Page 8 of A True King

I stare at the phone. Why would Mia have a phone that I didn’t know about?

“Does Anna know about this?” I ask as I hand the phone back to him. My eyes drift around the room as though some other clue will magically pop out at me.

“No. I haven’t spoken to her yet.”

I glare at Pete. First, he doesn’t sound the alarm over a potential bomb threat and now he’s not called Anna as soon as he’s located something like this.

As though sensing my annoyance, Pete holds up a hand. “Anna said only to bother her if it was an emergency because she’s working on something. I was waiting to tell her when we have a debriefing this afternoon.”

“Anna needs to know about this now,” I state dryly as I text my sister. “Have your men done a thorough sweep of this room?”

Pete nods. “I was going to call in a security team to do a more thorough search.”

“Good. Keep me posted. If you find so much as a thread out of place on her duvet, I want to know.”

Pete’s lips form a line as he tries to keep from saying something that will piss me off. Pete’s a good friend. I’ve known him for years. His parents, Helga and Clause, worked at the palace before I was even born. They’ve been so kind to us over the years. He and his brother, Lucas, grew up alongside me and my siblings. When you are kids, titles and birthrights don’t make much of a difference. It’s only as adults that those relics of ideas mean something.

I let my shoulders sag and run a hand through my hair as I walk over to her dresser, placing a finger over the inlaid wood design on the top of it. “I have to find her, Pete.”

I feel his hand on my shoulder. “I know. And we will.”

And for just a moment, we aren’t HRH Prince Christian of Norddale and Pete Dansford, Head of Royal Security. We are two old friends, who spent their formative years playing hide-and-go-seek in the woods at the Summer Palace. Two friends who shared their first beer together in a secret passage in the palace’s west wing. Two friends who didn’t realize their stations in society would keep them from being friends publicly as adults. But here, in the safety of this room, for just this moment, we are friends.

“Do you boys need a minute?” Anna’s voice rings out from the doorway.

I turn to glare at my little sister as Pete quickly drops his hand. Anna’s face is painted with amusement as she leans on the doorframe with her arms crossed. Memories of Anna trying to hang out with us as a little girl flood my memory. She was always precocious since birth.

Pete hands Anna the phone and explains while Anna begins to explore every digital crevice of the device.

“I’ll give Jack a call to see what he’s figured out,” she states as she continues to examine the phone. She doesn’t look back up again as she turns and heads toward her office.

I look to Pete. “I’ll be in my apartment if you need me.”

He nods and I leave, giving Mia’s room one more once-over on my way out. I’ve been in there at least four dozen times since she left. I don’t know how I missed the damn phone. I decide that I’ll come back later after security has been through it. I don’t want anything left unturned.

I make it to my apartment when my phone buzzes with a message.

Anna: My office now.

I sigh and loosen my tie. I turn and head to her official office.

The corridors are quiet with staff having their afternoon tea. When I arrive, I knock on the door. Anna’s assistant isn’t outside her office.

“Come in,” she calls out from the other side of the door. I enter and find her sitting at her desk. Her desk is actually three different desks. One is a standing desk that has a large screen on it. Another is slightly lower with three screens on it. And the main desk has a laptop. There are no papers anywhere, which makes the printout from earlier even more puzzling.

“What? No other printed images?” I ask as I enter.

She huffs before looking my way. “My devices were…occupied with tasks, so I had to be creative.”

I press my lips together at the irked sound of her voice. Clearly, having to print anything is a complete annoyance to my sister.

She quirks an eyebrow at me, and I narrow my eyes. “What’s that for?” I ask at her gesture.

“Tell me you know.”

I groan. “Know what? Stop talking in code!”

She swivels one of her monitors toward me. I squint as I step forward to read it. It’s a birth certificate. Mia’s birth certificate. Anna points at the screen and my gaze follows her finger. Father: Maximus Eldegard

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