by B. B. Hamel
That was the paradox of power. When you were the most important person in the country, people did everything they could to try to control you. I had guards around me at all times, men utterly loyal to the crown. I knew their type. Hell, I was their type. I had served in the Starklandian military like every man of royal blood does, and I’d fought in the civil war before my brother was killed. But they were around to both keep me safe and to keep tabs on me for the ministers and their cabal.
The ministers, for their part, wanted to control what I thought and did. They were constantly feeding me information and opinions, hoping I’d make some decree or other about some obscure statute that would no doubt benefit their various interests nicely. I was constantly bombarded with appointments and responsibilities, and that meant I rarely had time to do anything I really wanted to do.
But I was still Trip Brunhild. I’d slipped many an escort in my time, and I’d no doubt slip many, many more in my years as king.
As soon as we got back into the castle, I headed toward my chambers in the west wing. But instead of cutting down my hallway, I slipped behind a statue and ran down a false stairway. I could hear my guards trying to keep up, but the twisting passageways could get confusing in the inner keep.
I’d spent my childhood wandering the hallways of the castle. It was built like a maze on purpose to confuse assassins and attackers. The guards spent time in the castle, but they didn’t live there. I was able to lose them pretty quickly.
I smiled to myself and found myself in an empty apartment. I quickly removed my jacket and made myself a little more comfortable. I hated wearing the damn suit, but it was a part of the job. I had to look like a king as much as act like a king.
I left the apartment and headed toward the east wing, where our guests were staying. I found a control panel and typed a few commands.
“Yes, sir?” Maximillian answered.
“Hi, Max. Where’s the girl staying?”
“Sir, aren’t you supposed to be in a cabinet meeting?”
“Probably,” I said, “but your king is ordering you to tell me where the girl is, Max.”
He sighed. Maximillian had been a servant of my family for a very, very long time. He was really my closest confidant and advisor, and more like a father to me than my own father was.
“I’m getting tired of you playing that card, Trip,” he said.
“I know you are, Max, but I love it.”
“She’s in room twelve thirty, and her parents are right next door.”
“Damn. Right next door? You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did,” Max said. “You think I’d leave a lady unguarded around you?”
“That’s my boy,” I said. “Make it a challenge. Bye, Max.”
“Goodbye, Your Highness.”
I switched the communications off and headed down the hall, whistling and smiling to myself. The servants I encountered all looked absolutely shocked to see their king walking the halls without an escort, his sleeves rolled up, his jacket removed. They shouldn’t have been surprised, since they all knew me fairly well.
I was a notorious playboy after all. Starkland loved its bad boy prince. And truthfully, I had a hell of a time playing into that fucking role.
Right now, though, I wasn’t the bad boy or the king. I was just Trip, and I wanted to see that girl again.
I finally found her apartment and knocked. After a second, she pulled the door open.
And stared at me, shocked. She was probably surprised to see the king actually coming to her door alone like this.
I grinned at her, loving the look on her face.
“Invite me in,” I commanded after a second.
That snapped her out of it. “Aren’t you supposed to ask?”
“I’m the king,” I said. “I get to make commands.”
She shook her head. “You’re not my king.”
“I’m everyone’s king.”
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I just came to see how you were liking the castle so far.”
“It’s nice, thank you.”
I laughed, my smirk getting bigger. “You know, I had to shake a security detail to come say hello without five men hovering around me. The least you can do is invite me in.”
“I guess that’s as close to asking as I’ll get out of you,” she said, sighing. “Come on in.”
She stepped aside and I walked into the room. I’d never been in it before, which wasn’t unusual. The castle had hundreds of rooms, and I hadn’t had time to explore them all.
“Nice,” I said. “They gave you a good one.”
“Yeah.. It’s really nice.”
I sat down on a chair and crossed my arms. “So, Bryce, I guess this is us officially meeting.”
“I guess so. What do I call you? King Christophe?”
“Just Trip, please.”
“Okay, Trip.” She sat down on the couch across from me, biting her lip. “Look, about earlier.”
“You mean about you slapping me in the face?” I smirked at her, leaning forward. “Yes, let’s talk about that.”
“Look, maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but what you said surprised me. It was just a reaction.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“I’m not sorry, though.”
“Good. I’m not sorry, either.”
She looked annoyed. “You should be, though. Do you say that to every foreign guest or just the girls?”
“Just the attractive girls,” I said. “Only the ones I really do want to see in nothing but a pair of panties.”
She turned a bit red and crossed her arms. “I’ll slap you again, you know.”
“I bet you will.” I grinned even bigger. “I think I’d like that.”
She sighed, shaking her head, and I saw a little smile playing at her lips. “I read about you, you know.”
“Did you?” I asked.
“You’re the Partying Prince.”
I laughed. “It’s better in Starklandian. ‘Bad boy prince’ is probably a more accurate translation.”
“Whatever,” she said, shrugging. “I’m just not really surprised, is all.”
