Conner had seen many impressive structures in the Land of Stories but never in his own world. Neuschwanstein Castle had been built brick by brick with the hands of man, using no magic whatsoever.
“I would say this is amazing but that would be an understatement,” he said.
“You’re right, there really are no words,” Bree said. “It’s funny that we’re the only ones who know there’s a portal into the fairy-tale world inside—you would think it’s obvious.”
Conner couldn’t agree more. The luscious green mountains surrounding it, the clear lakes reflecting the thick gray clouds in the sky, and the small villages miles into the horizon made him feel like he was looking at something otherworldly. It was as if a piece of the fairy-tale world had penetrated through the seam of the Otherworld and had been named Bavaria.
The few short hours they waited for Emmerich to arrive went by quickly as they took in the sights around them. Night had fallen over the German countryside and the tourists slowly disappeared until Conner and Bree were the last ones on the bridge. They saw a small light in the trees and soon Emmerich emerged, walking toward them with a flashlight in his hand.
“Guten Abend,” Emmerich said. “Are you ready to explore the castle?”
Emmerich led them to a path that crisscrossed down the hillside to an observation deck near the waterfall. They crawled over the railing of the deck and then followed the stream all the way down to the bottom of the hill the castle was perched on.
“Careful, don’t get your shoes wet,” Emmerich warned them. The closer they got to the hill, the farther the stream flowed into the land beside it, like an overflowing bathtub.
The bridge, the castle, and the mountains disappeared from view behind the thick trees that surrounded the base of the hill. Built into the side of the hill, disguised by a layer of dirt and rocks, was a round door. Emmerich felt around for its steel handle and then heaved the door open.
“This way,” Emmerich said happily.
Conner and Bree crawled through the door after him and into a long stone tunnel. The tunnel twisted and turned for what felt like miles under the castle. Without Emmerich’s flashlight, it would have been pitch-black. Eventually the three arrived at the end of the tunnel and Emmerich pushed through another circular door and into the small storage room of a gift shop.
“This used to be the servants’ quarters,” Emmerich said. “Now stay close behind me, I just have to go punch in the code before the alarm goes off.”
They went past the gift shop and into a hall dedicated to the history of the castle’s construction and design. A large replica of the castle sat in the middle of the hall and the walls were covered with photos of the castle being built and illustrations of its early concept art.
Emmerich found a keypad behind one of the photos and typed in a long code. A green light blinked when he was finished.
“Neuschwanstein is ours!” Emmerich said.
“All right, Emmerich, take us on a tour,” Conner said. “We want to see everything.”
Emmerich marched them down the hall and up a spiral staircase, and the lavishness of the castle began. The circular walls around the staircase were covered in wallpaper patterned with dragons and symbols they didn’t recognize.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Conner said.
“Me too,” Bree said. “I love it!”
“A lot of people think it’s haunted,” Emmerich said. “Many visitors have claimed to see ghosts moving past the windows at night or hear sounds coming from inside when it’s completely empty.”
Conner gulped and Bree grinned. At the top of the stairs they passed a statue of a dragon standing like an overgrown watchdog guarding the hallway.
“I’ll show you the throne room first,” Emmerich said, and guided them down the hallway.
Every inch of the hallway was decorated in wallpaper of diamond, checkered, or floral design. Pillars with animal carvings sat in the arches of the windows and each window was lined with gold. The colors may have faded over the years, but the castle remained a spectacle even more than a century later.
Emmerich escorted them through an open doorway and into the throne room. It had a towering domed ceiling. A gigantic chandelier hung from the ceiling and was rimmed with hundreds of wax candles. The walls were covered in beautiful paintings of mythological and religious figures. Every species of the animal kingdom appeared in the mosaic floor as if the circle of life was right under their feet.
Colorful arches and pillars surrounded the throne room. Balconies wrapped around the top of the room, facing a high platform under a large mural of Jesus Christ. The platform was the perfect place for a throne, but it was empty.
“So if this is the throne room, where’s the throne?” Bree asked.
“He never had one,” Emmerich said. “King Ludwig II had an extravagant throne made to match this room but he was declared insane before it was finished.”
“So the king never got to sit on his throne?” Conner asked. “That’s tough.”
“Most of the castle remains unfinished,” Emmerich said. “Ludwig was spending all of Bavaria’s money to build his luxurious homes and when that began running out he started borrowing money from other countries to complete them.”
“I can see how that might lead to a bad reputation,” Bree said.
Conner had been studying every square inch of the castle as they went, searching for anything that could possibly be the portal, but he wasn’t finding anything that rang a bell in the throne room.
“Do you think this room would be a good place for the weapon?” Emmerich whispered even though they were the only three in the castle.
“No, not here,” Conner said. “Let’s keep looking.”
“I’ll show you King Ludwig’s bedroom next,” Emmerich said.
They followed him back into the hall and entered a pair of heavy wooden doors. The king’s bedroom was covered from floor to ceiling in remarkable wooden craftsmanship. Everything from the washstand to the desk to the bed frame displayed intricate carvings of disciples, nobility, and harvest. Murals of Tristan and Isolde, one of the king’s favorite stories, covered the areas of the walls not decorated in wood.
