Page 65 of A Wise Prince

I peek around the door of the library and find my father sitting in a tall leather-backed chair with ornate carvings. He’s sipping some sort of liquor as he stares out a nearby window.

“Dad?”

He turns his head. He looks so old at this moment, like the entire weight of the world is on his shoulders.

“Can we...talk?” I need to know what he knows, I’m unsure though if he’ll tell me.

He motions to the matching chair across from his. I walk to it and sit, staring at him, waiting for him to speak.

“It’s not how I thought it would be,” he says quietly as he stares back out the window.

I’m about to ask what isn’t, when he starts to speak again. “I was so ignorant of power and greed. I never imagined the extraordinary lengths people would go to gain it. I suppose that makes me extremely naive.” He looks at me and I see anger flash across his eyes. “They’ve gone too far this time.”

“This time?” I ask, my voice trembling because I fear the answer.

“I won’t let them hurt you or anyone in our family,” he says but I don’t understand. I shake my head in confusion.

“Dad?”

His eyes meet mine. This time, it’s terror that I see there. “This group...they are not a group you want to mess with. The crown is better left missing.”

“But, Dad, you know what they plan to do, there has to be a way to stop them. It’s not even about the damned crown anymore.” My voice rises with each word and I feel the adrenaline start to pump through my veins. As I watch my father’s thoughts play out across his face much like a movie screen, I start to become acutely aware that there is a lot I don’t know yet, but he does.

“No!” I shout as I sit up so fast the antique chair goes falling behind me, but I don’t care. He knows. He’s...part of them.

My father raises a hand to grab my wrist, but I jump back, away from him. “Daddy! Please tell me you’re not involved!”

He looks back away as I feel hot tears run down my cheeks. It can’t be. He wouldn’t.

“They gave me no choice,” he finally mutters. “I either join their group or lose the presidency. It was just some little favors, a few law changes. But now...what they want is...I can’t do it.”

I pull my wrist from his grasp and run out of the library. He calls after me, but I don’t respond. I have to get away from him. I have to leave. I can feel the panic building inside me as I aimlessly weave down hallways and staircases.

I turn a corner and run straight into Ash.

“Whoa!” she calls out, clearly startled by me.

“What are you doing?” I ask her as I wipe tears away.

“Are you OK?” she asks.

I sigh. I want to tell her, but I can’t bring myself to do it. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

She gives me a look that says that she knows I’m lying.

“What are you doing?” I ask her with a raised eyebrow.

She looks around and pulls me back into a stairwell. “I’m sneaking out,” she says with a grin.

I raise both eyebrows. “What?”

“Will is here! I’m meeting up with him,” she says.

“Will?” I ask, momentarily confused.

She groans. “You know, the guy I told you about.”

A vague recollection of our conversation comes back to me. Of course, my clueless little sister would be sneaking out to see a boy in the middle of all of this chaos.

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