The Preparation

"Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery.  Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice.  The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love."  Morihei Ueshiba

~~~

I look up, feeling a little famished.  My throat was sore from talking so much.  "Um...Where's Grandpa Robert?"

My brothers look up, suddenly realising that Grandpa Robert hadn't returned yet.

"He should be back... What's taking him so long?"  Eighth brother looks a little worried.

"Do you think someone noticed our gathering?"  Third brother mumbles.

"No way!  We were super careful!" Seventh brother cries.

"Let's not speculate. We should go and look for him."

"You're right, Xander," Eighth brother smiles.  It's hard to remember that we're all so young.  16, 13, 12, 11 and 10.  That's our ages.  It's hard to think that we need to be intelligent and cunning.  I have never met a naive royal or noble...  Well, not as gullible as I was in my former life.  We learn at too young an age that naivety is a life-threatening trait.  If I wasn't that gullible, I would've survived better.

"We should start in the kitchens since Grandpa Robert was getting us tea and snacks," I state with wide eyes.  I couldn't help but worry for Grandpa Robert.  Is he alright?  Did anything disastrous happen?  Will he be in the same condition as when we last saw him?

"Good idea, Adi. We shouldn't question anyone, though. They may find it suspicious."

"We should definitely check the security tapes, though.  Even though they might have been tampered with, we might be able to pick up who took Grandpa Robert."

We head towards the security room to check on the tape first.  We watch Grandpa Robert head towards the kitchen. The cameras at the kitchen entrance go blank before Grandpa Robert leaves.

"Check all the entrances," third brother orders.

"Don't forget the hallways too, third brother."  Third brother nods in agreement.

Watching the tapes of the hallways, I notice something.  "I think I found something.  Sixth brother headed towards the kitchen here."

I try to find other tapes with sixth brother on them, but I come up empty.  "Third brother, I can't find our sixth brother anymore. It's like he disappeared."

"He probably used the secret hallways," eighth brother frowns.

"Secret hallways?" I ask.

"Yes. There are secret passageways throughout.  Most of them are escape routes," ninth brother explains.

"How many secret passageways go through the kitchen?"

"Five in total."

"There are five of us."

"But you're too vulnerable, Adi."

"I don't mind.  I want to help.  Will we use our phones to keep in contact?"

"No.  It's not that safe.  We should use something else..."

"What about eighth brother's plants?  Didn't you brag about one of your plants being telepathic?  Why don't we use that plant's telepathic abilities to talk to each other?" I cry in excitement.

"That's actually an excellent idea."

"And if we need to put something down on paper, we can use ninth brother's beast tamer ability," I add.

"But what animals?"

"Rats are the best. They have better senses in the dark and know where to go.  They'll be able to find their way through the passageways to each other.  We should keep four rats with us.  One for each person."  Seventh brother smiles.  The bookworm in him remembers all that he's read.

"Okay.  What's the plant called, eighth brother?"

"Clematis telepathia," he smiles.

I frown. 

"Clematis...telepathia...Clematis meaning a climbing plant, telepathia meaning telepathic."

"Perfect, Adi. Yes, that's exactly what the words mean. You know your Latin."

"I read a lot in the library since I'm not allowed to study.  Mother taught me how to read and write."

"Well, she taught you well."

"So, what's the common name for the Clematis telepathia?"

"Telepathic climber. Sometimes the simplest names are best."

"That is simple," I giggle.

"Where can we get some?" Ninth brother asks.  "And what rats should we use?"

"I have some seeds in my room.  We can use the one in my room as a command centre.  All you need to do is swallow the seed, and you can telepathically talk to others who swallow the seed.  It only lasts for two hours, so we need to be quick."  Eighth brother explains what we need to do for the telepathic climbers to work.

"As for the rats, any type of rat will do as long as it's not albino.  An albino rat has impaired senses," seventh brother explains.

"Alright.  You'll have to bring the rats to me.  I can't talk to animals.  Just tame them."

"All we need to do is leave out some cheese near a sewer, and rats will come pouring out."

"Those rats won't be clean, so I would rather have them walk next to us rather than having to hold them."

"We also need to bring a notebook with us and a pen, so if we need to write something down, we can."

We move out to collect the things we need after having agreed on a list.  Everyone had something to do, and we had to do it quickly since we didn't know what condition Grandpa Robert was in.

'I hope Grandpa Robert is okay.  Please be okay, Grandpa Robert,' I pray.  By the time I reach the gathering place, third brother and ninth brother were already there.  Seventh brother and eighth brother came not long after.

"Good.  Now that we've gathered once more let's start distributing."  We're handed a cage with four pristine rats in them.

"I know you said you didn't want to hold them, as they would be dirty, so I asked my maids to clean them up.  They were treated like dogs, so they're pristine," ninth brother explains.

"I wish I had your power, ninth brother," I grumble.  "That, or beast language.  I want to talk to animals.  It would be so much fun."

"We don't know what your innate power is yet, Adi.  We'll know soon enough, though."

"When?" I complain.

"When we get Grandpa Robert and reel in someone with an innate power measuring tool.  They're hard to manufacture, so there are minimal supplies.  We should only have 10 in the kingdom."

"Wow!  If that's the case, how do each of the men know what their talent is?"

"The 10 crystals are taken to each village once every 5 years."

"That's amazing! How can you tell?"

"Well, first, it'll say whether you're passive or active.  Passive is red, and active power is green.  If your ability is passive, then you'll go through a series of tests to see what passive ability you have.  If it's active, however, the crystal will shine a colour that is linked to you.  The colours are transparent for air, blue for water, red for fire and brown for the earth. 

Dark green is for plants, light green for healing.  Gold for light, and black for dark.  Yellow for lightning, light blue for ice and white for snow.  There are others, but it would take too long to go through each colour and power."

"I have a lot of learning to do," I sigh.

"At least you have seventh brother on your side.  He can help you," ninth brother says in a sympathetic tone.

"You guys have had years to learn all this stuff, but I have no foundation.  What if I suck at all this Queen stuff?"  I suddenly feel disheartened.  I have so much to learn but so little time.  I'm already behind my brothers because I am not allowed to study.  Can I really do this?

"We'll all support you, Adi," third brother says seriously.  They all hold some part of my body to reassure me.  I smile, feeling grateful that I have all my brothers in my life once more.  I missed them so much.

"Let's go get Grandpa Robert!" I cry, feeling better.  We move out, heading to our own location.  The location I decided to take began in the kitchen.  I didn't know how they got away, but they definitely went through the kitchen.  Sixth brother will not get away with harming Grandpa Robert.  We'll make sure he pays if Grandpa Robert ends up hurt.

I head into the pantry, where I see a slightly raised area in the wall.  I press on it, and an opening appears.  As soon as I enter, the wall shuts behind me, leaving me in what had looked like a pitch-black room.  I switch on my torch and shine it everywhere, but it's too difficult to see, so I take out a lantern and swallow the seed given to me.

'Can everyone hear me?' I ask in my mind.  It takes a few rounds, but eventually, all four brothers reply.

The lantern will give me a broader view, even if I can't see as far forward as a torch.  My brothers all keep in touch, and I don't say any more than I need to.  The passageway for me is relatively short, and soon I come to a crossroads.

'Big brothers, I have a problem,' I say, linking to them.

'What's wrong, Adi?' they chorus.

'I've come to a crossroad. Which way do I go?'

'Whatever your gut says, do. You need to trust your instincts. Our bloodline will always be happy when near relatives.  Try to use it.'

'Okay, big brothers.' I sigh to get ready.

"Okay, I can do this," I say in an encouraging tone.