The Luna Choosing Game by Jane Above Story

Chapter 0612

"Why would they want us to know they stole the princess?" I asked.

"It's the location that matters," Veronica explained.

"If it was the rebels who kidnapped her," Julian added, "It was likely they intended to start a war, even then." He looked back to the list. "I wonder how my parents were able to smooth tensions over back then, and why they can't use the same tactics now."

*This has been festering for over twenty years," Veronica told him. "Whatever tactics they used might be wearing thin."

Julian hummed in acknowledgement.

I walked closer to peer down at the list from over his shoulder. The princess was named by title only, but was marked to be escorted by an older couple. A ruse, most likely. A kindly elder couple would be less likely to arouse suspicion of wrongdoing. They were marked as servants of the bear crown.

It's the line after the couples' names that gives me pause. A second infant marked only as 'Baby' crossed the border at the same time. The next person listed didn't cross until a full five-minutes later.

*Julian," I said.

same time as

bring two babies?" I

to Julian on the other side to look at the list too. "Holy guacamole.

perhaps?" Veronica offered. "To help protect the

brow lowered and he appeared lost in thought. "If they were caught, this would allow them to make a switch. Likely the true princess wasn't the one labeled as such but this

Veronica, and his softened. "Good

twitched in return, an almost smile,

a lead," Julian said. "It's been twenty years, but we can hopefully track down this couple. Even if time has been unkind and they have passed, we should be able to follow their course and

like this. In these old documents, we might

and separated to begin our

searched through the allotted paperwork. My stack was mostly old phone records. I kept an eye out for the couples' name and anything that looked like it could be coming in

didn't have enough information to make anything

I hated that I couldn't find

found the information that we needed. And if the war could be avoided, then my choice would be

to me. He sat on the edge of my desk. *Take five?"