Royally Lost

by Stanton, Angie

  A quick cab ride to the train station felt like a luxury after navigating the streets by herself. Upon arrival, she hoisted both her and Nikolai’s backpacks over her shoulders. She refused to leave his things behind.

  The station bustled with rush hour activity as people hurried to their trains. She gazed up at the lofty dome and stained-glass windows. Art Nouveau, Nikolai would have said about the beautiful building.

  It took her a while to find the right ticket counter where her prepaid ticket waited, thanks to Dylan. Even though the clerk told her where to find her train, the woman spoke fast and with a heavy accent. Becca missed having Nikolai there to translate.

  She approached people who looked American to ask for help, and once on board, she asked a young couple next to her if she was indeed on the right train.

  The trip to Nuremberg consisted of staring out the window for two hours and missing Nikolai. As much as she wanted to go home, how was she supposed to go back to her old life now that she’d spent the most exciting week of her life with a royal prince who made her feel special and important? She really wanted to be Cinderella, where her prince would come find her, but she’d left no glass slipper, and this was reality.

  For all she knew he would be entering the Mondovian military any day. She sighed and leaned her forehead against the window as the train rumbled on.

  Upon arrival at the Nuremberg train station, she followed the mobs of passengers into the main terminal and easily found the ticket machine. She was relieved it had instructions in English, but she couldn’t get her euros to fit in the slot of the bill feeder and wondered if she’d picked a broken machine.

  “Here, you need to hit enter to confirm your order before it will accept your money,” said an impatient man behind her.

  She felt like an idiot. “Thank you. I figured it must be something easy.”

  Becca picked a forward train car so she could be one of the first off the train and into the airport. She lowered the heavy packs to the floor and settled in for the twenty-minute ride.

  Travel days sucked. Every few minutes the train made a stop. She carefully tracked the progress on the map posted above the door. Just a few more stops and she’d be there. She readied her bags. Her nerves started to fray. She was so over international travel.

  Finally she arrived at the airport and had to walk forever before arriving at the ticketing area. Luckily, everyone else seemed to be heading in that direction, so there was no chance to mess this up.

  The line for check-in was long. She looked at her phone again. She had little over an hour to get through it. Then a text came in from Dylan: Where are you? I’m waiting at the gate.

  She texted him back. Stuck in line.

  Each minute dragged like ten as she watched the line crawl at a snail’s pace. Finally she received her boarding pass.

  Becca headed for security only to discover a sea of glum passengers waiting to make it through the line.

  Dylan texted again to say they’d started boarding the plane and to hurry up.

  Becca texted back: I’m in the line from hell. She started biting the inside of her lip.

  After an eternity, Becca passed through. She grabbed her belongings and checked the direction signs for her gate. Gate 44, all the way at the end concourse.

  Unbelievable!

  She looked at her phone. Dylan had texted that they had called for final boarding.

  Becca ran, dodging passengers, strollers, and small children. The two packs bounced heavily against her back. With each gate she passed, her fear grew to a full-out panic. What if they left without her? She couldn’t bear being stranded in Europe one more day.

  She spied her gate. Out of breath, she pushed on, rounding the corner to find the waiting area empty, except for Dylan and two scowling airline employees.

  “Becca!”

  One look at her brother and she started to cry.

  “Dylan, I was so afraid you were going to leave.”

  “Of course I waited. Come on.” He guided her to the gangway and handed over his boarding pass. “I wasn’t about to leave you behind. These women aren’t too happy about it. For a minute there, I thought they were going to close the doors on us.”

  “Thank you,” she said to the annoyed clerk as she wiped away her tears.

  Once seated, the doors closed, and the flight attendants recited the safety talk.

  “Don’t look so miserable. You made it,” Dylan said.

  “I know. It’s just, now that we’re leaving, it guarantees even more that I’ll never see Nikolai again. I’ll probably never even talk to him either.”

  She tried not to cry, but fat tears of defeat rolled down her face.

  “It’s a vacation romance, Becca. Give yourself two days back home, and he’ll be no more than a great memory. You’ll meet lots of guys at Northwestern.”

  “This is different. I loved Nikolai.”

  Dylan raised his eyebrows.

  “I know. I’m a fool. It doesn’t matter how we felt for each other. I could never end up with a guy like him.”

  “Why not? You’re just as good as he is.”

  But she knew better. “Our lives are totally different. He’s destined to become king and serve his country. I’m just an ordinary girl from the United States trying to figure out my life.”

  “Becca, don’t think that way.”

  “Whatever. It’s over. Just like a fairy tale, only without a happy ending. It was more of an Aesop’s fable where all the stories are evil and horrible.”

  “He said he’d find you.”

  “And how will he do that? All my info was on his phone, which I now have.” She leaned her head back against the seat.

  “Stop acting so negative. He must have some secret service that he can put on it.”

  Becca hoped Dylan was right.

  27

  Nikolai followed Alexi’s bouncing blonde-and-pink head up another flight of steps.

  “Don’t you think this is a little extreme?” he asked, and he wasn’t talking about her latest effort to annoy their parents by dyeing her hair pink.