“Maybe you’re not yet,” I said, “but I think you’ll find I’m full of secrets.”
“I’m sure,” she murmured.
I stood up. “How about a personal tour? I’ll show you parts of the castle you’ll never get to see otherwise.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Afraid I’ll corner you in a dark corner and slip my hands down your body and find out just how wet you are?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, “but I am afraid you’ll try.”
I laughed, grinning hugely. I liked this girl. I could feel a thrill in my bones, an excitement over her that I hadn’t felt for a woman in a very long time. She was so unlike every other girl in Starkland. She didn’t seem at all impressed that I was the king, or that I used to be the bad boy prince.
“Your loss,” I said. “If you change your mind, just call me.” I got up and walked over to her control panel. I entered my private number into her contacts section. “You’ll be able to get me anytime you want with this.”
She frowned at it and walked over. “Why do you guys have such an advanced castle? I mean, shouldn’t this place be all swords and shields?”
I laughed, nodding. “Yes and no. We like to update this place from time to time. But there are some swords and shields left lying around somewhere.”
“Great. I’ll make sure to check them out.”
“Good. I bet you’d look nice wearing only a belt and a nice piece of steel.”
She looked away. “I guess we’ll never find out.”
“We’ll see.” I stepped over to the door. “I’ll talk to you tonight at dinner, Bryce.”
“I guess so, King Trip.”
I laughed, opened the door, and headed out.
My security detail found me a few minu
tes later. They were annoyed that I had lost them, and the ministers were annoyed that I was late for the cabinet meeting.
But I didn’t much care. They were fine without me, and I hadn’t been able to help myself going to see Bryce again.
I was glad I had. She was as beautiful as I’d remembered and then some.
This was going to be a very, very fun visit.
5
Bryce
Trip’s visit kept playing over and over in my mind as I got ready for dinner. It was supposed to be a big welcome ceremony for our family, and it wasn’t exactly something I could skip.
Even though I wanted to. Trip was a cocky, arrogant asshole. I couldn’t believe the way he talked to me, but I probably shouldn’t be so surprised. He was royalty after all. Trip was probably so used to having whatever he wanted that he thought he could just have me.
But that wasn’t going to happen, even if he made my stomach do flips. Trip was by far the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and I was sure that didn’t help his insane self-confidence issue at all. The guy probably thought that all he had to do was ask and I’d throw myself at him.
Maybe I would. I sighed, looking at myself in the mirror. I wore a tasteful cocktail dress, blue and slim, hugging my hips. When he asked if I was afraid that he’d find me soaking wet, I had to admit to myself that he was right. I was soaking wet, and I couldn’t stand the thought of him knowing what he did to me.
The man was just too arrogant. I didn’t care that he had a perfect jaw and full, kissable lips. I wasn’t about to throw myself at him like every other woman probably did.
Trip was probably used to women simply falling all over themselves to get involved with him. The guy was royalty in this country after all. Any girl would be lucky to be with the king.
Except for me, of course. I didn’t want Trip. I wanted to stay far, far away from him.
A knock at my door pulled me in that direction. I walked over and peeked through the eyehole instead of just opening the door.
Dad was standing there. I opened the door and he smiled at me.
“You look great,” he said. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
Dad was wearing his nice suit and tie. He usually wore a suit and tie every day to work, but this was his fancy outfit. He looked so dapper when he decided to dress up.
“You’ll fit right in with the other royalty,” I said to him as we left my room, the door shutting behind me.
He laughed. “I doubt it.”
“Really, Dad. Isn’t it weird being here?”
“A little bit, but it’s also been nice so far. Everyone is so kind.”
“Despite the fact that I hit the king.”
He laughed and shrugged. “Well, kings, you know? That’s why we kicked them out of America.”
“It just seems so crazy. I mean, it’s the twenty-first century, and this country still has a king.”
He nodded, frowning. “I’ve been reading about that. Apparently there are a lot of people who want that to change.”
“I read about that, too.”
“But I don’t know. This country has a lower crime rate and a higher literacy rate than America does. They seem to be doing okay.”
“That’s a good point.” I frowned at him and he just smiled.
“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s not like we can change anything.”
Just then, Lucy stepped out of their room. She was wearing a floor-length gown with her hair in a complicated updo. She looked like she was going to prom.
“You look great,” Dad said to her, kissing her on the cheek.
“Thanks, Robert.” She gave me a look. “Are you going to behave?”
I glared at her. “I don’t plan on hitting anyone, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She smiled. “Good. Let’s go enjoy ourselves, shall we?”
As we moved down the hall, a servant appeared out of nowhere. It was like he materialized from the wall.
“This way, please,” he said. He was wearing the same outfit all of the servants wore, a black jacket over white dress pants. Even the women wore a version of this outfit, which was strange, but no stranger than everything else we’d seen so far.
