Page 46 of A True King

“Oh, your little boyfriend will be first,” he states. My heart stops for a second. I can’t breathe. I have to warn Christian. But how?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Christian

I fall asleep at my desk. I haven’t done that in ages. Birds chirping outside my window wake me. I rub my eyes and look outside. It’s nearly morning, the sun is just starting to peek over the horizon. I watch with fascination as the morning sky begins to show its beautiful display of colors. What’s that saying? Red sky in morning, sailors take warning.

I try not to let that ominous color ruin the spectacular vision in front of me, but it does. Turning, I head to my shower and dress. Today, I’m finding Mia and talking to her. She can’t hide from me forever and she certainly can’t hide from me at my own home.

We need to talk and move on. We can’t keep living like this. I knock on Mia’s door, jiggling the handle, but it’s locked still, and no one answers. I call out her name, but my voice merely echoes in the hallway, making me feel more alone than when I woke.

Frustrated, I walk down to the private dining hall, the one for our family that isn’t part of the formal part of the castle. It’s smaller and more intimate. I arrive, hoping to find Mia, but alas, she’s not there.

After eating in solitary, I head to the security offices. Pete will surely know where she’s at, and if he doesn’t, he’s about to be assigned to complete the task.

I don’t bother knocking. I enter the room and find him at his desk. He stands immediately.

“Christian?”

“Where is Mia?” I bark.

He swallows and looks down at his desk. “She’s not here, sir.”

“Then, where is she?” I practically growl. I have no time for games and Pete should know this.

“I…am not sure, but she might have gone back to the Summer Palace.”

“Then, I’m going there as well. Have a car ready. I will drive myself.”

“Sir, that’s not proper protocol,” Pete argues.

I glare at him. “I’m the future king of Norddale. I don’t give a fuck what the proper protocol is, I just want to find my future queen. Do you understand me?”

It’s the first time that I’ve acknowledged that I’m in love with Mia, that I want to marry her. I can tell it has thrown Pete off a bit, but right now, I don’t care.

“Yes, sir,” he replies as he picks up a phone and orders for one of my cars to be brought around.

“I will have security follow you,” he adds.

“Fine,” I mutter as I walk out of his office and head to the garage. I’m about to go find my woman and no one is going to get in my way. I’m done with all of it. Mia will be mine and I will be hers. The world may not be ready for that, but I am.

I mull over my use of the words “my future queen” as I walk toward my car which staff have parked by the back door. It’s an Aston Martin and one of my favorites. It’s not my most practical car, but it’s one of my fastest ones. I see Vince sitting in an unmarked SUV behind me. He nods in my direction, and it takes all my willpower not to roll my eyes. I know the protocol. But fuck it. It’s time I took the driver’s seat, metaphorically and physically.

I get in my car and speed off toward the Summer Palace. I keep my window rolled down, letting the cool morning air blow over me as I drive. I have no idea what I’ll say to her. The truth? What is the truth?

I watch the horizon as I steer the car down the narrow country roads towards our estate. I can feel my security car at my back, but I don’t care. Being alone in my car is giving me time to think.

The truth is, I love Mia. I think I fell in love with her that very first moment, I just didn’t know it. Even after she pulled that stunt with feeding my calendar appointments to an enemy, I still love her. I love her even more for trying to sabotage the whole thing to keep everyone safe. She’s listened to me rattle on about pointless things but also important things. She’s the only one I’ve ever confided in about my mother and what her loss meant to me. Not once has she ever questioned me about my feelings. I’ve never been made to feel less of a man, of a person for feeling so deeply about my mother’s untimely death. I’ve seldom let emotions get the best of me. Being royal means being stoic and strong. And Auggie’s reaction to our tragedy, only made me stay the course even more so. I couldn’t be a partying prince because he was. I couldn’t sneak out of the palace at all times of the night because that’s what Auggie and Anna did. I had to be the “good” one. Partly, that’s my role as the older brother, or at least what I think it is. But partly, it’s because I have to be righteous. I need my people to trust me to lead them, to represent them to the world, and risking it all for a few nights of fun is…well, not acceptable, not for me anyway.

Pulling up to the palace, I leap out of the car and make my way inside. Not waiting for Vince and barely acknowledging the two armed guards at the front. I must find Mia. I want to tell her how much I love her; how much she means to me.

If the Summer Palace was barren of staff previously, it now resembles an abandoned property. White sheets are pulled over the furniture. Windows are shut and locked. With Tessa gone on holiday, the kitchen is closed. There is no lingering smell of her cookies in the air as I walk past and take the back stairs up to Mia’s room. I nearly run down the corridors until I find her door. It’s open, but when I peer inside, it’s empty. No trace of her here. There’s no luggage. Her furniture is covered in white sheets as well.

I suddenly feel uneasy about being here. Why are there no staff here? Even in Tessa’s absence, there should be at least a dozen staff members present on the property in addition to a dozen or so security staff that are stationed year-round at this estate.

I don’t trust the emptiness that greets me. Swallowing my concerns, I decide to use the secret passageway to go out to the gardens near the stable. I find the door in Mia’s closet and race through the tight tunnels running beneath the palace and between its stone walls. I know them like the back of my hand, having spent so much of my youth playing games here with my siblings.

I push open the door to the outside slowly, but again, I don’t see anyone, not even the guard that should be stationed here. My senses are on high alert. I look back toward the cars, but Vince is no longer in his and the two guards out front are gone as well.

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