The girl paused and turned towards the door. They drew back in fear of being found. The girl wore a radiant white gown that swept the ground and had the same face as the king, only younger. She had the crown of a princess on her head, and her face radiated beauty the same way her gown did.

Tum swallowed, watching the girl. After looking at the door for some time, the girl turned and hurried towards the entourage.

Bonnie and Tum breathed out quickly. They had been holding their breath, afraid that the girl would be convinced there were people behind the door once they breathed out.

"You could have given us away," Bonnie cried, turning to Tum.

Tum blanched white. "My mistake," he said.

"Could you not hold your ogling till we are safe outside?"

"Will I see her outside?" Tum asked. "She is a princess. She does not go out."

"Hey, guys, come over here," Buckle called.

The two turned towards Buckle. For the first time since they came to seek refuge in the room, they realized the room was a place where armors were kept. They were the knights' armors by the side and the ordinary soldiers' armor, breastplate, body shield, shield, sword, sheath. Buckle was standing before the windows, staring with his mouth open.

Tum and Bonnie walked into the room to look at the armors.

"Wow," Tum said, staring in awe at all the knight armor. He had always wanted to become something close to the royalty even though he did not know exactly why he was attracted to these things. Only recently had he begun to see for himself that his attraction was for selfish reasons. He wanted to be known and celebrated. Bonnie, on the other hand, had the orphans back at the home they had come from in mind. She was the one who made sure they had enough to give to the children who had become like brothers and sisters to them.

"We can hide in these," Tum said.

A crazy light lit up Bonnie's eyes. "Yes. We can blend in now."

They jumped into dressing themselves up in the armor. There were other dresses there and Bonnie felt the armor was cumbersome after she tried some on. They were all too big for her.

Finally, they were dressed up. Tum in a knight's armor, being the tallest of them all. The armor was well-fitted even though he had a lanky body. Everything sat well on him. Be wondered if the armor could protect him against a bullet.

Buckle found a smaller armor and forced himself into it although the knight's armor was more fashionable. But it appeared too big on him, and Bonnie felt he could be easily discovered.

Bonnie's dress was made with the finest embroidery, hand-stitched and the pink gown swept the floor just like the princess' gown.

"You look like the princess," Tum said.

"Forget about the princess," Bonnie said irritably. "We have to find the map."

They got out of the room after looking up and down the hallway, and were about to move when…

"Aha! I knew it!" someone exclaimed, coming quickly around the corner.

It was the princess. The three of them turned quickly towards the exit to run, but Tum and Buckle discovered that the armor was too heavy for them. Bonnie realized the gown was too bulky to run in it.

"I heard you the first moment I passed here, good sir," the princess continued. "Avoiding the crowd, are you?'

Tum, Bonnie, and Buckle were frozen with their backs to the princess. Then Tum had a bright idea when he heard 'good sir'. They were in royal armor covering their peasant clothes. There was no way they could be taken as peasants now. Slowly he started turning.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"What are you doing?" Buckle asked.

"Trust me," Tum whispered to Buckle.

"Yes, yes, the crowd," Tum said. He was summoning his street wisdom, all of which he had gathered while staying out in the streets of Kora with his friends, selling one commodity or the other. "I like avoiding them," he continued. "Too rowdy for my liking. You are not one for the crowd, are you?"

"What are you doing here, good sir?" the princess asked.

Tum smiled at her. "Can't you see?"

"See what?"

Bonnie and Buckle slowly turned. Bonnie kept a straight face while she wondered if it would not be best to knock the girl out and hide her somewhere.

"I was coming to see the king, then I saw the crowd with him."

"What's your name, sire?"

"Greg," Tum said quickly without thinking about it. "Sir Greg."

"My brother did not make mention of You, Sir Greg."

"Good. We wanted to keep it a secret."

"Oh, that was why you hid?"

"Exactly."

The girls' eyes were on Bonnie and Buckle and Tim knew he had to think fast.

