Read Online Akiko in the Castle of Alia Rellapor by Mark Crilley - Free Book Online

were the Torgs.
    We scrambled down from the top of the cage to see if Poog was all right. He looked very tired but happy. I reached out and gave him a big hug. (Don’t ask me how you hug an alien that has no arms. You just
do
it.)
    “Thank you, Poog! Thank you!”
    Mr. Beeba, Spuckler, and Gax all joined in congratulating Poog. I’d always suspected that Poog was the most important member of our team. Now I knew for sure.

 Chapter 16 

    We were all so happy and relieved just to be alive, I don’t think it had occurred to us that we’d need a plan once we’d made it out of the hole.
    “’Kiko, I reckon it’s up to you,” Spuckler said when our little celebration was over. “Should we try t’ rescue the Prince again, or should we jus’ hightail it on outta here?”
    “Yes, Akiko,” said Mr. Beeba. “In view of the, er,
revelations
regarding Alia Rellapor, perhaps you’ve had to reassess your attitude toward the mission?”
    He was right. Knowing that Alia Rellapor was the Prince’s mother changed everything. After all, she had as much right to keep the Prince with her as the King did. But she was locking him up in that horrible little room all day! What was she, crazy? Then again, the Prince had said he was getting all the food he needed. Maybe she was just trying to toughen him up, as she’d said. It was a very difficult decision.
    “Well, guys,” I said at last, “I hate to say it, but I think we’ve just got to give up the mission and get out of here. I don’t like Alia Rellapor any more than you do. But she
is
the Prince’s mother, and as long as she’s not
hurting
him, I guess she can raise him any way she likes.”
    Spuckler looked disappointed, but he nodded his agreement. Mr. Beeba looked very relieved.
    “It’s agreed, then,” Mr. Beeba announced. “Our mission is at an end. Now we must focus all our energies on getting out of this infernal castle.”
    So we all crept back down the hallway toward Alia Rellapor’s chambers. I kept half expecting Throck to jump out and grab us, but he seemed to have disappeared, at least for the time being. When we neared Alia’s throne room, Gax went ahead and took a peek to make sure the coast was clear.
    “ THE THRONE IS EMPTY, AS IS THE ROOM ,” Gax told us in a mechanical whisper. “ NO ALIA. NO THROCK. NO TORGS .”
    “Well, c’mon then,” Spuckler said impatiently. “Let’s go.”
    We tiptoed along the edge of the wall toward the heavy red curtain at the back of the room. Before we got there, though, Poog noticed something. He spoke quickly, in his warbly garbled language, stopping us in our tracks.
    “What is it?” I asked. “Throck?”
    “No,” Mr. Beeba. “It’s Alia. She’s somewhere in this room. Poog says . . . But no, I must have misheard him.”
    Poog spoke again, saying what sounded like the same thing, only he said it a bit more loudly and insistently.
    “Come on, Beebs!” Spuckler whispered. “What’s he sayin’?”
    “He says . . . ,” Mr. Beeba began, his eyes squinting in disbelief, “Poog says
Alia needs our help
.”
    “What?” Spuckler and I asked simultaneously.
    “I know, I know!” Mr. Beeba said, pointing defensively at Poog. “It doesn’t make any sense to me, either! But that’s what Poog said, and he seems quite convinced of the idea.”
    “Well, let’s find her and see what Poog’s talking about,” I said. The idea of Alia Rellapor’s needing our help seemed beyond ridiculous, but I’d learned by now never to doubt Poog.
    Upon searching the room, we found a small, dark alcove off to one side. There, on a large rectangular block of marble, lay Alia Rellapor, sound asleep. She was on her back with her hands folded across her chest, like Sleeping Beauty in the old fairy tale. Her face was almost drained of color, though, so she also looked
    a bit like a vampire. A very
pretty
vampire.

    “What’s going on?”
    I whispered. “What’s wrong with her?”
    Poog floated over to my