I didn’t remember how I was able to make my way back to my room. I was still so amazed. The King, the King had offered me a job. How? It was crazy. I didn’t understand why.
Mom and Dad were waiting for me when I got back to the apartment. Mom seemed nervous, as if unsure what the King had talked to me about, and Dad seemed more excited than afraid.
“What happened?” Mom asked, nervously tapping her fingers on the table.
“I was...offered a job.”
“You...WHAT?” Dad questioned.
“The King offered me a job. As his assistant.”
Mom gasped. “But...why?”
I shrugged. “He said he liked me best of all of the students.” I pulled the papers he had given me out of my bag and handed them to her.
“What about school?” Dad wondered.
“No more school if I accept this position.”
“Well, of course you will!” Ginny said, peeking from behind a chair, “The King offered you a job! You can’t say no!”
“Ginny!” I groaned. “Please...leave me alone…”
She grinned at me, then grabbed Owen’s arm and they both ran down the hallway to their rooms. I stared after them for a couple of seconds until I realized Mom and Dad were looking at me for an answer.
“Ginny’s right,” I sighed, “I can’t say no.”
🕮 💎🕮
It was late at night. I wasn’t sure exactly what time, but late enough that I should be in bed. Technically, like food, Readers don’t need sleep, but it’s something most people enjoy doing. It helps us calm down and just rest.
It can also be used as a punishment for Ginny and Owen, which is why they both went to their rooms right after supper. I mean, that’s kinda what you get after stealing all of your neighbor’s silverware.
I had been restlessly pacing my room for several hours. Mom and Dad had gone to their room around an hour ago after we had all filled out the paperwork for the King, and yet I had kept pacing. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t rest.
My mind was racing. I had too much to think about. The King’s offer, The Writers’ Society, schoolwork…
I had to do something or my mind was going to explode.
Slowly, I opened my door and crept outside into the hallway. I had slung my bag over my shoulder. It held the book I was currently Reading, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, along with a few various quills, my favorite leather notebook with a silver dragon on the cover, my Jewel, and the book my life source was tied to.
Each Reader in the Hall has a book that their character comes from and that their life source is tied to. That book appears with them soon after they’re born and if the book is destroyed or if they get too far away from it, they die. Readers don’t need food or sleep or water, but we need our Books. My book was, of course, Story Thieves.
I clutched the strap of my shoulder bag as I snuck through the apartment. I really hoped nobody saw me leave.
I sped through the Hall’s on the tips of my feet, trying to make as little noise as possible. I make my way to The Writers’ Society room and open the door.
Chaos greeted me when I entered the room. Phoebe was curled up on the couch, sobbing. Luna, Aria, and Lili were all sitting next to her, comforting her. I nervously walked up to them, wondering what’s wrong.
“She’s….gone,” Phoebe whispered, “Leah just...disappeared.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Luna said, wrapping her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders, “Don’t worry. She’ll come back soon.”
“No, she won’t!” Phoebe shoved Luna’s arm off and stood up. “Don’t you understand? My author has abandoned us. I’ll soon disappear with her. We’ll become Lost Stories.”
Luna looks at the others in shock. She’s changed since I last saw her. She almost seems like an entirely new character, and though not too much about her appearance has changed, something about her has. She seems nervous and less sure of herself. I’m guessing either something awful happened in her book or her author rewrote her.
Suddenly, something clicks. I glanced around, realizing that Amira, Jaq, Aria were also missing. Neva, Caylay, Raydil, Ben, and Draco were all in various spots around the room.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Ben. His green eyes look upset. I wonder what’s going on in his books.
He gazed off into the distance. “Sometimes, our authors just abandon our stories. They move onto something better. They think we’re not good enough and just stop writing our stories, leaving them to get covered in dust. That’s what happened with The Clan War, and that’s what’s happening with The Shadow Master’s Heir. It won’t be long before Phoebe disappears too, and she knows it. It’s scaring her. To be honest, it’s scaring all of us because we could be next.”
