Huntress

by Susan Copperfield

  My father’s grin promised trouble. Sometimes, my father abandoned every self-preservation skill he’d learned over the years hoping to infuriate my mother, and suspected I’d be crowned king a lot sooner than anticipated. “I do, especially if it involves grandchildren in the near future.”

  Yep. My father was going to die at my mother’s hands. “Before you kill him, Mom, Dad can you wrangle me an invite to Nevada?”

  “I’ll get on the phone with Jacques and make it happen. Getting you out of the kingdom for a few days and under their security might help, too. That’ll give Meredith time to shuffle your detail.”

  “If you think I’m allowing him to leave the kingdom without me, I’ll call Dr. Thorton in to give you an examination, Your Majesty.”

  “Meredith goes with His Highness,” Christian ordered. “With Meredith’s leave, I’ll handle the detail shuffle with Evangeline’s help. That’ll keep her busy and as safe as we can possibly make her. We’ll have security gaps between here and the compound, but it should be safe enough, especially with her self-defense skills. If they go for live capture like we believe, she should be safe enough.”

  “All right. I’ll get that started. How long do you think you’ll need for this business?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “It could take an hour, it could take several days. It really depends on him. I’d like to be back as soon as possible.”

  “I’ll take care of it. How are feeling? Any headaches? Dr. Thorton said we were supposed to call him immediately if you develop a headache.”

  I gave it a few hours before I’d need the trip to Nevada to dodge my parents and their concern, no matter how justified their concern was. “I’m fine. Really. If I get a headache, I’ll let someone know right away. But I feel fine.”

  “I can’t believe she’d go that far,” my mother whispered.

  “Well, she did. And she might go after Eva.”

  “I’m seeing that now. I should’ve trusted you.”

  It was as much of an apology as I’d get, which I accepted with a nod. “Now you know. I’m trusting you with Eva while I’m gone, so make sure she’s comfortable. I trust you’ll make sure the bear will make himself available when she needs to take her temper out on someone.”

  “For the record, the number two lure of marrying into this family? Beating on that bear.” Eva smirked at me.

  I’d ask her about the number one lure when we were alone.

  “Perhaps you two should delay making any heirs until after the wedding?” my mother begged.

  Eva’s smile did wonderful and terrible things to me. “No, I don’t think so.”

  My father laughed so hard he doubled over. “Darling, leave the love birds alone. If they want to grace the kingdom with a future heir, I certainly have no problems with her wedding dress accommodating her pregnancy. Give Kel some credit. He doesn’t mess around when he makes up his mind, and heaven knows his choice is certainly better than ours. Let them make a family if they want. It won’t be the first or last time a royal pair got hitched after their firstborn was already on the way. No one cares.”

  My mother’s mouth dropped open, but she closed it with a faint click of her teeth.

  It would do.

  The good humor fled from Eva’s expression. “I meant what I said. You don’t have to like me. You don’t have to get along with me. You don’t even need to give me the time of day. But you have to put up with me. I’m not leaving, and I’m not going to let you push either one of us out of this relationship. It’s not your choice. At all. You get zero say in if we have one child, three children, or even twenty children.”

  “Considering I lose count of how many sisters I have, I don’t think twenty is a good idea,” I muttered.

  Eva shot a glare in my direction. “If we want twenty kids, we’ll have twenty without the Her Royal Majesty over there adding her input. If we only have one, then we only have one. Without the Her Royal Majesty over there adding her input.”

  My father chuckled. “You’re not winning this one, darling. She’s a mountain you can’t climb, so give up now. And Kel, stop being mean to your sisters. You haven’t lost count of them.”

  I felt my face grow warm, and I turned my head so I wouldn’t have to look either of my parents in the eyes.

  “He totally has no idea how many sisters he has,” Eva announced, and she ruffled my hair. “He works too much, gets too involved with his paperwork, and doesn’t see them often enough. And, judging from how waspish Her Royal Majesty is, you’re likely adding another to the fray, so perhaps you shouldn’t talk smack about us having children.”

  “She’s waspish because someone tried to kill our son.”

  “Oh, no. That’s definitely not someone tried to kill my son waspishness. She’d be turning that rage on the ones who tried to kill her son rather than the one who helped you locate him. She’s totally pregnant.”

  With Meredith seated behind me, I couldn’t flop across the loveseat and hide my head under the throw pillow, so I covered my face with my hands. “We’re going to have to talk about subtlety, Eva.”

  “She who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw rocks at me. I throw rocks back, and I don’t give a shit if I break fucking windows. I can take care of myself, and I don’t need some man protecting me from his mother.”

  I laughed, shrugged, and said, “I’m okay with admitting I need a woman protecting me from my mother.”

  “Kelvin!” My mother’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not like that.”

  “Oh, it is. It really is. I’ve been so pliable most of my life you have no idea how to deal with me now that I’m saying no and putting my foot down. I’m not very good at it yet, but you’re just going to have to get used to it. Sure, you have the status quo to maintain, but I have everything to lose, including the only woman I want for my wife. I don’t want this to become a choice between you and her, but you’re not going to like my choice if you force me to make it. I’m not asking you two to go do your nails at some parlor, but try to get along.”

