Page 6 of Desperately Yours

“Okay, people,” Penny Peyroux clapped her hands to get our attention, “to your places. Roxie is ready to shoot.”

As if they couldn’t exist in the same space, Penny faded behind the wall of blinding lights and another women took her place. Where Penny exuded nervous energy and a ponytail that whipped around so fast I feared it might put an eye out, this woman moved with practiced grace and poise. No time is money speech from her. She controlled her universe and, therefore, could never be late to a party. After all, shewasthe party.

“Hello,” the low register of her voice surprised me, “you must be Michaela. I’m Roxanne Burns fromNolcovia News Nightly.”

“Lovely to meet you.” I took her outstretched hand and matched the pressure of her grip.

“It’s an honor, Lady Caldwell. Truly.” She released her grip and turned her attention to Leila. “And this little princess needs no introduction. The whole country has been rooting for you, Miss Leila.”

Was it foolish to hope I could let Leila have the spotlight? Probably, but I was going to try to manifest it anyway. While Roxie got wrapped up in a conversation with Leila and her mother, I scanned the perimeter, looking for a familiar face.

Especially a certain one.

Where was Fitz?

Why hadn’t I seen him since the rescue?

“Rox. We’re on in,” the cameraman held up ten fingers and began the countdown. In an instant, Roxie snapped into character and took her seat in the middle chair between Leila and myself. Lighting dropped over our heads, shrouding us all in darkness. After all the attacks I’d endured in the ballroom, safe to say a sudden blackout left me on edge.

Theme music cued over the speakers and eased some of my nerves. Thus far, no revolt had started with a soundtrack. All part of the show. Or at least I hoped it was.

A single beam flashed on, illuminating Roxie in the center. Her dark hair caught the light with the supple sheen of a shampoo commercial, but she didn’t smile. Apparently, this was a serious broadcast. I flashed back to watchingNightly Newswith my grandparents. Roxie, or perhaps Roxanne, looked like she was ready to give Ann Curry a run for her money. A camera eased closer, tightening the shot as they waited for her to speak.

“Good evening, Nolcovia. Thank you for joining me on this special broadcast. Many of you are still reeling from the earthquake that struck our capital city less than a week ago. Many of you lost loved ones in the devastation and our hearts and thoughts go out to you tonight.”

My pageant coaches used to talk about using our voices to convey truth when we spoke. ‘Not so much what you say, but how you say it’ were repeated words of advice. I had to give it to her, Roxie knew how to speak truth in a way that made you believe it.

“But out of such great tragedy, many miracles rose. Where so many hearts are broken, others have a second chance at life…” she paused dramatically before she spoke again, “… and love.”

Uh-oh. While she wasn’t wrong, my stomach churned at the direction she was headed.

“One such story took place on the hills above Nolcovia. Two souls were swallowed up by the earth, no hope, no light, nothingto save them, and yet,” the lights above Leila and me sprang to life, “here they sit tonight. Ready to tell their story.”

It was too late to run for the nearest exit, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to try. Since I’d arrived, I felt like my relationship with Fitz was the best kept, and most important, royal secret in the whole country. If it came out on a live national broadcast, I feared the retaliation I faced. Visions of the Queen of Hearts bounced through my thoughts. My hand wrapped around my neck, just to be sure no one had issued a fatal order yet.

“Michaela, we all know you’re here from America, part of the competition to win Prince Leonidas’s heart, but what we don’t know,” I held my breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop, “is what you were doing on that hillside the day of the earthquake. We have it on good authority that the prince was nowhere near that hill at the time of the quake.”

I exhaled slowly so no one would see my sigh of relief. A question I could answer, I could work with that. “Well, I met Leila and her sister that day. They wanted to learn an American game, so we decided to play hide-and-seek on the hill behind the festival.”

Leila took over from there, explaining excitedly the rules and regulations of a proper hide-and-seek match. I was sure it would be the moment that future generations could trace back the origin of the game in the country. But other than some cultural influence, it was benign and I was still safe.

“What about when you felt the earthquake?” Roxie directed the question at me. “What was your reaction?”

“Fear, I guess.” Wasn’t that everyone’s reaction? “I knew I needed to get Leila to safety. As she explained, she got stuck under some wood during the quake. I freed her and had every intention of getting back to the rest of our group.”

“But that’s when the aftershock hit, right?”

My mind flashed back there. The breathless moment where I knew we weren’t going to escape. The look in Fitz’s eyes as he watched in horror. Did I scream? Did Leila? My breathing quickened as I tried to keep myself away from those dark memories.

“Yes,” I whispered, still overcome by emotion. “The ground shifted, and we fell together.”

Thankfully, attention turned back to Leila who was more than willing to explain the conditions where we landed. I ducked my head and tried to focus on my breathing. The dirt still clung to my skin, no matter how many times I washed or scrubbed; even when I logically and rationally knew I was clean, I still felt it. In my hair, under my nails, between my teeth, gritty and earthy. I laced my fingers and set my forehead against them. This was a mistake. I was so concerned with not spilling any secrets, I hadn’t considered the psychological and emotional impact of talking about the accident.

“Michaela?” Roxie’s concerned tone beckoned me back. “What about you? Did you think you’d be rescued?”

“I wasn’t sure.” It wasn’t my real answer, that wasn’t safe to say. I couldn’t explain that my only hope rested in Fitz. I knew if anyone was coming for me, it was him. If there was even a chance I could be alive, I knew he wouldn’t give up. Against all rational thought, he would come for me.

Leila went on, explaining how she’d finally heard the rescuers and had stood in our small shelter to cry for help. She described the way the dirt showered down on us as they got closer. Every moment we came closer to being rescued, we were also inching toward being crushed by the same force.

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