Avery wished she could crawl into a hole.
Finally Kendrick stood and adjusted his glasses. “I might have a solution.”
Finally desperate enough to do what she should have done in the beginning, Avery sneaked upstairs to the castle chapel with its stunning gold-gilded walls and stained-glass windows. How many times had her mother told her, “You will find the answers to your most important questions there”?
She sighed with relief at being alone in the tiny, familiar space. Shaky with pent-up emotion, she glided down the center aisle and knelt at the altar the way her mother had at the humble chapel back home.
She poured out her heart to God, again the way she had heard her mother do. She asked for wisdom, for safety for her family, and she begged the Lord not to let Tuck get in that boat.
At the end of her prayer, she lay on the crimson carpet and stared at the ceiling where famous royals were painted in vivid color. Castle lore said the impressive mural represented the kingdom’s darkest stories.
Figures in black capes danced through the scenes, swords extended, while figures in white—presumably innocent royals—fell backward, pools of red at their feet.
Avery wished the famous figures could talk.
She scanned the faces for Queen Elizabeth and had to smile at how the painter accentuated her brown and blue eyes, much too wide for her delicate face. A halo hovered above her.
More exhausted than she knew, Avery soon fell asleep, the kingdom’s heroes pirouetting back to life in her dreams.
Chapter 38
The Painting
When morning broke and the stained-glass windows allowed shards of dancing sunlight to reach Avery’s eyes, she awoke with a start.
Instantly, she knew three things with certainty:
Under no circumstances would she allow Tuck to set sail for the Forbidden City today.
She would regret sleeping on the chapel’s hard floor all night—no doubt suffering a well-earned backache the rest of the day.
And the council—specifically Kate—would be hot with anger that she had been gone all night. This time, Avery deserved it.
She lay staring at the ceiling, trying to conjure a plausible excuse.
And she saw it for the first time. Sitting up, she looked closer at Queen Elizabeth in the mural.
In a cold sweat, Avery struggled to her feet and climbed up onto one of the wooden pews where she stood and stared even more closely, stunned she hadn’t noticed before.
The best-kept secrets are often hidden right before our eyes.
She had so focused on the queen’s eyes that she had missed the most remarkable detail.
Queen Elizabeth held two babies.
Avery raced back, hoping to talk to Kendrick. History said nothing about two royal children from the king and his first queen. What if the other child also lived?
She reached her room, where Kate sat with her back to the doorway, with that regal posture and porcelain skin, carefully pinning her hair. Was it possible Avery’s friend was so acquainted with the castle and its ways because she herself had royal blood?
Kate had withheld details about her own sister. “There are things you don’t know about me, and it’s better this way.”
Avery’s mind raced, but she would not talk to Kate about the chapel ceiling until she spoke to Kendrick.
“News!” a scout shouted, running through the tunnels, and Kate turned too quickly for Avery to avoid being seen.
“Don’t you move,” Kate said, as she scurried out with everyone else to hear what the scout had to say. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do. I was worried sick!”
The scout continued shouting, “News!” until everyone had gathered, then he said, “For the first time in weeks, the king is emerging from his bedchamber, and word is he has an announcement that will change the course of history!” Over the cacophony of the response, he hollered, “And Tuck has called a meeting of the council in the dining room!”
Moments later, Avery made eye contact with Tuck, as eager to block his travel plans as Kate likely was to chastise her for the night before, but now was not the time.
“The king is to make the announcement within the hour,” Kendrick said. “The court is filling with dignitaries, and the commons outside are bursting with people. This is going to be big, and not even his closest advisers seem to know what he’s going to say.”
“We need to get upstairs to a grate,” Kate said, and all eyes turned to Tuck.
“Will you be able to make it?” Avery asked.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for anything!”
Avery, with Tuck on one side and Kate and Kendrick on the other, looked down on the Great Hall as the court filled with familiar faces. Anyone who was anyone was there. Hordes stood shoulder to shoulder like cattle.
“What do you think he’s going to say?” Avery whispered.
“No idea,” Kendrick said. “I thought the next announcement from the throne would be about his death.”
Queen Angelina entered in a beautiful white gown with gold sleeves. Her high headdress was made of gold and pearls. Not since her wedding had she looked so magnificent.
“No sign of black,” Kate said. “So apparently no mourning.”
“Maybe,” Tuck said, “this will just be about his miraculous recovery—like mine. See the scribes in the wings? Whatever it is, it’ll be spread throughout the realm by noon.”