  Meredith coughed, Eva burst into laughter, and my parents both sighed. Christian smiled, which worried me most of all.

  “What?”

  “You’re being assertive,” Eva replied as though explaining everything.

  I didn’t understand. “I’ve been assertive before.”

  “You’re being assertive without accepting any other options. They’re probably considering if they need to ask Dr. Thorton there was brain damage he hadn’t repaired.”

  Eva teased me, and I’d enjoy teasing her back in private the first time I got a chance. “There are no other acceptable options in this situation.”

  “While I agree with you, they’re not prepared to handle you being assertive and refusing to consider other options.”

  I worried Christian would choke if he continued to smother his laughter, and I sighed at the head of my father’s detail. “Christian, it’s not that funny.”

  According to the faint snort from the RPS agent, it was. “Your Highness,” he replied, and I marveled at how calm his tone sounded despite looking like he wanted to run out the door so he could laugh without anyone witnessing.

  “If His Highness will be making a trip to Nevada, I need to know a rough timeline for departure,” Meredith announced. “Then I can get the required signatures for investigation. Christian, when you’re assigning Agent Evangeline’s detail, account for potential separation anxiety. We’re not sure how they’ll react. Should she show symptoms, make arrangements for her to go to Nevada with a double detail.”

  “Easily done. I’ll set a double detail from the gate so we won’t have to shuffle shifts in case she needs to go. And frankly, with their luck, I’d almost suggest sending them both.”

  Meredith frowned, her eyes narrowed as she considered his words. “Evangeline?”

  “If you double a detail on me, and I’m with him, he’s better protected. But I won’t promise it won’t create problems. Technically, I’m
probably barred from going anywhere near the palace grounds in Nevada.”

  “I’ll make sure there are no problems,” my father said. “Would it be better if we went, too?”

  The RPS agents stared at each other, and I marveled they could hold a silent conversation without me being able to guess what went on between them.

  In the end, Meredith shrugged.

  Christian remained silent, his expression flitting from intense concentration to resignation. “It might leave an odd impression.”

  “But it would elevate Nevada’s relationship with Illinois, as it gives the Royal States the impression we’ve selected their kingdom as a temporary haven while the RPS infiltration is handled,” my father countered. “I’m okay with this if Jacques agrees to it.”

  “Meredith, are you willing to handle four principals?”

  “You handle matters here, I’ll take care of the visit to Nevada. I can call in trusted support if it’s required, but Nevada’s team is solid, and I’ve trained with many of the senior agents there. I don’t foresee any problems as long as we give them advance notice we have a targeted principal in the delegation.”

  “That role’s going to fucking suck,” Eva muttered.

  “There is a bonus: you get to share space with me as it’s easier to protect two in the same room. Right, Meredith?”

  “I’m not getting involved with your attempts to flirt, Your Highness.”

  “I wasn’t flirting. I was just telling her it’s safer if she stays in my bed. You should be happy you have one less thing to worry about.”

  “He has issues right now,” Eva said, and she reached over and ran her fingers through my hair. “Let the clingy Your Highness here have his way. Otherwise, he’s going to become annoying. He hasn’t computed he’s the one we’re fucking worried about. He’s gotten the feather-brained idea his sole duty in life is to make sure I don’t stub a toe.”

  I wasn’t worried about her stubbing her toe, but as she boiled the situation down nicely on my behalf, I saved myself the trouble of correcting her and nodded. “That about sums it up.”

  “Your species explains so much, though,” my father admitted. “No wonder you’ve been skulking around and refusing to show off during the spring. You do realize you would’ve been surrounded by entire packs of overprotective predators willing to maim on your behalf, right?”

  “Damn it, Dad.”

  “A turkey,” my mother added, sniffing. “I really hope this doesn’t mean we’ll be stuck with ham on Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

  “You stick me with ham on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I’m staging a revolt.”

  “Then we’re good. Although I find it slightly disturbing my son has no scruples about eating his mundane counterparts.”

  I stared at my father and willed him to go away, but he ignored my unspoken command.

  “From the reading I’ve done, turkeys are highly aggressive when defending their turf, although this Your Highness here is monogamous rather than polyamorous,” Eva announced. “I’ve been doing my homework so I know how to appropriately care for my turkey.”

  “I wish you the best of luck,” my father admitted. “He’ll forget to eat if anyone takes their eyes off him for extended periods of time. You might want to take control of his feeding schedule, because he’ll forage.”

  “I’ll make sure he eats. I need him healthy for my various plans. I’m going to have to accept hunting the other members of your family first, as I suspect he’ll need some extra time being conditioned for being my prey, but a pack of wolves, a lion, and lynx, and a big teddy bear should keep me amused for a while.”

  My father sighed. “You forgot the wolverine. I’ll do the rest of my family a favor and warn them to avoid revealing their animals to you.”

  “There’s even more of you? Excellent. Anyway, I didn’t forget the wolverine. He’s exempt until he’s no longer at risk of requiring a bone marrow transfusion like the Your Highness over here. I like hunting, but let’s not stress the sickly beasts. If he’s bored during his season and wants me to hunt him, that’s different.”

