“Ronald?” Maxine’s eye starts to spin. “What a boy who cried wolf! His mother has been trying to spring him from FTRS early!”
“That little troll walked up to the manifesto with two friends, stuck a meaty hand on it, and begged to join Alva.” Jocelyn snickers. “New words appeared but I was too far away to read them. When Ronald escaped through the castle wall, I went over to try the scroll myself.” She shrugs. “If you’re still evil enough, it reveals itself.” She holds out her hand, and the purple smoke I’m used to seeing with her magic reveals words. The handwriting matches Alva’s manifesto.
Meet at the Hollow Woods at dawn. Our Royal Manor battle is imminent.
Dawn? I look through the nearest porthole and see the sky is already turning pink. “Fiddlesticks! We’re too late to stop them!”
“We may not be able to keep them from joining Alva, but we can figure out which princess is aiding her.” Jax holds out a scribbled note. “This was what Maxine’s last note said: ‘The traitor is of royal blood, for sure, but the question remains, which tiara is tarnished?’”
I listen to the snoring in the other room to steady myself. I’ve never been a royal fan, and I certainly don’t like how they’ve abandoned FTRS, but I never thought a princess would stoop so low as to work with Alva. “Who do you think would betray Enchantasia?”
“We don’t know.” Maxine pulls out her mini magical scroll. “But tonight I got this.” We all gather around to look. “It glowed so brightly that it woke me up. It says ‘Urgent.’”
HEAR MY CRY! THE TIME HAS COME! YOU MUST WORK FAST! THE ROYAL SPY IS ALMOST FREE AT LAST. HER HAIR IS FAIR, HER SKIN IS WHITE. SADLY, I KNOW SHE IS NOT SNOW WHITE.
“Well, that rules out one princess, but we still have three more,” Jax says. He spreads the notes and Maxine’s mini magical scroll out in front of us on the messy pirate table, pushing aside maps and gold telescopes. “Any ideas when they’re all blond?”
“Ella would never do such a thing,” says Maxine fiercely. “She’s always speaking out on evil. I just can’t imagine her trying to hurt the kingdom.”
“Well, it can’t be Rose either,” I insist. “She’s working at FTRS! She believes in reform and helping the kingdom. She’s always complaining the court doesn’t do more to help bring power to the people.”
“I’m with Gilly,” says Maxine. “Princess Rose officially made me an RLW yesterday! She said if Gilly wants me in the club, then I’m in the club. I was so thankful that I tried to bring her my secret stash of gingerroot flowers.”
“You have gingerroot?” We all freak, and I hear the pirates in the next cabin stir.
Ollie is aghast. “That flower is a hotter commodity than radishes for dealing with beasties. Why would you just give it away?”
Maxine’s left side of her face starts to droop. “I still have it. Princess Rose took one look at it and started backing away.”
“Duh!” Jocelyn says. “She was surrounded by gingerroot during her Sleeping Beauty phase.”
I pat Maxine on the back. “I’m sure she appreciated the effort. But that means if it’s not Snow, Ella, or Rose…” We all look at Jax.
His violet eyes nearly bulge out of his head. “You think it’s Rapunzel? She would never try to hurt Enchantasia!”
“And you know that how?” Jocelyn asks, examining a nail. “From the way Kayla tells it, Prince, you haven’t seen your sis in years, going incognito and all.”
Kayla blushes. “I had to bring her up to speed.”
“You said Rapunzel was there when the gargoyles attacked Royal Manor,” Ollie says quietly. “And HEAS says she was in the village right before the attacks yesterday too.”
“Not to mention the extra-long blond hair I found on a threatening note Father received at Cobbler Shoes,” I add gently.
“What?” Kayla gasps.
I stare at a gold telescope on the cluttered table. “It basically said if I didn’t do as I was told—whatever that means—Father’s business could be taken away.” I look at the others. “But Father’s right. I can’t just worry about my family. I have to think of all of us, and my gut tells me that Rapunzel is the mole.”
Jax sits down, dumbfounded. “You guys really think the traitor is my sister? Father sent me undercover at FTRS, and the whole time the mole was my own sister? I just don’t believe it.”
And yet, I think he does. It makes the most sense out of the three princesses. The boat sways gently, and we all grab a chair as we look at each other in fear.
“Maybe she’s planning to steal the crown from the other princesses and Alva and keep it all to herself,” Jocelyn guesses, and we look at her. “That’s what I would do.”