The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (book series for 10 year olds .TXT) 📕

sensation never came. Instead, he felt those fingers fumbling at his top button.

“Don’t ever let me catch you walking these halls with your top button undone!” the man barked. “It’s slovenly, and it brings disgrace on this house. You are in a position of great privilege—act like it, or I’ll personally see to it that you end up on latrine duty for the rest of your sorry days. Is that clear?”

Alex nodded rapidly. “Clear as crystal, sir. I’m sorry for my appearance, sir. It won’t happen again, sir.”

“It had better not,” the man growled, before turning and walking away.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as the huge soldier disappeared around a corner. He couldn’t help feeling a little unfairly criticized. Lintz was clearly in a worse state of slovenliness than he was, yet the soldier hadn’t said a word to the professor.

“I imagine he dislikes the young,” Lintz murmured, flashing a knowing grin in Alex’s direction.

Lintz’s explanation made sense, but it did nothing to ease Alex’s feeling that a grave injustice had been done to him. He’d thought he looked pretty smart, but apparently not smart enough for everyone’s liking.

With Lintz chuckling to himself, they made their way to the staircase that would lead them to the next floor of the pagoda, moving slowly past the groups of soldiers that filled the hallways, careful to be polite and to seem as lowly as possible. At the fifth floor, the soldierly presence stopped abruptly. It seemed a little strange, but perhaps it meant they were getting closer to Hadrian’s domain. Even as a less-than-beloved royal, Alex assumed that Hadrian would still enjoy certain freedoms, such as privacy.

Maybe the top two floors belong only to him? Alex thought, looking around. This floor was certainly more lavish than the ones beneath it, with gold leaf embossed into the floral wallpaper, and bigger pieces of artwork hanging from the walls. The statues also seemed to be made of far more valuable materials—monkeys carved from solid gold, a strange turtle-like creature cut from what looked like pure diamond that glittered in the glow of the torchlight, and coiling dragons with bejeweled scales. It made Alex curious as to whether there was another reason for the heightened military presence at Falleaf House. Perhaps they were also there to protect these priceless artifacts from thieves. If this place was some sort of gallery, or vault, or treasure trove for ancient magical trophies, he could certainly see why they’d need so many guards on duty.

The doorways that led off from the main hallways intrigued him, but he didn’t want to pause and see what was inside—not until he could be sure that the other two were safe and sound with Hadrian, somewhere above him.

“Do you think they’re up on the top floor?” Alex asked, uncertain.

Lintz nodded. “If you were Hadrian, I’m sure you’d want to be as far away from everything as possible, wouldn’t you?”

They took the last set of stairs up to the top floor. Reaching the landing, they were met by a single, long corridor with a doorway at the very end of it. They made their way toward the door. Clearing his throat, Alex knocked lightly, using the brass knocker shaped like a fish with a ring in its mouth.

“Come in,” a voice spoke softly from the other side.

Needing no further encouragement, Alex turned the handle and stepped inside. The room beyond was an apartment, by the look of it, with plush furnishings and elegant watercolors adorning every wall, some pale imitations of the water garden that could be seen from the window. There were doors branching off from the central space, where large pillows had been placed on the floor, around a low table. Three figures sat around it.

“Alex!” cried Ellabell, jumping to her feet and racing over to him. Aamir followed at a more leisurely pace, though his face showed how pleased he was to see his friend again.

“Ellabell,” Alex murmured, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

“We thought we’d lost you,” she whispered. “We didn’t know what happened. We wanted to wait, but then the soldiers came. I’m so glad you’re okay! I don’t know what I would have done if… Never mind that now. You’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” She squeezed him tightly.

“It’s so good to see you too.” He smiled, kissing her softly on the cheek, not wanting to embarrass her in front of the others. Reluctantly, she pulled away, her eyes glittering.

“You had us worried there for a moment,” said Aamir warmly, stepping up to hug Alex.

Alex grinned. “I had myself worried.”

“Don’t forget about me!” Lintz bellowed from the doorway. The other two shook the professor’s hand as he recounted the journey through the pagoda.

“Ah, you must be the famous Alex Webber?” the third figure spoke, rising from his cushion and turning to face Alex.

Hadrian had the same pale eyes and shock of white hair to be expected from any royal, but he wasn’t wearing his hair in the longer fashion he’d seen from some of the others. Instead, he’d combed it into a bold sort of swoop on top of his head, the front section curling backward onto itself in a quaint fifties style that suited him, making him look like a white-haired Elvis. His voice was similar too, with a deep, musical tone to it that made Alex imagine this new royal to be an accomplished singer. He almost expected to see a guitar hanging from one of the walls.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Alex, taking Hadrian’s proffered hand and shaking it firmly.

Hadrian smiled, though there was a nervousness to the white-haired man that made him seem perpetually uneasy. “Well, from what I’ve been hearing from your friends, you are quite the man! Adventurer, maverick, troublemaker—you’ve done it all,” he teased. Hadrian seemed to be exactly as Elias had described him—a pleasant, genuinely nice man. However, Alex wasn’t quick to forget how he had been let down by