The Luna Choosing Game

The wait for midnight was nearly unbearable, but when it finally arrived, I left Elva sleeping in the bed,

and sneaked out into the hallway.

Mark was standing there with two other guards. He typically wore a serious expression, but today he

seemed especially grim. He must have shared Nicholas’s frustration with the plan.

“Be careful tonight. If anything happened to you…” He let the words hang.

I was confused. Surely the safety of his prince was more important than me. But he didn’t say anything

more. Instead, he just stared at me expectantly.

“ll be careful,” I said.

He nodded.

Turning from him, I started down the hallway. Nicholas met me halfway. He didn’t say anything, just offered his arm. I slid my arms in his and together we walked down toward the kitchens and into the

cellar.

Brian was guarding the door to one of the rooms there, the one containing the passage. He stepped

we came close.

the trigger for the passageway, and an eerie dark opening loomed in the middle of a wall, hiding behind an empty bookcase

hand, Julian carried a large, industrial–style flashlight. He clicked

seeing the end of the tunnel was impossible. The stretch of the tunnel was long, and the darkness eventually swallowed the light.

together,” Nicholas said. “Whatever happens,

rules,” Julian said. He stepped into the tunnel.

each other, and then

brick, rounded along the top. Our footsteps on the stone floor echoed down the long, empty corridor. The air was

but this tunnel felt so old that it had become

hairs on the back of my neck stood

close,” Julian said.

light of the room we’d come from seemed very

behind us.

flashlight flickered. We all

a warning in his voice. A

again, and then went out.

caught in my

for both Nicholas and Julian and touched Nicholas’s chest with one hand and Julian’s shoulder with the other. Nicholas caught my

over mine and

in the dark, but having them so close, each offering

own ways, helped me feel safe again.

his hand again and smacked the flashlight. The light flickered again, blinding, but