by S. E. Rose
“I’m glad you’re back, sweet pea,” he whispers loud enough for me to hear. A moment later, we are joined by Chris, Auggie, Sten, and my father. I’m startled to see my father and uncle here.
“We’ll head over to the hospital shortly. I just want you all to be prepared. Lara…well, things don’t look good. She has not come out of her coma. Some of her organs are showing signs of failing,” King Michael says. I can see a glimmer of tears in his eyes.
“How long?” Chris asks.
The king shakes his head. “I…don’t know,” he admits. “I’ve started putting together plans for a state funeral, if she continues to deteriorate at this rate, it may not be long.”
“Montelandia will provide you with any support you need, Michael,” my father speaks up from the corner of the room.
“Thanks, Eddie. I appreciate that,” he says, giving his friend a small smile.
“Security is quite tight right now. I just want to warn you all. Lara’s been moved to a secured wing at the hospital with very limited access,” he explains.
“Can we go now, Father?” Anna asks.
He nods. He presses a button on his desk and a moment later security leads us to waiting cars. Anna is quiet on the ride over to the hospital. I’m not sure how close she is with her aunt, but I can imagine this is a difficult moment for her.
The scene at the hospital is chaos. There are journalists everywhere, onlookers stand in the street, people are setting flowers near the emergency room sign out front, and there are dozens of uniform police officers. We are driven around back, pulling into a parking garage area reserved for hospital staff.
Our security detail ushers us through the hospital and straight to a private wing that apparently has been shut down because the princess is the only one there. A doctor greets us at the nurses’ station.
“Your Majesty,” he says bowing his head.
“Dr. Lasson, any change?” King Michael asks.
The doctor shakes his head. “We’re monitoring everything, Your Majesty. There has been no change in vitals over the past several hours. I would say that she’s stabilized for now. However, we will have her latest bloodwork back later. We didn’t see any improvements in organ function after the last round of testing,” he states.
King Michael nods his head. “Thank you, doctor,” he says. I hang back in the hallway as King Michael, Anna, Auggie, and Chris walk in a room. I can see Hans sitting in a chair before the door shuts, leaving my father, Sten, and me standing in the hallway.
“Let’s give them a minute with her,” my father says. I nod.
It doesn’t hit me fully that I’m standing next to my uncle, a potential criminal, until I turn to see him looking at me.
“You OK?” he asks me.
I have trouble finding the words. “I-I…yep, I’m fine,” I stammer as I take a seat next to my father, putting much-needed distance between Sten and me.
“How are your grandparents?” my father asks.
I shrug. “Fine,” I say.
“I’m sure it was nice to see them,” he says. I nod. I’m not much for talking right now, and this small talk bullshit in front of Sten is grating on my nerves.
Sten’s phone rings. “Sorry, I have to take this. It’s about a charity function I’m supposed to be at next week,” he says as he answers his phone and walks down the hall.
My father looks at me. “You look like you could use a walk,” he says as he stands. “Come on.” He waves a hand. The part of me that can be a dick wants to tell him to go walk by himself since he’s so good at being alone, but something else in me makes me stand and follow him. Maybe, somewhere deep down, I yearn to know my father. I yearn to have a parent again.
We walk in silence. I don’t know where he’s taking me. His bodyguard follows us, but my father doesn’t seem to notice. Hendrick is also behind us, but he gives us a wide berth, following behind my father’s bodyguard. I guess when you always have security with you, you become oblivious to it.
My father’s clearly been here before because he meanders the hallways like he owns the place, and eventually, he pushes open a door that leads to a small garden on the rooftop. It has a path around it, some trees in planters and flowers and a few benches. There’s no one up here as it’s a bit cold and breezy but the fresh air feels good on my skin.
“Why didn’t you tell me that my mother was a spy?” I ask him, breaking the silence.
He comes to an abrupt stop, and in my peripheral vision, I can see his security guard stop as well, keeping a good twenty paces behind us.