“Do you think your author will abandon your story?”
He sighed. “I’m not sure, Bethany. She’s trying her best to keep up with the rest of her life and keep writing, but lately, she’s been abandoning us. It’s been a while since I’ve been written.”
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
“Don’t be. It’s her fault anyway.” He sounded kinda angry. For a moment, I felt upset with Ben’s author. Didn’t she understand she needed to take care of her characters? Didn’t she understand these were people she needed to take care of? Surely nothing in her life could be more important than them.
“Maybe...maybe she has stuff going on you don’t know about.”
He turned to me, his eyes filled with fire. “I don’t care. Whatever it is, it’s not as important. Not to mention she’s been nothing but unkind to me. I wish I had any other author but her. Maybe my story would actually be good then.”
I open my mouth in horror. “Do you really mean that?”
“A little.”
I wanted to say more, but I wasn’t sure what I could say. So I stepped back towards Phoebe.
She took in one more long, shuddering breath before she disappeared. Behind her, The Shadow Master’s Heir door disappeared as well.
Caylay screamed and jumped backward. “She’s...she’s gone!”
Luna gasped and covered her mouth. I could tell she had been expecting it, but it still was still a bit of a surprise. Draco ran over to her and wrapped his arm around her. She buried her face in his chest. I realized after a few moments that maybe they were...dating or something. They sure seemed like it.
I was in shock as well. She had just...disappeared. Phoebe was gone, gone forever. She’s basically dead. WHAT IS GOING ON?
Lili stood up, shaking. “First The Clan War characters...now The Shadow Master’s Heir? Who else are we going to lose?”
“Authors!” Ben yelled, “I hate them all. They don’t care about us. We will fade and die because of them.”
“Ben!” Luna cried out, “They’re not all awful. Don’t say things like that.”
“Don’t you understand, Luna?” Ben sighed, “Without warning, one of our authors could stop writing us. They could delete our document and boom, that could be the end. We’re all gone.”
“Stop it!” Neva commands, “Contain yourselves. Yes, this is quite a tragic thing that happens, but there is absolutely no way that would ever happen-”
“It could happen to any of us, Neva. You’re not kidding yourself,” Ben retorted.
"Speak more respectfully,” Neva scowled.
“Yeah? Who are you to tell me what to do?”
“All of you, knock it off!” Draco yelled, “We should not be fighting like this. This is an awful thing that happened, and instead of fighting, I think we should find out where they went.”
“They’re gone,” Neva said simply, “There is nowhere to search.”
Draco took his arm not wrapped around Luna and pointed it towards a new doorway I hadn’t noticed before. “How about we check there?”
A sign above the door said The Hall of Lost Stories. Draco and Luna walked into the room. He whispered something in Luna’s ear and I could see her smile slightly. Neva had her arms crossed behind them and she looked angry still. I was right behind them.
When the three of them stepped away, I got to see inside the room.
It was dusty and looked like it had been around for ages. The floor creaked where we stepped and the paint on the walls was faded and torn in places.
All around the room were doors, like the ones for Wings of a Dragon and the other books. But these doors were older. Some of them seemed to have been there for years, maybe decades. I only saw a few of the doors, and the ones that I saw said things like A Clock Shop Heiress, Outcast, A Tale of Two Sisters, and The Key. As we got farther along, I saw a door for The Clan War and, most recently, The Shadow Master’s Heir. The newest doors still had a place for my jewel, but the older ones seemed to have had a place for the jewel in their early stages, but now it was rotting and...gone. Those books would never be seen by a Reader like me ever again. I gasped in horror.
“Just more proof that authors are awful,” Ben grumbled. Luna looked back at him like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
“What are all of these stories?” I inquired.
“Forgotten stories,” Draco said sadly, “They were left uncompleted and lost. They’re stories authors start but never finish. They used to be out in the room with us, but as soon as they’re abandoned, the doors disappear and appear here. It’s quite tragic.”
