“Are you okay?” Avery whispered.
“There is something you should know,” Kate said. “But you must promise me you will never speak of it to anyone.”
“Of course.”
“The old woman was my grandmother.”
Avery’s eyes grew wide. Kate was wearing the black mourning gown.
Her mind began racing.
If Kate was the granddaughter of the old woman, Kate had grown up in the castle—or at least made frequent visits. No wonder she had so many answers. No wonder she knew things.
She probably knows far more than she’s admitted.
“I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you,” Kate continued.
“Are you an orphan?” Avery asked.
Kate nodded.
“Are you thirteen?”
Slowly, Kate shook her head.
Something between them shifted with this shared knowledge.
Avery wanted to ask questions—a million of them—but crowds gathered below, pushing in around the king’s throne, and excited voices rose. Soon a flourish of trumpets sounded and the beaming king appeared to low bows and enthusiastic applause.
Avery found herself giddy.
The king thanked everyone for coming, and—like the kids throughout the castle—the crowd seemed to hang on his every word.
“I am excited to announce that the Olympiad is close at hand. I have decreed that all residents of the kingdom—from the oldest to the youngest—shall be free to attend. No one will be denied entrance into the greatest games on earth. For this one moment in our history, we will set aside rank, and all classes will be free to cheer on our contestants side by side. I want you all to be there!”
He raised a gold cup as the crowd cheered wildly.
“Age will not matter. Wealth will not matter. Men and women, boys and girls are welcome.”
Again the crowd erupted, and Avery heard the clanging of bells and the cheering from outside the castle walls.
Kate clapped the grate closed.
“What are you doing?” Avery asked. “I want to hear the rest! This is good news!”
“When will you understand that nothing with this king and queen is that simple? It’s got to be a trap. Angelina has encouraged him to invite everyone so that she can find someone.”
Avery looked into Kate’s sad eyes.
She would not say it now, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
The need to stay in the castle was strong, but the need to find her family was stronger.
When the Olympiad opened, she would be there, with or without Kate’s approval.
Chapter 40
The Idea
Tuck and Avery hadn’t spoken since their surprise meeting in the great room.
Tuck smiled as she approached, and when they were finally alone in the dining room, he pulled out a chair for her.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” she said quietly, trembling.
“I’m glad you asked,” he said, his eyes as alarming to her as the first time she saw them. “I’m glad to see you still wear the ring.”
Avery looked down at the crown ring he had given her at Christmas.
She winced, knowing what she was about to do.
“Before you tell me why you wanted to meet, I have news,” Tuck began. “Intelligence has notified me that an army is beginning to form in the village with plans to overthrow the king.”
A lump formed in Avery’s throat. She knew this because of her conversation with Edward, but revealing this to Tuck would harm the fragile thread between them.
“If they can gather enough soldiers, everyone in this castle will be in danger,” Tuck continued. “If we get caught in the crosshairs of a rebellion, we will fight for our survival like everyone else. It’s another reason we need to find a safer place to live. And without the old woman to tell us what to do, our security is in jeopardy.”
“The underground colonies,” Avery said. “It’s my first priority. I am so close.”
Tuck nodded. “Good. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“I’m here to ask you to place a spy in court.”
“Go on.”
“A spy could get closer to Angelina, see how she spends her time, learn what she thinks and plans, and listen in on her meetings and conversations from a better vantage point than we are given from the grates.”
“How would it work? Angelina doesn’t let anyone get close to her.”
“Every time I see her, a dozen ladies trail in service, planning her wardrobe or creating her seating charts. She doesn’t sneeze without the presence of an audience. Place a spy among those ladies and she’d never know.”
Avery could see that Tuck liked the idea.
“Who do you think is ideal for the task?” he asked.
“Me.”
Tuck started to protest, but Avery put up a hand. “Hear me out,” she said. “I’m so close to putting everything together, and I know the missing pieces I must find. Allowing someone else to do this will slow things down, and as you just said, we don’t have time.”
“If something happened to you, I could never forgive myself.”
“I know. Which is why I must give this back for now.”
Carefully she twisted off the castle ring and held it out to him.
“I want to wear it,” she said, “but not yet. I need you to keep it for now.”
“Why?”
“Queens are never permitted to put the personal above the political.”
Tuck nodded, confusion in his eyes. He swallowed hard before accepting the ring. “I will keep it safe until you want it back. And I will trust that you will ask for it back someday.”
Avery nodded. “I will.”
