CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Trap Door
Overwhelming relief swept over Arwen the moment she escaped from the intensive scrutiny of Zuleika. All she wanted now was to get back to her room and find that cursed bracelet and give it right back – and then forget all about suspicions and intrigue for the rest of the afternoon. The tall, shapely elf-maiden rubbed her eyes as she strolled down the hall, her sandals slapping on the cool marble floor. As soon as the bracelet was returned, she'd go lie down. She needed quiet time, and maybe a wink or two of sleep.
Strangely enough, when she fished the serpent-shaped gold bracelet out of its hiding place the rubies were all winking and glowing. Arwen frowned, certain her tired eyes were playing tricks on her. But no, the red stones were all flashing and twinkling as if by magic!
With her heart in her mouth, Arwen clattered out into the hall, half-afraid that Queen Zuleika would punish her for activating the magic by mistake. But as soon as she took her first few steps the lights all winked out. The elf-maid skidded to a halt, peering down at the ruby-studded bracelet on her wrist. Could it be that she was meant to turn back around?
Arwen swiftly discovered that her suspicion was correct. The red stones winked and blinked as she headed towards her room, but shut down at once when she turned towards Queen Zuleika's royal apartments. The stones were leading her somewhere. There was no question about it!
Inside her room, she turned left and right, looking for some talisman or a further clue. But the single stone now winking on her bracelet seemed to flash most rapidly when she stepped into her big walk-in closet!
"Am I supposed to try on all my outfits until I find one that makes me irresistible?" The brave elf-maid laughed at her own joke, though by now her nerves were slightly on edge. In truth Arwen had no interest in the shimmering finery Queen Zuleika had showered on her as an honored guest. All she could think of was that inside her closet there had to be some sort of secret passage or a trap door!
Arwen found the trap door in the floor of her closet just by stamping until she heard a hollow sound. The magic stones provided light as she descended the winding stairs past many other doorways to the lower levels of the palace.
At last she came to a tunnel below the palace. It was a very musty, ancient-looking passage, and as she crept along Arwen heard the skittering of rats and felt cobwebs tickling her nose. But more uncanny and unsettling than all of that was the strange sound of rushing water beneath her feet!
"Water in the desert?" The elf-maiden's puzzlement grew as she crept down the ancient passageway to a dim glow. Someone still used this subterranean corridor. She sensed a paved, lighted hallway up ahead. And now she beheld what she had truly been seeking ever since she first came to the palace of Queen Zuleika in the city of Zin Zaraboob.
The two guards were huge, muscle-bound men, their chests bare, with giant curved swords strapped to their sides. Arwen wasn't quite sure why Queen Zuleika would rely on secret male guards after boasting so often of the loyalty of her all-female palace troops. But the clever daughter of Elrond knew very well that such men would only be on duty if a most valuable prisoner was confined in the underground cell behind them.
And she knew who the prisoner had to be.
Arwen was elated by her discovery. At last she had lived up to the high hopes of Queen Galadriel. She had located the missing prince! But then reality came crashing in once more. Unarmed, she was no match for two big burly male guards. And even if she overcame them, where would she go?
While she was pondering what to do next, the nervous elf-maid happened to take off her glowing, serpent-shaped bracelet and squeeze it so that the two ends met. The mouth of the serpent touched the tail of the serpent and instantly a thin red beam shot forth. The guard closest to her vanished.
"Ah ha!" Arwen pointed and squeezed the bracelet again, and the second guard disappeared. Now things were really beginning to happen! She ran forward and peered into the dimly-lit prison cell, truly happy for the first time in days.
"Who are you?" The chubby little boy with the big dark eyes didn't look very happy to see her. He was eating a giant fruit pie, and his round face was smeared and sticky-looking.
"Do not be afraid," Arwen urged, in a low voice. She directed a red beam of light at the locked cell door. "I am Arwen of Rivendell. I have been sent by the Lady of Light, Galadriel of Lothlorien. I have come to rescue you, Prince Kassim."
"But . . . but . . . the prophecies said I was to be rescued by a mighty warrior!"
"Oh, really? Well it so happens . . ." Suddenly Arwen heard angry male voices and the sound of running footsteps.
And then Prince Kassim started to cry.