Null & Void_a Royal States Novel

by RJ Blain

  The princes laughed, and Prince Adam waved away my concern. “It’s an appreciated reprieve. Our eyes are starting to cross from the tests. Even Mireya is getting edgy, and she loves these things. How did you convince her to enjoy torture?”

  “Very carefully.”

  Like every other RPS agent I’d ever seen, our driver wore a black suit, and when the passenger side front door opened, I pointed. “Geoff! You’re helping these fiends kidnap me? And you accuse me of cruelty.”

  “Good afternoon, Mackenzie. You’re looking well, albeit tired. How was your flight?”

  “I was kidnapped, obviously sedated for the flight, and woke up with a child crawling all over me.”

  “Allergy meds finally bested you?”

  “I’m blaming the leather seats. I hope Mireya hasn’t been a problem.”

  “She’s an angel as always, although I’m concerned the twins are trying to teach her some bad habits, including RPS agent evasion techniques.”

  I buckled in and tried to imagine my daughter trying to evade RPS agents. “Question. If she’s capable of escaping from a band of RPS agents, does that mean she’s capable of escaping from others, too?”

  “Typically, yes.”

  I turned to Prince Adam. “I don’t care what Geoff tells you, but encourage your brothers to teach my daughter RPS agent evasion skills.”

  Prince Adam snickered. “You got it, Miss Little.”

  “Any idea what I can expect, Geoff?”

  Geoff twisted in his seat to look me in the eyes and chuckled. “Paperwork. His Royal Majesty has been handling most of it, so all you’ll have to do is read and fill in some of the more confidential blanks.”

  “As long as he accurately filled out the paperwork, I’m appreciative. If he screwed up my paperwork, you may need to restrain me, Geoff.”

  “Mireya warned us you might be driven to murder if you have to read all the paperwork and fix someone’s sloppy mistakes, which is why His Royal Majesty is doing the paperwork. Her Royal Majesty would insert errors to see if you spot them.”

  “Little is as frustrating as correcting someone else’s mistakes in important paperwork,” I replied.

  “Dad was saying the same thing earlier,” Prince Adam confessed. “He’s really interested in your work. You hold the record for the longest person to keep your position. In addition, you hold the record for the most hours logged in congressional hearings without being an elected official.”

  “Well, I’m a consultant for the congress. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t show up to relevant sessions.”

  “Were you aware you’re a household name?”

  My mouth dropped open. “Pardon?”

  “You’re a household name.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Prince Adam.”

  “Adam, please.”

  If Adam kept acting like a nice person, I might be tempted to encourage my daughter to hunt him as a potential future boyfriend. Five years wasn’t much of a barrier, and I expected my daughter wouldn’t have time for a boy until she finished school anyway.

  For her, her education was the highest priority, which was why I worked so hard to make sure she stayed a child for as long as possible.

  “All right, Adam. What are you talking about? How could I be a household name?”

  “Well, you’re aware the open congressional sessions are broadcasted.”

  “The King’s Herald makes certain we can’t forget.”

  “Well, there’s a certain portion of the population who enjoys watching when you’re attending an open session. Viewer ratings skyrocket. Your first showing after your confirmation as the charity auction lead, you beat out the most popular shows in Texas. You even have an international following.”

  My eyebrows inched upwards. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Afraid not. I can show you later, if you want. The net went nuts when you were confirmed as the committee chairwoman. Add in the fact the opening session was unusual, and you’ve developed a cult following.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what else had happened following my confirmation as the committee lead. “Most of this happened while I was in the hospital, didn’t it?”

  “I’m afraid so. The congress wanted to congratulate you on your victory, but Mr. Smithson showed up instead. While most of the congress was aware you were hospitalized, he notified them your condition had been upgraded to stable.”

  I grimaced. “A lungful of cold air is the fastest way to send me to the ER. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve been wearing a scarf, but I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t expect the air conditioning to be so low.”

