“Knowing him, he’ll have done whatever he can to cover his tracks.” Ava shook her head in disgust. “Still, at least they took the complaint seriously.”
“Also, I got a look at the courtroom,” said Aldric. “They don’t seem to be in a rush to clear all those obstacles away and I didn’t see any sign of a chess board. We may have been wrong about the final trial.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that now.” Ava was determined not to let fear undermine her courage. “I’ve spent most of my life training myself to think strategically. I just have to trust that it will be enough.”
Remembering what had happened in the intelligence trial, Ava forced herself to go over to the table and choose something to eat and drink. The others were quick to follow her example and they had just completed their simple meal when the clerk reappeared.
Ava was at the back of the group and the clerk and all three of her companions had disappeared into the main arena when Konrad came striding out of one of the other doors. He checked for a moment when he saw her and then continued forward, not meeting her gaze.
On a whim, Ava stepped over to intercept him.
“Why did you do it?” she asked. “Why couldn’t you have just waited?”
Konrad jerked to a halt and whipped his head up to stare at her. There was an almost manic glint in his eyes and for a moment he looked almost wolfish. She flinched, wondering if he would attack her. He made no move to do so, however, simply staring at her with his burning, inhuman eyes.
I guess I’m not the only one who Father turned into a wolf. She shuddered.
“I had to do it,” he said, eventually. “He gave me no choice.”
“How can you say that? I know he could be harsh but you were his favourite.”
“He was a fool.” Konrad ignored her words, speaking in a fevered tone. “He let you botch things in Arcadia and then he did nothing to capitalise on their weakness.”
“Arcadia was my fault, there was nothing he could have done.”
“Of course there was.” Contempt filled Konrad’s face. “He should have led an attack while they were still recovering. I told him so at the time but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“What are you talking about? Northhelm would have stood with Arcadia. Possibly Lanover as well. We wouldn’t have stood a chance against them!”
“Lanover is allied with us, not Arcadia, and you overestimate Northhelm’s interest in them, too. Worst of all, you underestimate us, sister. As did Father. I have trained the best army Rangmere has ever seen. Father was an old, cautious fool or he would have seen the inevitability of our victory. He was holding Rangmere back. As I said, I had no choice.”
He stepped around her and disappeared through the door.
Ava stared after him, appalled. He was mad! There could be no other explanation. Twisted by their father into something worse than an animal. Drunk on his love of power and desire for domination, he was blinded to the reality of the other kingdoms’ loyalties.
Many of his actions of the past few weeks suddenly made sense. How he had dared attack the merchants at the border, why he had sent only four men after them in the forest and why his belief in his victory at the Trials had been so absolute. For all his strength and cunning, his mind was so warped, he no longer believed he could be beaten. Rangmere was large and strong but it couldn’t stand against the combined might of the other kingdoms. If Konrad won the trials, he would lead their kingdom into disaster.
She had to win. The alternative seemed doubly unthinkable now. She rushed forward into the arena.
The other three girls had already taken their seats and were looking around for Ava in confusion. As Aldric had reported, clerks were still busy clearing away the obstacles from the resilience trial and nothing new had been set up.
The final magistrate rose and Ava examined him for the first time. She knew this had to be Emmerich but she didn’t think she’d ever actually met the man before. He had a bushy white beard, quite different from the distinguished academic look that the other magistrates had perfected. He looked like Ava’s childhood visions of a kindly grandfather. His mouth was surrounded by laugh lines and when he spoke he sounded excited rather than serious.
“The fifth and final trial will test the competitors on their strategic thinking. Unlike the other trials, it will not take place here. Instead, it will be held in the library. The exit to the library has been locked. Each competitor must find one of the two hidden keys and then find the correct exit. The first to emerge from the library will be the winner of the trial, and therefore, the crown.” He delivered the last two words in a loud ringing voice before beaming out at the audience. Some of the other magistrates had shown an inclination for the dramatic but none of them came close to Emmerich.
Ava wondered what such a man would dream up for a trial. How hard could it be to find the library’s exit? How many doors did it have? She had visited it once, when she had toured the Hall of Magistrates with her father, and she remembered it as a cavernous room, lined with bookshelves. The middle part of the room had been filled with rows of tables and chairs full of studious clerks. Would the key be hidden in one of the bookshelves? If so, the trial might last all night.
“I invite the competitors to follow me,” said Emmerich, with no abatement of his good cheer.
Evelyn reached forward to grip Ava’s shoulder in encouragement and both Sarah and Mathilde patted her on the back as she stepped past them. When she reached the door of the courtroom, she paused to look back at the crowd.
This is it. I will see them again as their queen or possibly not at all. She had no illusions – if Konrad won, his first order of business would be disposing of his pesky younger sister.