“Who told you that?” he asks, but then I see a look of recognition on his face. “Jack,” he states dryly.
I nod. “Yes, he told me everything,” I reply.
“I see,” my father says tersely. Clearly, he didn’t want me to know.
“Why would you keep that from me? I’m not a child you have to protect. I’m an adult. I deserve to know the truth,” I say to him.
My father sighs. “I know you are an adult. I’m very aware of that,” he says, his voice tinged with sadness, so much so, it’s hard to stay mad at him. He starts walking again, and I follow him.
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “Listen…I…” I trail off before I decide to say “fuck it,” and lay it all on the line. “I want to get to know you. I do. I have so many questions. And now that I know what my mother was doing for all those years, I have so many more questions. But please, no more lies and no more secrets. If you can promise me that, then I will promise to give a relationship between us a chance.”
My father stops walking again. “I would very much like that, Logan. I don’t have all the answers. Hell, Jack probably knows more than I do about certain parts of your mother’s life, but I won’t keep anything from you…you deserve to know the truth, no matter how much I want to protect you,” he says, turning toward me.
“That’s all I want…the truth,” I say to him. He motions to a nearby bench and we sit.
“I’m not sure where to begin,” he says.
“How about at the beginning?” I suggest as I turn and the locket falls out of my pocket. I pick it up, going to stuff it back inside when my father reaches out and snatches it from my hand.
“Where did you get this?” he asks, his eyes wide.
“It was with my mother’s belongings,” I say to him.
A sad smile emerges on his face. “I had this made for her,” he says, looking up at me.
“You did?” I ask.
“Yes. We had seen ‘lover’s eyes’ that were part of a friend’s private collection. She found the history of them fascinating. So, I had that made for her as a gift after you were born, because she said you and I had the same eyes. I had no idea she had kept it,” he reminisces.
He gets a far-off look on his face and smiles, clearing his throat, and handing the locket back to me. “But you want to know how we met,” he begins. “It was at a press conference for a charity event. That’s where I first saw her. She was beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen,” he says. My father continues to tell me everything over the next hour. He tells me about falling for my mother, about keeping their romance a secret, about how she confided in him about her real occupation after she had to warn him of an assassination attempt on his life. He talks about secretly keeping tabs on her and me. He tells me all about my birth, how I was as a baby, and the photos my mother would send him every month. He talks about the decision he and my mother made for us to leave, and how it was the hardest thing he ever did besides keeping us a secret. I’m surprised to hear all of this. The more he speaks, the more I realize how much I really didn’t know my own mother. It saddens me.
“I think that’s everything,” he says. We’re both quiet for a long moment, letting the last hour sink in.
“I’d like to hear more about your life,” my father says, and then looks down at his watch. “But perhaps we should save that for later. I’d like to peek in on Lara before we leave.”
We st
and and head back toward Lara’s room. “You know Michael and Lara well?” I ask.
He nods. “Yes, very well. Our families spent a good deal of time together when we were young,” he explains. “Michael and I, well, we hit it off. He’s more like another brother to me.”
“Are you close with Sten?” I inquire.
My father looks at me. “I know Sten is…a little wild. He has a harder time with being royal, always has. But he’s a good person, just give him a chance. You’ll see,” he says. I want to shout out that I think Sten might be who is trying to kill us, but I think that conversation is best had later as we approach the room and find Sten sitting in the hallway.
“They invited us in. I already paid my respects to Lara,” Sten says. And for a split second, I see immense sadness on his face. I suppose they were closer than my father explained to me, having grown up together and all. I wonder if he’s behind all of this, does he feel bad about hurting Lara?
My father’s arm on my shoulder drags my attention back to the door as he opens it, and we walk inside. It’s a solemn scene. The only sound is the beeping of the machines, the swish of the air of the ventilator, and the sniffles coming from Anna.
I walk over to where she sits in a chair, her hand on Lara’s arm. When she sees me, she launches herself out of the chair and into my arms, a sob escapes as she does so.
