Read Akiko in the Castle of Alia Rellapor for Free Online Page B

asked, choking back tears.
    The heavy red curtain flew open and Throck stepped back into the room, his polished armor gleaming in the red glow of the torches. The Torgs whirred and buzzed some sort of electronic salute. Throck turned to face us.
    “Rise!” he said gruffly. “Empress Rellapor will see you now.”
    “Empress?”
Spuckler sneered. “Pretty ambitious, ain’t she?”
    “Oh yes, little man,” Throck answered, a strangely happy gleam in his eyes. “She is ambitious in ways you can barely comprehend.”
    My head was spinning. I still couldn’t believe that Mr. Beeba and Spuckler were hiding something from me. I thought they were my
friends
. And now we were being taken to meet Alia Rellapor, at the very moment I felt least prepared to face her. What would she look like? What would she
be
like?
    The Torgs stepped forward, parted the curtains, and held them back so that we could all pass through. Throck went first, followed by Spuckler and Gax, then by the Prince and me, and finally by Mr. Beeba and Poog. We stepped one by one into a room that was much larger but even more poorly lit than the one we’d just been in. The floor was a vast sheet of polished stone. The walls were covered with ornate decorations. The ceiling, somewhere high above, was hidden in shadows. At the far end of the room stood a large throne of gold lit by a semicircle of enormous candles.
    Sitting on the throne was a small woman dressed in a simple gray cloak. As we walked across the floor to where she sat, her dimly lit features became clearer and clearer. She had jet-black hair pulled back loosely from her face, with one or two curls hanging down at her neck. Her eyes were deep brown and very kind looking, her nose narrow and elegant. Her rose-colored lips were drawn ever so slightly back into a gentle smile.

    She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. She looked like an ancient Greek goddess. Surely this wasn’t Alia Rellapor. There must be some mistake.
    “Don’t worry, friends,” she said to us, her voice soft and clear. “I won’t gobble you up like some sort of monster, though the tales you’ve heard about me may have led you to expect as much.”
    I glanced quickly at the others. Spuckler and Mr. Beeba both looked somewhat stunned, as if they had forgotten how beautiful Alia was. The Prince looked both frightened and, somehow, slightly excited. Poog’s expression was blank, as if Alia Rellapor were not even there before him. But strangest of all was Throck. He looked scrunched up and tense, like a man playing a tremendously important chess game. Perhaps he, too, was uncomfortable in the presence of Alia Rellapor?
    As for me, I must have looked a little starstruck. Alia Rellapor was so much lovelier than I had imagined her to be!
    “Now tell me,” she said with a smile. “Which of you is the leader of this little group?”
    There was a long pause. Mr. Beeba elbowed me sharply in the ribs.
    “I am,” I said, lurching forward awkwardly. “M-my name is Akiko.”
    “You’re a very brave girl, Akiko,” she said, “and clever, too. Leading this group past so many obstacles, and for so many miles, doing without proper food or a roof over your head . . . It’s all very impressive. I could use a girl like you on my side. You should
forget about old King Froptoppit and just stay here with me.”

    She spoke so naturally and sweetly that part of me actually wanted to be on her side. Was this what they hadn’t told me about Alia Rellapor? That she was a very nice person, that her horrible reputation was
    undeserved?
    “But . . . ,” I said, my voice quivering, unsure of how to reply, “. . . but I can’t stay here with you. I’m here to rescue the Prince.”
    “Rescue?” she repeated with an astonished smile. “Is that what King Froptoppit told you? That the Prince needed rescuing? You have been lied to, Akiko.”
    “Come here,” she said, turning to Prince Froptoppit. “Come and stand