A Fierce Princess: The Poisoned Pawn Duet Part I

by S. E. Rose

  He doesn’t say anything for the longest moment. I feel the tension in him.

  “Go back to bed, Anna,” he finally says. “We’re through the worst of it now.”

  I nod, and he raises his arm to let me leave. I look back at him.

  “Thank you for helping,” he says to me, his eyes still fixed on the horizon.

  “You’re welcome,” I say softly, so softly I’m not sure he’s heard me over the wind until he turns and gives me a small, tight smile. I head below deck and back to my bed where sleep avails me until the storm is well past us.

  Chapter 12

  The next day we snorkel all morning and paddleboard in the afternoon. As I make myself comfy on my cushion after dinner, I realize how much I’ve enjoyed being out on the water in a safe little bubble. I also am realizing that I’m falling for Logan with every touch and every conversation. I lie back and stare at the night sky.

  I hear movement behind me. I know it’s him before I see him.

  “Hi, Logan,” I say, not turning toward him. He sits down in front of me, partially blocking my view of the night sky.

  “How are you doing?” he asks. I know he’s referring to my episode yesterday. I’m glad it’s dark out, so he can’t see the blush on my face. I hate being embarrassed.

  “I’m fine. Thank you,” I answer.

  He leans back and looks up at the sky. “What’s it like?” he asks.

  “What’s what like?” I respond.

  “Being a princess, a royal?” he asks. I almost laugh because he’s one too.

  I clear my throat. “It’s…good and bad,” I say carefully.

  “What’s bad about it?” he asks. He makes himself comfortable, and I feel his arm against my leg.

  “Well, the paps aren’t fun, and I seldom just get to go anywhere. The pomp and circumstance of it all is a bit much at times. Everything is so formal. You know the old adage, ‘duty before self.’ Plus, anytime I want to leave the palace there’s the matter of security. I’m almost never alone except in my apartment or on the palace grounds. I don’t get to do things most people do,” I try to explain.

  “What would you like to do?” he asks.

  I grin. “Jump in my car and go for a road trip, or go shopping at the mall before Christmas, or just decide to go to the movies,” I say.

  “So, what’s good about it?” he asks.

  “I get to do things most people don’t. Like, if I want to see a concert, I just get tickets, no questions asked. Or, if I want to go off to the Bahamas for a vacation in forty-eight hours, the king just snaps his fingers and makes it happen,” I add with a giggle.

  “Your father must really love you,” he says.

  “He does,” I say. “I think he’s always worried the most about me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m the youngest or the only girl,” I add.

  “What’s he like, the king?” Logan asks.

  “He’s…kind, and fair, and he can be a little stubborn at times, but he’s also funny when you don’t expect it. He doesn’t put up with shit from any of us,” I say as I pause. He’s also lonely, I think to myself.

  “He sounds like a nice father,” Logan says.

  “What about your father?” I ask him.

  “Oh, I don’t know him,” he says.

  “Oh?” I pry.

  “My parents split when I was a baby. He didn’t want to be a part of our lives. My mom brought me home to my grandparents and raised me there,” he says.

  “How are your grandparents?” I ask.

  “They’re great. My mom was always a little preoccupied with her journalism career, but they were always there for me,” he says.

  “Were you close to your mom?” I ask, curious about his past.

  “Yes and no,” he says quietly.

  I sit up and put my hand on his arm.

  “I’m sorry,” I say.

  He shrugs. “She was killed in a car accident, like your mom,” he says. We are quiet for a long moment. “She wasn’t a bad mom. I mean she tried, in her own way. She was good at telling stories. She always drove me to camp every year, and we’d have fun on the road trip. When she did travel, which was often, she’d send me postcards from each city she went to. She’d always call on Wednesday nights. I don’t know why that was just our thing.”

  “How’d you end up here?” I ask him.