  “We have to be careful. For all we know there are bugs and hidden cameras in every room.”

  “Beyond security cameras in the public places and main corridors, I don’t think we’re being spied on. Now hand over the phone.”

  “Not till we get to the top. You don’t want to get cut off because of bad reception.”

  He appreciated his sister’s determination to help him track down the Prague hostel, but she did err on the side of the dramatic. They were on the rarely entered fifth floor of the palace where they used to tell ghost stories as children. They’d passed room after room of stored antiquities.

  Finally Alexi decided the last room before the tower stairs would be remote and secure enough.

  They squeezed themselves past dusty crates and boxes to a sunny window for better reception. Nikolai looked twice at a storage crate labeled Renoir. He ran his finger over the letters painted on the crate. “What a shame, to keep all these priceless pieces of art locked up.”

  “You know Father. Lock it up, keep it safe. It’s the same way he treats us. Here’s a spot.”

  “Give me the phone already.”

  “Here.” She handed over the phone. “You could be a little nicer about it. It wasn’t easy to convince the stable hand to let me borrow it. You would not believe how paranoid everyone around here is of getting sacked.”

  “After Dmitri was fired for helping me, I don’t blame them.” He immediately searched for the hostel name and number. “Got it!” He dialed and held his breath, hoping.

  Alexi climbed on top of a box marked 18th Century clock by Le Faucheur. He could only imagine the value of her makeshift chair.

  “Prague House. This is Kristoff,” a voice answered.

  At last! His heart soared with hope. “Hello, Kristoff! I stayed at Prague House a few days ago, and I’m trying to track down a friend who stayed there with me.”

&n
bsp; “I’ll do what I can. Is your friend still here?”

  “She flies out of Nuremberg today, and I don’t know what time she had to leave. Her name is Becca. I’m sorry, but I don’t know her last name.”

  Nikolai was still frustrated that he hadn’t been able to secure a phone earlier.

  “I know who you mean. Becca left about an hour ago for the train station.”

  “Dammit,” Nikolai muttered.

  Alexi looked up from examining her blue nail polish with a sympathetic frown.

  “Any chance you are the man pictured with her in the newspapers?”

  “Yes, that’s me. My name is Nikolai.” Now maybe he’d be more eager to help. “So now that you know I was traveling with her, can you give me her information? I’d be forever grateful.”

  The phone became quiet and then Kristoff spoke. “I’ve never talked to a prince before. I wish I could help, Your Majesty, but the registration book went missing the same day that you did.”

  He couldn’t believe it. More interference by Visar and his team.

  “What?” Alexi asked, braiding the long pink sections of her hair.

  “The registration book is mysteriously gone,” Nikolai whispered.

  “No way! Those dirty shits. Ask him to check the credit card receipts.”

  Nikolai returned to his call. “It’s really important that I find her. You are my only hope. I know it’s probably against the rules, but you have no idea how desperate I am. How about credit card receipts? Her signature should be on the receipt.”

  “I’m really not allowed to do that, but I’d be happy to make an exception for you. Just one minute.”

  Nikolai tapped his fingers on a storage crate while he waited.

  “What’s he doing?” Alexi asked.

  “He’s checking.”

  “Just think, in a minute you’ll have her full name. You know she’s from Chicago. It should be easy to find her now.”

  “Prince Nikolai?” Kristoff’s voice came back over the phone.

  “Yes, I’m here.”

  “This is very strange, but all the credit card receipts for the past week are gone. Every single one. I checked in the safe, too, but they aren’t here.”

  “Unbelievable.” He scrubbed his hand over his face.

  “I can contact the night manager if you like. Perhaps he knows where they are.”

  “No. Thank you, Kristoff, but I’m pretty sure those receipts won’t ever be seen again.”

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to help you more.”

  “Thank you for trying.”

  “She seemed very sad after you left. I hope you’re able to find her.”

  “Thank you, Kristoff. I do, too.”

  He ended the call and tossed the phone on a crate next to Alexi.

  “So all the records are gone,” she said.

  “Everything. If I didn’t know better, I’d bet they cleaned the place of all her DNA, too.”

  “Who do you think ordered that? Father? Would he be so mean?”

  “I don’t know that Father would have made a direct order to wipe away all traces of Becca, but I wouldn’t put it past Visar to do it on his own.”

  “So that was a dead end, but there are other ways to find her. We just have to think of them,” Alexi said.

  “I don’t know her airline or flight number, not that the airline would release a passenger list.”

  “What other places did you go? Did she use her credit card anywhere else? What else did you do where there could be a record of her?”

  “Becca always paid cash other than at the hostel. She went to the police station to report the robbery, and she went to the U.S. Embassy.”

  “Perfect! Try those.”

  “I really don’t think the police station is going to release the name of a girl who was mugged.”

  “Well, you won’t know unless you try! Are you in love with her or not?”

  Nikolai grinned. “I’m on it!”

  He spent the next hour contacting the U.S. Embassy, the Prague police station, and even the riverboat company. No one would help him. They all cited privacy laws, security reasons, or company policy.

  Dejected, he handed the phone back to Alexi.

  “It’s no use. She’s lost to me.”