Luna ran her hand over the words The Shadow Master’s Heir. I could tell she was trying not to cry. I didn’t realize she was so close to Phoebe and Leah. Draco squeezed her shoulders and she glanced up at him, giving him a grateful smile.
Suddenly, a thought plagued my mind. How long had I been here? What time was it? I glanced down at the watch on my wrist.
Oh no. It was almost seven-thirty in the morning. I’m sure the rest of my family is awake, if they slept, and they’re probably eating right now. They’d surely noticed my absence by now.
I took a deep breath and turned to the characters. “I am very sorry, but I really must depart now. Farewell!”
Luna waved goodbye and I think Neva might even have said farewell, but it was under her breath so I couldn’t quite tell.
I raced out the doorway and down the hall. Around fifteen minutes later I’d reached our apartment. I opened the door quickly with my key and raced inside.
Immediately, everybody looked up at me. I froze.
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Mom yelled, “We thought something awful had happened to you...you’ve been gone for hours!”
“This is not acceptable, young lady,” Dad said, looking stern.
“I...I went on a walk,” I said feebly. This was true, as I did walk quite a bit while I was gone.
“And where, exactly, did you walk?” Mom questioned.
“Around the Hall?”
Mom looked like an angry dragon that was about to blow fire. I was almost waiting to see smoke come out of her nostrils.
She opened her mouth to say something (or to blow fire) but just then, a knock sounded on the door. Ginny, master of pranks, quickly ran to the door and opened it.
The commander of the guards stood there, just like last time. “How do you do?” she asked politely.
“The King requests Ms. Revere’s presence,” He responded, barely giving her a passing glance.
I gripped my bag tightly and stepped forward. “He requests my presence...now?”
“Of course. Come along. You wouldn’t want to say no to him.
I glanced back at my parents. Mom was fuming still, but Dad waved me onward. We’ll talk about this when you get back, he mouthed.
I obediently followed the commander up to the presence of the King.
He led me to the same sitting room as before, though this time he didn’t protest when I sat down in a chair. The King walked in a few moments after I’d arrived.
“Ah, Bethany! How good of you to come,” He smiled.
“Thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” he shrugged, “I just wanted to get to know you better. I have a few questions here for you.”
He pulled out a scroll. It was quite long, the end tumbled onto the floor. My guess was that it was as tall, if not taller, then I was.
“Your Majesty,” the commander said, “That is the wrong list. I do believe that’s your list of complaints on stairs. And I think before you start you should probably ask Bethany if she has accepted your offer.”
The King’s eyes widened. “Oh, I am deeply sorry. Bethany, my dear, have you accepted my offer?”
I hesitated, then nodded. “I have decided to accept.” I handed him the papers my parents and I had filled out.
He clapped his hands together. “Wonderful! Now, Commander, would you please find my list of questions?”
The Commander nodded and left.
I nervously fiddled with my hands while he was gone. The King seemed preoccupied with his thoughts and I think he forgot I was there.
A few minutes later the Commander walked back and handed the King a much shorter list. He thanked him and opened the scroll.
“Hmm. Bethany, what is your favorite color?”
I blinked, surprised. “Um...what?”
“That’s the first question.”
“Blue?”
“Okay. What is your favorite memory?”
“Your Majesty?” the Commander interrupts, “Don’t you think these questions are a bit...elementary?”
“Nonsense, I came up with them myself using a book of questions to ask your new friend.
I barely held back my laughter. “Your Majesty, I think it would be better if maybe I just decided to tell you a bit about myself?”
He sighed. “Maybe you are right. Well, Bethany, how about you tell me a bit about yourself.”
“Well...my name is Bethany. My name comes from a book called Story Thieves. I have two siblings, Ginny and Owen. I’m training to be a librarian’s assistant. Um...what else would you like to know?”
