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

when we came

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

a large, industrial–style flashlight. He

seeing the end of the tunnel was impossible. The stretch of the

Nicholas said. “Whatever happens, no one

the rules,” Julian said. He stepped

at each other, and then we followed him.

made of brick, rounded along the top. Our footsteps on the stone floor echoed down the long, empty

by places, but this tunnel felt so old that it had become

the back of my

Julian said.

the tunnel. The light of the room we’d come

behind us.

flashlight flickered. We all

voice. A warning that would come

and then went

caught in my throat.

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

and squeezed

place in the dark, but having

own ways, helped me feel safe

the flashlight. The light flickered again, blinding, but it