by Peak, Renna
“You know,” Nick says as we walk outside hand in hand, “Prince and Pom should be arriving any day now.”
“I can’t wait to see them again.” I squeeze his fingers. “I never knew I could miss an animal this much!”
He chuckles. “Me either.”
We head down the front steps. As we reach the cobblestoned driveway, I see Caspar come around the corner of the manor, and even though Nick and I quickly steer ourselves the other way, he calls after us.
“Cousin!” he shouts.
Nick isn’t the sort of person to ignore a direct address, no matter what the circumstances. So we pause and wait for Caspar to approach. There’s a wary expression in Nick’s eyes.
When he’s finally in front of us, Caspar eyes Nick up and down.
“You look very…dry, Cousin,” he says.
“Why wouldn’t I be dry?” Nick replies. “I don’t suppose this has anything to do with a rather uninspired prank someone set up over the door to my suite? I expected something far cleverer from you, Cousin.”
Caspar shrugs. “That was all Benedict. I just heard about it in passing.”
“Hm.” Nick’s expression gives nothing away, which make Caspar narrow his eyes in suspicion.
“You seem surprisingly calm about all of this,” Caspar says. His eyes shift to me, and I must not do a very good job of hiding my thoughts. “What do the two of you have planned?”
“I can honestly say I have no idea,” Nick tells him.
Caspar’s eyes are mere slits now, and he eyes me closely. “Clara?”
I just shrug, trying—and failing, I’m sure—to keep the amusement out of my expression. “I don’t know anything, either.”
“You’re a terrible liar.” Caspar crosses his arms.
I smile. “All I can say is that whatever happens—or doesn’t happen—is probably well deserved. You started it.”
Caspar’s eyes light up at the challenge. “We’ll see about that, lovely Clara.”
“Yes, I guess we will,” I reply. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Nick and I have plans.”
Caspar doesn’t say a word as I loop my arm through Nick’s and we continue on toward the stables.
“I can’t wait to see what you have planned for them,” Nick murmurs to me.
I laugh. “You’re going to love it.”
The stable hands prepare our horses—this time they saddle one named Aurora for me, since Arella was far too “advanced”—and we’re just riding out of the stable yard when a servant comes running toward us.
“Your Highness,” he says with a bow to Nick, “there’s a phone call for you.”
“It can wait,” Nick tells him. “Clara and I are going for a ride.”
“But Your Highness…” He gives another bow. “It’s Her Majesty, your mother.”
Nick glances at me, and then sighs. “I really should take this.”
“I understand,” I tell him, preparing to dismount again.
“I’ll be quick,” he says, climbing easily down from his horse while I’m still trying to figure out how to get my skirts out of the way. “Why don’t you start down the trail around the lake? I’ll catch up to you as soon as I can.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“I don’t expect you to sit around waiting for me,” he says, placing a hand on my knee. “I’d rather you enjoy this beautiful day. I won’t be long.”
“Okay. If you say so.” Riding certainly sounds like a lot more fun than sitting around while he takes a phone call.
He smiles—though it doesn’t reach his eyes—and hurries after the nervous-looking servant.
Which leaves me alone, sitting on the back of Aurora.
“What do you say, girl?” I ask her. “I think we can handle ourselves, don’t you? Just don’t go too fast, please. Or throw me if you see a snake.” I’m still a little jittery from my experience with Arella.
Aurora’s ears flick back toward me, and her tail swings at a fly. I give her a soft nudge with my heels and, after a moment of thought, she begins plodding forward.
Yes, she’s definitely more my speed.
Aurora sets a slow, easy pace along the trail, and once I realize she’s not going to bolt, I start to relax. It’s a beautiful day—birds sing overhead, and there’s a lovely breeze blowing off the lake.
I hope Nick doesn’t take too long. And I also hope that whatever his mother has to say to him is good news. He deserves a break from all that worrying.
I’m chewing on those thoughts when a twig snaps up ahead. I stiffen, clutching the reins, but Aurora doesn’t appear to notice or care about the noise.
It was just a chipmunk or something, I tell myself. If Aurora isn’t spooked, I have no reason to be.
A few minutes later, though, I hear another twig break—and this time, I can’t seem to convince myself it’s nothing. If that was a chipmunk, then it was a very large one.
Do they have bears in Europe? I wonder. I know they have wolves…
Aurora lifts her head, her ears flicking forward and back. She’s noticed it, too.
“It’s okay, girl,” I tell her, patting her neck. I don’t remember what you’re supposed to do to scare away bears or wolves or other large predators, but shouting seems like a good place to start.
“Hey, bear!” I shout. “Or wolf! Or whatever you are! Leave us alone!”
Suddenly a large figure moves among the trees, but when it steps out of the shadows I realize it’s just a man.
A man I recognize.
“Adam.” The first thing I feel is relief. Then trepidation. There are only so many reasons why my ex-fiancé would be here, and none of them are good. The last I heard from him was that threatening message. “What are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you, of course,” he says. And judging by the look in his eyes, I’d swear he actually believes those words.
