Rowen continued to lead Alecie through the underground tunnels, following the flashes of light that only he could see.
"How much farther do you think it is?" Alecie asked as she ran beside him.
"I have a feeling that we are almost there." He said as they rounded a corner and halted to a stop. They were at a dead end.
"Now what?" Alecie asked putting her hand against the stone wall to see if it maybe moved. Rowen looked around.
"I don't know." He admitted. He scanned the walls, floor and ceiling for any sign of where to go next.
"Well Lecie." He said with a sigh. "I think you were right. There isn't anything down here. I led us on this wild goose chase for nothing." Alecie reached out and took his hand.
"No, if you said you saw something then you must have. We just have to find out what." She said supportingly. Rowen gave her a smile as Alecie felt her cheeks redden. She quickly dropped his hand and pretended to search the wall again for clues. Rowen stared at her for a few moments when he saw it.
"Lecie, look." He said moving to a corner. Alecie turned to look at the corner as she gasped in surprise.
"It's a crack." She said moving closer. Rowen bent down to try to see through the crack in the corner.
"I think that there is something behind this wall." He said standing back up.
"So how do we get there?" she asked. Rowen transformed into his armor and took out his bow. He moved Alecie behind him to shield her as he fired a charged arrow at the crack. The arrow hit the corner showering the two with dust and stone as Rowen stood over Alecie protectively. Once the dust settled the two gasped as they walked into a large room. The room was adorned with pictures of every king the cloudrunners had.
"The kings of our past." Alecie said looking at the pictures.
"Look, here is your father." Rowen said pointing to a picture of King Tallas and his wife. Alecie smiled as she touched the portrait. The picture swung open as Alecie gave a muffled cry of shock. Behind the picture was a family tree.
"Look," Alecie said looking intently at the family tree.
"Here is a picture of Marcus." She said pointing to a picture of Marcus and a woman standing next to him.
"Who is the girl he is next to?" Rowen asked.
"That is Naomi." Alecie said. "She is Marcus's betrothed."
"Why haven't I seen her around the hideout?" Rowen asked looking at her.
"She lives on another cloudrunner colony. Marcus goes to see her a lot, but she comes to visit us every now and then." Alecie explained.
"When did he take this photo?" Rowen asked noting that it looked like it was done recently.
"Never." She said. "When a member of the royal family is born, their photo magically appears. And then when they meet the person they are to marry, their fiancé will suddenly appear next to them."
"Hey, where is your picture?" Rowen asked with a grin as he began to trace the lineage to Alecie's name. Alecie was one step ahead of him as she saw her picture and gave a gasp. She moved in front of it as Rowen gave her a pout.
"Aww come on. I want to see." He protested. Alecie violently shook her head.
"No, I…don't like that picture of me." She lied. Rowen grinned as he tried to move her out of the way.
"Stop being such a girl let me see." He said as Alecie remained adamant.
"We don't have time to look at pictures." She replied. " We have to find the star if we want to save Sakura." Rowen nodded, getting back to business.
"Right," he said as he moved away. Alecie breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to once again look at the picture, more specifically the man standing next to her.
'That's…that's Rowen. But, no it couldn't be. He isn't a cloudrunner, or a prince! But… these pictures are done by magic, and they have never been wrong! Is it possible that I will marry Rowen? But father…he wouldn't…would he?' Alecie was lost in thought when she heard Rowen call her name.
"Yes?" she said looking up at him.
"I think I found something." He replied.