Avery could feel the tension rising.
A quartet of trumpets sounded, and the king suddenly appeared. He was pale and frail and leaned on his cane, but he advanced to the raised dais unaided and ascended to his throne.
The room grew eerily silent in anticipation of his words.
Chapter 39
Life and Death
Gone was the king’s regal bearing, his air of utter power. In its place sat a shriveled, ancient monarch like a child in an oversized chair.
He spoke so quietly, the room hushed and the crowd leaned forward to catch his words.
“The rumors are true,” he said. “I am dying.”
The audience gasped. Kings, after all, never admitted to mortality.
He held up a hand for silence. “But that is not why I appear before you today. I come with good news.” He motioned for Angelina to join him. The queen rose from her great chair, a smile slowly growing. In her dazzling gown, she glided to the far side of his throne and gently laid her hand on his bony shoulder.
As he gazed up at her and she down at him, he cleared his throat and seemed to muster enough strength to be heard more clearly. “It gives me great pleasure to announce that my beloved queen is with child, and I am confident it is a boy! We have an heir!”
The court erupted in cheers and thunderous applause, and within seconds the word must have reached outside, for a second wave of raucous cheering sounded.
Avery darted a glance at Kendrick even as bells pealed in the distance. Had the people responded this way at the announcement of his coming?
The king appeared to want to say more, perhaps a word of thanks or farewell, but there was no quieting the crowd. Shouts of congratulations, laughing, crying, embracing, singing, dancing, the playing of instruments all drowned out any more official components of the festivities.
“Apparently they’ve forgotten he’s dying,” Tuck said. “Look at him.”
The king looked as weary as Avery had ever seen him, and she wondered if he would be able to exit as he had entered. Even Angelina actually looked concerned for him, but that was likely for appearances.
“How can he be sure she’s carrying a boy?” Avery whispered.
Kate scoffed. “Kings are always sure. Who’s going to tell him he’s wrong?”
“Only a medic when a daughter is born,” Avery said.
“If she’s convinced her baby is a boy, the king is as good as dead.”
“Who but we can save him?” Avery asked. “And how?”
“Warn him in a letter?” Kendrick suggested.
Tuck shrugged. “Or one of us disguises ourselves as an adult and requests a private audience.”
Avery looked to Kate for her idea. “We’d better get back,” she said. “I’d like to hear where you were all night.”
It wasn’t lost on Avery that Kate had offered no idea, but she also wanted to end the drama about her absence, so she decided to defuse Kate with the truth. “I needed a little time alone in the chapel, and I fell asleep.”
“Did you learn anything while you were there?” Kendrick asked.
Avery didn’t miss the way he held her gaze. Does he know what I discovered?
Below, Avery noticed scouts squirreling away meats intended for the celebrants that would be enjoyed by enthusiastic kids waiting in the tunnels for news. They would be thrilled to hear of the future prince, Avery thought, unaware of the prince living among them.
As Kate and Avery headed back together, Kate said, “We’d better prepare for the transition of power.”
Avery shook her head. “No! We must get to the king quickly and tell him the truth!”
Kate gave her a disgusted look. “Honestly, Avery. At some point you will realize that you cannot be everyone’s savior.”
The words came out of Avery’s mouth before she could stop them—
“And at some point, you will need to tell me the truth about whose side you are on.”
Avery desperately wanted to get alone with Kendrick and ask him about the painting of Queen Elizabeth with the two babies and also what he really thought of the news. With Angelina carrying the king’s heir, was Kendrick’s life in less jeopardy or more?
Avery looked around the lunch table for him and was about to go search for him when Tuck appeared and motioned for her to join him.
Avery smiled until she saw the look on his face and froze. He still looked resolute about his plans. She had hoped the king’s announcement might distract or detain him.
With all that had gone on, she had again lost track of time. Lunch had been delayed, and late afternoon was approaching. Tuck had said nothing of changing his mind about leaving for the Forbidden City. If she could not stop him, she would likely say good-bye to him tonight for the last time.
Her stomach twisted as she approached him.
“I’ve prepared a boat,” he said quietly when they were alone. “One of the scouts found an outlet that opens directly to the Salt Sea.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Avery said. “If you’re trying to prove your usefulness, don’t. You’re needed here.”
Tuck shook his head. “I’m not trying to prove anything. I believe going to the Forbidden City is the right thing to do, and I need you to believe it, too.”
