Part 21 (1/2)

”Now, that,” Kyra said, pointing her chin to the guy they were carrying, ”is a real mustache.”

”What are you talking about?” Ariana looked down at the bushy facial hair of the guard. ”It looks just like mine.”

They had just reached the G.o.ddess of Compa.s.sion when the quarter-hour bell began to ring.

”Fred, come help me with this.” Kyra dropped the guard's legs and went to the shrine. Extending out from either side of the G.o.ddess statue was what looked like a large moss-covered stone base. She moved her hands under the flat rectangle. ”Right here.” Fred placed his hands next to hers. ”On the count of three, heave up.”

Fred's shoulder brushed against Kyra's as he positioned himself to lift the stone.

And a waft of that spicy-forest Fred smell hit her.

She shook her head-she didn't have time to moon over her best friend's fiance. Why, she wondered, did he have to smell so tasty?

”One, two, three.” She and Fred lifted the stone up and to the side, revealing a staircase that led into darkness.

”Wow.” Fred looked down into the black hole. ”I never would have known this was here. The moss is a nice touch.”

Kyra couldn't help smiling at him as he slung the guard he'd been carrying back over his shoulder and disappeared down the hole.

When his head popped back into view, the girls pa.s.sed down the second guard. Langley sniffed the edge of the opening and attempted a tentative step on the stairs. He pulled back and gave Kyra a heartbreaking look.

”He'll be back, pal. Fred's not going to leave you here alone.”

Fred reappeared, and Langley's tail started wagging.

Fred hugged his wolf dog to his chest, then turned and carried him down.

”Ari, you head in,” Kyra told her. ”I can get the top back on by myself.”

Ariana squeezed Kyra's shoulder as she went past and scrambled down the stairs.

Kyra followed, steadying herself on the narrow steps before reaching up. The slab had been counterweighted in such a way that it was easier to reposition the stone from below than to lift it from above. Kyra's muscles strained, but at last it thudded into place.

And cut off the sound of the next set of chapel bells ringing.

AT THE FOOT OF THE NARROW STAIRS, Fred and Ariana were each lighting a lantern they'd taken from hooks along the tunnel walls.

”There should be two sets of guards in this part of the castle,” Kyra whispered, her voice echoing softly in the confined s.p.a.ce. ”One set roams this wing of the palace, and the other is stationed just down the way at the doors to the main hall. If we time it right, we should be able to take out both sets of guards at the same time.”

They crept along the cool dark pa.s.sage, Langley's claws clicking against the cobbled floor. Fred's and Ariana's lanterns cast quivering shadows as they walked.

At the end of the tunnel they came to a dead end. To the right was a large hook to hang a lantern on, looping up to a curling iron head, but Kyra knew better. She pointed to the iron ring, whispered, ”Lever,” and the princess put a hand on the loop in immediate understanding.

Kyra positioned herself, a needle in each hand, and listened for movement.

When the sound of footsteps grew close, Kyra nodded to Ariana. The princess pulled the ring, and the wall at the end of the hall swung open-it was a hidden door made of the same stone as the palace walls.

On the other side were two startled guards. Kyra stepped out and stabbed her needles into their arms, and they slumped to the ground.

”Hey!” shouted one of the two men posted outside the doors to the main hall. Kyra pulled her arm back and threw hard, her needle flying true and striking him in the shoulder. She followed that one with another needle.

Both men fell.

Kyra and her friends waited, listening for responses to the shout. When none came, they quickly moved to hide the bodies of the sleeping guards in the tunnel and pulled shut the secret door. It blended seamlessly.

They crouched down outside the closed doors of the main hall.

Kyra could hear the buzz of talk and laughter from inside. The duke liked people to enjoy themselves at the ducal palace-no one went hungry or lacked for entertainment behind these walls.

Ariana peeked through the crack between the heavy, carved wooden doors, a look of fascinated horror on her face. ”She's here, at the duke's table at the far end. She's wearing a poufy, baby blue dress and looks absolutely horrid. Ugh, do I really look like that?”

Fred squinted, his head to the side of Ariana's. ”How you look isn't about the face you were born with, it's what you do with it. Don't worry, you don't look anything like her.”

”Oh, my-Kitty, see who's sitting next to the duke?”

Kyra pushed between the two royals and peered through the crack. ”The d.u.c.h.ess Genria. Of all the times for her to choose to be by her husband's side. Fred, you better hope she doesn't recognize you as the slow fellow she met outside that barn.”

”Not with my Prince Frederick act.”

”Ready?” Kyra asked. They arranged themselves, Kyra to the left and Ari to the right of Fred, with Langley taking the lead.

Fred winked at Kyra.

Kyra and Ari pushed open the doors, allowing Fred to enter the hall.

The smoky air smelled of roasted meat and candle wax. There was a roaring open fire to one side, a dozen dining tables with chandeliers over them, and long tapestries hanging above the duke's long table at the end of the hall.

Conversations in the room carried on as the three of them proceeded down the center aisle, but Kyra felt curious eyes on her as people checked out the group. She had to keep herself from reaching up to make sure her hat was as far down on her forehead as it could go.

When they were a half-dozen feet away from the duke, they were halted by two uniformed men. The duke was a robust-looking man with rosy cheeks and a round belly that filled out his evening garments. There was a giant platter of roasted meat in front of him, with fat candles guttering on either side. The crowd in the hall hushed.

The guards barred their way with long spears. To their left a soldier with curly black hair said, ”Why weren't you accompanied by the door crew?”

”I have my own accompaniment, thank you,” Fred said regally.

”Please state your name and business,” the guard said.

Kyra swept her arm in Fred's direction and lowered her voice. ”His Royal Highness, Prince Frederick Lantana the Third, of Arcadia.”

Fred inclined his head toward the duke. The older gentleman looked pleased but didn't respond. As though he were waiting for something.

Kyra saw a flash of panic on Fred's face. He gestured downward with his hand.

They were so busy trying to look like men, Kyra and Ari had forgotten their courtly manners. Kyra put her hand up on the far side of her face as a s.h.i.+eld, just as Fred had taught her, and, without moving any closer to Ari, she whispered, ”He wants us to bow.”

Ari put her hand up on the far side of her face and whispered back, ”What?”

”Bow, you nitwit,” Kyra whispered louder, remembering to add a manly insult.

Several people in the hall t.i.ttered.