Protecting the Princess Read online

  “Hijacked!”

  “They sent a team to pick her up.”

  “Is that going to work?”

  “It should. Guess we’ll find out.”

  “In the meantime—” Kirk cleared his throat “—don’t call off the cars behind you. The man who was watching us got into that black sedan that’s right behind us. Is he one of your men?”

  “We’re all in blue cars.”

  “Then please ask the drivers of the other cars to run some sort of interference. We can’t let that car find out where we’re going.”

  “I’m on it.” Their driver simultaneously contacted the other drivers via his earpiece and weaved through traffic. Though he cut close to the other cars doing so, Stasi had to give him credit—he was moving them along quickly. If anyone was trying to follow them, they’d have their hands full.

  While their driver strategized with the backup cars behind them, Kirk squeezed Stasi’s hand, and she gave him a worried glance, only to be surprised by the expression on his face.

  “What are you smiling about?”

  “God is good.”

  “My sister’s car was hijacked, and we’re being driven through New York City by a twelve-year-old with Viktor Bosch’s men on our tails.”

  “Nineteen,” corrected their driver.

  Stasi hadn’t realized he was listening. “What’s that?”

  “I’m nineteen. But I get the twelve-year-old thing a lot.”

  Kirk chuckled from the seat beside her. His laugh was almost infectious enough to make her want to laugh, too, if she hadn’t been so concerned about her sister. “Aren’t you worried whether my sister is going to be okay or whether we’re going to be okay?”

  “It sounds like your sister is being rescued as we speak. I was worried whether we were going to be okay, but there was nothing to worry about.” He gestured to their driver. “This guy could have been working for Bosch, for all we knew. That phone number could have led to anyone. As it is, we have backup.” A blue sedan nearly cut them off, and their driver zipped around a corner at the same moment, leaving the black car that had been following them far behind.

  “God was watching out for us.” Kirk’s eyes crinkled up at the corners as he settled back into his seat. “I suspect He’s watching out for your sister, too.”

  “But her car was hijacked.”

  “True.” Kirk offered her a slow smile. “Should we pray for her?”

  Stasi nodded, and as they prayed, she felt her anxiety leave her. Was it possible Kirk could be right? Would God really see them through whatever was ahead, just as He’d seen them through so far? As they said amen, she looked back again, but couldn’t see any further sign of the cars that had been following them. Had they finally lost them?

  “Tell you what—” Kirk squeezed her hand “—let’s go wherever this guy takes us, have a bite to eat, maybe catch a shower, and I suspect you’ll see your sister again before nightfall.”

  The very thought of her sister sent tears springing to her eyes. “Do you think so?”

  “Worrying won’t get us there any faster.”

  Stasi wanted to point out that everything they’d learned so far had only hinted at a bigger, more complicated mess than they’d ever suspected when Kirk had first unblocked the door to her suite at the palace. But their prayer had revived her spirits, and she figured there was little point in protesting. She tried to do as Kirk instructed and stop worrying, but there were far too many uncertainties ahead.

  In spite of his cracked rib, Kirk relaxed under the massaging showerhead, and let the clean water beat the stress and grime from him. Then he took the time to shave and dress in fresh clothes before going to look for Stasi.

  From what they’d been told after arriving at the secret location in Manhattan, Kirk understood that Sanctuary International was a Christian asylum group that helped those who were trying to escape from persecution throughout the world. They’d had an agent on the ground, guarding Isabelle when the royal motorcade was ambushed, and Isabelle had been under the agent’s protection until the hijacking earlier that day.

  As a Sanctuary employee led him down the hallway of the vast, secret headquarters of Sanctuary International, Kirk heard a familiar laugh echoing through the hallway.

  “Kirk!” Princess Anastasia looked radiant as she turned to greet him, her golden curls freed from their shroud and the grime of their five-day adventure washed away, replaced by the vibrant beauty who’d shunned him for the last six years. For a moment he held back, recognizing the distant woman instead of the friend he’d come to know.

  But her smile was as friendly as any he’d seen the last few days, and more cheerful, too. She took his hand and pulled him toward the couple who rose from a sofa as he entered. He recognized Princess Isabelle immediately, as well as the man who’d been acting as her bodyguard prior to the ambush five days before.

  “Isabelle was rescued,” Stasi exclaimed, hugging the elder princess as Isabelle shook his hand. “And she’s engaged. This is her fiancé, Levi Grenaldo. Levi’s the agent who has been protecting her. His father, Nicolas Grenaldo, is the President of Sanctuary International. You wouldn’t believe what they’ve been through.”

  As Kirk shook Levi’s hand, the man explained, “We probably don’t have time to tell the whole story again. We need to get to the bottom of what’s happening in Lydia.”

  Kirk agreed. Though he was curious to know how the two of them had managed to escape the ambush unscathed, Levi was right. Lydia was in upheaval, and none of them would be safe until the whole mess was sorted out.

  “And the best news,” Stasi continued, “Isabelle says our brother Alexander survived the attack, as well.”

  Levi pulled out a picture. “This was taken in North Africa somewhere.”

  “There’s been a great deal of upheaval in some of those parts of the world.” Kirk looked at the grainy image.

  “No more than we’ve been through. Of course, the man who told me Alexander is in North Africa is the same man who said you were in Milan.” Isabelle crossed her arms and gave her sister a pointed look. “Which you’re obviously not.”

