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“If you’ll follow me, Princess, we’ll get you back home at once,” the general said, and he began to walk towards the doorway.

Alex had a moment of panic when she realised that she still needed to get her hands on the red envelope. She couldn’t leave without it, that much was true. But how could she retrieve it?

An idea came to her, but she wasn’t all that confident it would work.

“I’m not feeling so good,” she moaned, raising a hand to her head. She staggered a few steps to her right and collapsed onto the edge of the desk before falling off it and landing directly on top of the rubbish bin. A mess of paper fell around her and she managed to get her fingers on the red envelope, hoping all the while that it looked as if she’d just passed out.

“Princess?Princess!”

She had barely a second to slide the package under her clothes before Major Tyson knelt down to shake her shoulder. As soon as she thought it was secure and hidden, she groaned again and opened her eyes.

“What happened?”

“You fainted.” Tyson helped her to stand. “You must be exhausted after everything you’ve been through.”

Alex wondered about the odd tone in his voice as he led her out of the room—it almost sounded as if he was amused. But his face was as serious as ever, so perhaps she’d only imagined the flicker of emotion.

“What’s the hold-up?” the general asked when they caught up to him in the main room of the command centre.

“I’m just a little tired,” Alex said, smiling weakly and not wanting to tell him about her fake dizzy spell. “I needed a moment.”

“Don’t worry, Princess. You’ll be home soon and you can rest then,” Drock said, and he motioned for her and Tyson to follow him to the back of the room.

On the wall there was a rectangular section outlined with a white border, roughly as large as Alex’s head.

“Just place your hand in the centre of the rectangle and the Bubbledoor will activate,” the general told her. “It’ll take you straight to the receiving room in the palace.”

“Thank you for your assistance, General Drock,” Alex said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Princess,” the general said, giving her a short bow.

Major Tyson mirrored the gesture, and never in her life had Alex felt like such a fraud. She would have to ask D.C. to tell the king about these two good military men and get them a medal or something.

“I hope we’ll meet again in the future,” she said genuinely, even if she wasn’t in a rush to replay the role of princess anytime soon. With a smile goodbye, she reached for the panel and the Bubbledoor activated, rushing her to her new destination. She had barely landed before she heard Jeera’s voice.

“There had better be a very good reason why I just lied to a military general,Princess Delucia.”

n on her.

Sixteen

Alex looked guiltily at the Warden whoseface showed definite disapproval.

“I can explain,” she said quickly.

“I sure hope so,” Jeera said. Her dark hair was tied back and her striking blue eyes stared intently at Alex.

Noting the Warden’s impatience, Alex quickly summarised the events leading up to her impersonation of the princess, including Hunter’s crazy task and how Kaiden and Jordan had nearly been caught. At the mention of the two boys, Jeera’s expression flickered with concern until Alex assured her that they’d made it out safely.

“So that’s when you decided to go in on your own,” Jeera guessed, “because you knew your gift would protect you from the mind reader.”

“How do you know—”

“I’m one of the king’s Wardens, Alex,” Jeera interrupted her. “It’s my job to know.”

That was interesting news, but Alex let it go and confirmed Jeera’s assumption, going on to explain how she’d ‘borrowed’ D.C.’s royal identity in order to get into the command tent.

“Everything would’ve turned real nasty if you hadn’t stood up for me,” Alex finished. “So thank you, Jeera. Really.”