Page 38 of A Fierce Princess

“Oops, forgot to turn my phone on,” Auggie says.

“No shit, numb nuts,” Chris swears at him.

Auggie glares back.

“Oh, for the love of god, this is not the time for a brotherly pissing match. Pull yourselves together, you idiots! This is serious,” I say to them.

They turn, slightly shocked that I’ve yelled at them, I think. Then, I get knowing looks that tell me we are about to go to the back room on this plane. I stand.

“Your Highness, please stay seated,” Pete says to me.

I roll my eyes and look at my brother before sitting again.

“We will talk at the palace,” I say to them.

“Fuck yes, we’ll be talking at the palace,” Chris says in a low menacing tone that has me tensing.

I seldom see Chris angry, but he is absolutely seething. I shrink in my seat, hoping I can disappear because, right now, I feel like I’m the bad omen that’s been cast upon every person on this plane. I struggle to wrap my head around how M could have known about us or the plane. Or if it was M that blew up the plane. The mystery that I thought was straight forward just got a hundred times more complicated.

I don’t have too much time to contemplate this as we begin landing. As soon as the plane is on the runway, our security team goes into overdrive. As is standard royal protocol in our country, we are each escorted under heavy guard to a separate car. The cars have tinted bulletproof glass. I no sooner slide in when the door opens on the other side, and Logan also gets in next to me.

I look at him, surprised he’s with me.

“Pete said to get in this car,” he explains. Clearly, the look of shock on my face has prompted his explanation.

Pete and Lucas get in next. We drive off with a car in front and behind us. I notice my brothers’ cars all go in opposite directions. The security is not taking any chances of the three of us being together on the road.

I’m silent as I listen to Lucas talking into his earpiece. My mind is running in circles. I don’t notice my leg is tapping until I feel Logan’s warm hand on my thigh. I still and look up at him.

“It’s going to be OK, Anna,” he says in a low voice. Something about the soothing tone of his words brings tears to my eyes. In a flash, he unbuckles his seatbelt and slides across the seats until he’s next to me. He pulls me into his arms and begins to stroke my back.

“It’s OK,” he repeats. I nod against his chest, feeling overwhelmed by the events of the last twenty-four hours.

I don’t want to admit that I’m scared. I don’t want him to see me like this. I want him to think of me as strong and independent. I muster all my strength and pull back from him.

“Are you alright?” he asks, cupping my face.

I nod and bite my lip.

“I’m fine,” I say, taking a deep breath. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long twenty-four hours.”

“Yes, it has,” he agrees. “You should rest when you get home.”

I want to explain that the summer palace isn’t my home. It’s more like a vacation property, but I keep my mouth shut and turn to look out the window. We take the back-country route onto the estate. There are four different ways to get there. The main palace has a wall around it, dating back into the sixteen hundreds. The grounds surrounding it are mostly fields, some forests, and a few small gardens. There’s one entrance with a gatehouse and second entrance with guest quarters. The other two roads in look more like glorified trails. We take the one through the fields. It’s a ten-minute drive up to the wall of the palace. There are ruins of a few old buildings out in the field, but otherwise, it’s just tulips as far as the eye can see.

“This is beautiful,” Logan murmurs as he stares out at the bright colors of the flowers.

“This is the summer palace,” I reply.

“Where?” he asks, looking around.

I point to where a cluster of trees hides the large manor house. He squints.

“You’ll see it in a moment,” I say as the car weaves around the fields and begins driving through the small cluster of trees.

We pop out at the base of the wall and hug it as we drive around to the front gate. A guard stands at the gate, he presses some buttons inside his guard stand before the doors open, giving Logan his first view of the summer palace. I’ve never considered it impressive. It seems quaint compared to the royal palace but seeing it through his eyes gives its grandeur new meaning.

“Holy hell,” he whispers.

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