"This is Vinnie, my royal clothes maker, and this is my servant, Hardy," Tim said quickly.

The princess nodded with a little nod of her head.

"I should take you to my brother's waiting chambers then, and make sure no one joins you till he comes," the princess said.

Again, Bonnie thought of simply knocking the princess out so they could go in search of the map and get out of this place, but she decided against it. It would attract too much attention if the princess was suddenly missing. The first people that would be detained would be the newcomers. If the guards later found the princess where she was knocked out, then she would expose them completely.

They followed the princess as she led the way to the chambers that they knew nothing about. She pushed open a door and waved them in.

The room was wide and there was a table in the center. On the table were goblets and a jug of wine waiting for them as if the princess knew they were coming.

"Make yourself comfortable while I go fetch my brother," she said.

She was out through the door before she finished talking.

"Well, this place is beautiful," Buckle said.

"This is madness," Bonnie said. She was not interested in the affluence on display, the glittering seats, the mahogany table, the polished wood, the expensive statues, the intricate designs. Her eyes were on Tum.

"Do you realized what you have just done?" she asked him.

"I saved us some trouble.

"You think? We are supposed to act like we are royalty. I am supposed to know how to sew. I hate sewing."

"Well, you had some lessons at the orphanage."

"I don't remember a single thing."

"I am not your servant," Buckle said, coming up to stare Tum angrily in the face.

"You will have to be till we get the map."

"The map, the map. What is in this stupid map?" Bonnie asked angrily.

"You heard Quil. The map leads to the crystal sword, the sword…"

"I have heard all of that nonsense. How sure are we that they are telling the truth?"

"We sure do need the pay," Tum said.

"Is there anything in your life that is not about payment?" Bonnie asked.

"You," Tim replied without thinking. "You and Buckle."

The answer was unexpected and struck Bonnie dumb. She found one of the seats and settled into it. Buckle kept moving around the room, peering into the faces of the statues.

The door to the chambers opened, pulling them all out of their discussion and private observations.

"Sir Greg," the king said walking into the chambers. Two guards followed him in.

Bonnie was even more surprised. The king was younger than she had thought he would look. Why? He was just a boy, and he seemed lost as well.

Tum did a little bow, which was as awkward as it was funny, but the king did not seem to mind.

"My sister told me you came on an important mission," the king said.

"And a secret one too," Bonnie quickly added.

The king looked confused. His gaze moved from Tum to Bonnie, then back to Tum.

"Pardon me, your grace," Tum said quickly. "My royal dressmaker, Vinnie, and my servant." He could not remember the name he gave Buckle. He swallowed instead.

"She seems to be at liberty here," the king commented.

"I err… let my household helps express their opinions," Tum fibbed. "Sometimes, they make me see things I would not even have been able to see."

"Admirable," the king noted and sank into a seat. The three friends followed the king's lead.

Tum stared at the guards uneasily. They stood like the statues Buckle had been studying, silent like walls. His eyes settled back down in the king. He looked to be his age mate, and Tum decided he could impress upon the king. What does he know? He has probably been locked up in the palace for most of his life, Tum thought.

He had heard the news of the old king's death with great happiness and hoped this one would not be like him. He overtaxed the people and made the peasants sweat to use their own lands.

"My deepest, sincerest condolence for the death of your father," Tum said, feeling like an impostor, but enjoying it.

"My father died almost a year ago…" the king stated.

"I know. My sincerest apologies for coming at this time, but you see, your grace, I was on the verge of death myself."

Tum wondered if he had overdone it and cringes inwardly.

"The time is past," the king said, waving the discussion away dismissively. "But what brings you here, Sir Greg? Sir Greg of…"

"Homer," Tum said quickly.

"Homer? I have never heard of such a house," the king said, then turned to the guards. "How about you? Have you heard of that name?"

The two guards shook their heads. Spoke up quickly.

"We are a shy lot. Your daughter would attest to this. My people are in hiding until now."

"Until now?"

"Yes. We are in search of a secret map."