Babik made the call. Special Forces were headed toward his father’s sickroom. He turned on his heel and marched out of the barracks. Outside the general would have men follow him, but Antonio had to see his father forhimself.
Near the door, he turned to Kristin. "This is political. Pleasestayhere."
She walked ahead of him and tugged on his arm. "If I'm to be your wife then I should be with you. What you stand for, I represent the samething."
He knew he'd not talk her out of this. He trusted his closest military guards were loyal to him, but no one knew she was to be his bride, not yet. He followed the general, Kristin at his side. "No, you're American to them. I'll need you surrounded withguards."
"Good." She nodded and walked with him down the hall with guards flanking them on allsides.
They stopped outside his parent’s room and he heard men speaking tersely. Neither of them said anything else as theywaited.
The general wore a green on green uniform and stood alert and ready. Babik spoke into the mic at his lapel, which reverberated in the headset Antonio had gotten at the barracks so they could communicate. "They are planning to kill your family and throw the country back to a point where most of us went without basic supplies. Stay where you are until we secure the king andqueen."
He was one door away from his mother. Part of him wanted to run inside, but it was smarter to move with the army at his command. He tapped his chest and nodded to Babik, speaking into his own mic. "Send in thestorm."
"What's the storm?" Kristin stood stifflybesidehim.
Babik sent thesignal.
Glass shattered and shots were heard. He wanted to throw open the doors and pull his parents to safety. Anything might happen, but his father's lessons about how a future king must always be prepared forced him to hold still despite how the little boy inside him begged to save his mother. "The men in the military are equipped to remove my parents from harm whilewewait."
"Got it." Kristin’s face paled. More shouts of the military but one shout of “no” reverberated intheair.
Anyone looking at him would see a cool, composed prince of the realm. He didn’t allow a single muscle on his body to tremble. He swallowed as the rumbling noises behind the door quieted. "Kristin, my dad is ill and this stress can be bad for him. He could relapse or worse. He doesn'tneedthis."
She curled her hand in his. "He'llbeokay."
Silence echoed through the hall of the west wing where his parent’s private tower was located. He nodded at the men behind him. Babik waited by the door, and went in the room first, then Antonio and Kristin. The moment he entered his gaze locked on his mother, Queen Anna Camilla Aussa. She sat on the bed with his father and nodded at him, tears of joy inhereyes.
He wanted to run over and hug them both grateful they were alive. Instead he asked the guard, "Report."
The leader of the Special Forces unit pointed toward the group that was tied on the ground near the servant’s door. "We have the suspects. One of them began to touch your father's IV but a nurse struggled with him and prevented any poisons until we fired our shots. The nurses are checking everythingthoroughlynow."
Fire raged through him. If anyone hurt his father, he'd bring back public executions with an axe. Kristin's hand in his was the only calming influence. He was known as the cold one in the family, but right now he was furious. He gave a single nod. "I'll speaktothem."
"Over here." The guard walked him the two feet and stared at the two young men who couldn’t be more than eighteen years old. He had never seen either of them until now so they were probablyforeignborn.
He damned the men who dared to harm his family. He let go of Kristin's hand and crossed his arms, his head high in the air. "Who are the cowards that tried to assassinate a king when hewassick?"
One of the blond, blue-eyed boys answered, "You were supposed to be in thecastletoo."
A guard handed him the man's driver’s license which had his identification on it. Antonio knelt down to stare into the man's eyes. "You're the leader here,Mikel?"
Mikel snorted. "You betrayed us all when you brought anAmericanhome."
If he wasn't the prince, he'd have murdered the man with his own hands. Instead he stayed still, though his hands curled into fists. "You went after a sick old man. Your heartless attack destroys any chance at martyrdom among the people." He then addressed the guard. "Get them out of my sight. Put them in IronSeven."
“Is that the dungeon?” Kristinasked.
No, that was barbaric. “Iron Seven is aprison.”
Once he turned, he saw that Kristin hugged her waist and stared at him. He returned to her side, kissed her forehead and placed his hand on the small of her back. She dropped her hands and went with him as he urged her forward. His mother stood to greet him. He spoke formally. "Kristin Wells, this is my mother, Queen Anna Camilla, and my father, King Leopoldo, RegentsofAvce."
"Nice to meet you," Kristin answeredshyly.
His mother kissed her cheek and then hugged him. The world was right. He had everyone he ever wanted and there was no way he'd lose them. Not noworever.
Chapter10
