Page 9 of The Forbidden Sheik
“They kidnapped her off of her horse?” her daddy hissed, horrified.
“Damn it!” Uncle Joran snapped. “Where would they have taken her?”
Angela didn’t bother to keep listening. She’d been right! Something was definitely wrong! Auntie Marianna had been kidnapped!
This was awful! But Angela knew her Aunt Marianna better than anyone. Maybe she and her cousins could find out where Aunt Marianna was being kept captive.
Slipping out of her family’s suite, she peered down the hallway, checking both directions. The coast was clear. She tiptoed down the hallway towards the servants’ hallways. She, Laith, Rafi, and Zayn had explored those halls more than once and she knew them well enough now that she could slip in and out of her cousins’ suites without anyone seeing her.
Being as quiet as possible, Angela crept through the servants’ door. It squeaked slightly, but she paused, opening it just wide enough for her to slip through, then she closed the door carefully behind her. It was only a few more feet to Laith and Rafi’s bedrooms. She hurried through their suite, without worrying about the noise she made since Uncle Joran and Aunt Tila were with her parents.
It took several “gentle” nudges to get Laith to wake up. After the third such nudge, Laith finally rolled over, blinking blearily.
“What?” he grumbled, snuggling deeper into his blankets. He wasn’t cold, but he wasn’t ready to wake up yet.
“Aunt Marianna is gone!” Angela whispered urgently.
There was a long moment of silence. Angela worried that her cousin wouldn’t care. But a moment later, Laith rolled back over, his eyes wide and alert. “How do you know?”
There was a rustling behind her and she turned, watching as Rafi jumped out of bed. “We need to find Aunt Marianna!” he announced with grim determination.
Angela sighed with relief. She’d already donned her favorite pair of jeans, sneakers and a pink shirt with a red heart on the chest, because she loved her Aunt Marianna and wanted to find her and bring her safely home. She’d pulled her hair back into a braid, unconcerned that it was lopsided. She knew that hair had to be put up to keep it out of her face.
As the boys got dressed, one of the guards outside of the room whispered into his microphone. “The Tiny Titans are on the move.” He waited a moment for acknowledgement.
There was a muffled chuckle before the response came back. “We’ll inform the Disaster Diffusers,” his boss responded. The six guards, standing outside in the hallway since the children were supposed to be asleep in their own rooms, were failing to hide their pride at the kids’ determination and bravery.
The initial guard lifted his wrist again, an idea forming in his mind. “Sir, perhaps we should…” He hesitated, knowing his idea was unorthodox. But when he looked at the others, they appeared hopeful that he had a solution. Too many guards had been reassigned because these four miniature royals were determined to be adventurous.
“I’m listening,” his boss responded.
The guard glanced at his colleagues, gauging their reactions as he explained his idea. “What if we led them on a controlled mission?” he suggested. “To keep them occupied while we track down Princess Marianna?”
There was a long silence and the guard braced himself for a stern reprimand. But, his boss answered, “Work out the details and get back to me with your plan.”
The guard sighed with relief. The security department dreaded guarding the Tiny Titans, a nickname given to Angela, Laith, Rafi, and Zayn when they started banding together to create adorable mischief. The guards appreciated their bravery, but the kids were going to get hurt. Unless….!
He gestured to the other guards and they huddled together while he explained his idea. As soon as he started, the others were fully on board, even adding their ideas to the scheme. Within five minutes, they reported their plan up the chain of command. Approval was given seconds before the guards spotted a green nosed little girl peeking into the hall. Immediately, the guards swung into action to implement the plan. It was the first time that any of the security department felt confident that they could effectively protect the little princess and princes.
Chapter 11
Marianna woke up with a start. Her head felt fuzzy, but she wasn’t in pain. It took her several moments to remember what was going on; she’d been kidnapped.
“Damn it!” she hissed into the darkness. “Now what?”
Fighting back a surge of panic, Marianna assessed the situation. Okay, so she’d been kidnapped. Was she hurt?
No, not really. That was something, she told herself.
Correction, her shoulder ached where she’d landed on it at some point. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been out. In fact, she wasn’t sure of much of anything beyond the fact that she’d been kidnapped and her shoulder hurt. And her head. Yep, her head throbbed sharply over her left eye. She had no idea where she was, or how she’d gotten here. The last thing she could remember was…? Marianna had to concentrate, but eventually, memories came back to her. The last thing she remembered was being pulled off Stella and hitting the ground.
Tamping down on a wave of nausea, Marianna tried to move. She was in a dark place with her hands and feet tied. Not good. There was also a black piece of fabric over her eyes. She started to pull it off, but then stopped. What if someone was watching her? Would they yell at her for pulling the bag off?
When she strained to listen, she could hear the soft rumble of the electric motorcycle as it sped away. Marianna used her training, focusing on the direction of travel and any other sounds that might offer a clue about where she was.
“Think,” she whispered to herself. Just hearing her voice helped her to concentrate. So far, she could hear a few people close to her. But she was definitely in a small, confined space.
Since she couldn’t lift her head, Marianna tried pulling the bag off. However, the bag was tied around her throat with a string, which made her gag reflex shift into high gear. It took a great deal of concentration to keep herself from throwing up. The thought of throwing up inside the bag and having to deal with the vomit covering her face barely kept her gag reflex from emptying her stomach.
