Page 9 of Royally Scr*wed

“Nurse Ratchet knows. She isn’t happy about it.”

“I heard that,” Agnes steps off the elevator with what I’m guessing is Oscar’s cell phone in her hand.

“I wasn’t talking about you Agnes,” Ozzy rolls his eyes like a teenager.

“Right. You’re only saying that because I pushed you all the way up here. I see you didn’t listen when I told you to wait for me to come back though.”

“You forgot to put the brakes on, the floor is slanted. I rolled this way,” he defends.

“Bullshit, Oscar. First you scare the living daylights out of me by nearly getting killed and now you won’t sit still long enough to recover.”

“I didn’t know you cared, Sweetheart.”

Agnes slaps his good side and Ozzy winces. Their banter is entertaining but I’m sure they aren’t here for a comedy show in the hallway.

“One of you want to tell me what you’re doing out here?” I ask, interrupting their lover’s quarrel.

While we’re at it, let the record show that I totally knew Ozzy was lying when he told me there was nothing happening with the two of them.

“We need to talk,” Oscar’s face hardens, and he looks around. A handful of fresh guards are present on the floor and pretending that they don’t notice we’re here. “In private.”

“Can it wait? I wanted to check in on my grandfather.”

Ozzy raises a brow, “with all due respect, Your Highness, I wouldn’t be roaming the halls in the middle of the night if it could wait.”

“I suppose you have a point,” I tell him, pointing at the opposite end of the hall. “There’s a private conference room this way.”

“Your Highness, if you don’t mind taking over, I can return to Oscar’s room and let you two discuss whatever it is that Oscar says is so urgent,” Agnes offers.

“Agnes, I’m sure you could use some rest. There’s an open room right next to mine. Why don’t you retire there? I’ll see to it that Oscar is taken care of for the night.”

Agnes looks like she’s about to cry. “Prince Julius, you don’t have to do that.”

“I may not have to, but it’s the least I can do. Go. Rest. If the doctor’s say that he can join you up here, I’ll return him to you. Otherwise, he’ll wait for you in his room on the medical floor,” I tell her.

It’s been a long day for all of us and if I can do anything to ease the burden for someone, I will. Especially Agnes who’s been like a mother to me since my own mum passed.

“HE is sitting right here,” Oscar grumbles.

To further frustrate him, I ruffle his hair as if he were a child. “Don’t worry. We haven’t forgotten about you, buddy.”

Oscar snorts and discretely flips me off.

Agnes gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and blushes before looking back at me. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” she says with a yawn. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Oh how I miss the casualness that I’ve grown accustomed to with Agnes and Oscar and truly understand the frustration that Willow feels daily. If only we were anywhere else, and they could relax with the formalities.

Agnes scurries off to the empty suite while I push Oscar down the hall to the private conference room.

Once inside, I flip the switch that creates a sound barrier so no one on the outside can hear in and engage the lock on the door.

“What have you got for me?”

“The shooter at the church. He was a hired hit. You and Charlie were both the intended targets. Motive is still unclear at this time. Of course the obvious answer points to wanting to take over the throne. I know you’re not going to want to hear this but, I believe we need to question Princess Christiana and her family. They would be at the top of the list of people who would have a problem with you rising to the throne.”

“My aunt?” I pinch the bridge of my nose, having a hard time believing that she could ever be capable of such things. “Are you sure about this? She seemed very excited for us when I told her about the wedding.”

“Unfortunately. Yes. The thing is, the Snowedens are the ones who have the most to lose with you on the throne. You may not remember this, but Princess Christiana was furious when your parents died, and you were proclaimed crown prince. She even went to Parliament and asked them to reconsider their “sexist” rules that eliminated her from the line of succession. Little did she know that Parliament had already voted for who they wanted to take the throne at King Julius’ request, and they remained steadfast that only a first-born female can succeed the throne – unless there are no living male heirs. She fought and protested. Not to mention there was the pesky business that you were not a blood heir.”

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