Page 18 of A Valiant Prince

Chris claps me on my shoulder. “You don’t have to understand. Just know it’s happening. Oh, and your bodyguard is Pete’s cousin, Hendrick. We can trust him,” Chris adds.

Anna launches herself in Auggie’s arms and then Chris’s. “Be careful, you two,” she says.

“We will,” Auggie replies. He looks over at me. “Take care of our little sister, Logan.”

I nod. “I will,” I say to him.

“Anna?” I hear King Michael’s voice from the study. She walks over to the door before turning and beckoning me to her.

I walk over, and she takes my hand and pulls me inside the study, closing the door behind us. King Michael sits in a chair next to my father, and they both look at us.

“You two will leave tonight,” my father says.

“What?” Anna and I both answer.

King Michael stands and walks over to us. “I’d prefer Anna be with her brothers, but since you are still ‘under wraps’ as the prince of Montelandia, I have decided you are the next best thing. Your father agrees with me. However, seeing as how you will be together, we are sending you the farthest away. I have you on a commercial airline, flying into Pittsburgh. Pete has arranged a house for you to stay in near your grandparents’ home. I will alert you when it’s safe to return, and we can figure out everything else then,” my father says.

“Daddy?” Anna says, looking up at her father. He pulls her into an embrace.

“I don’t want to send any of you away, but it’s not safe here, sweet pea,” King Michael says to Anna.

“I know,” she whispers.

“Only communicate with me through Pete, understood?” he says to her as though she’s a soldier that he’s sending off to battle.

“Yes, father,” she replies. He kisses the top of her head and then looks over at me.

“I’m entrusting you with my heart. Don’t fuck it up,” he says, looking back at his daughter.

“I won’t, Your Majesty,” I answer. My father hobbles over to me. He’s clearly still sore from his injuries.

“Take care, Logan,” he says to me. I don’t know why, but I embrace him. He doesn’t move for a long moment. Then he wraps his long arms around me. “You’re so much like her,” he whispers for my ears only.

I pull back. “Be safe, the both of you,” I say to them. I put my arm around Anna and escort her out of the study. We head up to our rooms and pack the few items, not in bags. Her phone buzzes, and she looks down at it.

“Fuck,” she mutters. She picks up her phone and dials a number.

“Hey,” she says. “I’m sorry. Yes, I know. Things have been a little…insane. No, we’re fine. Auntie Lara suffered the worst injury. I don’t know yet. Yes. I have to go away for a while, Sonya. I promise I’ll come to see you as soon as it’s safe. No, not yet. I will. Love you, too.” She ends the call and stares down at the phone.

“Who was that?” I ask her.

She sighs. “My best friend, Sonya,” she answers. “I…things have been a little crazy and…well, she’s pissed at me. I mean, she’s worried, obviously.”

“Oh, right,” I say. I realize just how much we don’t know about each other. I’ve never thought about her friends.

We finish packing in silence. A knock on the door from Pete tells us it’s time to go.

“Pete, why are we leaving so early?” Anna asks.

“We’re not leaving from the airport here,” he explains. “We have a long drive.”

“Oh,” Anna answers. Pete and Lucas grab our bags, and we follow them to a waiting car. A third man stands by it.

“This is Hendrick, your bodyguard,” Pete says. Hendrick extends a hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Logan,” he says.

“Likewise,” I answer but, really, I’m not so sure about the idea of a bodyguard. There’s no fanfare as we get in the car and head off in the opposite direction from where we came. We drive for over an hour until we reach a border. Pete, who is driving, rolls down the window and hands the man at the booth a pile of papers and passports. The man examines them and nods, allowing us through. I wonder what he has shown him because my passport is tucked neatly inside the bag in the back of the large SUV.

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