Page 7 of The Stolen Princess
She glanced at her father, wishing for once he’d kick Stoddard out instead of her.
“I’ll see you tonight for dinner?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said, forcing a smile. She stood and smoothed the yellow skirt of her dress before she bent over her father and kissed him on the forehead. His skin was hot, searing her lips. She pulled back as a fresh wave of alarm spilled through her.
“Did you know he has a fever?” Myka asked as she turned to Blanch. The nurse’s auburn hair laid at her shoulders, curling at the ends. Lines framed the edges of her face, but Myka thought they came more from a lack of sleep than from her age. She still seemed reasonably young. She wore a gray long sleeve shirt with buttons down the front and a matching gray skirt. It was the same outfit every day, and Myka had wondered more than once if Blanch had several of those pieces or if they were was the exact same ones day in and day out.
“I’m fine,” her father coughed, flashing an apologetic smile to Stoddard.
Blanch stopped measuring medicine and looked at Myka. “His fever started last night, but I gave him some of—”
Myka’s eyes widened. She didn’t want her father to know that the medicine she’d been giving him had come from Joett, or else he wouldn’t agree to take it. There was a history between Rommel, Joett, and her father that all three of them refused to talk about.
Blanch quickly caught herself. “—themedicine,and it’s starting to go down.”
“See,” her father said. “I’m fine.”
Myka ignored him. “Give him some more this evening.” She glanced at the nightstand and Joett’s bottle. It was still three-quarters full.
“Let Von decide how to treat me. He’s the doctor,” her father croaked.
Myka straightened, looking down at him. “Doctor Von isn’t in charge. I am.”
Her father turned to Stoddard, a glimmer brimming at the edges of his eyes. “It looks like you and I can go rest. Myka says she’s in charge.”
Stoddard laughed in his fake way. “Wouldn’t that be something?”
She glared at the commander.
“Don’t worry, Princess Myka,” Blanch cut in. “I’ll keep an eye on the king.”
She trusted Blanch.
Not Stoddard.
The nurse was working tirelessly to keep her father from getting worse. Myka hoped it was enough. She couldn’t lose her father right now. The kingdom needed him, and so did she.
Drake
Drake walked around the perimeter of Rommel’s rundown wood cabin. The exterior walls were barely visible, hidden by ivy that had strangled the structure’s edges for the last twenty years. His eyes followed the fresh wheel tracks and hoof prints that led down the dirt drive and onto the main trail. He’d arrived in the city of Denton last night and had been watching the old man all morning from the trees, trying to get a feel for who Rommel was and if the Council could trust him. Drake had seen his wagon drive off down the lane. He didn’t know where Rommel was going or how long he would be gone, but now was the perfect time to look around, do some investigating.
Drake thought the Council could trust Rommel, but when it came to important missions like this one was, he wanted to be sure. Rommel wasn’t the only reason Drake had come to Tolsten. He’d spent the first few days of his trip up north, casing out possible places for the operatives to hide. He’d also spent some time in the village that would be helping them. He wanted to make sure they understood how important their complete secrecy was. Before he went back to Albion, he still needed to check out Officer Arco—find out if he was a reliable ally. The actual mission wouldn’t take place for another month, but preparation was key.
It was Drake’s job to make sure nothing went wrong with the Council’s plan. Since the Council of Essentials, he had spent the last six months thinking about and planning the operatives’ mission. He was prepared for any surprise that this mission might bring. That was part of his job.
Myka
Myka rode her horsetoward the west wall of Tolsten House with Officer Arco trailing behind. Her bag full of Joett’s supplies slammed into her back as the horse moved up and down, making her reconsider bringing so much stuff with her. A couple of weeks back, Myka had asked Cushings, the head chef at Tolsten House, to order a few things that Joett didn’t have access to, including aloe vera leaves and rare spices. The shipment from the kingdom of Cristole had finally arrived. Myka had to wait a whole week until the sixteenth when she could sneak out and give the items to Joett. And now, she couldn’t wait to see her reaction.
Tree branches whipped past them as they weaved in and out through the dense woods on the outskirts of the Tolsten House acreage.
Her father’s strict “no leaving the grounds policy” had forced Myka to get creative. She’d had to come up with a way to get out or find someone who would be willing tohelpher get out. Something like that doesn’t happen overnight. She couldn’t walk up to any guard and say,hey, do you want to help me go against my father, who happens to be the king?
Conversations like that weren’t typical.
So, Myka had paid particular attention to which guards took to her charms. Most of the time, the guards ignored her, so it was easy to find the few who would respond. There were a lot of smiles and harmless friendships happening. Now that she thought about it, the whole situation made her sound a little heartless, but really, everything was innocent and genuine. Especially when she considered the guard who she’d ultimately chosen to help her.
Myka snuck a look over her shoulder at the man on horseback behind her. Officer Arco was an older man who had been the queen’s personal guard before she’d left. He’d often said how much Myka reminded him of her mother. She didn’t know how she felt about that comparison. In a way, it thrilled her, but her mother had abandoned her. Myka didn’t want to be like someone who could do that to her only child. He didn’t like to speak about the queen, but Myka could see in his eyes that he had a fondness for her. And besides all of that, Arco looked like a man Myka had seen pictured in the Tolsten House artifact room. Some guy named Quaker Oats with fluffy white hair, an oddly-shaped black hat, and a kind smile. If the pre-Desolation people liked Quaker enough to plaster his picture on a can of food, then surely Myka could trust the lookalike version to help her sneak out.