  28

  “Here goes nothing,” Dylan said as they exited the gate area at the Madison airport.

  “Do you think Dad will be here or just Vicky?” Becca gripped the straps of the two backpacks like lifelines. She’d never done anything as bad as when she skipped her original flight home from Nuremberg to stay with Nikolai.

  “Probably just Vicky, which is good. She won’t be nearly as scary. I can’t imagine Dad taking time away from his precious work to welcome home his delinquent kids.”

  They rode the escalator down to the baggage area. Becca scanned the crowd. No familiar faces popped out. Maybe Dad and Vicky were leaving her and Dylan to fend for themselves.

  But then she spotted a tall figure speaking into his phone. He had graying hair, and wore a charcoal-colored business suit.

  Her stomach dropped. “Dad’s here.”

  Dylan followed her gaze. “Well, that sucks.”

  Her dad noticed them as they stepped off the escalator. His calm, emotionless stare said it all. Becca had never had to deal with angering her dad before. She wasn’t equipped for the outcome.

  As Becca and Dylan approached, her father covered the phone with his hand. “Do you have any checked luggage?”

  “No,” she answered.

  He resumed his phone conversation, and turned to exit the airport. She and Dylan followed without a word. When they reached her father’s SUV, he popped the lock on the back as he passed to the driver’s side.

  After placing her two backpacks in the vehicle and closing the door, she found Dylan had taken up the entire rear seat with his carry-on bags. Becca gave him a dirty look and climbed into the front seat.

  “All right, Chuck. Bring the report to the meeting in the morning.” Her father hung up and slipped his phone into his suit pocket.

  Becca held her breath, afraid of what he’d say. He paid the parking attendant and exited the ramp. Dylan hid safely behind their dad, out of his line of sight.

  They rode in silence, but the mood in the vehicle was anything but peaceful. After a mile, she noticed her father white-knuckling the steering wheel.

  “Which one of you wants to explain why you blatantly lied to me?” he asked in a quiet, restrained voice.

  At first, neither of them answered, but then Dylan spoke up. “It’s my fault, Dad. Don’t blame Becca.”

  Becca let out a breath of relief. Thank God Dylan took the hit for her.

  “I’m perfectly aware that you were behind this asinine escapade.” He shot Dylan an angry glare in the rearview mirror. “Sadly, this is the norm for you. What I want to know is why Becca went along with it. She knows better than to do something so stupid, yet there she was, right alongside you.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” Becca said, hoping her apology would be accepted, and they could pretend everything was fine.

  “Sorry? Is that all you have to say for yourself? Do you have any idea how much your little escapade cost? Airline tickets don’t grow on trees. We had just changed your tickets to come home, which is what I thought you wanted all along, and then I learned the tickets were changed again!”

  What could she say? She didn’t want to explain that she’d really been with Nikolai instead of her brother all that time. Lord only knew what her dad would say then.

  “You moped through the entire trip, and the second I gave you what you wanted, you defied me. I’m used to that type of behavior from your brother, but not you!” He swerved sharply to change lanes.

  “I wasn’t moping through the entire trip.”

  “And now isn’t the time to talk back to me either. I was trying to complete a very important negotiation when I received Dylan’s message that you two . . . brats decided to sta
y behind. Have you any idea how much you upset Vicky? She worked very hard to put that trip together.”

  He fixed her with a stubborn look. “Becca, you disappoint me.”

  That was it. She couldn’t take it anymore. “I disappoint you? Seriously? Oh my God, Dad. I can’t believe you even noticed I was gone!”

  He looked taken aback.

  “You never pay any attention to me. Other than a couple of times on the trip, you spent the entire time schmoozing with your new rich friends. Face it. I’m no more than an afterthought. You don’t notice me unless I do something less than perfect.”

  “That’s enough!” he barked, pulling up to a stoplight.

  “Hell it is! You ever think that half the reason Dylan is always causing trouble is so you have to notice him?”

  Her father shot her a warning look.

  “It’s true! You totally use your job as an excuse to avoid us.”

  “My job, as you so casually put it, is what provides you with the beautiful home we live in, all your nice things, and your out-of-state college tuition.”

  “That’s bull. It’s not a home. It hasn’t been since Mom died. It’s a showpiece you use to impress your colleagues. And I never asked to go to an out-of-state college. Northwestern was your decision, not mine. I wanted to stay in Madison.”

  “Becca, what has gotten into you?” He turned the car onto their street.

  “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe a backbone. I’m sick and tired of being the obedient child.”

  He pushed the garage door opener and pulled into the garage. “I’ll tell you what it’s getting you. Grounded. You can forget about any plans you had for the rest of the summer. You can sit home in that showpiece, as you put it, and think of a damn good apology. That goes for both of you!”

  Becca got out of the car and slammed the door.

  “Great, Dad, and how are you going to enforce it? You’re never home long enough to know if we’re even there.”

  She stormed into the house, leaving a furious father and an impressed Dylan in her wake.

  Becca stared out the window at the backyard pool. She’d been home for a couple of days and still couldn’t shake the blanket of depression. Her heart ached for Nikolai. She couldn’t get the image out of her mind of him being dragged away.