King Michael’s hand on my shoulder has me looking toward him. He motions for me to take her out of the room, and I nod.
“Come on, let’s go outside and get some air,” I say to her. She walks with me out of the door. I look back to see my father sit in her place and put his hand on Lara’s arm.
Sten looks up as we walk by him, I take Anna down the hall and into an empty room, helping her sit on the bed.
I just hold her as she weeps. I pull a Kleenex box off a side table and hand it to her.
“Th-thanks,” she stutters in between sobs.
“Sure,” I say as I rub her arm. She blows her nose and her sobs quiet to sniffles.
“I-I don’t want her to die,” Anna whispers. I squeeze her in my arms.
“I know, baby,” I say to her as I kiss her forehead.
“The doctor came in and said while she’s stabilized, there’s not much hope of her recovering from the damage to her organs. He basically said she would either start improving over the next forty-eight hours, or she would start declining, but odds aren’t favorable for a recovery,” she says.
“I’m sorry, Anna,” I say because I don’t know what else to say. Lara sustained serious injuries, smoke inhalation, and burns. The fact that she made it this long is somewhat of a miracle.
“At least we’re here,” I offer. She nods against my chest.
“You want to go back home?” I suggest. She shakes her head.
“I want to spend more time with her,” she says.
“OK,” I say as I help her up. She looks up at me, and it nearly breaks my fucking heart. Her eyes are rimmed in red and her nose is red from crying. She looks so young and so vulnerable.
I help her back to Lara’s room. My father stands as we enter.
“We should head back to the palace,” he says to me.
Anna looks up at me. “Stay, please,” she pleads.
“Of course,” I say to her as I help her sit. She grabs my hand as though afraid I’ll leave her.
I look up at my father. He gives a small nod at me and walks out of the room.
Auggie and Chris both come over and whisper words to Lara before exiting the room. It’s just Hans, who still sits in the corner, King Michael, Anna, and me.
“Hans, why don’t you come with me? Take a shower, get a change of clothes, some food. Anna and Logan can stay with Lara for a while,” he suggests.
Hans gets up and walks over to us, looking down at his wife. He looks tired.
“I suppose since she’s stable. I could use a shower,” he admits.
“Good. It’s settled. You can ride back with me to the palace. I’ll send you back later, once you’ve gotten a little rest,” the king says.
Hans looks once more at Lara and then follows Anna’s father out of the room. I pull up a chair and sit next to Anna.
“She was always trying to get me to be more ladylike,” Anna laughs softly. “I’m sure I was a big disappoint to her.”
“I don’t think so,” I say to her.
She shrugs. “She always wanted me to dress up and sit properly and say the right things, even when I was little. I know she loved me, but I think she hoped I would turn out differently,” she says.
“I’m sure she’s proud of you,” I say to her.
I see tears in Anna’s eyes again. “She told me that I made her life better,” she manages before another sob breaks loose.
“See, she’s proud of you,” I say, squeezing her shoulder.
“This is all so fucked up,” she says and turns to me.
I swallow. “I know,” I agree.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Two hours later, Anna has fallen asleep with her head on her aunt’s hand. I don’t have the heart to wake her, so I sit in the chair off to the side and watch the two of them. I drift off to sleep after a while and wake with a start. I look around. Anna’s still asleep, but her aunt’s foot is bobbing back and forth under the covers.
I run out into the hall and find a nurse. I pull her back inside and point. Her eyes widen.
“I’ll get the doctor,” she says as she runs back to her desk and picks up a phone.
The next thirty minutes are a blur as I wake Anna. The doctor comes in with two other doctors, and they examine Lara. They take her to run a battery of tests. Our families show back up, and we all sit gathered in a private waiting room.
