by S. E. Rose
Me: A situation?
Auggie: I’ll explain tomorrow. Get some sleep
I groan and flop back in the bed, where I spend the next eight hours contemplating everything that’s occurred.
By the time we board Air Force One, I’m exhausted. I crawl into the bed in my dad’s private chambers and fall asleep for the entire fight.
“Sweetie,” my mom says as she gently shakes me awake. The humming of the plane’s engine fills my ears as I blink a few times. I look around and remember where I am.
“We’re about to land,” she instructs.
I nod as I get up and go to sit in a chair. My sister is curled up in a chair across from me, clearly watching a movie. She giggles as she sips water. At that moment, I envy her, I envy her innocence and her ability to stay oblivious to everything around her. She hasn’t once questioned our sudden change in vacation plans. Although, I’m fairly certain my parents have presented it a little differently to her than they have to me.
The plane bumps as we land, the brakes screeching as we come to a stop on the tarmac. I can see a hangar up ahead with several police cars parked outside it. Our pilot steers us in that direction.
We are whisked off the plane and into a giant SUV with tinted windows. None of us say much as we drive. I occasionally point out something to my family, a coffee shop I go to, a museum they should visit, a park that has a beautiful butterfly exhibit.
I can see my sister’s eyes widen as we pull up to the Summer Palace. It’s impressive and beautiful. I smirk and wonder what she would think of the Royal Palace, which dwarfs this one in both size and grandeur.
Auggie stands on the steps and relief floods me. I don’t know what happened yesterday. Hell, I don’t know what is happening right now.
I get out of the car without saying a word to my family and walk straight to Auggie, wrapping my arms around his waist. He’s still for a moment, and then I feel his arms come around me.
“What’s going on?” I murmur into his chest before I look up into his eyes. He’s worried and it shows.
“Come inside and get settled and then we can talk.”
He takes my hand and I follow him. Tessa greets me with a big hug, making me feel slightly better.
“I made up the same guest room for you, sweetie pie. Let me know if you need anything else,” she says.
She gives Auggie a pointed look before walking over to my parents and sister who are being greeted by King Michael who gives me a quick hug. Princess Susanna walks in with her husband, Logan. She immediately walks over and hugs me.
“I’m so glad you are here!” she says. “Go get settled, there are...things to discuss.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
I nod and head toward my guest room. I’m still exhausted and decide I need a quick shower to wake myself up. Auggie follows me in silence. He opens the door for me. I don’t even glance at him as I begin stripping as I walk toward the ridiculously large multi-showerhead shower. I turn on the spray and step inside. I groan as five jets spray water on my sore and tired body.
I feel him behind me as I let the water cascade over my head. His strong hands massage my shoulders. I roll my head from side to side.
“It’s going to be OK,” he murmurs. “You’re safe here.”
I turn around abruptly. I want to make a snide remark that the palace has been compromised in the past, but I bite my lip and stop myself. Being a bitch won’t help things.
“Tell me,” I say to him.
He sighs. He wipes water away from his eyes and looks down at me. “I think the diamond was planted.”
I frown. “What exactly does that mean?”
He leans in and places a hand on either side of me. “What do you know about Jared’s family and their thoughts on monarchies and world power?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
August
Kate flinches at the mention of Jared. I’m almost afraid to tell her what I’ve found out so far, but I don’t want to lie to her.
“What are you talking about?” she asks, her eyes widening as she processes what I’ve said.
I sigh and run a hand through my wet hair. “Jared’s family doesn’t like the current political system in your country, do they?”
I can see Kate’s mind working, her eyes dart down and back up at me. “Well, no…” She trails off and frowns.
“I thought the main anti-monarchy group in our country was the one that my…former uncle…was involved with, the one that Anna discovered and helped to take down. But I think we were very wrong. I think there’s an even darker society of anti-monarchists, a much older society.”
“I-I don’t understand,” Kate replies.
I want nothing more than to make love to her and forget about everything Susanna’s been finding, about everything we’ve pieced together in the last twenty-four hours, but Kate needs to know this because it affects her too.
“Jared gave me a card when I met him. It had a gold wreath wrapped around the number forty-four. Does that mean anything to you?” I ask her.
She shakes her head slowly, frowning. “I think it’s part of his company’s logo.”
“Do you know anything about Julius Caesar?”
“He was killed.”
“But do you know why?”
“People wanted to remove him from power. They didn’t like…” She trails off, and I know the moment she makes the connection because her eyes widen, and she stares at me in disbelief.
“But, why would Jared and his family want to support anti-monarchists?” she asks.
“I’m guessing one of two reasons or maybe both. One, money, and two, the chance to change the power structure in your own country,” I explain.
She purses her lips. “Well, I can definitely see the money component. They are crazy about all of that bullshit. Old money,” she explains.
“What if they had money problems?” I ask her, biting the inside of my cheek.
“They have money problems?” she asks.
I nod. “Seems the good old senator and his brother bet all their money on the wrong candidate who had promised things in return. He only made good on a few of those things.”
