Page 31

CHAPTER 30

LIZZY

NEEL AND THE CLOSET.

I watched Declan walk away, understanding that this was a definitive line between us. He was returning to his position as prince, and I was a royal guard. Nothing more.

Whatever we had shared in the time that we had both worked for the Wombats in Wilcox, Virginia was over. I needed to remind myself of that. I needed to remember it.

I left the palace proper and walked down the narrow streets inside the palace complex to the long, low building I called home. Because my mother and I both worked for the monarchy, we had always lived here, on the palace grounds. Our home was a small, two-bedroom villa inside the palace gates. And as I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, the familiar scent of Mom’s traditional island cooking lofted toward me, embracing me like an old friend.

“You’re back.” Mom stepped from the kitchen, where she spent most of her time when she wasn’t at Her Majesty’s side.

“I’m back. What are you making? That smells amazing,” I said.

“I knew you’d be back today. The queen told me so. And I figured I should make your favorite dish.”

She stepped close, pulling me into a hug, and the familiarity and comfort there nearly made me cry.

Mom held me at arm’s length, her sharp eyes scanning my face, missing nothing. “And what has happened? Something is wrong.”

So many things were wrong. But I couldn’t tell my mother, could I?

“Come sit and have some coffee, and you can tell me.”

It seemed so simple. A cup of coffee. Tell my mom. Maybe it was that simple.

I sank into the familiar armchair that faced the kitchen, but was really part of the tiny family room nestled at its side. Mom brewed coffee on the stovetop using the pour-over method she had always used, then set a mug in front of me, wiping her hands on the apron around her waist before sitting and looking at me expectantly.

“So. You have spent some time with the prince. Your old playmate. And I expect that has brought up some feelings, no?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Eliza, it has never been a secret that you and the prince were close as children. And it was never a secret to me that you might have been closer than you shared with anyone. I know how a young girl’s heart can yearn, and I also know that yearning for a prince is a pointless endeavor.”

I didn’t like these words. But that didn’t make them untrue.

“I am not yearning for a prince,” I told her. Maybe I was. But I didn’t think of him as a prince. I thought of him as Declan, a hockey player. A very complicated hockey player.

“I can see it in your eyes,” my mother said, leaning back and crossing her hands over her stomach as she lounged in the chair. She had always been like this—seeing more than I wanted her to and passing judgment. That was the part I hated. Maybe she knew me better than I knew myself, but I didn’t like to think she arrived at every conclusion before I’d had a chance to get there.

“Well, all of that is over now,” I told her. “I’m back, so I assume I’ll be getting another mission shortly.”

My mother’s eyebrows rose, then lowered as she considered me. She was privy to the deepest inner workings of the royal family and often knew things before anyone else.

“You know, I think romantic relationships are rather pointless,” she mused. “But that’s just because they’ve never worked out for me.”

She tilted her head, studying me. “I fear I’ve doomed you.”

“Just because you’ve never been successful at love doesn’t mean I won’t be,” I told her, more to assuage any guilt she might feel than because I thought I had any real chance at finding true love.

“It’s not that. It’s your place.” Her voice softened, but the weight of her words didn’t. “You were born a servant, and loving a prince is pointless.”

There it was. The real truth of my relationship with Declan.

He would always be above me, and there was nothing I could do to change my place in the world. No matter how many commendations I received, I would still be part of the serving class.

I moped the rest of the evening, eventually going to bed in my childhood bedroom and dreaming of a prince who would never be mine.

At breakfast the next morning, my mother asked if I had enjoyed myself in the United States.

“I was just happy I could be there to protect him,” I told her.

Mom leaned forward. “Protect him? Were there dangers to the prince? In the US?”

“Yes. There were men after him, and his truck blew up.” I thought everyone here must have known that by now.

My mother shook her head. “How did these people even find the prince?”

“I have no idea. I thought you might know.”

“Nothing has changed. The prince’s identity was secret. No one spoke of him. It was as if he never existed. And no one knew the king was ill. That was a very tightly kept secret. It still is.”

I doubted very much that a tiny island country would completely forget that a second prince had been born to their rulers. Especially since Declan had been home to visit since moving to the US, his identity was closely guarded and protected. And only someone very close to the palace would have been able to find him. But it certainly wouldn’t be impossible.

“There were definitely attempts on the prince’s life when I was in Virginia,” I told my mother.

“If that is true, then there is a leak somewhere in the palace.” She said it serenely, but my feelings at learning this were far from serene.

“You think there’s an informant inside the palace? Someone with antimonarchist loyalties?” I stood.

“I didn’t say that, Eliza. But it’s possible. We should take this to your supervisor and to the king.”

