Page 68 of The Stolen Princess
Drake shook his head.
“Then how do you know he’s to blame?”
“The man he was working with, Joniss Doman, admitted that King Adler planned the assassination.”
Myka raised her voice. “Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds? Why would my father kill another royal? He wouldn’t. He’s been falsely accused, and for some reason, you all believe it.”
“It’s astonishing how blind you can be when it comes to your father,” Drake said. “He’s not a good guy. Surely there were some clues from your childhood that support that. There’s no way your father could’ve hiddeneverythingfrom you.”
“Where’s the man who actually shot the princess? Did he get away or something?”
The memory of Trev’s wedding came to the front of his mind. “No, he didn’t get away. I took down the shooter. The man with the white and black hair.”
Myka’s brows furrowed. “What?”
Drake shrugged. “The assassin had white and black hair like a skunk. I’ll never forget it because it was so unique.”
Myka’s face seemed to whiten.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Myka stood and lifted her chin. “I’m fine.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’d like to go back to the shack now.”
Myka would rather go back to the shack than face the truth about her father.
“Fine by me,” Drake said, pushing his body off the table.
There was nothing left to say anyway.
17
Commander Stoddard
Stoddard stood by King Adler’s bedroom window, staring down at the Tolsten House gardens. Behind him, Doctor Von leaned over the king, counting his heartbeats.
“Myka!” Adler yelled. “Where’s Myka?” His speech was slurred, but Stoddard understood what he said because that was the only thing the king had said over the last three days.
“The king is being very difficult,” Nurse Blanch said, trying to hold his writhing body down. “Someone needs to tell him where his daughter is.”
Stoddard knit his lips together, staring at the woman. “We’ve been able to keep it from him for the past couple of days. Why would we tell him now?”
“Because it’s not right,” she said.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with right or wrong when I released your husband out of prison in exchange for your silence.”
Her eyes dropped.
How quickly people forget the kind deeds done to them.
“Besides, we don’t know where the princess is,” Stoddard said flatly.
Doctor Von cleared his throat. “It’s just that the king seems very distraught about the fact that the princess hasn’t visited him.”
“I thought we were sedating him for that?” The doctor could work through the most difficult medical problems since Desolation, but he couldn’t figure out how to deal with a dying man’s temper?
“I’ve been giving him sedatives. That’s the only thing that has been keeping him calm, but”—Doctor Von stroked his forehead—“at this point, with the type of pain meds that he’s on, it would be too risky to continue with the sedatives.”
“Why?” Stoddard rested his chin on his fist.