“But I don’t! You might never come back.”
Tuck nodded. “I know that, but I also believe it’s better to die attempting a good thing than to live doing nothing.”
That was certainly not what she wanted to hear, noble as it was. “So take me with you,” Avery said. “I’ll help you.”
Tuck smiled. “You know I can’t do that.”
A sob rose in Avery’s throat, but before she could respond, he added, “I need something from my room. Will you wait here?”
Avery nodded, suspecting he was going to fetch the crown ring to leave her as a gift to remember him by. She needed to think of a way to stall him—and fast.
Chapter 40
Farewell
Avery waited in agony in the main tunnel as kids came and went, celebrating the king’s announcement. What was taking Tuck so long just to find a ring?
But when she saw a shadow move quickly down the hall in the opposite direction, she squinted, realizing it was Tuck.
He’s leaving!
She hiked up her dress and took off after him, yelling, but was drowned out by the noise of the celebration. Either because of her desperation or because he was still weak, she gained on Tuck, the smell of the sea stronger with every step.
She caught him as they reached a door that led to moss-covered stairs carved into a jetty that stretched into the water.
“Stop!” she hollered, grabbing his arm, tears stinging her eyes. “How dare you leave without saying good-bye—to me, of all people? Do I really mean so little to you after all this time?”
Tuck, also panting, shook his head, pointing.
Out in the foaming water, the boat was slowly moving out to sea, its young pilot a dark figure silhouetted in the moonlight.
“Kendrick?” she called. “Come back!”
Kendrick waved a slow farewell.
Terror gripped her as the rightful heir to the throne headed toward the Forbidden City. If anyone else knew who Kendrick was, he would be a dead man for sure.
“So many unanswered questions,” she whispered.
Tuck looked at her, confusion on his face.
Avery and Tuck stood watching until the boat became but a tiny dot on the horizon. Then, long after the rest of the thirteen-year-olds had disbanded for the night, they sat together at the dining table carrying heavy, wordless burdens. They hadn’t even told Kate that Kendrick was gone.
“What do we do now?” Tuck asked.
It was time she told him the truth. “Would you meet me in the chapel after breakfast tomorrow morning? I need to show you something that will explain everything.”
Tuck nodded.
“You had better come alone.”
Avery skipped breakfast to arrive in the chapel early to pray for Kendrick and prepare for Tuck.
In addition to the light pouring through the stained-glass windows, she was puzzled to find the chapel lit by clusters of fat white candles, giving the sanctuary a warm, hazy glow and producing a wreath of incense that made her eyes burn.
Avery soon realized she was not alone.
An old man knelt at the altar the way her mother had back home. She’d not seen an adult pray here and was about to leave him when she noticed his cane. And then his coat. Slowly it dawned on her.
This wasn’t just any old man. Avery had walked in on her dying king!
He had come to pray for what? There were so many options.
She knew she should turn and leave, but she couldn’t shake one thought—
Do I stay and risk my life to tell him the truth, or do I risk everything and everyone else by leaving?
Everything her mother and father had ever taught her came pouring back, and she took one terrifying step.
Her feet felt like lead, but for good or bad, this was her moment.
And Avery was going to seize it.
About the Authors
Trisha White Priebe is a wife, mom, writer, editor, and shameless water polo enthusiast. She advocates for orphans, speaks at retreats, and enjoys assisting her husband in ministry. She wrote Trust, Hope, Pray: Encouragement for the Task of Waiting and A Sherlock Holmes Devotional: Uncovering the Mysteries of God. She blogs at RescuingSunday.com.
Jerry B. Jenkins, former vice president for publishing at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and currently a member of its board of trustees, is the author of more than 185 books, including the bestselling Left Behind series. He teaches writers at JerryJenkins.com.
Coming April 2017
The Paper Boat
The king is not well and is in a hurry to hand over his power to a new generation when rumors begin to circulate through the kingdom. It appears the king is unaware of the sinister plot against the orphans and that it is the doing of the queen, who wants to be sure her child is heir to the throne.
As Avery weighs the pros and cons of seeking an audience with the king, the castle is dealt a heavy blow; but Avery decides the risk is worth taking, and she steps out of the shadows for the first time since entering the castle.
When Avery is offered an opportunity of a lifetime, will she choose a life free from hardship within the castle walls … or her family and the home she left behind?
Don’t miss this exciting conclusion!
; Trisha Priebe, The Ruby Moon
The Ruby Moon Page 12
