carrying their plates.
“Fresh hot scrambled eggs and berry pancakes for the princess,” she said. The cook had drawn a whipped cream smiley face on her pancakes, with berries for eyes. It looked delicious, and Bella was hungry!
“Thanks, Rebecca, this is so cute,” Bella said. She took her fork and dug in.
“You keep eating pancakes like that, and you’re going to turn into a pancake,” King Phillip said. His green eyes twinkled to show Bella he was kidding. Bella rolled her own eyes. It was a joke he made often, but she loved it.
“Dad!” Bella laughed.
She ate everything on her plate, then glanced at the clock on the wall. She wanted to talk to Ivy and Clara before school started about where they needed to look today.
“Can I be excused?” Bella asked.
“You may,” Queen Katherine said. Rebecca came over from where she was waiting and took her plate.
Bella thanked her and scooted her chair back. Before the queen could ask where she was going, she ran up the stairs, down the hall, and into her bedroom. She grabbed her book bag and went out the front door, hopping over a shrub and finding Ivy and Clara already waiting near one of the castle’s many water fountains.
“What’s wrong?” Bella asked Clara. Her friend was frowning, and her arms were across her chest.
“I’m so, so sorry, Bella,” Clara said. “My mom told me this morning that I have to come home after school today.”
“It’s okay,” Bella said, feeling her heart race a little bit. “You’ve been here every day after school. Ivy and I—”
“I can’t stay either,” Ivy interrupted. “I tried everything, but my parents both said I had to come home this afternoon because I’ve been staying at your house all this week.”
Bella felt panic start to well up inside her, but she didn’t want her friends to see. They had been doing nothing but helping her, and they already felt bad.
“It’s okay,” Bella said. “I’m so sorry if I got you in trouble with your parents. You each have searched with me every single day. I’m not mad or upset—I promise.”
Bella’s promise was real. She wasn’t mad the tiniest bit. She was just scared. Scared that she had to try to find the crystal herself with time running out.
“Are you sure?” Ivy asked, chewing her bottom lip.
“Completely sure,” Bella said. “It will be the perfect day for me to check some rooms that only I should be in. Come on. Let’s get to class.” She smiled, wanting her friends to believe that she really was okay.
But the truth was she was anything but okay.
8
Hiding in Plain Sight
Bella fake-smiled her way through the entire school day. Clara and Ivy kept asking her over and over if she was okay, and she said yes every time. For once, Bella had actually been happy when her friends left the castle to go home after school.
The second she closed the front door, the smile slipped from Bella’s face. She took the stairs two at a time and threw her backpack on the floor. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying.
Tears are not going to find the vault, she told herself. You can’t fall apart now. You can do this.
Bella took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. All she saw was Glimmer. The unicorn’s sweet face made her smile. Bella’s smile widened to a grin when she thought about the stubborn patch of Glimmer’s mane that was determined to have a permanent curl—no matter how much Bella combed it before finally deciding to leave it alone. It was one of the things that made Glimmer unique, and it was fitting for the sometimes stubborn unicorn!
I’ll get my homework out of the way, and then the search is on, Bella thought.
She got off her bed, picked up her backpack, and sat at her desk. She pulled out her books and opened her blue assignments notebook.
“Hi, sweetie.”
Bella looked up at her mom, who stood in the doorway. “Hi. You look so pretty!”
Queen Katherine looked elegant in a flowing green dress, and her long blond hair was styled into perfect waves. “Thank you, Bells. Dad and I have a special dinner tonight. Official kingdom business. I’m sorry that we’re going to be out late on a school night.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Bella said. “I’ll just be doing homework. You’re not going to miss anything that interesting!”
Queen Katherine smiled. “I happen to think everything you do is interesting. I just feel especially bad leaving you while Lyssa is out sick again. Are you sure you don’t mind? You could come to dinner if you’d like.”
“I’ve got a lot of homework. But thanks, Mom.” Bella reached her arms into the air. “Hug.”
The queen laughed and walked over to Bella. Standing, the princess snuggled into her mom’s arms, smelling the familiar scent of the queen’s favorite perfume—Sunray Delight.
Queen Katherine let go of Bella and ran a hand over her daughter’s cheek. “You sure you’re okay with your dad and me going out?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll come and say good night when I get home,” Queen Katherine said. “Love you.”
“Love you, Mom.”