  “That’s what Mireya told us, and that the first few hours are the worst, but if you’re okay beyond that, it’s just a matter of time and bedrest before you’re back on your feet.”

  So far, I hadn’t turned myself into a liar, and telling the partial truth kept my daughter calm in the face of a life-threatening situation. One day, especially if the medications lost their effectiveness, I’d lose the war, but I’d pulled through a little worse for wear.

  “I’ve been lucky.”

  “Please correct me if I’m wrong, but this incident was only bad because you’d been overdosed with some pen?”

  Adam’s polite curiosity intrigued me along with his grasp of the situation. “Adrenaline. I carry two pens in my purse, and Senator Forester used both. Only one was needed. The other’s a spare. Are you sure you’re only fifteen?”

  “Going on forty if my father is to be believed.”

  I chuckled. “Why on Earth would anyone care I’m heading a committee?”

  With a shrug, the prince stared out the window. “I think it has something to do with celebrity fixations. A chance to marry a king doesn’t come around every day, and since you’re the primary organizer, you’re going to be in the limelight. There’s already speculation about your availability and the identity of Mireya’s father. Mireya finds the whole thing hilarious.”

  “She won’t if random men start claiming to be her father,” I whispered.

  Adam whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “No one told you?”

  “No one told me what?”

  Had someone already tried to claim her?

  “Not a good subject to tease Miss Little on, Your Royal Highness,” Geoff warned.

  “He’s probably right. I threw a stapler at my boss because he took Mireya for longer than the day he initially claimed.”

  Adam smirked. “I’d heard about that. Anyway, while you were in the hospital, the congress passed a bunch of emergency measures regarding parental custody rights of nulls. When the measures were proposed, you were still in critical condition, so you wouldn’t be able to appeal if someone attempted to claim custody. The measure requires DNA confirmation before custody can be taken from a parent, and under the new law, the custodial parent must be present. Custody laws are scheduled to be rewritten, but a temporary mandate has been approved requiring monthly guaranteed visitation rights. What took me by surprise was how the ethics committee pulled it off; they accused any supporting the old method of participating in child trafficking. I don’t know where Senator Forester got the information, but he had some confirmed examples proving null children were at high risk of becoming trafficking victims leading to death or injury. He challenged Texan family values and essentially made it clear if we didn’t value null families, Texas wasn’t actually a family-oriented kingdom. It was some of the best political maneuvering I’ve seen in a long time.”

  I couldn’t speak; I could barely breathe, and my eyes burned. Crying in front of my daughter’s new friends wouldn’t earn me any points. I clenched my teeth and blinked them away. “You’re serious.”

  “It gets better.”

  How could it possibly get better? I’d have to kiss the ground Senator Forester walked on. If Dylan wanted to take our child, he’d have to meet me face-to-face to do it. Everything else I’d worked for mer
ely made things easier on me and other null parents. “What happened?”

  “As part of the DNA measure, the parent seeking custody must request a live DNA testing, so both parents must be present. In addition to this, a family counselor will be required to evaluate the situation to ensure the child goes to the best household. If the null parent with custody is deemed a fit parent, and there will be strict rules in place ensuring they won’t have custody revoked. Instead, visitation rights will be established for the other parent. As there are plenty of established cases of a pair of null parents losing their child, the measure includes a thirty-day grace period. In short, families that have unlawfully taken a child from null parents have thirty days to return the child to their family or be charged with child endangerment and trafficking.”

  “When did they cook that up?” I blurted.

  Senator Forester hadn’t just taken my wish list and performed miracles, he’d added upgrades.

  “If you make her cry, your mother’s going to turn you over her knee and spank you,” Geoff muttered.

  The RPS agent made me laugh, which helped me fight off my tears. “Hardly.”

  “Happy tears don’t count, Geoff. Don’t be a stick in the mud.”

