Something has happened, Imi decided as she followed Teiti, her aunt and teacher, along the corridor. First there had been the messenger, panting from exertion as he hurried up to Teiti, whispered something in the old woman’s ear, then limped away. Then Teiti had told her she must leave the pool and the other children, and would not listen to any of Imi’s protests as she dragged her home.

They had taken one of the secret routes, which instantly made Imi suspicious. When they had reached the palace the guards hadn’t smiled at her like they usually did. They ignored her completely, looking stiff and serious. The guards who always stood beside the doors to her room smiled, but there was something in the way they then glanced up and down the corridor that told her that they, too, were nervous about something.

“What’s going on?” she asked Teiti as the doors closed behind them.

Teiti looked down at Imi and frowned. “I told you, Princess, I don’t know.”

“Then find out,” Imi ordered.

Teiti crossed her arms and frowned disapprovingly. Unlike the rest of the palace servants, Teiti wasn’t easily intimidated. She was a family member, not a hireling, and of a status only a little lower than Imi.

Teiti did not scold Imi, however. Her scowl of disapproval changed to a frown of worry.

“Sacred Huan,” she muttered. “Wait here. I’ll go and see if I can learn what is happening.”

Imi smiled and pressed her palms together. “Thank you! Please hurry!”

The old woman strode back to the doors. She laid a hand on the handle, then turned to regard Imi suspiciously.

“Be a good girl, Imi. Don’t go anywhere. For your own safety, stay here.”

“I will.”

“If you’re not here when I return, I won’t tell you anything,” she warned.

“I told you, I will stay here.”

Teiti’s eyes narrowed, then she turned away and left the room. As the doors closed behind the old woman Imi raced into her bedroom. She ran to a carving on one of the walls and slipped her hand behind it. After a little groping around she found the bolt. She pulled it back and the carving silently turned outward like a door.

Behind it was a hole. Her father had shown her this hole many years ago. He had told her that if any bad people should invade the palace, she should crawl through the hole and wait until they were gone.

He hadn’t told her that this hole was the beginning of a tunnel. She had discovered this one night when boredom overcame her fear of venturing into an unknown dark place. Pushing a candle before her, she had only managed to crawl a short way before encountering a wall of stone and mortar.