A heavy silence passed between them.
When Tuck remained quiet, Avery continued. “You said you could never forgive yourself if something happened to me, but if we never find our way out of here, I could never forgive myself. Promise you’ll think about it.”
When Tuck nodded, Avery put her hand on his.
It was a start.
Everyone in the kingdom was abuzz preparing for the Olympiad only a few months away.
Avery went to work writing out the score for the song she had arranged. It was simple and not at all what she had dreamed of. But she believed it would make the king happy.
On sheets of parchment with the edge of a knife she drew the horizontal lines and spaces that represented the musical staff. She carefully dipped her pen in a jar of ink from Kendrick’s desk and colored in the notes. She could hear the score in her head as she worked.
Finished, she took the music to Tuck, who congratulated her and told her that he couldn’t wait to hear what she had created.
It was good to be done.
She had embellished the tune her parents had created to make it appropriate for the occasion. Maybe, just maybe, if her father came within earshot of the Olympiad, he would recognize the song and know where to find her.
She could always hope.
With so much at stake, these really could be the greatest games on earth.
Chapter 41
The Opening
Late that night, Avery lay on her bed flipping the pages of her mother’s travel book, still wondering why her mother had written that it “must not be destroyed.”
It still looked like an ordinary travel guide.
Avery was thankful, at least, that the task of reading it was almost finished. She would rather spend a day bartering over marbles and castle castoffs than to ever read about currency exchanges again. The book did not seem the type her mother would have considered a favorite, having always favored dreamy fairy tales and fables.
Finishing, Avery debated scanning the index, but the book had been dull enough without lists of archaic names from obscure countries.
Keep looking, the pages seemed to say.
So she fanned the pages quickly, seeing nothing.
But she felt something.
> Something hard and out of place in the back of the book. The thick back cover had been hollowed out to make room for a dull, silver key.
She dug it out and turned it over in her hand. It looked nothing like the keys her parents used at home, and they owned nothing valuable enough to be locked. Why would her mother hide a key in the back of a travel book?
Slowly, an idea dawned.
Stepping into her slippers and grabbing a lit candle, she tiptoed into the hallway and onto the stairwell, where she climbed to the library.
Inside, the dark blue sky on the ceiling with its golden stars and large moon were the only familiar sights in the now-empty room. The deep quiet of the hollow space was bone chilling. As usual, Avery could feel the slight breeze on her face, but she wasn’t here to look at stars tonight.
She had one mission.
She headed straight to the empty bookshelf that revealed the keyhole, thrust the key into the lock, and twisted.
The click was loud as thunder.
With a final glance over her shoulder to be sure she was alone, Avery pushed with all her strength. Slowly she slid the bookcase to the side, and it groaned as if it had been closed a long, long time. She stood at the entry to a long, drafty passageway she guessed would lead into the underbelly of the castle.
Quietly she called out, “Hello?”
Cool air blew through and took out her candle flame with a single whoosh, leaving the room dark as ink.
Voices in the distance seemed to say, “Go away!”
But Avery didn’t obey.
She knew she had finally discovered the tunnels—the entrance to the underworld—and with it, the answer to many questions.
Taking a deep breath, she took her first step into the darkness.
About the Authors
Trisha White Priebe is a wife, mom, writer, and shameless water polo enthusiast. She advocates for orphans, speaks at retreats, and enjoys assisting her husband in youth ministry. She wrote Trust, Hope, Pray: Encouragement for the Task of Waiting and A Sherlock Holmes Devotional: Uncovering the Mysteries of God.
Jerry B. Jenkins, former vice president for publishing at Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and currently a member of the board of trustees, is the author of more than 175 books, including the bestselling Left Behind series.
Coming Fall 2016…
The Ruby Moon
In this exciting sequel to The Glass Castle, The Ruby Moon opens as preparations begin for the upcoming Olympiads. The castle is buzzing with activity and excitement. Dignitaries are coming. Athletes are training. In a moment of goodwill, the king announces that all members of the kingdom—adults and children alike—will be allowed to attend the Olympiads freely without discrimination. Lucky break or royal trap? Everyone knows the queen is still on the hunt for the king’s rightful heir, and kids keep disappearing from the castle. When Avery learns that a male runner is needed for an important race, she volunteers so she can get close to the action… but can she hide her true identity? One slip-up could mean a trip to the dungeon—or worse. Much is at stake while the kingdom enjoys the greatest games on earth.
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