Page 5 of A Valiant Prince

“She’s reckless at times. You have to be firm with her. Make it seem like her idea, and she’ll go along with it,” he says.

“I find it hard to believe that Anna would do anything that Anna doesn’t want to do,” I reply.

Pete shrugs. “I’ve been her bodyguard for five years now, but I’ve known her for her entire life. I’m not just paid to protect her. I want to protect her. In my line of work, you seldom come across a client that is worthy of their station in life, but Anna, Princess Susanna, she is…worthy. She’s pure and good and the opposite of everything messed up in the world. She’s also a spitfire and stubborn as hell, but her heart is made of gold, and she’d give the shirt off her back to a person in need,” he says.

“You know you aren’t telling me anything that I don’t already know,” I say to him.

“Good, then if you love her as much as I think you love her, you will make protecting her your number one goal in life,” he says.

“I plan to,” I say to him.

“Good. Then, we’re clear. No more stupid stunts, and if she’s going to do one, you or I better be there with her,” he says. “She goes nowhere alone. Do you understand?”

I nod. The explosion was a game changer. We are no longer safe even in our homes. I know this now. I know how high the stakes are, and I won’t ever be forgetting that again. I shudder at the memory of the beam falling on Anna. The split second of fear that I’d lost her. I make an oath to myself to never let her out of my sight again unless Pete or Lucas is with her.

“Well, I think we can let bygones be bygones then,” he finishes.

“Agreed,” I say.

“I don’t envy you, you know?” he says.

“Why’s that?” I ask.

“Being royal…is tough. Your life is going to change in ways you could never anticipate. Just be ready,” he says.

“It’s already changed,” I mutter. Pete stands and walks over to me. Sitting down with him standing over me, makes me realize that he’s not a force to be reckoned with, an imposing force not to be reckoned with.

“I mean it. Pull strength from wherever you can get it because you just bought yourself a one-way pass on the wildest roller coaster you’ve ever seen, and there’s no way off it,” he says. We both pause as we hear Anna stirring next to us. Pete turns, and I lean around him.

“You two aren’t still arguing, are you?” she murmurs.

“No,” we both answer.

She sits up and leans over to get a better look at us, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“We’re not. Everything is fine,” I say to her. I pick up my phone and check the time. I frown.

“Has anyone come by while we were sleeping?” I ask Pete.

He shakes his head. I take off the oxygen line wrapped around my face. “I’m going to check,” I say.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Pete asks.

“I’m fine, really,” I say. “Stay here with Anna.”

I squeeze her hand as I walk out of the room. The angry nurse from earlier sees me.

“Mr. Winters, you need to stay put until Dr. Vanker can check back in on you,” she says.

“I need to get information for Susanna,” I say, leaving off the princess part of her name. The one eyes me like I’m an enemy. “Please. She’s very worried about her aunt who was in surgery last I heard.”

Something about Nurse Ratched softens at that statement. “Let me see if I can get you any information,” she says with a sigh.

“I’d appreciate that. I want to check in on our families as well,” I say to her.

She nods, and I walk down to the private waiting room that we were in earlier. I open the door and find Auggie, Chris, and Mia. Mia’s curled up in a ball, her head in Chris’s lap, and she’s fast asleep. Auggie is staring at a television in the corner of the room. His eyes are blank, and I can tell he has no idea what’s on TV. Chris looks up at me.

“Any word?” I ask him. He shakes his head.

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