He grinned. “May I see your jewel?”
I reached into my bag and handed my jewel to him. He studied it with a kind of...longing. I wasn’t sure why, but it scared me a little.
“Your Majesty? May I have a jewel back? I think it may be time for me to return home.”
He doesn’t move or take his eyes off the jewel.
“Your...Majesty?”
He regretfully looked up. “Yes, Bethany?”
“Can you return my jewel? I need to be getting home.”
He nodded and handed it to me, though he hesitated. I quickly threw it in my bag and stood up.
“It was nice to see you again. Farewell!” I called.
He waved goodbye as I walked out of the room, questions circling around in my mind.
Why was he so interested? Why can I read unpublished books with my Jewel? Is it special? If so, how did the King know about it?
In the end, they all boiled down to one main question.
If there’s something different about my Jewel, what’s going to happen to me because of it?
I had to do something or my mind was going to explode.
Slowly, I opened my door and crept outside into the hallway. I had slung my bag over my shoulder. It held the book I was currently Reading, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, along with a few various quills, my favorite leather notebook with a silver dragon on the cover, my Jewel, and the book my life source was tied to.
Each Reader in the Hall has a book that their character comes from and that their life source is tied to. That book appears with them soon after they’re born and if the book is destroyed or if they get too far away from it, they die. Readers don’t need food or sleep or water, but we need our Books. My book was, of course, Story Thieves.
I clutched the strap of my shoulder bag as I snuck through the apartment. I really hoped nobody saw me leave.
I sped through the Hall’s on the tips of my feet, trying to make as little noise as possible. I make my way to The Writers’ Society room and open the door.
Chaos greeted me when I entered the room. Phoebe was curled up on the couch, sobbing. Luna, Aria, and Lili were all sitting next to her, comforting her. I nervously walked up to them, wondering what’s wrong.
“She’s….gone,” Phoebe whispered, “Leah just...disappeared.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Luna said, wrapping her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders, “Don’t worry. She’ll come back soon.”
“No, she won’t!” Phoebe shoved Luna’s arm off and stood up. “Don’t you understand? My author has abandoned us. I’ll soon disappear with her. We’ll become Lost Stories.”
Luna looks at the others in shock. She’s changed since I last saw her. She almost seems like an entirely new character, and though not too much about her appearance has changed, something about her has. She seems nervous and less sure of herself. I’m guessing either something awful happened in her book or her author rewrote her.
Suddenly, something clicks. I glanced around, realizing that Amira, Jaq, Aria were also missing. Neva, Caylay, Raydil, Ben, and Draco were all in various spots around the room.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Ben. His green eyes look upset. I wonder what’s going on in his books.
He gazed off into the distance. “Sometimes, our authors just abandon our stories. They move onto something better. They think we’re not good enough and just stop writing our stories, leaving them to get covered in dust. That’s what happened with The Clan War, and that’s what’s happening with The Shadow Master’s Heir. It won’t be long before Phoebe disappears too, and she knows it. It’s scaring her. To be honest, it’s scaring all of us because we could be next.”
“Do you think your author will abandon your story?”
He sighed. “I’m not sure, Bethany. She’s trying her best to keep up with the rest of her life and keep writing, but lately, she’s been abandoning us. It’s been a while since I’ve been written.”
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
“Don’t be. It’s her fault anyway.” He sounded kinda angry. For a moment, I felt upset with Ben’s author. Didn’t she understand she needed to take care of her characters? Didn’t she understand these were people she needed to take care of? Surely nothing in her life could be more important than them.
“Maybe...maybe she has stuff going on you don’t know about.”
He turned to me, his eyes filled with fire. “I don’t care. Whatever it is, it’s not as important. Not to mention she’s been nothing but unkind to me. I wish I had any other author but her. Maybe my story would actually be good then.”
I open my mouth in horror. “Do you really mean that?”
“A little.”
