Page 67 of Trapped with the Undercover Prince

A sneaking suspicion stole Anna’s breath. “Did you know my grandmother?”

The other woman’s smile turned up the wattage until it lit up the room. “Let us find out.”

They left the queen mother’s quarters and walked slowly down the hall. Up one flight of stairs to another hallway that showed less use the one they’d just left. No carpet on the floor, and every door was closed.

“It’s just over here.”

Anna wasn’t sure what Zar’s grandmother wanted to show her. Then the lady drew them to a stop in front of a series of black-and-white photographs.

“Look here,” she said, pointing at one of the smaller pictures. “This is me.” The queen mother pointed at the photo of two girls wearing pretty dresses and standing arm-in-arm. They looked like sisters. She pointed at the other girl, “And this was my best friend and cousin, Cosette. She used the name Schwitz so the German’s wouldn’t know who she was.”

What?

She leaned in close and studied the two young women. She could see the resemblance between the queen mother and her younger self, and the resemblance between Anna’s grandmother and the other girl.

“I thought when I met you that you looked familiar,” the older lady said. “Now I know why.”

“My grandmother was part of the royal family?” This was straight out of a fairy-tale.

“No, not royal. She was my second cousin, but still in the nobility.” She pointed at a different picture. “Here’s another one with the two of us at a ball.”

Anna looked at this new photo, at her grandmother as a young woman. “The profile, it’s the same,” she whispered. “Oh my God.”

“I always wondered what happened to her. I thought she’d been killed, but now...” Fresh tears rolled down her face. “She was happy?”

“Yes, she had her own antique business for several years. She never remarried, but after my mother died of cancer, I moved in with her. We lived together until her death.”

“She had a life, a good life. A daughter and a granddaughter.” A chuckle. “Did you know that there’s a lovely little castle that’s all yours?”

“What?”

“Cosette was an only child, and after her parents died, the castle was put in the royal family’s hands, but now that we know there’s an heir to their estate...”

Anna’s brain couldn’t seem to focus on any one thought. As if the world had tilted on its axis was now spinning backward.

“So, I’m related, however distantly, to the Lerasian Royal family? I’m the heir to an estate with a castle?” She looked at her grandmother’s cousin. “My grandmother’s stories were true?

She burst into tears.

Zar’s grandmother took Anna in her arms and patted her back until Anna could get herself under control. Finally, she managed to breathe normally again, and wiped her face.

The older woman asked, “She told you about the resistance? What she did?”

“So many adventures,” Anna said with a watery laugh. “Some of them sounded impossible, all of them sounded dangerous. Hiding people the Nazis wanted to question or kill, pretending to be a milkmaid so she wouldn’t be taken in for questioning herself, even hiding priceless royal jewelry so the Nazis wouldn’t steal it.”

The queen mother’s expression sharpened. “What kind of jewelry?”

“Oh, a ring. She said it was huge, with a pale blue diamond in the center and colorless diamonds all around it. She called it the Ice Blue diamond.”

“Did she tell you where she hid it?” There was a strange, sneaky sort of smile on the other woman’s face.

“Yes, but I assumed it was just a story, since it was about a princess and her ring...” Anna stopped talking to stare at the grinning queen mother. “It was true?”

The regal lady nodded. “The Nazis had already stolen our crown, several of my mother’s other jewelry, and they wanted the Ice Blue. Hitler had specifically ordered it found and brought to him. I gave it to Cosette and told her to hide it somewhere safe. She made it out of the castle without being seen.” Her smile died. “That was the last time I spoke to her. I saw her a couple of times afterward at a distance. By then, she was hiding her American soldier, and she got out of the area before the Nazis discovered her or her lover.”

Anna’s mouth went dry as she considered this particular story, then whispered, “She told me where she hid it.”

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