Page 60 of His Runaway Princess

“Hold still,” he growled, jerking her a bit.

Ryker balled his hands into fists and forced himself to stay away. He did move farther to his right, pushing them away from the cliff.

“You and Johanne are in love?” Clearly, he hadn’t read the papers where they discussed her name change.

Or didn’t believe them until she told him otherwise?

“Yes. Since nursery school.”

Okay. That helped. Maybe.

Could she have known him then? They would have been children but most people had memories from before they started primary school.

“Where did you go to nursery school?” Ryker needed to keep the man’s attention on him and not the security team he could see making their way toward the trio.

“Capitol City Primary School.”

The look on Amalia’s face to him she hadn’t attended the same school.

“Were you in class together?” Keep him talking.

He scoffed. “No. Hermotherandgrandfather, the king,wouldn’t put her in a school with regular people. They sent her to a fancy school. My cousin went there. His dad had money. Lots of it.”

“I see.” A few more steps as they moved far enough away from the cliff that Ryker started to breathe a sigh of relief about that danger.

“But I knew when we met at a carnival. My cousin told me about Johanne. That’s when I knew we’d always be together. She’s just forgotten.” He looked at Amalia.

The look in his eyes as he talked scared Ryker enough he gave a slight shake of his head and motioned with his hand to the security team while the man wasn’t looking at him.

“I remember.” Amalia spoke the first words since Ryker saw them. “I remember that carnival. I think I wore a pink dress. It was inside the cafeteria.”

“That’s right.” His voice held a bit of surprise, but it looked like his tight hold relaxed the smallest bit. “We played a game.”

Amalia’s eyes shifted back and forth like she was reliving the carnival. “Which game was your favorite?”

She didn’t remember him - or at least didn’t know who he was.

“The one we played.”

“Which one was that?” Ryker asked the question. “Were you any good at it?”

His hold tightened again. “Of course, I was. I knocked all of the bottles down every time.”

If it was a nursery school carnival, it couldn’t have been that hard, but Ryker didn’t press the issue.

“You won a fish, didn’t you?” Amalia looked relieved Ryker had gotten the answer for her.

“I won three,” he told her proudly.

“I remember.” She didn’t, but at least she could fake it.

His face turned angry again. “I tried to give one to you, but they wouldn’t let you take it.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Some men. I don’t know who they were. They were mad you were talking to me, even though we knew then we’d be together.”

Probably her security team. It wouldn’t surprise Ryker to find out this guy had given off somewhat creepy vibes even as a child.

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