  “When I was in high school, she decided I was old enough to join her on an adventure. She had a long-term story, she had been working on for a while, and she moved us down here. I still spent summers back at my grandparents’, but I finished school down here. A few years after she died, I decided to buy a boat. I had worked part-time as a mate for a captain, mostly doing weekend trips and fishing charters. I loved it. I got my business degree, and then when I inherited money, I just figured why not do what I love, every day. I mean, life’s short, right?” he says as he looks back at me.

  “Yes, it is,” I agree.

  I sigh. “I wish I could stay here forever,” I admit.

  “Why?” he asks.

  “When I go home, I’ll have to start taking on my duties,” I explain. “I’ve managed to avoid them for as long as possible, but I finish with my graduate degree this year.”

  “Wow, you seem young to have done that,” he says.

  I laugh. “Well, I was privately tutored, so I finished high school at sixteen,” I explain. “Then I did university in three years, mostly online, and I’m wrapping up my grad program in a little over a year,” I add.

  “What did you study?” he asks.

  “Computers, literature, various princess-approved topics,” I say to him with a smirk.

  He laughs. “Touché,” he says.

  “You sure you’re OK, after yesterday?” he asks.

  “Yeah. I’m really sorry I scared everyone.” I pause, afraid to tell him about my past.

  “What?” he urges, he takes my hand in his and squeezes it. It gives me the strength I need to tell him.

  “After my mom was killed, I zoned out a lot. I had night terrors. I would just…disappear into my own world. My dad put me in therapy for years. Eventually, I got over it, but every once in a while, I have a flashback. I guess the dead fish just triggered a memory from my past when my pet fish had died,” I say to him. “All these events sometimes get jumbled in my head. It’s overwhelming.”

  “I understand, at least a little. I had nightmares after my mom was killed. It’s hard. I can only imagine it was much harder as a small child,” he says.

  I shrug. “Maybe. It was confusing as a small child,” I say.

  “I’m glad you booked my tour,” he says. “It’s been a fun week.”

  I smile at him. “Yes, it’s been wonderful. I’ll remember it always,” I say to him. I yawn.

  “You should get some sleep,” he says.

  “I know. Thanks for keeping me company,” I tell him. We both stand and stare at each other in an awkward silence. I give him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before quickly heading down the stairs and into my cabin.

  I flop onto the bed and stare up at the ceiling. I am so fucked. I don’t even know where to begin.

  We have one more full day on our trip. I’m down to the wire, and I still haven’t a clue on how to save Logan.

  Chapter 13

  I curse myself as I walk along a sandy shore of a small deserted island while my brothers finish swimming. I pick up a few shells and find a spot to sit. I shake my head at myself. I just need to rip off the Band-Aid and tell him. It won’t be easy, and he may hate me, but I have to save him, even if that means he can never be mine. The fact that M is likely back on the island also grates at me. I don’t want to risk anyone’s safety.

  It’s halfway through our last full day, and I still have no plan, nothing, nada. I watch my brothers from a distance. They are playing around in the water now. From here, they look like two college-aged boys having fun with not a care in the world.

  I sigh and run my toe across the sand.
>
  “No more snorkeling?” Logan says as he walks toward me. I look up at him, shielding my eyes from the sun. The sun’s rays come from behind him, making it hard to see his features. He looks like a god, a chiseled, tanned god.

  “I’m just enjoying the quiet,” I say.

  He takes a seat on the rock next to me.

  “It’s nice out here, huh?” he says.

  I nod. “It’ll be hard to go back to reality after this week,” I admit.

  “Where will you go from here?” he asks.

  “Back home. I have to start taking on my royal duties,” I say.

  “Ah, yes,” he says, clearly recalling our previous conversation.

  “Are there duties that interest you?” he asks.

  “Some of my mom’s charities,” I explain.

  “Charity work is nice,” he says. “I help run a charity for low-income kids on Nassau.”

  “That’s nice,” I say to him. His arm brushes mine, and I’m momentarily transfixed by the muscles bulging in it.

