The Lost Princes of Ambria 06 - Taming the Lost Prince

by Raye Morgan

  Max turned to glare at her. He wasn’t quite as ready as she was to assume this was an annoying but basically harmless situation. The king was off his rocker and pretty ridiculous, but that sort of person could go from farce to tragedy in a heartbeat.

  But before he could say anything, there was a commotion in the hallway. There were shouts. A gun was fired, then another. And deadly silence.

  They all stood very still, each holding his breath, listening for clues as to what this meant. Suddenly, the door to the cell room burst open and Monte appeared, with the guard Max knew as Sven in front of him with revolver pressed into his back.

  “Your Majesty,” Monte said to King Juomo, “so nice to meet you at last. We’ve come to take our people back, if you don’t mind. The keys, please.”

  King Juomo seemed dumbfounded and very scared. Hands trembling, he produced the keys. David came in behind Monte and took the keys from him, opening the cell where Kayla had been sequestered and giving her a friendly smile.

  “I always love it when they send in the cavalry,” she noted approvingly.

  “I don’t know,” Max said sardonically as he looked around at his brothers, “I thought I was doing okay on my own.”

  “It never hurts to get backup,” Joe told him. “And anyway, thanks for trying to cut us out of the action.”

  “How did you know?” he asked, quietly admitting to himself that he’d never been happier to see a gang like this show up on his side.

  “Caroline called Kimmee. Kimmee called Pellea.”

  “And we figured the rest out on our own,” Monte said.

  Max shook his head and grinned at his brothers. Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, he grabbed the artifact and drew it out. “Here you go,” he told King Juomo, handing it to him.

  The king looked at his daughter. “So you were telling me the truth?” he cried.

  She nodded sulkily. “I put it in his pocket for safekeeping. I wanted it to be with him always, wherever he went. I knew it would bring him back to me, one way or another.” She sniffed. “And now I don’t want him.”

  “You see what folly it was to do that?” the king roared at her. “You see what trouble you caused?”

  Her face crumpled but the princes were ready to leave her to her father’s care and they began to head for the exit.

  “It’s been grand,” Kayla said, saluting the king as she passed him. “Sort of like a visit to Freedonia without the Marx Brothers.”

  He looked rattled but it was evident he was starting to get color back in his face, and they hurried, not wanting to get bogged down in another discussion with him. Joe covered their departure, making sure the guards they’d disarmed on the way in weren’t getting any ideas. And then they were on the boats and heading for home.

  “There’s something exhilarating about a good rescue operation,” Monte said. “No casualties. Just some good clean fun.”

  “Fun.” Max looked at Kayla, feeling drained.

  She grinned at him. “All’s well that ends well,” she said.

  Max groaned. “Another one of the quotes I’m supposed to learn, huh?”

  She nodded and moved closer, putting her head against his shoulder and enjoying the cool, clean spray from the ocean. She loved Max. And she was in love with him, too. It was a good day that taught you a life lesson that big. She meant to savor it.

  In the morning, Max went to Kayla’s to have breakfast with her and her baby. He sat eating a delicious breakfast pastry that Kayla had picked up at the bakery and drinking black coffee and listening to Kayla talk to Teddy and feeling as though he’d won the lottery. This was great. This made him a happy man.

  Suddenly he realized something. It broke over him like a shooting star, spreading sparkling gobs of fire all around. Being a flyer was important, but not everything. Being a prince was going to be his life’s work. But the one thing he really cared about above all others, the one thing he wanted to do with his life, was to protect Kayla, to protect her and cherish her and make her happy. And loving Teddy was a part of that.

  He sat back and marveled at how simple it all was once he’d let himself break free of all the old hurts and fears. He’d spent much too much time tied up in knots of doubt. No more doubts. No more regrets. He loved Kayla. Therefore, he would live his life to honor her. And that was all there was.

  Could he do that? Could he be a father? Why the hell not?

  He looked across the table at the woman he loved. “Will you marry me, Kayla?”

  She pursed her lips and pretended to be thinking it over. “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. There’s a lot to consider.” She searched his face and shook her head sadly. “If only you were as cute as the stable boy.”

  He groaned. “I’m going to trade you to King Juomo. You’ll be happy there. He really knows how to treat a lady.”

  She grinned happily. “Okay, I’ll marry you. Let’s do it quick.”

  “Before we change our minds?”

  “Never.” She held her glass of orange juice up as a toast to him. “I’ll love you forever, Max. Forever and everywhere and always.”

  “Me, too.”

  Teddy made a noise. It sounded very much like words.

  Max frowned. “Did he just say, ‘me, too’?”

  Kayla nodded. “It sure sounded like it.”

  “You know what that means?”

  “Tell me.”

  “We’re a family now.”

  Rising from her chair, she went to slip onto his lap and put her arms around him.

  “Sealed with a kiss.”