“I’ve told you a hundred times, Adam, I don’t need your help. Go back home. I’ve made my choice.”
“You’ve been manipulated,” he says, stepping forward and grabbing my foot. “I promised you I’d always look out for you, Clara, and I mean to do it. That man will pay for what he’s done to us. For the humiliation he’s caused us.”
I give a kick, but he only tightens his grip on my foot.
“Let go,” I demand.
“I’m not letting go of you, Clara,” he says, and there’s something wild and crazy in his eyes. “Not ever.”
“Let. Go.” I say again, more firmly this time. I tug on Aurora’s reins, pulling her around, but Adam maintains his grip.
“I’m taking you away from here,” he says. “Somewhere that man can’t find us.”
“No,” I tell him. I nudge Aurora forward.
Adam’s fingers dig into my ankle. “Yes, Clara.”
I give Aurora a kick that actually makes her jump forward. But Adam refuses to release me, and as the horse leaps down the trail, he tugs on my leg so hard that he pulls me right out of the saddle.
The ground rushes toward me, and I don’t even have time to throw out my hands to break my fall. I slam headfirst onto the dirt.
And the last thing I’m aware of as everything goes dark is Adam picking me up and carrying me away.
Royal Escape #6
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, locations or incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Ember Casey and Renna Peak
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Edition: October, 2018
Nicholas
I left Clara not long ago to go inside Wintervale Manor to take a call from my mother. It’s odd that my mother would call me, particularl
y since the only message she had for me was to tell me that she and my father would be delighted to attend Lord Frederick’s birthday celebration.
As I mount my horse, I can’t help but smile to myself. Things are finally working out—my family is going to attend this idiotic ball, and with them here, I won’t need to worry myself with any of the political nonsense. I can leave all of that to my father and older brothers. And I intend to begin enjoying myself today.
Even though she rebuffed my proposal, Clara has been quite patient with me. And perhaps today we can discuss what she sees as our future together. I know she doesn’t want the life she had in New York, and it was probably all too similar to a life she would lead if we were to remain in Montovia. There are certain expectations here as a member of the royal family, expectations I’m sure she would shun. But she’s proved herself quite adept at playing the role—even she must see that. Perhaps we can come to some sort of compromise, though I’m not sure how to get out of the duties my family will certainly expect of me if we were to remain here.
I’m no longer certain at all what I want from my life. My only certainty is that I want to share it with Clara. And perhaps if I can word it in that way, she’ll understand that I don’t have feelings for any other woman.
I let out a long breath as I begin to ride down the trail. The pain in my gut at the thought of Sara has diminished, but I have to admit it isn’t gone. Does the pain of a betrayal ever truly die? Even if one is certain he is in love with another?
Clara certainly seems to think it should, but I’m fairly sure she’s never been the victim of a betrayal such as the one I endured. It only makes sense that I would be cautious—I don’t think Clara would ever do such a thing to me, but then I never believed Sara would, either.
I’m only on the trail for a few minutes before I spot Clara’s horse up ahead. But Clara isn’t on it.
For a few moments, I think she’s probably just dismounted to pick some flowers, or perhaps she decided to wait for me after all. But as I draw closer, I see she’s nowhere in sight.
The horse is sniffing at the shrubbery, but doesn’t seem to be in any real distress. I look around for a few moments, but I see nothing—no sign of Clara at all.
“Clara?” I call.
Nothing. Not even a crackle of gravel.
“Clara?” I call again, a bit more distraught. “Clara?”
I listen for any sign of her—any sound or movement. But there’s nothing, only the soft snorts of the horses.
I lead the pair a few more meters down the path, and that’s when I see her bag, its contents spilled on the ground. The bushes to my left are trampled, but there’s no sign of anyone here.
She couldn’t have gone far, I think. I was only away from her for a few minutes.
I search around again, calling her name much louder this time, but there’s no answer. This has to be a prank—one of Caspar’s or Xavier’s jokes. Benedict wouldn’t plan anything so intricate.
And then it dawns on me—Clara is likely in on it. It would be like her to double-cross me for a practical joke. I’m sure she thought this would be hilarious at the time she planned it with my cousins, but the stab of fear in my chest is terrifying.
“This isn’t funny!” I call. “Caspar? Xavier? Clara? I concede!” I look around me, waiting for them to come out from behind a nearby tree, but no one appears.
“Caspar! Xavier! Clara!” I’m yelling now—the stab in my chest feels as though it is twisting around, and my breaths are coming far too quickly. “Clara!” I yell again. “Clara!”
I’m still frantically searching the brush when I hear hoofbeats behind me. I close my eyes for a moment, trying to calm myself. Finally, I think. And I will have words with her about this childish prank. This joke has gone too far.
I turn to find Caspar on horseback, and he stops next to me. “Cousin? Is everything quite all right? I heard the commotion from down the path.”