  “Do you have a boyfriend back home?” he asks. I look up at him in shock. “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate of me to ask,” he adds quickly.

  I laugh. “No, it wasn’t, and no, I don’t,” I say to him.

  “Really? Why not?” he asks. “Oh wait, do you have an arranged marriage?”

  I burst out in giggles. “An arranged marriage?” I spurt out. “Uh, nope.”

  “Sorry, I just didn’t know, I mean…” He trails off and blushes.

  I touch his arm. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be mean about that. It was just funny. There are so many misperceived things about royals,” I say.

  “Like what else?” he asks.

  “That we are all stuck-up. That we can get whatever we want, whenever we want it,” I say.

  “What can’t you get?” he asks. I want to say “you,” but instead I shrug.

  “Just because I want a vacation, for instance, doesn’t always mean I get one,” I say.

  “You got this one,” he points out.

  “I did,” I say slowly. “But this is unusual,” I add.

  “It must be tough to be famous,” he muses.

  I shrug again. “I suppose. For me…well, I don’t know anything else,” I say. “There have been a few times when I went somewhere, and no one knew who I was. It was nice, just being me and living my life.”

  “I’m glad you came on this trip,” Logan says.

  I look up at him, and he smiles at me. “I’m glad I came too,” I say.

  We chat about different parts of the week, and eventually, everyone heads back to the boat. Vicky makes us a feast of seafood. There’s sautéed fish, lobster, and clam chowder. It’s delicious and everyone eats entirely too much. That’s quickly followed by everyone drinking entirely too much.

  We play two rounds of cards, pairing up into teams. Thomas goes up to steer the boat, so Vicky and Auggie play together, and Chris and Mia team up, leaving Logan and me to play together. He squeezes against me in the booth to make room for Vicky and Auggie. His leg is warm against mine, but I don’t want him to move it.

  We win both rounds and my brothers scoff, saying I hustled them. Logan laughs and says I led the team because cards are not his forte.

  The night gets later, and I itch to go up and sit on my cushion again. I just want to feel the serenity of the night at sea one last time. I excuse myself, and I head up to my perch, but first I go and say hi to Thomas.

  We chat briefly about the trip, and I thank him for his assistance. Turns out he and Vicky are a thing. I only get that much after a whole lot of prying. I half contemplate whether Logan knows this, but then I think it’d be silly if he didn’t since they all live in close quarters together.

  I walk up to the front of the boat and breathe in the salty air. I see a dolphin jump alongside the boat, and I smile. Part of me wishes I could be that dolphin, free to go where I want. Free to live my life how I want.

  I once read something that said being royal was like living in a gilded cage, and I think that person had it right. Everything looks beautiful, but you can’t leave it. I stand a moment longer, enjoying the view and looking up at the night sky. The moon isn’t as full, and there are so many stars in the darkness. It makes me feel small and insignificant, it also makes me feel powerful. I let my mind wander as I contemplate the universe and my purpose in it. I haven’t had such lofty thoughts in years. I almost never let my mind wander anymore, but I allow myself these few minutes to relax before I have to go deal with the inevitable task ahead of me.

  I walk over to my cushion and lie back on it. I think about all the wonderful things that I’ve seen this week, giving in to my need to procrastinate from reality for a few more minutes. Then as though my mind is reminding me, I think about Logan. Logan. I groan. I have no idea what to do. He has to know. I need to garner all my bravery and tell him.

  Chapter 14

  “I wish I could just tell him,” I whisper to myself as I stare out at the night sky.

  “Tell who what?” Logan’s voice comes from behind me, and I jump.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he says, walking up to the cushion and taking a seat next to me. He lies back, and I continue looking up at the night sky. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “You alright, Susanna?” he says, looking over at me. I turn my head to face him. We’re so close. I see the moonlight reflected in his eyes. They look like endless pools of gray in the darkness of the night.