Bella opened her assignment notebook, determined to keep her focus on schoolwork. But her eyes strayed to the Secret Scribble notebook.
“You cannot go looking for the vault until your homework is done,” Bella said aloud. “So focus.”
She worked through a set of twenty math problems and read the assigned chapter in her history textbook. For English, she had to read the first chapter of the next book her class was reading—Kingdoms from A to Z, a collection of essays from people who lived on the four different sky islands.
Oops. Mom ordered that book for me last week, and I forgot to ask her for it. Hopefully, it’s on the bookcase in the great room.
Bella headed downstairs and scanned the books on the brown bookcase. Usually her parents put new books horizontal on the shelves until after they had read them. But the book Bella needed wasn’t easy to spot.
“Is that it?” she wondered out loud, reaching upward. Maybe one of the maids had stuck the book in with the rest by mistake. The book’s spine was solid black—nothing gave away the title. Weird, Bella thought.
Bella touched the book and it vibrated. She yanked back her hand as if she had been shocked. Her mouth fell open as the bookcase slid to the left. The princess looked around to see if anyone else in the house—a maid or anyone—was passing by and seeing what she was seeing.
Then Bella understood. She knew exactly what the bookcase had been hiding. She, Ivy, and Clara had been searching the entire castle for the thing that had been hidden in one of the busiest spots in the castle: the vault. Calm down, Bella told herself. You don’t even know for sure. But something in her went against every nagging little thought that she could be wrong. Deep, deep in her gut she knew this bookcase wasn’t hiding a secret tea room. The bookcase was hiding the vault.
Bella pulled on the book again, putting the bookcase back in its usual spot. She had to message Ivy and Clara—they deserved to see the crystal when Bella did.
Bella ran up to her room, swiping her Chat Crystal off her desk.
I FOUND IT!!! she messaged to Ivy, Clara, and Violet.
Seconds later, her Chat Crystal lit up with messages.
BELLA!! WHERE?!
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE??
I KNEW YOU’D FIND IT!
For the first time in four days, Bella felt like she could breathe again. She would wait for Ivy and Clara so they could see the crystal together. In this moment, though, there was only one thing on her mind: getting to Glimmer and telling her that she was safe. The vault had been found, and she had nothing to worry about.
Almost.
9
Be Our “Guest”
Princess Bella looked out at Crystal Castle from one of her favorite places: her window seat. She watched two young royal unicorns playfully nip each other, then dash off as they seemed to be playing a game of Unicorn Tag. Bella’s eyes were on them, but her mind was somewhere else. She replayed the last few days in her head. Just as she had been doing long before sunup.
The day after she had accidentally discovered the vault, Bella had gone inside with Ivy and Clara. The crystal wasn’t in a display case with bright lights shining on it as Bella had expected. Instead the girls had had to go through more books—dozens of them—before finding it. The smallish room had shelves from wall to wall. Every possible inch of shelf space was filled with books. A fake book had a hole cut into it, and inside rested a pearl-colored gem about half the size of Bella’s fist. Bella had sent a photo of it to Queen Fire.
The queen messaged back on a job well done, and the only—and most important—step left was for Bella to sneak Queen Fire into the castle to get it.
Now goose bumps suddenly dotted Bella’s arms, even in the warm air. Today was The Day. The day that Queen Fire was coming for the crystal. Bella had waited and waited for the right opportunity over the past couple of days, but there hadn’t been a good time to sneak Queen Fire onto the castle grounds. It had been driving Bella crazy that she was so close to keeping Glimmer safe, but she had to keep waiting. But no more.
If I don’t do it today, she thought, I lose Glimmer. Forever.
Bella sat up straight, squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath. No one was taking her unicorn. Not after everything she had done to try to keep Glimmer safe.
It’s not like Queen Fire is a beginner at all of this spying and hiding stuff, Bella reminded herself. She is an evil queen. She doesn’t want to get caught.
Bella looked at the drawbridge, which was guarded like usual with someone on each side. Not as though she had planned to meet Queen Fire and walk—
“Bella?”
The princess jumped at her mom’s voice.
“Oh, honey! I’m sorry that I scared you,” Queen Katherine said from Bella’s doorway. She walked over and put her arms around her daughter. “Is everything all right? You’ve been jumpy lately.”
Bella hated that she was about to lie to her mom.
“I’m fine, Mom!” Bella declared. “Promise! I think it’s all of the clarity berries I’ve been having at breakfast. They give me so much energy that I’m all squirmy until bedtime.”
