Page 116 of The Stolen Princess
“We traced Commander Stoddard all the way to the Cristole border, and then we lost him,” High Ruler Moore said. “Captain Nyler is working with the Cristole army to find out where he might be hiding.”
“Good,” High Ruler Hatch said. “At this point, Stoddard is the biggest threat to Tolsten. We need to find him as soon as possible. Keep us informed on any news that comes in.”
She glanced out the window at a team of men hauling debris out of the east side of Tolsten House. She only half-listened to the High Rulers talking behind her. It felt like it was her fault that Stoddard had gotten away. Myka had gone through the events of that night a hundred times, thinking about what she should have done differently—how she should have stopped Stoddard. It felt like she had failed. She also thought back to her last moments with Drake. There were a thousand things she wished she had done differently. She was embarrassed to admit that she still thought about him. What a foolish girl she was, pining after the one man she tried to convince herself she hated. She really didn’t hate him. She loved him. Despite everything.
But her feelings didn’t matter now. Drake was gone. He hadn’t even tried to come after her. At the very least, she had thought he would show up sometime after the explosion—that he had cared enough to come after her. Her heart tightened in her chest.
He hadn’t cared enough to come.
“How did your discussion go last week with the soldiers from Albion?” High Ruler Hatch asked.
Myka’s interest piqued with the mention of Drake’s kingdom, and she turned her head to the men.
“Good,” High Ruler Dobson replied. “We spoke briefly while they waited for their commander to be loaded into the transporter. I relayed to the men all the events that had happened and told them that we are more than willing to make peace with their kingdom. They said they would give the message to King Ezra.”
Hatch nodded. “Excellent.” He turned his head to High Ruler McCarren like he was moving on. “What about the Kingdom of Appa? What communication have we—”
“Excuse me.” Myka stepped forward. She tried to wrap her mind around the words that Dobson had said.
“Yes, Your Highness?” Hatch glanced at her.
She turned her focus to Dobson. “What did you say about the commander of Albion?”
Dobson looked flustered. “I don’t know. What did I say?”
She took another step forward. “You said you spoke with the soldiers while the commander was being loaded into the transporter.”
He was dead—that’s where her mind went. A person wasn’t loaded into the back of a transporter unless they were dead.
Drake was dead.
Myka couldn’t breathe.
Dobson looked at the other men. “Yes, the Albion commander involved in the accident.”
Hewasdead.
Gone from her life forever.
“What accident?” She barely got the words out.
“We were briefed about an accident that happened the night of the explosion involving two operatives who went in pursuit of Stoddard’s transporter,” McCarren said. “I believe you weren’t at Tolsten House when the report came in.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right,” Dobson said.
“What accident?” Myka asked again. Her lungs felt tight, like they needed air, but even with it, she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
“The operatives managed to catch up to the transporter, but there was an accident, and Commander Vestry crashed his PT into a boulder.”
Myka placed her hand over her heart.
“He suffered significant head trauma, and I believe he’s in a medically induced coma while they wait for the swelling in his brain to go down. King Ezra sent a transporter from Albion to pick him up last week.”
Significant head trauma?
“Commander Vestry was here?” Myka asked.
“Yes, he was in the Denton hospital for two weeks right after the accident,” Hatch replied.