Two more hours pass with all of us trying to occupy ourselves. At the hour mark, Auggie and Chris get bored with their phones and start playing a ridiculous board game left in the waiting room. Anna curls up next to her father, who talks to my father. They tell funny stories from their childhood. Even Sten tells stories. I’m so confused by Sten. I watch him like a hawk for any sign that he’s evil, but I get nothing. He’s either the best actor in the world, or he’s not guilty.
When the doctor finally comes in, everyone stands.
“Please, sit down,” he says to us and takes a seat himself. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Lara is showing signs of subtle improvements. Her organs that had been in a state of failure are now stable. Her lungs have responded well to the treatment we’ve provided for the smoke inhalation. The first time we tried to bring her out of the induced coma, she didn’t respond well. I’m hesitant to try again so soon, but I think we need to in order to see what we’re dealing with here.”
“When would you do this?” Hans asks.
“Tomorrow morning,” he says. “I’d like her to rest for one more night.”
Hans nods.
“I think you all should go home and rest tonight. It’s been a long few days for you. Lara is absolutely stable right now. There’s no need for you to stay the night. I’ll call if there’s any change at all,” he says to us. “If we do bring her out of the coma, the next few days or even weeks will be very difficult for her. She will need you well-rested and strong.”
There’s a resounding chorus of affirmative understandings from everyone except Hans.
“I’d prefer to stay with her,” Hans grumbles.
“Hans, don’t make me be royal and command you to go get sleep,” King Michael says. Hans sighs and runs a hand over his thinning hair.
“I suppose I could sleep for a few hours and come back early,” he says.
“Good, it’s settled,” King Michael proclaims as he turns to Victor. “Please get the cars ready for us.”
Victor nods and a few minutes later we are all led down to them and whisked back to the castle. As soon as we are back in Anna’s apartment, we both collapse on her bed.
“I’m so tired,” she moans.
“Let’s take a nap,” I sa
y to her, rolling on my side to look down at her.
She shakes her head. “I need to check on my search. I got it up and running again before we left,” she says.
I frown not remembering that. In fact, the only time she left my sight was when she went to change quickly while I was looking around her apartment when we arrived. Then it dawns on me
“Does your closet have a secret passage?” I ask her with a raised eyebrow.
Her guilty face tells me everything.
“Where’s your computer, Anna?” I ask.
“Oh, no. Sorry, I am sworn to secrecy forever. I can’t tell you that,” she says.
“Seriously?” I say to her.
She shrugs. “I’m sorry,” she whispers and looks away. “I promised my mother.”
The gravity of that statement takes a moment to hit me.
“Your mother?” I reiterate.
“Yes, there are many secret places in the palace. This one is special,” she tries to explain. She looks up at me. “I’ve never even talked about it with another soul until now.”
“Fine, go find your computer,” I say to her. “But hurry back.”
I lie back on the bed as Anna bolts to her closet and disappears, leaving me contemplating life in a castle. I wonder where all the other secret passages go, and how many there are. I also wonder how she manages to avoid the enormous amount of security guards in the palace.
The room is suddenly very silent except for the ticking of an antique clock that sits on a mantle over the fireplace in Anna’s bedroom. Even though the palace is in the heart of the city, there’s enough trees and gardens around it that the city noise can’t be heard inside its walls.
I push off the bed and begin looking around the room. On Anna’s nightstand, there’s a family photo. She can’t be more than five or six in it, and she sits on her mother’s lap. She looks so much like her mother that it’s almost eerie seeing them together.
Her room looks like a room in a palace with antique furniture, silk fabrics, and tastefully decorated walls. But here and there, there’s a splash of Anna. In her office, there’s a bulletin board with concert ticket stubs on it. A bobblehead of Thor sits on her desk. There’s a shelf in her office where there’s a cluster of family photos, mostly of her, Auggie, and Chris as kids. There’s another of her and a very pretty young woman. And then I see a small carving that I recognize because I have one too. We made them at camp. I pick up hers and run my finger over the initials carved under it. We had carved each other’s initials in the base of each bear. I smile at the memory.