The queen laughed.
Part of what Bella said was true. Clarity berries, named after how they looked, were clear square berries. The princess had been eating more of them than usual.
Queen Katherine squeezed Bella’s hand. “Okay. Sweetie, I’m sorry that your dad and I have been so busy lately. This is the last weekend that we’ll be in and out—I promise.”
Bella squeezed her mom’s hand back. It was the only time ever that she hadn’t been sad that her parents were very busy.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Bella said. “I’m fine. Promise.”
In a couple of hours, Bella hoped that what she had just told her mother would actually be true.
* * *
“C’mon, please, c’mon!” Bella murmured under her breath.
If someone had told Bella that she would soon be standing in her great room, wishing for Queen Fire to hurry up and appear beside her, Bella would have laughed hysterically. But that was exactly what she was doing.
Ivy and Clara had split up—Ivy trailing Queen Katherine and Clara keeping an eye on King Phillip. Their jobs were to come and give Bella a heads-up if either one of her parents were headed into the castle. Moments earlier, Ivy had messaged via Chat Crystal that Queen Katherine was busy gardening, and Clara had sent word that King Phillip was inspecting the royal stables.
If only Queen Fire would get here already, take her crystal, and go! What if her new spell isn’t working? Bella thought. She crossed her fingers that she was wrong.
Over the past few days, Queen Fire had been working out the best way to enter the castle’s property. The queen had messaged Bella that she had also been working on her disappearing-into-smoke act, trying to keep the noise and smoke to a minimum.
“I like what my sister has done with this room.”
Bella jumped, clapping her hands over her mouth as she almost screamed. She whirled around.
“You scared me!” Bella said to Queen Fire. “I was starting to worry that you couldn’t find a way to access the castle.”
“I had to finish my tea first, Bella.”
Bella tilted her head, forcing back her annoyance. It didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered but the crystal. “This way,” she said.
Bella faced the bookcase that led to the small room. She still couldn’t believe that the vault’s hidden door was nothing more than a bookcase in the great room. All of the time that she and her friends had been searching, the vault had been hiding in plain sight after all.
Bella had to press on the spine of one “book” that looked no different from the rest. But it was quite different. She slid a finger along the spine and bzzzz! The book vibrated ever so slightly. The bookcase slid to the side, allowing a space just wide enough for a person to enter. Bella was grateful for the button. It allowed her, Ivy, and Clara easy vault access.
“Okay, we’re in,” Bella
said in a whisper, turning to her aunt. “And I think . . .”
Bella let her sentence trail off. The queen wasn’t behind her. Her aunt stood near the end of one of the cream-colored love seats near the fireplace. She had a large, silver-framed photo in one hand and swiped at her cheek with the other. Her nails weren’t painted bloodred.
I can’t believe I missed that, Bella thought. She had been maybe a teensy bit preoccupied with, oh, making sure her parents were gone, worrying about the guards, hoping the dogs wouldn’t pick up her aunt’s scent. . . .
Bella left the hidden door and quietly walked up to her aunt.
“You were so tiny then,” Queen Fire said. She ran her finger across the glass, stopping near a toothless, smiling baby Bella, who was in a bouncy chair in a pink ruffly outfit. “I bet you didn’t know that pink is actually my favorite color.”
Before Bella could respond, Queen Fire put back the photo, slid past her, and entered the vault. Bella quickly pressed the button to slide the bookcase back into place. Lights flickered as soon as they stepped inside.
“This is it,” Bella said with a wave of her hand. The smallish room had shelves from wall to wall. Every possible inch of shelf space was filled with books—a lot of them, Mom and Dad had pointed out, were from their school days. The rest? She looked up at the white shelves that towered over her head. Bella just knew those books would be hers someday. Fun things like how to dress like a queen, the master interior design book of the castle, and a list of every royal unicorn that had been at Crystal Castle.
“So it was in a book right here,” Bella said. She reached for the book, frowning. It was heavier than she remembered. She opened the book to find, well, a book. Pages. Lots and lots of pages.
“What’s wrong?” Queen Fire asked.
Bella put the book on a table behind her. “Nothing. I’m sorry—I grabbed the wrong book. It’s this one.”
She grabbed another book off the shelf and flipped it open. There was no cutout box. No sparkling crystal. Just words.
The Hidden Treasure Page 4