  “Call me Anna, please,” I say to him. I love when he’s called me by my nickname.

  He reaches out tentatively and brushes a finger over my cheek. “Are you alright, Anna?” he says softly.

  I swallow. I’m afraid for the first time in my life. Really afraid.

  He sits up and looks down at me with concern. “What is it?” he asks.

  I sit up so we are nearly nose to nose on the cushion.

  I close my eyes and will myself to tell him. I can’t keep this a secret any longer. It’s his life that hangs in the balance. And my time is up.

  “I-I have to tell you something,” I blurt out in almost a whisper. I feel tears well in my eyes because of the fear. Not just the fear that he’ll be killed or someone else hurt, but the fear that he’ll hate me. The fear that this amazing man that I’m falling for will never want to see me again. I curse myself for being so weak, for showing emotion like this. He stares at me in confusion.

  “You’ve talked about your mother. Tell me more about your father,” I say to him in a rush to get it out before he speaks.

  He stares blankly at me. “I…I don’t know who my father is…well, not exactly,” he starts. “My mother told me she fell in love while living in Europe. My father’s family didn’t approve of her. They were married in secret when they found out she was pregnant with me. They were going to tell people, but then something happened just a few days after I was born. My dad told her she had to leave…that he couldn’t be with her anymore. And so, she left. She took me home to her parents, and I lived there until I was a teenager. Then Mom and I came here. She didn’t want to leave here. Something about it spoke to her or what did she say, ‘it made her whole again.’ I can’t remember. I went back to Pennsylvania to go to college and shortly after she was killed in a car accident there on the island.”

  “I know who your father is,” I whisper.

  “What?” he says, leaning back to look at me.

  I close my eyes again and speak. “I’ve implied my special skill with computers. I’m a hacker, a good one. And, ten days ago, I was looking for something, a misplaced family heirloom. I stumbled into the dark web into a place I hadn’t been before, and I saw a bounty for a life. Curiosity got the better of me because the name was familiar to me. So, I dug some more, and…it was a bounty on your life, Logan,” I say, opening my eyes again to look at him.

  “You aren’t making any sense, Anna,” he says. There’s no shock in
his eyes, and I realize it’s because he doesn’t believe me.

  I take a deep breath. “What’s your full name?” I ask him.

  “Logan Edvard Winters,” he says.

  “Do you know the name Hansen?” I ask him.

  He frowns and nods slowly. He takes a breath. “I think that might be my father’s last name,” he admits. “I saw something once in my mom’s room.”

  I take his hand in mine. “Will you come with me?” I ask. “Please?”

  I stand, and he allows me to lead him down to my cabin. We don’t say a word as we walk. The only cabin at this end is his and mine. I open my door and usher him inside, looking both ways before closing the door. I put my finger to his lips to silence him, and he nods.

  I open my laptop and pull up the documents that I want to show him.

  “I believe that this is your real birth certificate,” I say. I turn the screen to face him. He studies it intently and shakes his head. “This can’t be,” he says slowly.

  I point to King Edvard’s name. “Edvard Hansen is your father,” I say. “King Edvard Hansen.”

  “Susanna, that’s crazy…that’s…” He trails off as he stares at the document. I pull up his mother’s obituary and point out the foundation that was listed for donations.

  “That’s his foundation,” I say.

  “Yes, she was a supporter of it. That’s why it was listed,” he says.

  I sigh and pull up a photo. This one is mine, well, my family’s. It’s a photo of King Edvard, Uncle Eddie, and my father as teenagers.

  “That’s my father, and this one is yours,” I say, pointing to him.

  Logan stares for a long time at his father. There’s really no denying it. He’s a spitting image of my Uncle Eddie, except for the eye color. He has his mother’s eyes, but the face structure, nose, mouth, lips, hair color, everything is so much like my Uncle Eddie it is a bit unnerving.

  “I…How…I don’t understand,” he stammers, sitting back on the bed.