Chapter 23- Escape to the Palace

As anxious as they are, Henry and Charlotte know they can't break into a run. But if they continue slowly, something could happen before they got there. They wind up somewhere in the middle, jogging and stopping every now and then to check their surroundings.

When they finally make it back to the edge, they stop, standing behind a thick tree. There's no one else in sight, and nothing sounds off. Except…

"The music," says Charlotte. "From the party. I can't hear it."

"It might not travel this far," says Henry. "Or they could have stopped for a break."

"They know I'm gone. They have to."

"Wait," says Henry, trying to keep her from panicking. "Maybe not. Jude was pretty subtle when he deliver the message, and there were a lot of people there. You could easily be there." Even as he says it, though, Charlotte can hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"It's been too long," she says. "They'll have noticed- but," she adds as it comes to her, "if I'm seen in the palace, there's a million different ways that could be interpreted."

"Especially in that outfit." Charlotte looks down, becoming more aware that she was wearing her own clothes- she's much more comfortable in pants. "Right," she says. "We don't have any other choice- we have to find Adela and clear everything up. Something just isn't right here- I'm not sure what it is, though."

"Jude is the one who had us run," says Henry. "Maybe Kelilah and Angel were lying." He doesn't even consider calling Angel Charlotte's dad- he may be biologically related to her, but a dad doesn't abandon you.

Charlotte shrugs. "Adela trusts Jude," she says, "And if she does, we should- but then it wouldn't make sense."

Henry bites the inside of his cheek a little. "I don't think there's any clear path right now," he says, "but our best bet is probably to find Adela, tell her everything we know, and figure things out from there. But we don't know where she is."

"If she was taken to a safe place," says Charlotte, deep in thought, "that could mean a hidden room, or passage. But if she wasn't she could be looking for us right now." She looks at Henry. "We'll have to find her- but we need to stay down."

"Easier said than done," says Henry. "I'm nothing special to anyone here, except for Adela and Jude and the other people helping us- but you and Kelilah have the same face. That won't help matters."

Charlotte nods in agreement. "Especially out here in the open," she says. "We'll have to make a run for it until we get back to the wall with the steps." She looks at Henry, who nods in agreement with her. She looks back out into the open, then back at Henry. "Just in case we get split up?" Henry smiles at her and gives her a quick kiss, then holds out his hand. "Ready," he says. It's not a question. Charlotte takes his hand and says, "Set." The creep around the tree, double check that no one is around. "Go!" The g sound in go has barley been said when they break into a dead sprint.

Like last time, they make it to their destination without being spotted. The door is locked, but Charlotte still has her key- it opens the door and lets them in, and within seconds they're back in Kelilah's room.

The room certainly doesn't look like it's been disturbed- their things are still there, including their phones, which have nothing from Ray- meaning he hasn't tried to call and see where they are. What that means, they aren't sure.

They look out the window- there's no one left in the garden, at least that they can see.

Henry and Charlotte tiptoe around the palace-they even took off their shoes to keep quiet- but see no sign of Adela. Henry walks in front of Charlotte, so if anyone were to come by, they'd see him and not her.

For a while, though, they found no one. They had crept around the third floor first, since that's where Kelilah's room is, and then the second floor. It wasn't until they were just getting to the ground floor when the sudden screech of a boot against the floor made them freeze, and Charlotte almost drops her shoes in surprise.

A guard is passing by, his boot having made the squeak of the floor, speaking into a walkie-talkie. He speaks softly (though firmly), but he is close enough to Henry and Charlotte that they can hear this: "… I repeat, Bloom is safely in Room B45. Rosebud still MIA, but was last seen near Room T20 during the party." The guard passes them, not turning around to see Charlotte, or even Henry, standing a mere three feet away from him.

They don't dare to breathe until he's gone. Charlotte nudges Henry and starts back up the stairs. Confused, he follows her, not daring to speak until she has led him back to Kelilah's room.

"That was some sort of code," says Charlotte as she closes the door.

"Yeah," says Henry. "I think that Bloom is Adela- like a flower that has bloomed, and Kelilah is Rosebud, because, you know, roses." Charlotte nods, sitting down on the bed. Henry joins her. "That makes sense- which means Adela is hiding somewhere safe, but we don't know where."

"B45," says Henry out loud. "Room 45 on the second floor?"

"Maybe," says Charlotte. "But then what- oh!" She jumps up. "The B stands for basement- and the T is for third- this is the third floor!"

"Charlotte, you're a genius!" Henry says. Then his face falls. "But we don't know where that is, and if Adela's down there, there's no way we can search the basement without getting caught."

Charlotte is quiet for a minute, deep in thought. Then: "In the secret room. I saw a piece of paper on the wall, but as soon as I noticed it Jude came in." She runs to the bookshelf gets into the room and, sure enough, it's a map- a map with all the safe rooms in the palace. "There it is!" Charlotte points to the map. "B45!"

"But how are we going to get in there?" Charlotte shrugs in response… but then Henry has an idea. He digs into his bag and pulls out a laser. Charlotte grins at him.

They manage to sneak back downstairs without running into anyone, and finally make it to the basement. According to the map, they needed to get to get to the very end of the basement, then press onto two specific bricks at the same time. Charlotte worries about getting caught, but when they get down there, they see a guard sleeping.

"Some guard," says Henry. But then he notices something- the guard didn't look like he had just fallen asleep- instead of leaning against the wall, he was a bit sprawled out. Henry looks at Charlotte, who has also noticed this.

"Something isn't right here," says Charlotte. She starts to take a step back, but then she hears: "Careful, you might run into me."

At first, she's confused- Henry is standing right next to her. And his mouth isn't moving, either. But then they turn around and find that they had been followed- it's Jude.

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