Kate scrunches her nose as she tries to understand what I’m telling her.
“There’s no way my dad did that,” she finally says.
“Are you sure? Do you know what lengths he would go to be president? Power can do—”
She puts a finger on my lips, halting my words. “He’s not like them.”
“Kate, I don’t want to think that either, but Anna found some…well, interesting money transactions between an account opened under an IP address of a computer belonging to your father and an IP address of an off-shore account owned by the senator.”
“Get out,” Kate yells. She points toward the bathroom door. I sigh.
“Kate…”
“Get out,” she says again, her voice laced with anger and hurt. I know she needs time to process this. I step out and grab a towel, drying off before putting my clothes back on and leaving her to her thoughts.
I run into Anna in the hallway.
“I take it from the look on your face, things didn’t go well,” she says.
“No,” I huff. “Anna, are you sure? I mean…” I trail off, and she pulls me into a broom closet, yanking on the chain of the single lightbulb to illuminate the small space.
“Listen, give her a few minutes. You just dropped a major bomb on her. I still don’t completely understand how Jared’s family, the forty-four society, the anti-monarchists, Mom’s crown, and Kate’s dad all fit together, but we need Kate on board. Jack’s going to be here soon. He has multiple people working on this in addition to myself. We will figure it out,” she says confidently.
She leaves me in the hallway and instead of going back to my room, I head to the balcony off the library. I lean on the railing and look out at the fields surrounding the palace. I don’t fully understand how I got to this point. Yeah, trying to find that d
amned crown that plagues me in my sleep was how it started, but this…I feel like I’ve stumbled down a rabbit hole, and I can’t ever get back out of it.
The sun moves in the sky, but I stay still, listening to the birds in the distance. So many memories go through my mind. I’m deep in thought when a hand on my back startles me. I jump and turn to find Kate standing there.
“Sorry,” she mumbles, looking down at her feet.
“It’s OK…I was distracted,” I admit.
“Do you really believe my father could be involved in this?” she asks me. I can tell by the look on her face that she is hoping my answer will be no.
I shrug. “I don’t know what to believe at the moment.” I say it because it’s true, although I’m fairly certain her father is somehow involved.
She leans on the railing next to me. “You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
“How did you meet Jared?” I ask her, changing our conversation. It’s something I’ve been wondering. How could someone like Kate be with a man like that?
She’s quiet for a moment, contemplating her words. “I was a teenager. It was Dad’s first term in office. I hadn’t been in D.C. for very long. My parents let us finish our school year at our other school before moving us. It was summer and my dad had a dinner party. It was a bunch of government people. I was bored to tears. Ash was younger and had already gone to bed. I was wandering around the building and ended up out in the rose garden. A few minutes later, Jared showed up and we started talking. He seemed nice and offered to introduce me to some other kids. We were friendly for a while before we started dating. It just sort of evolved. Eventually, he said he liked me, and we should date. My parents weren’t super happy about it, but I think they preferred I just stay celibate forever.”
“You didn’t know any kids in D.C. before you moved there?” I ask, a little surprised.
She shakes her head. “Not really, a few I’d met briefly at some parties, but my parents kept us pretty hidden. They wanted us to have a normal life.”
I do understand that. My parents did their best to let us have some normalcy in our lives too, as much as royalty can have.
“I feel like we’re missing something,” she says.
I nod. “I agree and so does Anna. Did you know the rest of his family?”
“No, not really. I met his uncle a few times and his cousin once, but he was younger like Ash and was away at school. They were both only children.”
My phone buzzes, alerting me to lunch. “Come on, time for food.”
Kate
The palace is quiet, eerily quiet. After lunch, an uneventful ride on the horses, and an early dinner, everyone is settling in for the night.
I peek around the door of the library and find my father sitting in a tall leather-backed chair with ornate carvings. He’s sipping some sort of liquor as he stares out a nearby window.
“Dad?”
He turns his head. He looks so old at this moment, like the entire weight of the world is on his shoulders.
“Can we...talk?” I need to know what he knows, I’m unsure though if he’ll tell me.
He motions to the matching chair across from his. I walk to it and sit, staring at him, waiting for him to speak.
“It’s not how I thought it would be,” he says quietly as he stares back out the window.
I’m about to ask what isn’t, when he starts to speak again. “I was so ignorant of power and greed. I never imagined the extraordinary lengths people would go to gain it. I suppose that makes me extremely naive.” He looks at me and I see anger flash across his eyes. “They’ve gone too far this time.”
“This time?” I ask, my voice trembling because I fear the answer.
“I won’t let them hurt you or anyone in our family,” he says but I don’t understand. I shake my head in confusion.
“Dad?”
His eyes meet mine. This time, it’s terror that I see there. “This group...they are not a group you want to mess with. The crown is better left missing.”
“But, Dad, you know what they plan to do, there has to be a way to stop them. It’s not even about the damned crown anymore.” My voice rises with each word and I feel the adrenaline start to pump through my veins. As I watch my father’s thoughts play out across his face much like a movie screen, I start to become acutely aware that there is a lot I don’t know yet, but he does.
