Black Keys (The Colorblind Trilogy #1) - Rose B. Mashal Page 0,67
were always on every wall I’d seen since I came here.
“Security reasons,” he replied, opening yet another hidden door that led to a different alley.
Duh!
“I know that,” I said. “I meant: why so many?”
“Time.”
“Time?”
“Yep.” He stopped walking and turned to look at me. “It’s a known fact that every palace–especially the ones belonging to royal families–has secret doors. Having so many of them gives us time to flee when needed by distracting the attacker.”
Huh!
“That’s smart,” I told him as we walked again. “But, why would anyone attack the palace? Or the royal family? There are no wars here or anything.”
“That’s a story for another day, Princess.”
I didn’t push.
The second alley looked like a never-ending one. It went on forever, and it started to become trying, especially with my ridiculously long robe that was way longer than floor length. I kept most of it fisted in one hand, in order to be able to walk at all and not just trip on it and fall on my face.
After what felt like two weeks of walking, and because I was the luckiest girl on earth and all, my heel decided to break. “Oh, snap!”
“What’s wrong?” the prince asked, holding me by the waist to his side when I stumbled.
“My heel broke,” I whined, bending down and holding my foot a bit up to look at the damage. If I broke the other one I wouldn’t walk any better since the front was way higher than the heel when broken.
This is why I want my freaking clothes and my freaking shoes; those sandals are not to be worn outdoors!
“Take them off,” the prince suggested.
“And then?” I asked, annoyed. I didn’t want to go back after I’d already walked that far, but I didn’t want to walk barefoot either.
“And then…” he said. The next thing I knew, my feet had left the floor and were being held almost at the same level as my head, as the prince put one hand under the back of my thighs and the other around my back and lifted me up, carrying me bridal style and continuing to walk, smiling smugly when I squealed in surprise.
“You can’t carry me the rest of the way!”
“Yes, I can.”
Smug jerk!
“You still won’t tell me where we’re going?”
“We’ll be there soon.”
I sighed. “Are we still in the palace?”
“Not really.”
“Where are we then?”
“You see, Princess, secret doors could lead you to other rooms or other wings, but the ones leading you to elevators take you out of the palace.”
“How come?”
“The elevators open to tunnels. Each one takes you to a different place, miles away from the palace.”
“Wow!” I said, fisting his shirt. “How do you know where to go or which one to choose?” It sounded really complicated to me.
“I’ve had it memorized since I was a little kid; my mother taught me.”
“The queen?” I asked. Didn’t she have anything better to do? Like threatening others with death and giving them deadly glares? I could only imagine how many doors and how many alleys … tunnels, or whatever.
“Only the immediate royal family knows of these tunnels, Princess. My parents, my siblings, and now you,” he smiled.
I smiled a small smile. But then I remembered, “How about your sister-in-law?”
“Wives are not supposed to learn of the tunnels until after they bring an heir to their husbands, in case they were intruders.”
I frowned.
“But–I’m here, now.” I didn’t bring him an heir, I wasn’t even… Why would he do that?
He just smiled, but said nothing.
“What if the palace was attacked? Your sister-in-law could be the first victim!”
“God forbid,” he said. “I’m sure she would be fine,” he paused, “Just like you would.”
It took me a moment to realize what he meant by that.
“Your brother taught her?”
He looked deep into my eyes, “When it comes to love, Princess, rules blur and traditions fade.”
“We’re here,” the prince announced, putting me down and keeping me in front of him after I took off the sandals.
“What are we doing?” I wondered. We were just standing in front of a wall, not doing anything.
“Look closely.”
I did.
“Can you see it?”
I nodded.
“Touch it.”
I did.
“Press.”
When I pressed the square figure that was barely noticeable on the wall, it moved to the side, revealing an electronic panel with ten numbers, from zero to nine.
I turned my head to look at the prince, and he told me to look at it again. His voice was very quiet and very close to my ear. “Do you remember which secret door we took after we left the living