by Peak, Renna
I’m not sure what it is about her words, but my gut seems to twist around on itself. It would certainly be easier to return to Montana—to never have to think about the political problems of my country unless they somehow wound up in the American news. But now that I’m home, I’m not entirely certain I want to bury that part of my life any longer.
“You’ve seen the Montovian countryside now, Clara.” I lift her hand to my lips. “It’s not so different from Montana—”
“It’s totally different from Montana. In that…it’s here.” She lets out a long breath. “It’s not that here isn’t beautiful and everything…”
I study her face for a moment. I know I can be happy wherever we’re together, but I really would like for my family to come to know her and accept her. The only way that will be possible is if we’re in Montovia.
“We don’t have to talk about this now, you know.” She gives me a forced smile. “How about we go for a ride? I have to tell you, I’ve missed being outside. You wouldn’t believe how long three days inside a stuffy manor feels when you know you aren’t allowed to leave it.”
I can’t believe I’d forgotten—even for a moment—that she isn’t safe here at all. Not that she would be any safer in Montana, either. In fact, I can think of fewer places she would be less safe than alone with me on a huge ranch, with no one else around for miles. It would only be a matter of time—
“So can we?” She interrupts my thoughts.
“Can we what?” I cock my head at her.
“Go for a ride?” She grins up at me. “You sure do have your head in the clouds today, Nick. I mean, I’m sorry your family didn’t exactly jump for joy at the news of our engagement—”
“They’ll get over it.” I look at her for a moment. “Or perhaps they won’t. It’s of little matter.”
“It’s of a lot of matter to me.” Her gaze narrows slightly. “And it is to you, too.”
“Then perhaps I should have said that I’ll get over it. Them.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“So can we go for a ride?”
I look into her eyes, my chest filling again with every bit of joy I feel knowing she’s mine—knowing she wants to share her life with me forever. But it makes me realize at the same time how fragile our happiness is—at least as long as her former fiancé is still a threat to her.
I shake my head. “I’m afraid not. In fact, I think we ought to go inside. And stay inside—”
“Who’s going to ride Pom?” She frowns up at me. “You can’t keep me a prisoner forever, you know.”
I give her a single nod. “I know.” But, I do have to keep you safe.
Clara
The movies have it all wrong. I’ll admit it, I love a good Cinderella story as much as the next girl, but in the movies and books royal life always looks so glamorous. And exciting. And just plain magical.
I guess the “exciting” part is right. There’s hardly a dull moment around this family. But if I had to sum up my royal experience in one word, it would be “awkward.”
Yeah, there’s no other way to describe it—I’ve experienced more awkward situations since meeting Nick than I have in my entire life. There are so many rules and expectations for royals, so many things to potentially get wrong. And not just for outsiders like me. Things seem just as awkward and fraught for Nick and the other members of his family, and they’ve lived like this their entire lives. I don’t know how they do it.
And why can’t anyone just come out and say what they mean? It’s not that hard to be forthright. Something is going on with these people, and it’s not going to get any better if they all just keep giving each other weird looks or hurrying off rather than explaining what they’re thinking. I dealt with plenty of passive-aggressive nonsense in New York, but this situation is much more frustrating. Everything is when it involves the person you love.
“This goes without saying, but perhaps we should pause our prank war while my family is here,” Nick suggests as we head back to his suite.
I get it, really I do, but I’m still disappointed. “So not only am I a prisoner indoors, but now I get to die of boredom, too?” His cousins haven’t even discovered that first big prank I set for them yet.
Nick sighs. “I know this situation isn’t ideal, Clara—”
“But I need to impress your family. Don’t worry, I understand that much.”
He glances down at me, then pulls me into a little alcove along the side of the hallway. “This isn’t for my family. This is for you. Leo and Sophia might actually enjoy a few harmless pranks, but my parents…” His frown deepens. “Things will be a lot easier with my parents if they like you. This is already an unusual engagement, and if we give my father any ammunition, anything he could latch on to…”
“I get it,” I assure him. “And I understand. Honestly. But I don’t have to be happy about it.” I smile up at him. “You don’t have to, either. This situation sucks. For all of us.”
He studies me. “You’re right about that. And I’m sorry I’ve put you in the middle of this.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I assure him. “You’re not responsible for your family. And you’ve had to deal with them a lot longer than I have. Even in the short time I’ve been in this country, I’ve learned that that’s no small challenge.”
He pulls me into his arms, drawing my body against his. “Then I apologize that I’m keeping you confined inside. That I—”
“No, you can’t apologize for that, either,” I insist. “That’s Adam’s fault.” And mine, for treating Adam the way I did and turning him into a man who would kidnap me.
He leans down, resting his forehead against mine. “It might not be my fault, but your happiness is my concern. And I consider it my personal responsibility to ensure you are happy and entertained while you are stuck inside.”
I grin. “And what exactly are you proposing, Your Highness?”
“I—” His voice cuts off as a servant suddenly goes darting past us at a run, not even acknowledging us. We both turn, watching him sprint around a corner.