Then they took a quick look at a small artificial grotto tucked between two rooms; it was as if the king had kept a tiny cave in his closet. But even that wasn’t appealing enough for Conner.
“See any place that works?” Emmerich asked.
Bree was just as interested; she wasn’t entirely sure what they were supposed to be looking for, either. However, it wasn’t something Conner could explain—part of recognizing a portal was being able to feel it.
“Not yet,” Conner said. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
“Then I’ll take you to the Singer’s Hall next! There are many things to see there!” Emmerich said.
They returned to the spiral staircase and walked up to the fifth floor of the castle. When they walked into the Singer’s Hall the first thing they heard was the sound of their footsteps echoing back at them. The hall was by far the largest room in the castle and stretched long and wide.
The Singer’s Hall was such an over-stimulating sight it took Conner and Bree a few moments to differentiate all the artwork. The whole hall seemed to blend into one giant piece of art composed of paintings, statues, busts, carvings, engravings, and symbols of King Ludwig’s favorite myths and legends. There were depictions of knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, royal weddings, and the punishment of evildoers. Candelabras lined the perimeter of the room while enormous chandeliers hung from the high ceiling.
Bree was looking up at a woman in one of the portraits. “Has anyone ever noticed that every woman in an old portrait looks like she’s being tricked into something?” she asked.
“They still use this room,” Emmerich said. “They fill it with chairs and instruments and put on concerts and performances to this day. This would be a convenient place to store your panpipe.”
Hearing this struck a chord with Conner. Emmerich was right; it would make sense for the panpipe to be affiliated with this room. If Conner had built the castle, he would certainly have put a panpipe that gave access to a portal in a room that had something to do with music. The portal had to be in the Singer’s Hall—he could feel it.
At the far side of the room was a platform four steps high. Four pillars of dark red marble stood on the front of the platform and held three colorful arches above them. Behind the pillars and arches, covering the wall, was the largest painting in the room. It was of a majestic forest with trees, flowers, squirrels, deer, and boulders.
Conner couldn’t take his eyes off this area of the room. The painting looked familiar to him, like a place he had seen with his sister. There was something intriguing and inviting about it that he couldn’t explain in words.
“What is this painting of?” Conner said.
“That’s a painting of a magic garden,” Emmerich said. “I don’t know what it’s from, though.”
Conner smiled on the inside and out. “I do,” he said, and then looked at Bree. “I think I’ve found it.”
Bree and Emmerich joined him at the back of the room. They stood by his side and all three of them gazed at the painting behind the pillars.
“You want to put the weapon in there?” Emmerich asked excitedly.
Conner decided to tell his young tour guide the truth. “Emmerich, it’s not really a weapon,” he said. “And we’re not really secret agents.”
Emmerich looked sadly at the floor. “I know,” he said. “But I thought it would be fun to pretend with you guys. I don’t get many chances to have fun with other kids; everyone who comes to Hohenschwangau is only here for a day and then they always leave.”
It broke Conner’s and Bree’s hearts a little to hear this. He was the second person on their trip to let them manipulate him or her due to loneliness. Bree leaned down so she could look him right in the eyes.
“Don’t worry, Emmerich,” she said. “We have to check something out now, and if it works, it’s going to be much cooler than anything secret agents could show you.”
Emmerich looked curious. Bree nodded to Conner and he took the panpipe from his jacket pocket. He looked over the notes carved into the back of it and double-checked that he knew which cylinder played which note.
“The middle cylinder should be middle C,” Bree said. “At least that’s how it works on a piano—my mom made me take lessons when I was younger.”
“Here goes,” Conner said. He blew the first four notes into the pipe and then paused for a second before blowing the remaining four. They were pure and chilling in the empty castle.
The notes echoed through the hall like all the noises they had made—only the notes never stopped. The sound only increased more and more, causing the whole hall to vibrate. The chandeliers above them began to sway and the floor started rumbling.
“What’s happening?” Emmerich shouted. He covered his ears and looked around the hall in absolute horror.
Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared between the two pillars in the center of the platform. The light grew and started to swirl; the larger it became, the faster it spun. Soon the entire back of the hall was covered in the light.
“Oh no,” Conner said, and locked eyes with Bree. “It works! We can access it from our side. That means the portal has re-opened and the French soldiers are—”
The three of them jolted forward against their will. The light had abruptly turned into a swirling vortex and was pulling them inside it.
“Run!” Conner yelled.
The three of them ran for the other side of the hall, but the vortex’s pull was too strong. Emmerich grabbed Bree, Bree grabbed Conner, and Conner grabbed one of the candelabras bolted to the wall. They dangled in the air as the vortex only grew stronger. Emmerich lost his hold on Bree, Bree lost her grasp of Conner, and Conner’s grip slipped from the candelabra.
All three of them flew through the air and were sucked into the circling light. Conner, Bree, and Emmerich disappeared into the vortex and vanished from Neuschwanstein Castle.