  Prince Carl reached between the seats and poked my arm. “Don’t listen to Geoff or my brother. Everyone here knows no one told you because Mr. Lane and Mr. Douglass are cowards, and the instant you find out how they did it, you’ll be out for blood. Since I’m just a kid, I’m a safe. Mr. Lane tried to adopt Mireya during the session he pushed the measures through. It was supposed to be a closed emergency session, but Mom and Dad got the bright idea to broadcast it. You can’t kill Mr. Lane or Mr. Douglass, by the way. It was Mireya’s idea. So, while Mr. Douglass was proposing someone to function as temporary lead of the auction committee, Mr. Lane was whipping together the forms needed. He did it during the session, and he timed it. After they voted on your substitute, Mr. Lane took over the session and told the congress he was one witnessed signature away from having custody of Mireya, and since you were in the hospital, you had no chance of appeal.”

  “They did what?”

  “You need to watch the recording. Mireya was brilliant. She even cried and begged to stay with you on the cameras. Totally faking it, since she knew Mr. Lane wasn’t really going to take her away from you, but she played the entire congress. Meanwhile, Mr. Lane was slapping the papers on the podium and informing the congress there was never a less ethical batch of jerks on Earth, allowing travesties like child trafficking to exist merely because the parents lacked magic. The killing blow to the congress was his calm way of stating if he signed the papers, when you did wake up in the hospital, you’d wake up knowing you’d never see your daughter again.”

  Too stunned to speak, I twisted around so I could stare at the young prince.

  “It worked. Mr. Lane added the bill as part of the child trafficking legislation. It’s the first time in Texan history a null rights bill passed with a unanimous vote.” Carl beamed at me. “You really need to watch the session.”

  I did, and I needed to do so in private, so when I lost my tenuous grip on my emotions, I wouldn’t embarrass myself. As it was, I held onto my dignity by a mere thread.

  Adam cleared his throat. “It gets better.”

  “How can it possibly get better?” I twisted around in my seat to face the Texan heir, my eyes wide.

  “Remember how I mentioned you’re a household name?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “You have a fan.”

  “I have a what?”

  “A fan.”

  “Who? Why?”

  Adam smirked. “You’ll see.”

  I narrowed my eyes, and I suspected the prince was doing his best to keep me from breaking down into tears so he wouldn’t get a scolding from Geoff or the driver. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “My mother regrets she named me Adam instead of incorrigible. How did you know?”

  “I deduced it through careful examination of your behavior, Your Royal Highness,” I replied, mustering as much of my flagging dignity as I could. “It’s rather obvious, really.”

  Geoff chuckled. “I’m afraid I have to agree with His Royal Highness, Mackenzie. He’s right. You have a fan, and I can’t wait to see what happens.”

  I turned my worst glare on the RPS agent. “You’ve been waiting for a chance like this since the day we met, haven’t you?”

  “However much we in the RPS enjoy having pretty principals, maybe you should be the one giving your daughter lessons on evasion techniques.” Geoff turned his attention to the princes. “Don’t let Mackenzie trick you. When she gets it in her head to run, she’s fast, she thinks on her feet, and she’s remarkably agile. And unlike most women, pregnancy didn’t slow her down a bit. We showcase her during training sessions now.”

  I bet they did. “I’m still recruiting the twins.”

  “Heaven help us all,” the RPS agent muttered, turning around in his seat. “You’re going to create a monster, Mackenzie.”

  I thought about Mireya hoodwinking the entire Texan congress with a little help from my boss and Senator Forester, doing my job for me when I couldn’t. “I already have.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  It took an hour to reach the testing center, which was nestled on a mountain. As the car parked, Adam unbuckled, twisted around, and leaned over the seat to grab something out of the back, returning with a scarf. “Better safe than sorry.”

  I wrapped it around my neck and even made a point of covering my nose and mouth just in case it was colder than I expected outside. The testing center resembled a luxury resort, built of marble. Roses lined the walkway leading to double doors made of a polished, golden wood.