She was right. I needed to figure out who Declan and his family could trust—and who they could not. Just because Declan and I did not have a future together did not mean I didn’t care for him, for his safety. “Mom, I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

I headed for the office of the King’s Guard, which was situated at the back of the palace. I badged myself in, wearing my standard uniform—black pants, a button-down shirt, and low, functional heels. It was the outfit I had worn every day since being indoctrinated into the King’s Guard. Except, of course, when I was on a mission.

I got nods and handshakes welcoming me home. By now, everyone inside the palace compound knew that the prince was back and that I had accomplished my mission.

“I think Neel wants to see you,” said Abby Dooley, one of the other female guards.

“I was just heading in that direction,” I told her. I straightened my ponytail and knocked on Neel’s door.

“Come in,” he called. I stepped inside.

“Lizzy, it’s so good to see you. Well done,” he said, waving me to a chair across from his desk.

I sat. “Thank you, sir. I did want to ask you, though?—”

“It can wait.” He interrupted me, shuffling papers on his desk and immediately moving on. “I have a new mission for you. You can take a couple of days to settle in and get your bearings, but I need you as soon as you’re ready for another undercover mission. In Luxembourg.”

“So soon?” My stomach twisted at the thought of leaving again. My appetite for undercover missions had soured. I wanted time at home, to be with my mother. To be with Declan, even if only because I couldn’t imagine being far away from him yet.

“You’re the best. As soon as you’re ready.”

“I had a couple of questions about this last mission first.” I said.

“Yes, your debrief is scheduled for later this morning. We can talk then.”

“But, sir—as you know, there were several attempts on the prince’s life and I’m concerned that there might be some kind of leak.”

Neel’s eyes widened and he dropped the papers he was shuffling. “If there were attempts on the prince’s life, why wasn’t that information shared with us?” He frowned at me. I felt as if an enormous spotlight had been pointed directly at me. Was I in some kind of trouble? It had been shared.

“I filed my reports each night,” I said. “Using the secure protocols you sent me with.” I had been up late every night, accessing the portal through which I could make my daily reports. I knew I had done my job exactly as specified. The reports went directly to Neel.

Neel typed into his desktop computer, frowning. “Lizzy, there’s nothing here. These are the reports you sent me—nothing about attempts on the prince’s life.”

“That doesn’t make sense. I filed at least three reports a day. We were assaulted in a parking lot… his truck blew up!”

“I see all of your reports, but nothing marked priority.” He looked at me grimly. “If any of them had mentioned what you just told me, they would have been marked. And action would have been taken. These reports came directly to me, didn’t they?”

“Yes, sir. That’s what we arranged before I left.”

“Then there is something amiss. This is very odd.” He raised an eyebrow, typed something into his computer and stood. It did seem odd. It had seemed odd at the time, back in Virginia. I’d followed protocol and the office hadn’t ever followed up.

Neel marched around his desk. “This is very concerning, Lizzy,” he said. “Come with me.” I barely kept up as he stormed down the hallway. But then—he stopped. Turned. Backtracked. Finally, he yanked open a door and shoved me inside.

Before I could ask what was happening, the door was shut and bolted.

“Sir?!” No answer. I turned, staring at the small space I had just been thrown into. Brooms, cleaning supplies, a few stacks of crackers and a utility sink.

I was locked in a closet.

At first, I worked on opening the lock, but with the bolt thrown from the outside, I knew there was little chance of getting that to work. I was trying to maintain a professional demeanor. I was at work, after all. Though this situation was slightly…unusual.

I reached for my phone, remembering only as I came up empty that I’d turned it in at security when I’d accessed the palace this morning. Following protocols. No one kept their devices inside the palace complex except the royal family.

“There has to be something in here I can use,” I assured myself, wandering the perimeter of the small closet, searching for…what? A magical key? After an hour of doing my best to stay calm and channel action heroes I’d seen in movies, I resorted to panic.

“Help!” I screamed it, hoping someone would be walking by, investigate.

The thing was, I’d never been down this hallway before. I wasn’t sure quite where I was, or how many people traversed this route daily. The reason Declan and I had held such incredible games of hide and seek was because the palace was practically a labyrinth. It was such a twisted warren of hallways and corridors I sometimes wondered if a madman had designed the place.

“Help me!” I screamed until my voice was hoarse, but no one came. At least I had light in there. If I was locked in a tiny dark closet, it would be so much worse. Finally, I sank to the floor, my back against the wall. Someone would find me, I was sure. I tried to calm myself and let my mind work on this new problem.

Was Neel the leak? Had he put me here to prevent me telling anyone else of his betrayal? That had to be it. He was the one who’d received those reports.

I had to get out of here. I had to. The royal family might be in danger. Would Neel really do anything to hurt them? To hurt Declan?

I had to escape. “Help!!” I screamed, banging my heels on the door that simply would not budge.