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Sophie woke when she felt the sunlight beaming onto her face. She sat up and checked her watch.
She groaned and flopped back onto the pillows. 'It's only 7 am. I'll just sleep a bit longer.'
It was then that she became aware of the other thing that had woken her up. Someone was banging on the door.
"I'm up, I'm up." She muttered, stumbling to the door. She opened it, and came face to face with Mr Orton again.
"Excuse me miss, I am sorry to wake you, bit it is most vital that we evacuate you and your… roommate from this hotel immediately." He said urgently, his foot against the door, preventing Sophie from shutting it.
"Um… Can I ask why?"
"We have reason to believe that Queen Jazinta of Garce will attempt to harm you two. You will be moved to a safer place, where you will have guards protecting you from any possible attacks."
"Oh." Sophie said. "But why would she want to hurt us?"
"On Saturday the first of July, your roommate fought, and defeated, a terrorist from Garce, am I right?" Sophie nodded in agreement. "The terrorists were sent by Jazinta herself, and she is unhappy that they were defeated. We in the government feel that she may take things too far, act a little rashly."
Sophie had been listening to what Mr Orton was saying, and was all for believing him, when she realised Mr Johnston probably wouldn't allow that.
"I think it's a good idea, Arzhur and I would be happy to go with you, but you see, we are here on a school tour. You'll have to ask Mr Johnston before we can leave."
"Not necessary, we have already spoken with him."
"Oh. Then I suppose we'll just pack and get dressed, then be on our way?"
Mr Orton nodded. Sophie walked back into their room and shut the door. Mr Orton stayed in the hallway, awaiting their return. Arzhur was already awake, and, having heard the conversation, had begun to pack his things.
"I'm almost finished." He said, "I'll go into the bathroom and change, while you pack your things."
Sophie packed her things, then changed. Arzhur came out of the bathroom, fully dressed, and put the last of his things into his bag. He put his arm around Sophie, and said
"Well, we're embarking on another adventure." Sophie rolled her eyes at his calling it an adventure. "Do you think they have the internet where we're going?"
Sophie laughed, and nodded. She pulled open the door, and they stepped out. She locked the door, and looked around for Mr Orton. He was nowhere to be found.
"He must have gone ahead to hold the Elevator or something. Let's check there."
Sophie walked off, and Arzhur, dazed for a moment, still looking for Mr Orton, rushed after her. When they hadn't found him in any of the hallways, Sophie and Arzhur decided to check in the lobby. Arzhur pressed the button on to call the elevator.
When it reached their floor a short man in a black suit stepped.
"My name is Mr Tate. Mr Orton has been called away urgently. If you will follow me, I will take you to a secure area." The short man said.
Sophie glanced at Arzhur. He raised his eyebrows, but followed him into the elevator. Sophie stepped in and dropped her bags, which were quite heavy, because of the amount of books she had brought. She was quite disappointed in herself, as she had aimed to complete them all before leaving. But because of all of the excitement of Arzhur and the terrorists and things like that, she hadn't had a chance to do much reading.
'I suppose that's what I'll be doing in this 'secure' place. I wonder if Arzhur likes to read.'
Sophie was still pondering these things, when the elevator stopped. They were in the lobby, which was relatively empty. Mr Tate ushered them through the kitchens, out the back door, to a waiting car. It was black, and seemed rather unnoticeable to Sophie. That was until she noticed the flags on the front. She raised her eyebrows. Usually those flags were used only for members of the Royal Family, or their representatives… yet there they were, on the car they would be travelling in. she shrugged and handed her main bag and her bag of books to the driver, keeping her shoulder bag with her. She got into the limousine and looked around. The black interior looked extremely clean. It smelled of new car and leather. She scooted along the seat, making room for Arzhur. Mr Tate sat across from them, travelling backwards. The windows were tinted, so the passengers couldn't be seen, and the passengers couldn't see out.
The engine started and the car rolled away from the hotel. Sophie rested her head against the window as Mr Tate started fiddling with the radio, and finally settled on "Angels", by Robbie Williams. He was one of her favourite artists, and she couldn't help but half mouth the words along with the music. Sadly, all good things must end, and next the radio 'DJ' put on the Veronicas. Arzhur was enjoying the music, bopping his head and tapping his feet and fingers, slightly out of time with the music. Sophie couldn't help but smile, especially when the song ended and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" came on.
"How are they doing that?" Arzhur asked
Sophie explained to him the instruments used, which Arzhur was very interested in.
"Sophie," he asked. "Can I learn the guitar?"
Sophie thought, and then said
"Maybe, once we get home. We'll see if we can get you some lessons somewhere… maybe if get you into school they'll do it…" Sophie trailed off, when she realized that Mr Tate was listening intently.
"What do mean you if he gets into school?" he asked.
"Well…" Sophie paused briefly; "Arzhur and I are from Australia, right?" he nodded. "Well, Arzhur has been home schooled all his life, and he got into this trip because his uncle is on the board of my school. His parents haven't enrolled him yet."
Mr Tate seemed to believe this. Sophie was proud of her lie, though she hoped Mr Tate wouldn't do any research and find out that Arzhur didn't exist in this world until a few days ago. Arzhur was still listening to the music, which, by now, had changed to "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson.
Their car finally stopped, after an hour of driving. When more men in green uniforms opened the door, Sophie and Arzhur got out, to find that they were on a tarmac, that looked as if it was in the middle of nowhere. The logo on the back of the small plane was the Garcian Flag, and the Coat of arms of the current ruler, Queen Jazinta…
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