The Non British Princess

Part 13

"How on earth do we get the clue down from there?" Harriet asked, pointing up at the golden paper sitting on top of the highest shelf of the library.
Nearly 10 rows of books between us and that clue.

I looked around until my eyes landed on something that could help. "Someone help me with this." I call out and Yasmin comes over to assist me.

We together push the ladder on wheels over to the bookshelf and line it up with where the clue is.
I look over at the other girls and they all appear to be looking at me. I don't want to go up there but if no one else will, I guess I have no choice.

"Fine." I say with a huff and the others give me a victorious smile as I grab onto the ladder.
I pull myself up a few steps until I can grab the card so I reach up and snatch it.

I climb down, almost slipping as I feel like I miss a step but I just manage to get down safely.
I unfold the clue carefully and read out to the other girls what is written on it.
"Well done, you've found the last clue, but to win you must be the first team to the day room."

"Quick." Indiana said, grabbing the top of her dress as she dashed in the lead out the door.

We all followed her out of the library and to the elevator, which when we tried to open was already in use.

"We can't wait." Harriet said and without thinking she lead for the staircase, and we all followed.
Getting down the stairs was hard, after one set of stairs we were done with running, and we had to get back down to the first floor.

I wish we had taken the elevator, but it was good exercise. We ran down the last set of stairs, heels clicking against the marble floors, and rushed into the day room.

When we entered the first thing we noticed was we weren't the first ones here, the Emerald team had already arrived. The second thing I saw was that we had come in second, which was good.

I saw Prince Thomas was chatting to Jade one-on-one in the corner of the room. The girls from Emerald, Olive, Penny, Amelia and Lexi stood together in a group, texting on phones and chatting.

I moved over to them with the other girls from my team.
Penny, who was probably one of the boldest girls I had met so far, had long blonde hair in a high ponytail and freckles dotting her cheeks.

I started chatting to her as the others began talking to one another,

"Where are you from?" I ask her and she smiles at me grateful for starting up the conversation.

"I'm from Perth, Australia. All my life I've never done anything like this. It's exciting." Penny said with a bright smile plastered on her face.
I could imagine her living on a massive farm in WA with a cowboy hat and boots.

I nod at the girl, "Same, I didn't think I'd ever come across any royalty in my lifetime. Yet, here I am." I shrug my shoulders and Penny gives a chuckle.

The laugh of the prince and the giggle of Jade caused everyone to turn towards the two.

They were laughing about something and Prince Thomas had a hand casually resting around her waist and she was leaning close into him.
Jade had black hair that fell over her shoulders in waves gracefully and dark green eyes.

"And we found one of the bonus roses, just look at it." Olive gushed, holding out the rose, a smug look on her face.

It really did look nice, a stunning shiny golden rose that Olive twirled between her fingers.

"We forgot to look for any bonus roses." Yasmin said, looking disappointed.

Yasmin had been helpful in our team and was super energetic. I loved her hair, which was dark and braided which complemented her dark skin tone.

Not a few moments later Sapphire team came bursting through the doors, Emma, Freya, Alexandra, Natasha and Stella all puffing hard from running.

We all waited for Ruby team to come but they didn't return within 10 minutes so Prince Thomas went to go find them.

He returned after a few minutes with Ruby team in toe, Genevieve complained the competition was rigged and she had been set up to fail.

"Whoever has a bonus rose please hold it up." Prince Thomas asked, looking around to add the scores to his sheet.

Emma, Olive, Lexi and Genevieve held up golden roses into the air proudly as Thomas added up the scores on a piece of paper.

"Congratulations to Emerald for coming first. And since Ruby team didn't finish they only have 5 points from their bonus. Now for the results from all of today's activities." Prince Thomas said, moving to the middle of the room.

"In forth place, on 30 points, is Sapphire."

The girls from Sapphire groaned with disappointment and the mood changed around the room. Smug looks from Genevieve and the Emerald girls, Olive and Lexi, shut everyone up.

"In third." The prince began and everyone tuned in again, "On 35 points is Ruby."

Genevieve screeched and Hadley pouted, now they weren't smiling any longer.

"Second, on 45 points, Amethyst."

Second, that's not too bad. Indiana and Remy just shrugged it off, which was respectful.

"That leaves first place, Emerald, on 50 points."

The Emerald girls cheer and Lexi rubs it in everyone's face by thanking Prince Thomas personally.
"I won it for you, your majesty." Lexi whispers to him as she links her arm with his.

The girls from the Ruby, Amethyst and Sapphire all start to leave.
"Thank you everyone, but girls from Emerald must join me for lunch with my sister."

I got the hint and left the room with the other girls from my team.

Debating where to go now I saw Harriet, Lola and Stella heading up to their rooms while Indi, Remy, Emma and Freya headed for the gardens.

I went over to the elevator and slipped inside, pressing the button for the forth floor. It zipped up quickly and I came out into another hallway.
I went through to the library and found it empty once more.

I walked past the rows of shelves for a while and came to a few books on the floor. I picked 3 books up carefully and dusted off the cover so I could read the titles.
'British History' 'Famous Kings and Queens' and 'Fashion through the ages'

I put away the historical ones and kept the fashion one tucked under my arm as I moved over to the computers.

Testing out the high quality I tapped one of the keys on the keyboard and the screen lit up.

Code Required

"Ugh." I mumbled, sitting down in front of the computer and spinning in the chair.

I pull a pin from my hair, a special pin I carry for situations like this.
I insert it into the USB slot and hear the sound I expected.

Access Acquired

The screen buzzes to life and takes me to a home page. I go to the search engine and think about what to put in.

"Hey! What are you doing in here and how on earth did you access that?"