I wanted to say more, but I wasn’t sure what I could say. So I stepped back towards Phoebe.
She took in one more long, shuddering breath before she disappeared. Behind her, The Shadow Master’s Heir door disappeared as well.
Caylay screamed and jumped backward. “She’s...she’s gone!”
Luna gasped and covered her mouth. I could tell she had been expecting it, but it still was still a bit of a surprise. Draco ran over to her and wrapped his arm around her. She buried her face in his chest. I realized after a few moments that maybe they were...dating or something. They sure seemed like it.
I was in shock as well. She had just...disappeared. Phoebe was gone, gone forever. She’s basically dead. WHAT IS GOING ON?
Lili stood up, shaking. “First The Clan War characters...now The Shadow Master’s Heir? Who else are we going to lose?”
“Authors!” Ben yelled, “I hate them all. They don’t care about us. We will fade and die because of them.”
“Ben!” Luna cried out, “They’re not all awful. Don’t say things like that.”
“Don’t you understand, Luna?” Ben sighed, “Without warning, one of our authors could stop writing us. They could delete our document and boom, that could be the end. We’re all gone.”
“Stop it!” Neva commands, “Contain yourselves. Yes, this is quite a tragic thing that happens, but there is absolutely no way that would ever happen-”
“It could happen to any of us, Neva. You’re not kidding yourself,” Ben retorted.
"Speak more respectfully,” Neva scowled.
“Yeah? Who are you to tell me what to do?”
“All of you, knock it off!” Draco yelled, “We should not be fighting like this. This is an awful thing that happened, and instead of fighting, I think we should find out where they went.”
“They’re gone,” Neva said simply, “There is nowhere to search.”
Draco took his arm not wrapped around Luna and pointed it towards a new doorway I hadn’t noticed before. “How about we check there?”
🕮 💎🕮
A sign above the door said The Hall of Lost Stories. Draco and Luna walked into the room. He whispered something in Luna’s ear and I could see her smile slightly. Neva had her arms crossed behind them and she looked angry still. I was right behind them.
When the three of them stepped away, I got to see inside the room.
It was dusty and looked like it had been around for ages. The floor creaked where we stepped and the paint on the walls was faded and torn in places.
All around the room were doors, like the ones for Wings of a Dragon and the other books. But these doors were older. Some of them seemed to have been there for years, maybe decades. I only saw a few of the doors, and the ones that I saw said things like A Clock Shop Heiress, Outcast, A Tale of Two Sisters, and The Key. As we got farther along, I saw a door for The Clan War and, most recently, The Shadow Master’s Heir. The newest doors still had a place for my jewel, but the older ones seemed to have had a place for the jewel in their early stages, but now it was rotting and...gone. Those books would never be seen by a Reader like me ever again. I gasped in horror.
“Just more proof that authors are awful,” Ben grumbled. Luna looked back at him like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
“What are all of these stories?” I inquired.
“Forgotten stories,” Draco said sadly, “They were left uncompleted and lost. They’re stories authors start but never finish. They used to be out in the room with us, but as soon as they’re abandoned, the doors disappear and appear here. It’s quite tragic.”
Luna ran her hand over the words The Shadow Master’s Heir. I could tell she was trying not to cry. I didn’t realize she was so close to Phoebe and Leah. Draco squeezed her shoulders and she glanced up at him, giving him a grateful smile.
Suddenly, a thought plagued my mind. How long had I been here? What time was it? I glanced down at the watch on my wrist.
Oh no. It was almost seven-thirty in the morning. I’m sure the rest of my family is awake, if they slept, and they’re probably eating right now. They’d surely noticed my absence by now.
I took a deep breath and turned to the characters. “I am very sorry, but I really must depart now. Farewell!”
Luna waved goodbye and I think Neva might even have said farewell, but it was under her breath so I couldn’t quite tell.