“This is all quite hilarious, Caspar.” I look behind him, but Clara isn’t with him. “Where is Clara?”
“She was with you.” He looks at me, then at the two horses. “Weren’t you both going for a ride?”
My gaze narrows. “Obviously. And she obviously isn’t here—”
“You have her horse—”
“If this is a prank, Caspar, I demand you tell me at once. This isn’t funny.”
“I…” His eyes widen, and he dismounts his horse. “I swear it upon the crown, Nicholas. This is no prank. I… That is to say, Xavier and I had planned to douse you again this afternoon, but this…” He shakes his head. “I swear it, Cousin. I’ve no idea what is going on here.”
The panic sets in again, and my chest is so tight I feel as though I can’t get a full breath in. “Then we have a problem, Caspar.” I turn to look at the trampled shrubs on the side of the path again before turning back to him. I hold up her bag. “Clara is gone.”
Clara
I wake to the low, deep hum of something mechanical. And to a throbbing in my head that reminds me of the morning after that time I had four and a half Long Island iced teas at my cousin’s bachelorette party.
It takes a lot of effort to open my eyes. My eyelids weigh more than I remember. But as I start to regain full consciousness again, a sudden urgent anxiety slams me in the chest. Something happened. Something bad.
My eyes snap open—for a second, anyway. The blinding sunlight forces me to close them again. I struggle to sit up, my head still throbbing.
Forget four and a half Long Islands. This feels more like I had six or seven, I think. And three tequila shots on top of that. I hear myself groan softly.
“Good, you’re awake,” comes a voice from beside me.
My eyes fly open again, my memory rushing back. Adam sits next to me, his hands on the steering wheel. We’re in a car. I finally manage to get myself upright and glance out the window, trying to figure out where we are or where we might be going. Rolling green hills stretch away from the road in both directions, occasionally dotted with farmhouses or small villages. Purple mountains line the horizon.
“Are we still in Montovia?” I ask him.
“Unfortunately,” he replies. “But don’t worry—we’ll be leaving this God-forsaken country soon.”
I just stare at him. Adam doesn’t look like your typical kidnapper, or your typical ex-gone-pure-psycho. In fact, he looks just as professional and buttoned-up as the day I met him—not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in his clothes. There’s no sign that he stalked me through the woods and attacked me.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I demand. “Seriously, Adam, you’ve gone off the deep end.”
“For rescuing you?” He glances my way, then returns his gaze to the road. “You have a strange way of showing gratitude.”
“You kidnapped me! You knocked me out and carried me away against my will!” I reach up and tentatively touch the lump on my head, then suck in a breath as pain shoots through my skull.
He still has enough normal, human emotion to look a little embarrassed.
“That was an accident, Clara. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. You fell off your horse.”
“You mean you pulled me off.” I grab the handle on the door. “Pull over. I’m getting out.”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“Pull over, damn it!” I demand. “This isn’t a fucking game, Adam.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” When he glances at me again, his eyes are hard and determined. “I came here to take you away from that creep. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
“The only creep here is you.”
He sighs, his eyes on the road once more. “He brainwashed you, Clara. That’s the only explanation for why you’ve been acting the way you have. This behavior isn’t like you—but it’s not your fault. Once I get you back home I’m going to get you back in therapy. Dr. Russell will help you sort all of this out.”
“I don’t need to go to t
herapy. And I’m not leaving Montovia.” I give the door handle a tug, but it’s locked. And when I hit the button to unlock it, Adam just locks it again from his side.
“What are you going to do?” he asks. “Leap from a moving vehicle?”
“If it gets me away from you, then yes.”
His hands tighten on the steering wheel. “When will you see that I’m trying to help you, Clara?”
“When will you see that things are over between us? I made my choice, and I don’t need your help. I don’t see how I can be any clearer than that.”
He sets his jaw. It’s pretty obvious that nothing I say at this point will convince him of the truth. He’s actually gone insane.
So I try something else.
“Let me go,” I tell him softly. “If Nick finds you, you’ll be arrested. But if you let me go, I’ll make up some other story. You can get back home safely.”
“I’m not going home without you, Clara.”
“And how exactly do you expect to get me out of the country? I don’t have my passport with me.” I touch his arm. “If you try to smuggle me out, you’re only going to make this situation worse. Do you want to end up in a Montovian prison?”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“Please,” I say, squeezing his arm. “Please, Adam. Just let me go.” If arguing won’t work, maybe begging will. “Please, just let me out of the car.”
He’s gripping the wheel so tightly that it looks like he might snap it into pieces. “I can’t, Clara.”
And I can’t sit here and do nothing. Every minute that passes is another mile further from Wintervale. There’s a little security in knowing that Adam can’t get me outside of the country, but he’s so desperate and unpredictable right now that I have no idea what he’ll do. And I’m afraid to find out. For the first time since all of this began, I’m actually deeply afraid.