Targeted.

A hand clasped Alicia's mouth shut, where she lay in her dark royal chambers, filling her bones with panic; that's until she heard him hush her. Then she felt fiercely annoyed and angry.

The Jackson siblings had gotten home soon after midnight; Alicia tired and giddy and Lucian half-drunk and deeply in his idea of love. They had entered silently into the palace through some of the tunnels that lay underneath the building, so as to not alarm and alert the rest of the royals of the state of their so called Queen and Prince. And when they were safely inside, the twins headed to their respective rooms and sank into a deep sleep; Lucian was passed out before his head hit the pillow. But alas, it seemed they wouldn't rest, would they?

Alicia sat up and glared at Jakob, who had his index finger on his lips, begging her to be silent. When he realized she would be, he told her to stay quiet and listen.
"Look, I know this is all inappropriate but it is of utmost importance that you listen clearly. You must take whatever you need and go to the beach, quickly."

"What's going on?" She asked with a frown yet she got up and did what he asked when she saw the urgency in his eyes.

"I can't explain now." He whispered as he rushed to the door and stood by it, listening for footsteps.

"Jakob, I need to know. Is it my brother?"

"He is well. Just trust me and hurry." Alicia stopped stuffing her clothes into the bag she had found and looked at Jakob, whom for some reason she considered warily.

"Usually when people ask to be trusted, they shouldn't be."

"Alicia!" He hissed in the dark. They didn't have time for this. Not really.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on, Phillips." She declared, folding her arms.

"Okay, fine. I'll reveal it all to you, but please keep packing. Make sure you have your cloak and your crown and any other personal belongings and put on something warm. We don't have much time."

"Only if you tell me what's going on." She said, stubbornly.

"Heavens, woman. Do it. There are people coming for you." He said, pacing up and down the front of the door.

Alicia shut the bag and put on some warm clothes on top of her sleeveless tank top and sleep shorts.

"What kind of people?" She whispered, grabbing the bag and checking for her phone.

"Rebels. Come quick. Your study has a secret passage, indeed?"

"Yes. How do you know about tha-- rebels? What?"

Jakob grabbed her arm and opened the door adjoined to her rooms which lead to her office. He, then lifted every object on the desk, to see if it would open the door to the secret passage. Alicia scowled at his hands, touching her desk and tilted backwards a small statue of Athena that had always been a part of the desk, revealing a secret door behind the fireplace. Jakob strode towards it but then Alicia remembered.

"Wait, where's Rocky? I can't go without my brother."

"Just come, Alicia. You are running out of time." He replied. And indeed, they were running out of time as they heard footsteps and a single loud knock on her bedroom doors before they were roughly opened.

"But I can't leave him here!" Alicia whispered harshly.

"He is not here. He is at the beach. Go."

And so they did and right at the nick of time too, because the rebels burst into her adjoining study right as the secret door in the fireplace shut close. The door led to steps which led underground to a secret tunnel which, naturally led outside and Alicia had never used it more than twice in one day. The tunnel was dark and narrow, but there were little openings every nine feet - a little over six feet from the ground from inside and fifteen centimeters above the ground from outside - serving as a source of air and light via moonlight at night and sunlight in the day.

"How do we know they won't follow us?" Alicia said, breathlessly as they threw themselves into the dark.

"They won't. Very few royals know of it."

"What if the rebels are royals?"

Jakob broke his stride to give Alicia a look. "You think those people who care about nothing but wealth and the latest fashions would care enough to start an uprising?"

"Good point. But still your aunt---"

"--warned me about what was about to happen and told me to send you home."

Alicia was silent with shock for a while. Lady Mavis who cared nothing for her, who didn't even like her?

"But she doesn't even like me." Alicia voiced her thoughts.

"You don't like her either," Jakob pointed out. "But that's not the point. Even she knows the importance of having a good queen within a kingdom."

"But technically, if I'm not here, I'm not queen."