“Is everyone going to be running around like that the whole time your family’s here?” I ask. “There are twice as many servants here now—shouldn’t that mean they get to slow down a little?”
Nick is frowning. “It’s possible they’re still hurrying to make some final accommodations for my family, but—”
He stops speaking abruptly as a group of uniformed men come around the corner. I recognize them as members of the security team that arrived with the royal family. Now that they’re closer, I can see the insignia embroidered on the left breast of each dark coat. They aren’t sprinting—or even jogging—but they project the same sense of urgency that the servant did.
“The Royal Guard,” Nick murmurs to me in a soft voice. He steps out of the alcove into their line of sight.
“Your Highness,” the one in front says immediately, dropping into a bow. The others follow suit.
Nick squares his shoulders. “I trust that everything is well.”
“I’m afraid that’s not the case, Your Highness,” the man in front says. “Before we arrived, we were informed of the escaped prisoner who presented a potential threat to Their Majesties’ safety. The security measures put in place by the Wintervale Guard were inadequate, so we’re establishing the appropriate barriers ourselves. In fact, I was informed five minutes ago that one of our patrols spotted an unidentified man out on the grounds, hiding in the gardens.”
“What?!” Nick exclaims. He turns back, reaching for me, and I let him pull me into his side, his arm securely around my waist. “Was he apprehended? Who was he?”
The guard shakes his head. “I don’t have all the details yet, Your Highness. “But we’ve been sent to make sure Their Majesties and all of their children are safe. It would be advised to return to your suite, Your Highness, and remain there until the area is secured.”
“I understand,” Nick says. “Please keep
us informed.” He glances briefly at me. “And I don’t know what you’ve been told, but the true target of the escaped prisoner is my fiancée. Not my parents.”
The guard looks at me, taking me in. “Understood, Your Highness. We will do everything we can to apprehend the threat.”
With that, he leads the rest of the guards down the hall at a brisk trot, and Nick sweeps me quickly in the opposite direction, toward his suite.
“You’ll be staying with me until Adam is caught,” he says.
I smile. “We’ve been staying in the same room most nights anyway,” I remind him.
But his mouth doesn’t even twitch. “I don’t want you out of my sight, even for a moment.”
“What, so you’re going to follow me into the bathroom?” I tease. “I know we’re engaged, but I don’t think our relationship is quite at that level yet…”
“This isn’t a joke, Clara.”
“Of course not,” I reply solemnly. “But don’t you think the Royal Guards might be being a little overzealous here? Do you really believe they’ve caught Adam? The Wintervale Guards have been searching the gardens regularly. Most likely the Royal Guards stumbled across some poor gardener who was just doing his job.”
Nick doesn’t look convinced. And I don’t try to argue—I know I won’t be able to persuade him of anything when he’s like this.
When we reach his suite, I go over to the window, looking out across the grounds below. The gardens are swarming with Royal Guards—I swear there weren’t this many in the royal entourage—and they’re meticulously searching the land around the manor. It doesn’t look like they caught that mysterious man, whoever he was.
I tell myself it was probably nothing. That Adam is probably far away from here by now, likely across an ocean. But the hypervigilance of the guards and Nick has started to take root in me, and I feel a little uneasy as I watch the search below. If Adam is capable of kidnapping me, then he’s capable of other things, too. People do can do strange, terrible things when they feel like they’ve been wronged.
But it’s not just myself I’m scared for. Adam claims he still loves me—however twisted that love might have become—but he has only hatred and contempt for Nick. My fiancé might think that Adam poses the greatest threat to me, but I think he’s got it backwards. It’s Nick who needs to be careful, Nick who will be harmed if Adam gets his way.
And as I watch the guards move about the gardens below, I promise myself that I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him safe.
Nicholas
Unfortunately, there have been no arrests made and no sign of whatever intruder might have been lurking about the Wintervale gardens. I suppose I should feel a bit more secure now that we have the additional protection of the Royal Guard, but something isn’t sitting right with me. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s almost as though I can feel Adam’s presence. It’s ridiculous, of course, but I can’t seem to put it out of my mind, and I find myself looking in the corner of every room I enter, waiting for him to be there.
I haven’t let Clara leave my side since the report of the intruder. Even when she enters the bathroom, I’m not far from the door. I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to her. It’s my responsibility to keep her safe.
But less than a day after my family’s arrival, I’m summoned to a meeting with Lord Frederick and my father. It seems preposterous—my brother Andrew is here as well, and he’s quite a lot more experienced in these sorts of negotiations. I’ve been able to do little since I’ve been here. I doubt I’ve earned even a bit of respect from this side of the family, not that I’ve done much to try.
I insist that Clara comes with me to the meeting. She protests, of course, but I’ll not have her alone in the suite. I can’t even bear the thought of her traveling through the corridor alone—I’ll certainly not have her waiting alone in our suite.
“I can go and see Sophia,” she says. “I seriously don’t think your father—or Lord Frederick—want me there, Nick.”