I raced out the doorway and down the hall. Around fifteen minutes later I’d reached our apartment. I opened the door quickly with my key and raced inside.
Immediately, everybody looked up at me. I froze.
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Mom yelled, “We thought something awful had happened to you...you’ve been gone for hours!”
“This is not acceptable, young lady,” Dad said, looking stern.
“I...I went on a walk,” I said feebly. This was true, as I did walk quite a bit while I was gone.
“And where, exactly, did you walk?” Mom questioned.
“Around the Hall?”
Mom looked like an angry dragon that was about to blow fire. I was almost waiting to see smoke come out of her nostrils.
She opened her mouth to say something (or to blow fire) but just then, a knock sounded on the door. Ginny, master of pranks, quickly ran to the door and opened it.
The commander of the guards stood there, just like last time. “How do you do?” she asked politely.
“The King requests Ms. Revere’s presence,” He responded, barely giving her a passing glance.
I gripped my bag tightly and stepped forward. “He requests my presence...now?”
“Of course. Come along. You wouldn’t want to say no to him.
I glanced back at my parents. Mom was fuming still, but Dad waved me onward. We’ll talk about this when you get back, he mouthed.
I obediently followed the commander up to the presence of the King.
🕮 💎🕮
He led me to the same sitting room as before, though this time he didn’t protest when I sat down in a chair. The King walked in a few moments after I’d arrived.
“Ah, Bethany! How good of you to come,” He smiled.
“Thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” he shrugged, “I just wanted to get to know you better. I have a few questions here for you.”
He pulled out a scroll. It was quite long, the end tumbled onto the floor. My guess was that it was as tall, if not taller, then I was.
“Your Majesty,” the commander said, “That is the wrong list. I do believe that’s your list of complaints on stairs. And I think before you start you should probably ask Bethany if she has accepted your offer.”
The King’s eyes widened. “Oh, I am deeply sorry. Bethany, my dear, have you accepted my offer?”
I hesitated, then nodded. “I have decided to accept.” I handed him the papers my parents and I had filled out.
He clapped his hands together. “Wonderful! Now, Commander, would you please find my list of questions?”
The Commander nodded and left.
I nervously fiddled with my hands while he was gone. The King seemed preoccupied with his thoughts and I think he forgot I was there.
A few minutes later the Commander walked back and handed the King a much shorter list. He thanked him and opened the scroll.
“Hmm. Bethany, what is your favorite color?”
I blinked, surprised. “Um...what?”
“That’s the first question.”
“Blue?”
“Okay. What is your favorite memory?”
“Your Majesty?” the Commander interrupts, “Don’t you think these questions are a bit...elementary?”
“Nonsense, I came up with them myself using a book of questions to ask your new friend.
I barely held back my laughter. “Your Majesty, I think it would be better if maybe I just decided to tell you a bit about myself?”
He sighed. “Maybe you are right. Well, Bethany, how about you tell me a bit about yourself.”
“Well...my name is Bethany. My name comes from a book called Story Thieves. I have two siblings, Ginny and Owen. I’m training to be a librarian’s assistant. Um...what else would you like to know?”
He grinned. “May I see your jewel?”
I reached into my bag and handed my jewel to him. He studied it with a kind of...longing. I wasn’t sure why, but it scared me a little.
“Your Majesty? May I have a jewel back? I think it may be time for me to return home.”
He doesn’t move or take his eyes off the jewel.
“Your...Majesty?”
He regretfully looked up. “Yes, Bethany?”
“Can you return my jewel? I need to be getting home.”
He nodded and handed it to me, though he hesitated. I quickly threw it in my bag and stood up.
“It was nice to see you again. Farewell!” I called.
He waved goodbye as I walked out of the room, questions circling around in my mind.
Why was he so interested? Why can I read unpublished books with my Jewel? Is it special? If so, how did the King know about it?
In the end, they all boiled down to one main question.
If there’s something different about my Jewel, what’s going to happen to me because of it?