"Does a bird cease to be a bird when it is not in the air?" Jakob asked, wisely.

They walked in a rushed silence for a while. There were so many tunnels underneath the palace though Alicia had only learned the quickest route to an opening away from the palace, towards the city and she kinda hoped Jakob knew where he was going because they had soooo passed that opening.

Something suddenly occurred to Alicia, making her feel icy on the inside.
"How did she even know the rebels were coming for me?"

Jakob kept silent, elevating that cold feeling in her.

"Jakob! Answer me!"

"We think....my aunt and I think," he said, shakily. "We think Uncle Phillips may be behind the rebels. We think he's their leader."

"What?!" Alicia came to a halt.

"Alicia, we really need to go." He said, as he turned to her.

"How do I know you're not leading me to them?" She asked cynically and immediately regretted it. Though it was dark, Alicia saw his eyes flash with hurt before they were void of emotion.

"Stupid question. I thought you were smarter than that. I wouldn't save you only to have you captured again. Lucian's waiting." He said before he turned back and continued walking, not turning back to see if she was following. But she was.

Eventually, they emerged at the face of a small cliff at the side of the beach. The cliff was hidden and faced the ocean and with the high tide, the salty water reached up to their knees. They walked around this headland and to the sandy beach where Rocky, indeed, stood waiting anxiously and slightly frightened when he could only see their silhouettes.

"Thank goodness you're safe. But gee hey, why not take your time?" He said when they had reached him.

"Were you scared, brother?" Alicia bantered with him.

"I'm not scared of anything. I just need to get some rest. Bag eyes never looked good on anyone."

"Oh you're such a girl, I---"

"--I'm going to create a portal to have you sent you back home and I need to concentrate to do it right." Jakob interrupted before he walked a few meters away from them. He clearly was annoyed by their unnecessary banter and bickering at this totally critical time.

"He's the creator of portals?" Rocky asked, a few minutes after they had stood reprimanded in silence.

"No, not necessarily," Alicia said. "Only the few most skilled magicians can create portals but he's not the only one."

"Can you do magic too? Can I see?"

Alicia smiled weakly at him. "You don't think I would have told you if I could do it? Sometimes, when I concentrate, I can feel it in me."

"That's what she said."

"Oh, shut up." Alicia said and kicked the sand at him. Lucian just grinned and dusted himself off.

"So when will you be able to access your magic? Because I could soooo use a bit of magic in my life."

"What nonsense. You're always looking for the latest trend, the latest thing. But I feel like we're missing the most important thing right now."

"The latest Gucci leather shoes? Hells yeah."

"Stop joking around, Lucian. I know you're still probably a little drunk, but this is important. There are rebels out there, looking for me."

"I told you there'd be rebels." He said smugly, and Alicia looked at him drily. He lifted his hands up in defenses and muttered an apology.

"What do these rebels want from you and what will they do if they find you?"

"I don't know. I don't know. Jakob didn't get to that part yet, speaking of whom, I think he's done." Alicia said, looking at the deep glow of the portal as they walked towards Jakob.

He gestured to them to hurry and quickly told them, "the rebels can probably feel the magic from this side of the island. Go. Your Majesty, I should be able to have collected enough information about the rebels and how to have you summoned to somewhere safe. Have a safe trip." He nodded at her in resolution.

"Thank you, Jakob." She hesitated. "Are you sure to don't want to come with us. We could work something out."

He shook his head. "This is my home and it's safe for me here."

"Are you sure?" Alicia couldn't just leave. The asshole had grown on her.

"Yes. As long as I don't get caught, which I probably will because you're still here and the portal is sending off waves in the magical radar. Heavens, you make it incredibly difficult to save you, are you aware of that? Just leave Alicia."

And that's what she did, but not before casting one more look at the man she wasn't sure she would ever see again.

~~~~

Drama, drama, drama. Thanks for reading.
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