Page 5 of Royally Scr*wed

“Won’t it?”

Where the hell are my guards? Surely Sebastian and Brian have not left their post outside my office doors. This fool may be one of the few people that can come and go from the palace as he pleases, but all of this commotion would surely raise a red flag to my detail.

“We had a deal. Killing me will not solve anything.”

“But it will once everyone finds out that I’m your illegitimate son? ThatIshould be the true heir to the throne as your first-born son?”

“Think about what you’re doing,” I try to reason with him.

“I’ve thought about it enough. It’s been on my mind every day for the last few weeks while youradoptedgrandson’s nuptials have been thrown in my face time and time again. This wasn’t what we agreed to.”

“Killing me is not going to get your way.”

“DROP THE GUN!” Finally, backup has arrived.

My unwelcome guest turns and points his gun at my guard. “Ah, Wade. Pleasure to see you again. I wondered if my friend had time to disconnect the panic button or not.”

Before Wade has a moment to react, a shot is fired in his direction, and he falls to the floor.

I reach for the gun I happen to keep in my desk drawer, but my assailant is quicker. The first shot hits me in the knee and drops me to the floor, then there are two more shots fired

The pain is unbearable. The urge to close my eyes grows stronger. And little by little, my world fades to black. Guilt mixes in thoughts of my sweet granddaughter and my wife, thoughts of Jude; and how everything may just crumble down around us now.

God save the King.

CHAPTER 3

CHARLIE

Today, I married a prince.

And minutes after we said ‘I do’, I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. If not for Jude, and Oscar, I could have ended up dead.

The whole thing plays in my mind again and a shiver runs up my spine.

Whisked from the church in the back of an armored Rolls Royce, I clung to Jude as Nigel informed him that the king had been taken to the hospital and we altered our destination.

It’s been hours since we arrived at the royal hospital to a fury of chaos as details came rolling in.

An evening that should have been spent dancing and dining among Jude’s friends and our families turned into waiting, with Queen Lily and Princess Willow, for news on the King – and those who were also injured during this entire debacle.

Over the last few weeks, as I came to terms with the life I had signed up for, I began to let myself dream. Convinced myself that I was living in some kind of fairytale and Jude was my Prince Charming.

Those dreams didn’t look anything like this.

And they damn well didn’t look like the two of us spending our wedding night in a hospital. Even if the hospital room that we had been escorted to after the last update on the king looked more like a fancy hotel room.

Plans for a surprise honeymoon – a gift from the Queen for the both of us – are officially out the window. Especially while Jude’s grandfather’s life hangs in the balance a few floors away.

The hours since our wedding have given Jude very little time to breathe let alone relax. How he’s handled it all with such class is beyond me, though I suppose it has to do with years of preparing for scenarios much like this one.

Another shudder rushes over me. Even though I’ve been subject to the same ‘rehearsals’ as Willow’s lady-in-waiting, I still found myself ill-prepared for today. Maybe because it was what we all least expected, or maybe it’s different because I am no longer a lady-in-waiting.

In an instant, I became a princess and it’s like the universe laughed – daring me again to prove my worth.

“You should get some rest,” Jude says as stares out the bulletproof window that overlooks the Northern hillside of Herefirth while swirling the remaining scotch in his glass.

Slipping behind him, I run my hands up his back and begin gently massaging his broad shoulders, wanting nothing more than to take some of the burden from him. “You need to rest, too. Your family, your country, they need you but in order to be there for them, you need to take care of yourself.”

---