  “You’re marrying a strange one, son,” my father muttered.

  I snorted. “Birds of a feather flock together. From where I sit, she’s perfect.”

  “If you’re going to impose on Nevada, Your Majesty, perhaps you should go to your office and call to make arrangements,” Christian suggested.

  “My office is currently being cleaned because of an unusual volume of mud and blood.”

  “The blood wasn’t mine.”

  “I still don’t want my brother’s blood in my office, Kel.”

  Christian sighed. “Then call on your cell phone, Your Majesty. Please. Preparing is much easier with a flight authorization, and Meredith has a lot of work ahead of her.”

  I hoped the head of my detail wouldn’t try to kill me for the extra work I was about to give her. “Meredith?”

  “Your Highness?”

  “We’re going to need some paperwork from Montana, if you’d put in the request, please.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” she promised.

  “What paperwork?” my father demanded.

  “The paperwork I’ll use as a weapon if King Jacques doesn’t give me what I want,” I replied.

  “That’s concerning.”

  “You can thank Eva for my newfound ability to be assertive later, Dad. Am I cleared to go back to my room? I need to pack.”

  “Your clothing was already brought back from the RPS training compound, and it’s still packed, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Meredith replied. “Agent Evangeline will require appropriate clothing, but I can make arrangements.”

  “Or I can just wear my RPS attire. It won’t offend any delicate sensibilities.”

  “Her work attire’s fine. It’ll save time. If she needs more clothing, we can shop in Nevada.”

  “They’ll only need a few minutes to be ready to leave, then,” Meredith announced. “As soon as I have the order to obtain the flight authorization, I can have it within an hour. Fifteen minutes if it’s preauthorized over phone and Nevada handles the first stage of the paperwork.”

  “I’ll have Jacques handle the paperwork on his end. He’ll be willing to do it once I fill him in on the entire situation.”

  “Then, assuming the call goes well, Evangeline can leave within an hour if that’s enough time for you, Your Majesties.”

  “It’ll be enough time,” my mother promised, and she headed for the door. “Evangeline, please send me your dress sizes. One of my daughters must have something that’ll fit you in a closet somewhere. I’ll handle your evening attire for the visit.”

  I leaned towards my wife and whispered, “Accept the peace offering for what it is, please. You can beat me with the dresses later. Consider them loaners, although my sisters won’t notice they’re gone.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Eva replied. Then she elbowed me in the ribs hard enough I sucked in a breath through clenched teeth.

  My mother huffed and marched out of the suite.

  “We’ll meet back here before we leave for the airport, so you two might as well relax until then.”

  Meredith waited for my father and Christian to leave before shaking her head. “I’ll make sure your breakfast isn’t forgotten. I expect everyone will get carried away.”

  “It’s a bad habit here,” I admitted.

  “I know, which is concerning. At the rate this is going, I’m never going to be able to leave.”

  “Such a tragedy,” I replied.

  Meredith bowed her head while Eva laughed.

  While I waited to find out if we’d be going to Nevada, I ate a breakfast so healthy I suspected my doctors had threatened death on the kitchen staff if they gave me anything appealing. I choked down the oatmeal to keep Eva happy, and I used my laptop to catch up on the news. Word had already spread throughout the Royal States about my kidnapping, near-fatal injury, and the attempted replacement, and
the media locked onto Gail’s portion of the story.

  I was starting to believe there was something to Eva’s claims that I’d become one of the most-liked royals. The media had no mercy on Gail or her reputation.

  “They’re a little vicious,” Eva said, pointing at a paragraph in the article I read describing Gail as ruthless and conniving. “I’m pretty sure that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said in any of the statements you’ve looked at so far.”

  “I get she could be a bit standoffish at times, but this is excessive.”

  “She was caught red-handed in an attempted regicide attempt with the end goal of becoming queen using an imposter to do it. The court of public opinion is going to tear her apart. It’s unavoidable. Anyway, because of her machinations, you almost fucking died, so don’t you fucking dare feel sorry for her.”

  I held up my hands in surrender. “I don’t feel sorry for her. Honestly, I was considering sneaking out last night and encouraging you to commit murder while I watched. Sorry is not the word I’d use right now. I’m startled the media is diving in like this, though. I’ve been hiding for months.”

  “Due to severe health concerns, and just as you were on the mend and about to resume your full duties, you had your skull caved in.”

  “Were they reporting about my progress?”

  “Of course. Your parents are doing their best to make sure you come out of this shining. They’ve been doing controlled releases of information about your recovery to keep the public happy. It’s worked so far, too. The wedding announcement started a storm of speculations and gossip, though.” Eva smirked and shrugged. “Some of them have figured out I’m a likely candidate, which is driving Meredith insane because they’ve identified me as someone associated with the RPS, but since she refuses to talk about it for the reporters, they don’t have any juicy details to work with. I’ve been enjoying the news portion of my mornings. Meredith seems to think she can ease me into my responsibilities by exposing me to politics via morning television.”

  “Well, you’re more with the times than I am right now.”

  “I also hadn’t had my skull caved in.”