Although Clorine wasn't one to scream, she almost did only she couldn't.

She just stared at the man in shock before blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"What are you doing in the castles attic!?" she exclaimed

The man raised a eyebrow "I Could ask you the same question"

His voice was much younger than she expected. She looked at him more closely he was younger then she thought. The dime light of the attic and the dirt smudges on his face made it hard to see what he really looked like. She was guessing he wasn't much older then she was

"Who are you?" Clorine asked

He turned around and started walking to the back of the Attic "it doesn't matter. Just go away."

Clorine crossed her arms, "No."

He stopped and looked back at her "Who are you?"

"I'll answer if you answer" she stated

Rolling his eyes, he turned and faced her "fine"

Clorine smiled "I'm Clorine the new maid in the castle"

She watched as his eyebrows raised

"Since when did Phillip hire a maid?" he muttered

"Since a few days ago," she replied "and how do you know the king? Does he know you're up here?"

"um.. ugh" he faced palmed "just couldn't keep your mouth shut." he grumbled to himself

Clorine tilted her head to one side "please tell me who you are."

Sighing, he looked away and muttered something

Clorine leaned forward a little "what was that?"

He sighed "My name is… Peter"

"Peter? That's your name?" Clorine asked doubtfully

"Yup, that's it" he said

she looked at him skeptically "right. so Peter, what are you doing up here in the attic?"

"I umm, I work here too." Peter answered

One of Clorine"s eyebrows raised "really?" she said slowly dragging out the word

"Yup" he nodded

Clorine crossed her arms "has anyone ever told you, you're a terrible liar?"

Peter shook his head "Nope, they never had to."

"uh-huh" she put her hands on her hips

"Why are you looking at me like I did something wrong?" he asked

Clorine huffed "You! Did do something wrong, I told you my real name and what I was doing here, and you've told me nothing but lies and you think you did nothing wrong!?"

He stepped back "are kinda scary when your upset"

She huffed "Oh please! Now Tell me right now what is your name!"

"How do you know Peter isn't my real name?" he asked

Clorine pointed at a trunk that was on the floor with a book by it "When I asked your name. You hesitated and looked at the book, all though its dusty I can see the title Peter Pan. And I may have worked here a couple days, but I know that beside the guards the only other staff is the cook. Plus the Castle staff usually don't work behind locked attic doors.

"Ok, fine. So Peter isn't my real name" He said "and your right I don't work here."

"Well?" Clorine asked, looking at him expectantly

A look of confusion crossed his face "well, what?"

"Your name" Clorine answered "and why are you in the Attic."

"My Name is Benjamin Ace Jacques Lance. But Phillip just calls me Lance" He said "And I'm in the Attic because I have to be."

"Why do you have to be?" she asked, calming down "is someone forcing you to stay up here?"

Lance shook his head "No, I chose to stay up here."

Clorine frowned "Why?"

He shrugged "it's for the good of the people."

"People?"

"Yeah, you know the kingdom" He said sitting down on top of a large chest

She sat down across from him on another chest "Why are you concerned about the good of the people? I mean' aren't you one of the people?"

"Not exactly. I mean I am just different I guess," he said rubbing his neck

Her frown deepened "you are gifted in the talent of making no sense" she stated plainly

Lance face broke into a small smile and he chuckled a little "Thanks"

That was the first he had smiled and Clorine couldn't help but smile back

"Ok." Clorine said "Another question. Why do you refer to the King as Phillip?"

His eyes shifted around the room "doesn't everybody?"

Clorine shook her head "Umm, no, its ether highness, Majesty, King or King Phillip but never just Phillip"

"Right." He said uneasily "well since I'm a terrible lair, I'm going to take the safe route and forfeit the question"

A small pout formed on Clorines face "fine"

it was quiet for a couple minutes when I small smile crossed Clorines face

"Ok" she said "I have a suggestion. We make a agreement that we will truthfully answer any question asked by each other"

"fine" He said "But I go first"

Clorine nodded "fine."

"What made you come to the Attic?" he asked

"When I was showed around the Palace my guide avoided this hallways so I was curious" she answered "ok my turn. How long have you've been up here?"

"Five years," he said "I go down every now and then but not much"

"Why?" Clorine asked

Lance held up a finger "ah isn't it my turn to ask a question?"

She sighed "fine"

"What made you become a maid?"

Clorine twisted a piece of her hair "Umm… why does anyone become a maid?"

"Answering a question with a question is..."

"Avoiding the first question I know" Clorine finished "My Mother used to quote that a lot"

"So why?" he asked again

"Promise not to tell anyone?" Clorine asked

Lance nodded "I promise"

she took a deep breath there was something about Lance that made her fell she could trust him. "ok I got a job so I could legally snoop around the castle. I'm trying to figure out what happened to the Other King and the Queen."

Lance's face went blank.

Clorine tried to read it but she couldn't "Lance?"

"Why try?" he said standing up "Every one knows what happened"

"That's what everyone says but no one knows as a fact what exasaclt took place" Clorine replied "The story has gaps that need to be filled"

"No it needs left alone" Lance said firmly

Clorine stood up and looked him in the eye "Why should it be left alone?"

Lance huffed "Because it happened years ago no one survived and things are how they are!"

"That's why it needs looked into!" Clorine answered back "there are to many questions that are left unanswered!"

"You think I don't know that?" Lance shot back "I would love to know what happened but its not meant to be the simple facts are that for some resin my mother lost it and killed my dad." he exclaimed

after it was silent for awhile Lance looked at Clorine to see her starring at him

"Wha..." he Begin to asked but stopped and groaned "I just blew it didn't I?"