  Mireya and the younger princes and princess bolted for the entry, and Carl scrambled after them so he wouldn’t be left behind. Adam chuckled, shaking his head.

  “Who gave her coffee this morning?” I muttered, wondering how it was possible for my daughter to have so much energy after almost a week of testing. Coffee was the only logical explanation.

  “As I value my life, I’m not saying a word,” the Texan heir replied.

  I laughed. “You’re the one who has to put up with her. I get to go home after I’m done here.”

  Maybe in a few days, the royal family would return my daughter so tired I would be able to enjoy several quiet, blissful days of caring for a zombie.

  “I feel like I’d be doing the bachelors of the world a disservice if I didn’t warn them you’re a vicious mother.”

  I arched a brow, glancing at the prince out of the corner of my eye. “Since I have no intention of dating anyone right now, they’re going to be terribly disappointed.”

  Maybe I’d made a promise in a dream, but I’d stick to it. For Mireya’s sake, and for the sake of my sanity, I’d give Dylan until the end of the auction for his second chance.

  “Not even Montana’s king?”

  I should’ve been above glaring at a future king, but I leveled my worst scowl at His Royal Highness. “Watch it, kid. I still need a second bachelor for the main event. I could lure single princesses from around the world if I had a fifteen-year-old heir to a throne up on auction. If you’re really unlucky, maybe I’ll enroll you as a possibility for the drunkard princess the instant you turn eighteen.”

  Prince Adam’s eyes widened. “Dear lord, you’re evil.”

  “Thank you. I’m so glad you noticed, Your Royal Highness.”

  “Please don’t throw me to the wolves. I’ll beg.”

  When opportunity knocked, a wise woman answered. “I’ve always wanted my very own on-call babysitter. If I had an on-call babysitter, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice him to a hellion princess. Hey, Adam? Do you know where I might find such a babysitter?”

  “There’s no way I can win this, is there?”

  One day, Prince Adam would grow to become a wise king, and I’d have to relent on my stance against watching the antics of royal
s. I retrieved my phone, unlocked it, and held it out. “Take the babysitting job, Prince Adam. Trust me on this one. I’ve met that princess, and I kneed her in the groin. You want nothing to do with her, and the other option isn’t much better. Add your contact information to my phone. Fortunately, I won’t need someone to watch her often.”

  “My mother told me I should never sign a document without reading the fine print first.”

  “Considering the congress is in a royal betrothal frenzy, all I’d have to do is suggest you’d make an excellent incentive for young princesses around the world. And since we’re already toeing lines in the congress with this auction anyway, Princess Ambrose is only around my age. That’s not too far away from an appropriate age bracket, is it?”

  With a shudder, Adam grabbed my phone and went to work filling in his contact information. “Why yes, Miss Little, I’d love to entertain your daughter sometimes. Please take my phone number. Please.”

  “As I’ve now secured a loyal babysitter, I’ll make certain no young princes or princesses beneath the age of nineteen can enter the auctions.”

  “Why nineteen?”

  “I can claim there are eighteen year olds still in high school, and I’ll suggest that nineteen is the lowest acceptable age for a betrothal auction. General auctions for nineteen and over will respect the majority age laws, and the youth auctions will be more family oriented.”

  “Why aren’t you a politician?”

  “Why would I want to be one?”

  Adam frowned, staring at my phone, tapping at the screen. “You need a new phone. This one has been obsolete for at least five years.”

  “It works.”

  “You know? Mom says the same thing. But just because something works doesn’t mean it’s the best tool for the job.”

  I waited until he returned my phone to smile and reply, “That’s the reason I’m not a politician. You’re right. This phone isn’t the best tool for the job I need to do, but it’s what I have. If I were a politician, I’d have the best tools for the job but forget how to work outside of the box. Because I don’t have the best tool for the job, I’m forced to think about how to make things work with the tools I do have.”