He led us down a series of twisting hallways. I was too busy staring at the art on the walls to really notice exactly where we were walking. The place was just so overwhelmingly beautiful, and every inch of it was decorated like an art gallery. Twisting sculptures depicting famous battles and myths from their history dotted the place, and I didn’t recognize a single thing.
As we came up to an ornate set of double doors, I realized how little I knew about this place. Starkland seemed very familiar on the surface, since it was another European country, but I didn’t know a thing about their nation, about what the people liked, about their history. It was completely and utterly foreign to me, a total mystery.
The servant pushed open the double doors. “Announcing Robert, Lucy, and Bryce Koch of America,” he called out, and music began to play.
If I thought walking through the quiet, empty halls was overwhelming, then stepping into an enormous banquet room packed with people was even worse. Live music played as people clapped and we were ushered inside. As we went, I recognized a few faces in the crowd from my time researching Starkland on Wikipedia. These were famous men and women, the upper levels of the upper levels, the best of the best. Some of them were ministers in the cabinet, and some of them were prominent business people, but all of them were powerful.
We were taken to a long table at the very front of the room. Sitting at the middle of the table was Trip, grinning down at me like he knew what I was thinking. He was wearing more formal clothing this time, and I couldn’t help but think how incredibly handsome he looked.
Finally, once we were seated with my father on my right and my stepmother on my left, Trip raised his hands and stood. The room went absolutely quiet for him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, ministers and citizens, welcome to this important dinner,” he said in a loud, clear voice. “For tonight, we welcome a piece of our history. Hundreds of years ago, in a dispute over succession, my family took over as the royal family of Starkland, ousting the old rulers. Well, everyone, those old rulers are back, but they’re not here to toss me on my ass.”
The room laughed at his joke, and he just smiled at them.
“No, they’re here to visit and to see our country. Hopefully we can give them a taste of what their family once ruled over. Now, Robert, Lucy, and Bryce, I offer you this as a gift of friendship from the Brunhild family. Maximillian?”
The old servant who showed us to our rooms earlier stepped toward Dad, who stood up. They shook hands and Maximillian handed him a thick cylinder covered in wax at both ends.
“Robert Koch, this is a very, very old scroll that we found in our libraries only a couple of weeks ago. When you get a chance to open it, you’ll find that it’s a family tree of your ancestors up until the final rulers, hand drawn by some scholar of their time. It’s priceless, and I hope you enjoy it.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Dad said.
“Now, everyone, enough of me talking. Let’s eat and celebrate, Starkland style!”
Everyone clapped and began to sit down. The servants immediately stepped up from behind us and began to fill our glasses with beer and wine. Soon food began to arrive, and in huge quantities.
I quickly understood how people in Starkland liked to celebrate. Basically, they drank a ton of their beer, a thick and delicious brew that I couldn’t pronounce the name of, and they ate a ton of meat. It was like we were back in medieval times again, as we were served hunks of game and fresh fish and other amazing food.
As I sat up at that table, eating as much as I could, the whole meal felt absolutely surreal. These were some of the most powerful people in the country, and yet they were all assembled for this dinner, presumably just to welcome us to their country.
It didn’t really make any sense. There was
no media in the room, so it wasn’t like this was just another photo op for the king. Maybe people in Starkland took these sorts of things really seriously, and any excuse to get together and drink tons of beer was good enough for them.
But it still felt strange. I couldn’t understand most of the conversation going on around me, since it was in another language, but I did catch my name every once in awhile. People kept glancing over at us, too, and I got the distinct feeling that they were looking at me in particular.
I couldn’t make any sense of it. I wasn’t all that interesting, and it was really my father that people should have been interested in. Maybe it was because I had slapped the king earlier that day, and everyone was talking about that.
As the dinner wore on, I suddenly felt a presence behind me and noticed a few people glancing up at me. I turned and Trip was standing there, smiling down at me.
“How are you liking our beer?” he asked.
I smiled. “It’s good.”
“I’m glad you think so. We take it pretty seriously in Starkland.”
“I can tell. You all drink enough of it.”
He laughed. “We can’t drink nearly enough, and that’s the problem. We always find ourselves wanting more. Do you have that problem, Bryce?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t had much of the beer yet.”
“Well, I hope we can leave you wanting more.”
I couldn’t help but hear something else behind his words, but his smile was innocent enough. He reached out a hand for me and I took it, shaking. When he pulled his hand back, I felt something in my palm, a piece of paper.
I quickly closed my hand, swallowing up the paper, and I could have sworn he winked at me. He quickly turned away and began to make the rounds of the room, shaking hands and smiling.
My cheeks felt hot as I glanced down at the tiny piece of paper he’d left for me. Written in neat, concise letters was a note.
It read: “Meet me in ten. Back door, turn left.”
I bit my lip, staring at the note. He wanted us to ditch out on this dinner, but I had no clue for what.
Trip was a mystery, a very difficult mystery, but I could already tell that I didn’t want to solve him. He was dangerous and cocky, not the kind of man I’d ever really wanted before.