As they followed Emmerich across the back foyer, Ava risked a quick glance at Konrad. He was staring straight ahead, his expression determined.
Emmerich paused outside one of the many doors coming off the foyer and turned to face them.
“I must ask you to remain here, Your Highness.” He gave Konrad a small bow. “The door will be opened for you in exactly two minutes. I must also warn you, that the trial will be overseen by a number of my clerks. They have been instructed not to engage with the competitors so it would be fruitless to seek their assistance. Now, if you will follow me, Your Highness.” This time he addressed his words to Ava.
“Where’s she going?” asked Konrad with narrowed eyes.
“I will conduct her to another door, a separate entrance to the library. But do not worry, both doors are equidistant from the exit and neither location gives an advantage.”
Konrad looked unimpressed and Ava wondered if he had been hoping to sabotage her in some way. It seemed likely given his conduct so far.
Following Emmerich she tried to imagine what might be waiting for her in the library. But all she could picture was the chaos the room would be in after she and Konrad had pulled all the books off the shelves in their search for the key.
After passing several doors, Emmerich stopped outside one that looked just like all the others.
“Here we are,” he said, still cheerful.
“Thank you.” Ava tried to suppress her nerves and wished she could have had her friends by her side.
“You’re most welcome, my dear.” Emmerich beamed at her. “Just wait here and the door will open any minute now.”
He turned to go and then paused, turning back towards her.
“Oh, and good luck,” he said, “and may the best princess win!” With a wink he was gone and Ava was left with a smile on her own lips.
Before it had died away, the door swung open and she was confronted with yet another clerk. She was starting to wonder how many of them the Magistrate’s Hall had and if they’d had to borrow some for the event.
Without saying anything, he handed her a slip of parchment and then stepped aside, giving her free access into the library. For several seconds, Ava stood there blinking stupidly and trying to work out what she was seeing.<
br />
Gone was the large room she remembered. Instead she was facing a long, narrow corridor, lined with books. She took several steps inside but was confronted with nothing but bookshelves. Walking along the corridor, she reached another wall of books. Glancing to her left and right she saw long, book-lined corridors stretching out in either direction. Not far down the left passageway, she saw an opening in the right wall through which she could glimpse more books.
Her eyes slowly widened. Emmerich had apparently transformed the enormous library into a giant maze, the corridors of which were created by bookshelves. She shuddered to think of the amount of work that would have gone into moving all the shelves into position. His words about finding the key and the exit now made sense.
She remembered the parchment in her hand and glanced down at it. The bookshelves were tall but didn’t reach the ceiling so there was plenty of light to see by. Several lines were written on the small scrap in an elegant calligraphy.
In two places I am hid,
One to left and one to right.
The third and fourth I never did,
On them your eyes will not alight.
So if you follow as you’re bid.
You’ll find me hiding in plain sight.
A riddle! She read it through twice more, frowning with concentration. The first line seemed to refer to the two keys hidden in the maze. The second line also seemed obvious, one was hidden somewhere down the left path and one somewhere down the right.
The third line made no sense, however. No one had mentioned a third or fourth object. Out of old habit she held herself completely still while her mind worked furiously. Yes, the first two lines seemed to have a clear meaning but this was a riddle. If the third line was incomprehensible, it must be because she had missed something in the first two.
“One to left and one to right,” she muttered under her breath. “One to left and one to right…oh!”
What if the second line referred not to the two door keys but to a different kind of key. The key to the maze. And what if the ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ mentioned in the third line were a clue. If she said it aloud, it sounded like ‘one, two, left and one, two, right’. What if it meant that she should take a first and second left and then a first and second right?
It was as good a thought as any so she decided to test it out. As long as she followed the pattern exactly, she could always find her way back if she hit a dead end.
Turning to her left she started off at a jog, ignoring the opening she had seen on the right. When an opening appeared to her left, she took it, still moving at a slow run. This corridor looked exactly like the last one but this time she reached the end before she saw another opening in the wall of books.
Just like the first corridor, it wasn’t a dead end but rather a perpendicular corridor. She paused for a moment to catch her breath and then hurried down the right-hand side. This corridor stretched on much longer than any of the previous ones and the only openings she could see were to her left. Just as she was starting to doubt herself, an opening appeared to her right. She took it, her sweaty hand clutching the parchment in her closed fist.
She had now completed the instructions by taking two lefts and then two rights but she was confronted with another long corridor of books with nothing to distinguish it from the others she had already encountered. She decided to start again with two more lefts.
She forced herself to slow down to a fast walk, pacing herself since she had no idea how many times she would have to walk around the maze. As she moved forward she kept her eyes peeled for any openings. The air was full of the musty smell of old paper and she could see dust motes dancing in the golden beams of sunlight that were lancing down from the tall windows. She shivered at the thought of how much dust must have been disturbed when they relocated all the bookshelves.