Clorine slowly shook her head "your there son? They had a son?"

he sighed and sunk down to the floor "Great" muttered

Clorine sat down beside him and placed a hand on his arm "why didn't you tell me?"

Lance slightly shrugged "any time someone finds out they act weird. They act like they don't know whether to be disgusted or sympathetic"

"But we just meet so why would it have mattered?" She asked

"I guess because you just seemed different" he answered "And its get kinda lonely up here I thought maybe we could be friends."

Clorine smiled "That be fun. But why are you so against someone investigating what happened to your parents? Don't you want to know what really happened?"

"When I little I just pretended that it didn't happen" he said "But as I got older I couldn't ignore it any longer"

"Are you afraid?" Clorine asked "that is the truth is found the rumors will be right?"

Lance nodded a little "I know the rumors are right"

"How?"

"The same resine I'm up here." he replied "My mother was crazy and I am to."

Clorine quricked and eyebrow "How are you crazy?"

"remember how I told you I was up here for the good of the kingdom?" he asked

She nodded

"Its because I'm going crazy like my mother did" he said "I hear voices that aren't there and see shadows that don't exist"

"That doesn't mean you're crazy" she answered

He looked over at her "then what does it mean?"

She tilted her head "I don't know, maybe the castles haunted"

Lance laughed slightly "No one else see's or hears them."

"Lance, there's no one else here." Clorine said

"The Guards and sometimes the council," he said

"Ok. But what if your mother didn't go crazy?" She asked "Ever think of that?"

"Sometimes, but there's no way to find out." Lance answered

Clorine stood up "I think there is."

"Why?"

"Because the king and Queen along with a caravan of musketeers can't just skip town without something being recorded like where they going."

Lance stood to "you have a point."

Clorine nodded "All we have to do is find out where they were going and why then we'll have something to go on."

"ok"

Clorine snapped her fingers "Oh bummer!"

"What?" he asked

"It's going to be hard going through files with the king in the office" Clorine replied

Lance smiled "actually it won't. After the disappearance My Father's office was locked they gave Phillip a different one."

Clorine pumped her fist in the air "great!"

"Clorine!" a voice called from somewhere in the Palace

She gasped "I have to go! I'm supposed to be cleaning!"

"Ok. Go. We can look at my dad's office tomorrow." Lance said

"ok" Clorine said before running out the door

"Hi Andrews!" Clorine greeted

"Where were you?" he asked

"Taking a small break from cleaning in one of the upstairs rooms." she replied with a smile "did you need something?"

"Yes. I came to tell you, that you might want to leave early because rains heading in" Andrews said "which also means you are going, to want to come in for work early in the morning because the king hates muddy footprints on the floors"

"Ok" Clorine said "who cleaned them before?"

He smiled "I did and anyone else that was on duty. But now that there's a maid..."

"I got it," she said "Thank you Andrews."

The Next day Clorine moped and moped and moped some more.

Andrews walked into a room to see Clorine emptying some buckets of water into a bigger bucket

"Leaky roof?" he asked

"Yes," she answered, "it's almost a relief from foot prints."

He chuckled "I know what you mean"

Clorine looked up at the ceiling "It's strange it doesn't look like it leek"

"Just remember Not everything that appears sealed is." Andrews said before leaving the room

Clorine looked at the door, he left through "Well that, was kinda random"

Clorine ran up the hall to the attic and burst through the door

"What's the rush?" Lance asked

"It has stopped raining the guards just finished switching shifts there should be no foot prints for about an hour" Clorine said quickly "Let's go"

He smiled "are muddy foot prints really that bad?"

She sent him a glare "you try keeping them up when there are over 20 guards and well over 40 hallways. On the bottom floor alone!"

He held up his hands in surrender "ok, ok."

They reached the Office. Thankfully it was in a part of the castle that was no longer used

"How do we get it?" Clorine asked

Lance rubbed the back of his neck "Well, I was thinking you could pick the lock like you did with the attic lock"

Clorine rolled her eyes and grabbed a hair pin, wit in a minute they were in the office.

"were did you learn, how to do that?" He asked

She smiled "Secret. Now lets get busy"

"Right, so what are we looking for?" Lance asked going over to the desk

Clorine shrugged "Just a clue of some kind," she answered while going through a file cabinet

They worked in silence for a while

"Hay, I think I might have found something" Lance said

Clorine walked over to see him with a book "Great! What's that?"

"It's a Book for the King to write important notes in" He replied

"Well are you going to open it?" she asked

He handed her the book "You do it"

"Ok" she opened the book and flipped through it "here's something"

August 10th

Didn't sleep well last night Corrine wouldn't quit moving.

She was acting strange all day today and was really jumpy.

August 27th

A kingdom has asked for a meeting between rulers I was just going to let Corrine go since likes to travel and take her friends with her, and I stay here so Paris isn't without a ruler, but she insisted that we both go I don't know why.

She's been acting weird for two and a half weeks.

August 31th

Well, we leave later tonight. Corrine insisted we leave as soon as the sun sets.

And stranger yet she wont's to leave Benjamin behind I hardly ever see her without him.

"Interesting" Clorine said after her and Lance finished reading it

"Is that the last entry?" he asked

She nodded "That's it. Why does everything having to do with this just make things more confusing!?"

Lance is about five inches taller then Clorine. He has medium blue eyes and light brown hair with natural blonde highlights so kinda like strawberry blond only brown instead of red.

Ok, so I know Clorine and Lance became friends really fast and that part was a bit rushed, but I was afraid the story would begin to drag if I went slowly, now the action can happen! :) oh, and sorry for all those who was hoping it was Louie I hope ya'll aren't too disappointed

Anyway, thank everyone for the everything! Favs, follows and Reviews!

You can write as many as you like ;)

bye!