“Probably not. But as far as I’m concerned—”
“I wasn’t invited. Isn’t there some sort of royal protocol that says I can’t be where I’m not invited?” She tilts her head, giving me the smallest of smiles. “There is, isn’t there?”
“Perhaps you haven’t heard, but I don’t give a damn about protocol.” I extend my arm to her, offering her my elbow. “Now, if you’d be so kind—”
“I haven’t even had the princess training, and I’m right, aren’t I?” She gives a small laugh. “When do I start the princess training?” She loops her arm through mine.
“I’ve no idea what you’re speaking of.” I look down at her as we enter the hallway.
“Didn’t Elle and Victoria have to go through some sort of training? Learning all the etiquette and proper…whatever?” She blinks at me. “With all your family’s rules and obligations, I can’t believe they wouldn’t have made them go through some sort of…I don’t know. Orientation or something?”
I chuckle. “Sophia did ask my brothers and I to help her to give her husband some…lessons. But aside from that, I don’t believe anyone else has had any proper lessons or even anything remotely resembling such a thing. I’m sure my mother helped Elle and Victoria… And perhaps Sophia spoke with them as well. To be honest, I wasn’t at home when they arrived at the palace, so I couldn’t say for certain what transpired.”
“Ah, the infamous military service, wasn’t it?” She stares straight ahead, still gripping my arm. “You still need to tell me about that sometime.”
I’m sure I stiffen, though she doesn’t seem to notice. There are plenty of reasons I haven’t spoken of that time with her, not the least of which was my mental state when I entered. Having just broken off my relationship with Sara, it was not the best time in my life.
“So what is this meeting about, anyway?”
I’m not sure if she’s changed the subject based on my reaction, but I’m grateful for it. “I imagine it’s regarding Lord Frederick’s threats of secession. I can’t imagine it would be about anything else.”
“Right. Don’t you think it’s all pretty much a ploy, though? It’s not like he has the power to secede—”
“It isn’t about whether or not he has the power. There’s been some…unrest in Montovia recently, particularly along the border with Rosvalia. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that there would be unrest here, too.”
“But we were out there—out with the citizens. No one seemed upset to see you. They were all very appropriate.”
“Honestly, I…” My voice trails off—I’m certain I saw something move behind a large potted plant in a nearby alcove as we passed. I pull Clara behind me, shielding her from whomever it might be hiding there as I approach. But when I push the leaves to the side, there’s nothing there. Nothing at all.
“Nick…” Clara pulls my hand into hers, squeezing it tightly. “Maybe I should just go back to the room—”
“Nonsense. You’ll attend the meeting with me. I’ve already told you—”
“I know, I know. You’re not letting me out of your sight.” She lets out a long breath. “Can we just agree that the threat inside the manor is probably close to zero? I mean—how would Adam even get in? There are about a million guards here now.”
I set my jaw, but we continue walking toward the meeting hall. She might be right—I’m probably being completely overprotective—but I can’t seem to help it.
We finally arrive at the hall where this meeting is to take place. My cousins are all already here, and my brothers Andrew and Leopold are here as well.
Andrew turns to me, lifting a brow. “Hello, Brother.” He glances over at Clara before turning back to me. “And Clara.” He cocks his head. “I don’t believe our…anyone outside the family was invited to attend.”
“I think he means we were supposed to leave the ladies back there.” Leo hitches a thumb over his shoulder. “Not that Elle and Victoria
wouldn’t have livened things up a little in here.”
“Indeed,” Andrew says, still giving me an odd look. “You’ve still time before Father arrives. Perhaps one of our cousins would be so kind as to lead her—”
“Clara stays.” I look at each of my brothers in turn. “Her life is in danger, and I’ll not have her out of my sight.”
Leo grins. “Look at our little brother, Andrew. Standing up for the woman he loves.” He nods a few times to himself. “I like this.”
Andrew merely lifts a brow, first at Andrew and then turns to me. “Be that as it may—”
He’s interrupted by the entrance of a few of the Royal Guard, followed immediately by Lord Frederick and then my father.
Lord Frederick takes his place on one side of the table, and my cousins scramble to flank him as my father takes the place on the opposite end.
Before anyone can sit, my father looks over at me, then looks at Clara. He lets out a long breath. “Truly, Nicholas? This is how you wish to test my patience?”
“Hello, Father,” I say. “If it is too much bother to have my fiancée here with me, I’ll happily leave with her.”
His steely gaze bores into me for a long, uncomfortable moment. “No.” He gives Clara a nod, motioning for her to sit beside him at the table. “She stays.”
Clara
At first I was just worried I’d be bored or uncomfortable during this meeting. Now I’m actually a little terrified.
Nick looks just as shocked by his father’s invitation to me. But whatever the king’s intentions, I know I can’t refuse. Not if I don’t want to make this engagement even more awkward than it already is.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I say, offering what I hope is an appropriate curtsy. “I’d be happy to sit next to you.”
I move toward the seat he indicated, and Nick steps toward the seat on my other side. Andrew and Leo take their places across the table from us. Andrew’s face is unreadable, but Leo looks vaguely amused by all of this. He gives me a wink when he catches me looking at him.