“No!” I shout as I sit up so fast the antique chair goes falling behind me, but I don’t care. He knows. He’s...part of them.
My father raises a hand to grab my wrist, but I jump back, away from him. “Daddy! Please tell me you’re not involved!”
He looks back away as I feel hot tears run down my cheeks. It can’t be. He wouldn’t.
“They gave me no choice,” he finally mutters. “I either join their group or lose the presidency. It was just some little favors, a few law changes. But now...what they want is...I can’t do it.”
I pull my wrist from his grasp and run out of the library. He calls after me, but I don’t respond. I have to get away from him. I have to leave. I can feel the panic building inside me as I aimlessly weave down hallways and staircases.
I turn a corner and run straight into Ash.
“Whoa!” she calls out, clearly startled by me.
“What are you doing?” I ask her as I wipe tears away.
“Are you OK?” she asks.
I sigh. I want to tell her, but I can’t bring myself to do it. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”
She gives me a look that says that she knows I’m lying.
“What are you doing?” I ask her with a raised eyebrow.
She looks around and pulls me back into a stairwell. “I’m sneaking out,” she says with a grin.
I raise both eyebrows. “What?”
“Will is here! I’m meeting up with him,” she says.
“Will?” I ask, momentarily confused.
She groans. “You know, the guy I told you about.”
A vague recollection of our conversation comes back to me. Of course, my clueless little sister would be sneaking out to see a boy in the middle of all of this chaos.
“Maybe you should, uh, meet up later?” I suggest.
She gives me an exasperated look, and I know I’m not going to win this argument. I’m also not about to let her go wandering about the city on her own at night.
“Fine, but if I help you sneak out, then I’m coming with you,” I say to her.
She squeals. “Deal.”
I try to remember where the one tunnel was that led out to the garden. I remember Auggie showing it to me one night. It takes a few wrong turns, but eventually I find it, and we sneak along the side of the palace, nearly running into a guard. I don’t, however, know how to find a secret way out of the walled garden, so we make the obvious choice to scale the wall. By the time I hoist Ash over the wall, and she helps me, we are giggling like schoolgirls who just snuck out to a party.
“Where are we meeting him?” I ask as we walk along the pebble pathway toward the small village near the palace.
“He said he’d meet me by the church near the main square, and we could go to a pub that he knows,” she says as we walk down the poorly lit road.
A nagging feeling in my gut is telling me that we should go back to the palace, but I quash it. I’m being silly. I feel a little like the nursemaid in Romeo and Juliet, helping two star-crossed lovers see each other.
We slowly walk toward the old church. The square is quiet.
“Are you sure he said here?” I ask Ash, looking around at the creepy, dark, old buildings.
She nods. “Yes.”
I see movement by the church. There’s a single light on the perimeter. We are about ten feet away when a man steps under the light.
“Ash?” I hear his voice call out, and I freeze, it’s a familiar voice but I don’t know why.
“Oh, Will,” she says as she runs toward him. It’s as he steps into the light that my heart stops. Not Wi
ll, Bill. Bill James Farrington, Jared’s cousin.
“Ash!” I call out, but it’s too late. Will or Bill or whatever his name actually is, grabs Ash. I can see the confusion as he turns her around. I go to lunge at him, but a hand grabs my arm.
“Well, this is better than I could have planned,” says a voice from behind me. Fear clouds all my senses as I turn to face my worst nightmare, Jared. It’s my last thought before I feel a jab, and everything goes dark.
Chapter Twenty-Five
August
“Have you seen Kate?” President Bradford asks me as I walk down the hall toward her room.
I frown. Kate hasn’t answered a single text message from me in over an hour. I know she’s still pissed at me, but it’s unlike her.
“No.”
“If you see her…tell her to come find me,” he commands. I want to tell him to fuck off but decide that getting on the bad side of my girlfriend’s dad is probably unwise. Girlfriend…that word ricochets around my brain like a game of pinball. I let it go because I need to focus.
I nod and head off to look for Kate. I look everywhere. I’m beginning to get concerned when Anna bumps into me.
“Have you seen Kate or Ashlyn?”
“No. I was just looking for Kate,” I say to her.
Jessica walks over to us, a look of concern on her face as well. “You haven’t seen Ashlyn, have you?”
My frown deepens. “No. Have you seen Kate?”
Her brows furrow. “No,” she replies slowly.
“Where’s their security?” I ask her.
“Jackie and Bethany are debriefing in the conservatory,” she says.
“I’m going to check the cameras,” Anna says to us as she heads toward her room, no doubt hacking our security system from her computer.
I walk toward the conservatory with Jessica in tow. Jackie and Bethany are sitting at a bistro table sipping coffee. They have out computers, and I can see a calendar open on one of them.
I clear my throat, and they turn around. “Have you seen Kate or Ashlyn, this evening?”
Jackie frowns and stands, followed by Bethany. “No,” they say in unison before sharing a look.