Luckily her musings hadn’t distracted her from her purpose because the next left was a narrow opening, nearly invisible amongst the monotony of books. She slipped through and was almost immediately confronted by another perpendicular corridor. Taking the left path, she soon found an opening to her right and took it. Not long after that, she found another opening to her right. This corridor stretched out long and straight ahead of her so she broke into a light run.
The sound of a muffled cough broke the silence and Ava jerked to a stop. The effect of the maze was so isolating that she had almost forgotten she wasn’t alone in the room. Whirling around she looked behind her but there was no one there. Slowly she turned in a complete circle but still she couldn’t see anyone.
She wondered if it was Konrad, on the other side of one of the bookshelves. As she was making one last circle around, her gaze strayed upwards and she staggered back a step in shock. She could see the wall of the library behind her and perched on the top of a bookshelf that was resting against the wall, was a clerk. He was looking down at her apologetically and she guessed that he was the author of the cough.
Breathing deeply to calm her racing heartbeat, she continued down the book lined corridor. She passed several openings on her right but none on her left so she continued on until at last she reached the end of the corridor.
It was a dead end. At first she felt disappointed but then she remembered the last line of the riddle. You’ll find me hiding in plain sight. Maybe this was the hiding place for one of the keys after all.
She slowed down and examined the area carefully. Nothing stood out. It all looked exactly like the many bookshelf corridors she had already encountered. She glanced back down at the paper in her hand.
“You’ll find me hiding in plain sight,” she read quietly but saying the words aloud didn’t help this time.
In desperation she considered pulling all the books off the shelves like she had envisioned before entering the maze. Looking directly in front of her, she ran her hand lightly along the spines at eye level. She wasn’t really paying close attention, she was mostly wondering if a clerk would rush over to stop her if she started manhandling the books.
But as her eyes slid over the spines, she gasped and stopped. Pulling a book off the shelf, she stared at it.
Plain Sight: A Medical History of the Human Eye was beautifully embossed across the cover. Flipping the book open, she found that a small hole had been cut into the pages and resting inside it was a large brass key.
She grabbed it out of the book and slipped it into a pocket hidden in her skirts. Then she carefully closed the book and slid it back onto the shelf. Before it had fully returned to its place, however, she paused. A clue had directed her to this hiding place but she had no idea where to go next to find the door.
Pulling the book back out again, she turned it over and shook it. A scrap of parchment slipped out and drifted down to the floor. Bending over she scooped it up in triumph. She was about to read it, when she stopped and tapped the cover of the book thoughtfully.
Running half way back down the corridor, she bent down and pulled a random book from one of the lower shelves. She carefully slid Plain Sight into the empty spot and ran back to put the other book where Plain Sight had originally been.
She smiled with satisfaction. If Konrad made it here, he would waste a lot of time trying to work out where the key was hidden. She just needed to get moving herself. She didn’t want to linger if there was any chance Konrad was on his way.
Still clutching the scrap of parchment, she ran all the way back down the corridor and then took a right. She walked several steps up this new corridor until she found an opening on her right and ducked into it.
She then smoothed out the parchment and found a second message.
Congratulations!
You’re almost there,
it won’t be long!
For my second,
I don’t belong.
But other than that,
I’m never wrong.
She frowned, trying to puzzle out its meaning. Her heartbeat had picked up at the thought that she was almost there and it took more effort t
han ever to calm herself down and focus on the words in front of her. She kept wondering if Konrad had found the other key and riddle and if he’d already managed to decipher its message.
While she was still mulling it over, she heard the sound of running footsteps from the corridor she had just vacated. Moving quietly, she pressed herself against one of the book shelves and hoped that Konrad wouldn’t turn down her corridor. She had no doubt he would relish physically wresting the key from her.
Thankfully the footsteps didn’t slow and she saw a glimpse of her brother as he hurried past the opening. She then heard him turn left into the corridor where she had found the key.
If she had thought her heart was beating fast before, it was nothing to the pounding that was now going on in her chest. Despite her precautions, she had mostly assumed that Konrad’s instructions would lead him from his door to the other key. That the whole thing had been set up so they would never actually cross paths.
She felt desperate to get away from this part of the maze but didn’t want to risk taking a wrong turn. She stared down at the riddle again and tried to force her brain to work faster.
When no solution presented itself, she pulled out the first bit of parchment to see if somehow the two riddles went together. But staring down at the first scrap, she got a shock. The words had changed! She was staring at an entirely different riddle.
How is that possible? she wondered. Casting about wildly for an explanation, she turned the parchment over in her hand and there was the original message. Turning it back over again, she felt like a fool. She’d never even thought to check the back. Reading it over quickly she realised that it was instructions to the hiding place of the second key.
The Princess Fugitive Page 27
