I feel like I might spin into the ground.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Flora sounds angry. “I’ve tried everything I can think of to avoid it. You know Rumpelstiltskin. His deal protects the school grounds, but not, it turns out, the students. That little troll. He knew that meant Alva’s manifesto could still persuade students to join her cause. Wolfington has been leaving the grounds every night for weeks to try to see if there is another way to stop Alva, but we have nothing. Those children keep mucking up any progress we make with their snooping.”
“You had to have seen that coming,” the other voice replies. “None of them hold a candle to my sister.”
Harlow! An outlawed villainous former professor and the headmistress of our school who is supposed to protect us are meeting up! I should have known.
Kayla and I look at Jocelyn, whose breath is coming so hard that I worry she might collapse before I do. She lunges forward, and Kayla and I grab her. Gosh, she’s strong. I lock my arms around her shoulders and try to drag her to the ground with me. The ground sounds so good right now.
Harlow wants Flora to give me over to Alva to save the FTRS students.
What does that mean for me?
For my family?
“A sister who is beginning to ask questions!” Flora continues. “If she knew…”
“She mustn’t,” Harlow says. “Flora, you gave me your word.”
“I know, but now you want me to use Gillian as bait and—”
“Your word,” Harlow presses. “Leave Jocelyn out of it while you can. I have enough trouble. I don’t have much time. I’m meeting with Rapunzel this evening.”
“How’s that going?” Flora asks.
Harlow sighs. “You know princesses! I must go before…”
“Yes, I know.” Flora sounds frustrated as we hear the familiar whizzing of Harlow whisking herself away in a puff of smoke that slowly billows toward us.
And then I realize. If Harlow is gone, then Flora will be leaving too—and there’s probably only one way out of here. “Up,” I hiss. “She’ll be coming back any second.”
We run out of the passageway and down the hall so fast that I don’t see the person in our path. Smack! Our crash sends the person flying backward where she lands on her butt. And that’s when I notice the pink dress, the tiara on the ground, the crinoline of her skirt over her head. Fiddlesticks. We hit Princess Rose.
“Princess!” Kayla cries, hurrying to help her up. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She adjusts her skirt. I don’t have the heart to tell her how messy her hair is. She looks at me stormily. “You were supposed to be at the RLW tea an hour ago!”
Um…
“Dress emergency,” Jocelyn says quickly and points to my skirt. “Gilly knew you said to wear pink today, and she had gotten some glue on her gown so we were trying to help her magically get it off. Obviously we didn’t have much luck.”
Wow, that was smooth.
“Gilly!” I hear my sister calling my name. She’s smiling and running toward me, which is odd. “I’ve been looking for you!”
“I guess I haven’t been alone,” Princess Rose mumbles.
“I got a little lost and wound up sitting in on Professor Wolfington’s history of Enchantasia lecture, and then I got to see a magic carpet tutorial.” Anna is wound up like a top. “It was amazing! Then I visited the Pegasi stables. You’re soooo lucky to go here!”
“You don’t want to go here,” I correct her, but Anna gasps at the sight of Rose.
“Your Highness, how wonderful to meet you.” Anna’s curtsy is far better than any I’ve managed. “I’m sorry we’re late to your tea.”
“Ladies.” We turn to find Headmistress Flora staring at us darkly. “Whatever are you doing in this part of the castle? You are nowhere near the Royal Ladies’ tea.”
Our headmistress was meeting with Harlow. Anything she says is a lie.
“I was looking for Gilly,” Rose answers for us. “Her tracker lead me here.”
Wait. What?
“Tracker?” Flora looks dumbfounded.
“Her new sash,” Princess Rose says as if it should be obvious. “It has a tracker in it.” Flora’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head. “These sashes are one-of-a-kind priceless beauties. I couldn’t risk visitors—or our own criminally prone students—stealing them.”
“But I took mine off and gave it to Maxine,” I say.
Rose points to the rose pin I’m wearing on my lapel. “But you’re still wearing your pinning ceremony pin. That’s a tracker too. I know where you all are at all times!” she says happily like this is a good thing.
I’m flabbergasted. Flora seems equally so. “You tracked the students?”
“Yes,” Rose says, growing impatient. “Now I really need to get back to our tea! A hostess should never be gone for too long. Neither should the cohost when she’s invited a new student to join the club without asking.” She looks pointedly at me.
Maxine.
When I open my mouth to speak, a siren blares through the castle.