  “But we were yesterday. It’s reassuring to know Alec is alive, wherever he is. Whoever these people are after us, they haven’t won.”

  “And we won’t let them win,” Kirk informed them with determination. “I know you two have been meeting with the United Nations. Where do we stand? What is the situation in Lydia?”

  Isabelle and Levi exchanged looks, and the elder princess spoke. “That’s a long story—one we need to get caught up on ourselves. Can we get something to eat while we go over everything?”

  Over the next couple of hours, Kirk learned more than he had ever wanted to know about international politics. He also learned that Stasi, in spite of her blond-haired, superficial image, was an insightful, intelligent, knowledgeable leader—not that he’d ever had any reason to doubt her, but her comments throughout their conversation only reinforced his respect for her.

  The situation in Lydia was precarious. The Royal Crown and Parliament had always ruled in tandem with one another, providing a sort of checks-and-balances system as they sought to lead the small Christian nation. Now, with the monarchy in question and no royal ruler in place, the entire government found itself gridlocked in an impasse that wouldn’t end until someone was crowned.

  And as Kirk and Stasi had already learned, the members of the Royal House of Lydia were no longer the prime contenders for the throne. Though Basil of Lydia had run off to America to marry an actress shortly before the start of World War I, there was some question about whether he’d ever officially abdicated.

  “Basil’s father wasn’t even king yet,” Levi explained. “His grandfather was still on the throne. Valli insists that Basil never intended
to give up the throne—that he would have returned to be crowned when the time came. But he died before that happened, and so his brother, Alexander the third, was crowned.”

  “But we have evidence that Valli has been conspiring against our family,” Isabelle jumped in. “Which complicates the issue, because if Valli’s claim to the throne was valid, why didn’t he say something sooner? Why try to eliminate the royal family first?”

  Stasi shook her head. “He’s obviously covering up more than we know. I wonder what really happened with Basil? That was almost a hundred years ago.”

  “Valli is currently being charged with conspiracy,” Isabelle assured them, “so he’s currently out of the running for the crown, but there are a number of other parties involved. Valli himself claims to have been a pawn used by someone far more powerful than he is, but we don’t know who that party is.”

  Stasi glanced at Kirk, who squeezed her hand. “That corresponds with what we’ve found. There’s a conspiracy at work, and it goes back at least as far as Thad’s disappearance six years ago. The Greek billionaires who were supposed to marry us were also involved.”

  “Yes.” Isabelle nodded emphatically. “They most certainly were.”

  “I have Mother’s journal,” Stasi continued. “I read it—she wanted me to read it. She talks about the person who’s behind all this. I don’t think she knew his name. He went by a number.” Stasi took a deep breath, and was surprised when her sister beat her to it.

  “8.”

  “How did you know?” Kirk looked just as startled as she felt.

  “I intercepted a week’s worth of coded emails,” Isabelle explained. “I’m still in the process of translating their contents, but whoever this 8 person is, he’s been in cahoots with the Lydian military.”

  “General Lucca is holding our parents hostage in Milan.”

  “That’s what I feared.” Isabelle stood and crossed the room to where a Sanctuary staff member entered with a stack of papers. She dismissed the messenger with thanks and continued, “The two other generals, David Bardici and Marc Petrela, were also included on the emails in the conspiracy.”

  Levi rose to meet his fiancée as she slowly made her way back toward them, her eyes on the pages she’d been given. “What have you got?”

  “The information we asked for on Stephanos Valli’s brothers.” She looked up, her face pale. “According to this family history, Basil of Lydia’s daughter had two husbands and three sons. Her oldest son, Stephanos Valli, was the son of her first husband. They divorced, and some years later she relocated to Lydia and remarried, to the man who became the father to her next two children.”

  Stasi could tell her sister seemed to be having difficulty digesting what she read. “What can you tell us about her other two sons?”

  Isabelle shook her head slowly. “Their names are David and Michael—” she swallowed “—Bardici.”

  Stasi jumped up and read over her sister’s shoulder. “The same David Bardici involved in the email conspiracy? David Bardici, the Lydian general?”

  “How many David Bardicis can there be?”

  “David Bardici was appointed general four years ago.” Kirk cleared his throat and stood, as well. “He’d been moving up quickly through the ranks after joining the military at a late age. I always wondered why he was promoted so quickly—I’d never found anything very impressive about him.”

  Clutching Kirk’s hand, Stasi shook her head. “Father is the head of the military. He is the one who ultimately promoted Bardici to the rank of general. And he would have had a great deal of influence on Bardici’s previous promotions, as well.”

  Isabelle balked visibly. “Why would Father promote someone who was out to get him? From what I’ve translated of these emails, Bardici was working with the conspirators who plotted to have our entire family killed.”

  “He sold his soul to the devil,” Kirk murmured.

  When Isabelle and Levi gave Kirk a strange look, Stasi explained, “It was something Thad said.” She realized she hadn’t even told her sister yet about what had really happened to their brother. “Thad ran away six years ago because of a deal Father made. He wouldn’t be part of it, but he couldn’t stop it, so he left.”

  Isabelle looked visibly relieved. “I always hoped you hadn’t killed him,” she told Kirk.

  Kirk would have told Isabelle how much he appreciated her confidence in him, but his phone rang, and he glanced at the screen, then met Stasi’s eyes. “It’s your grandparents.” He handed her the phone.

  “Are you okay?” Stasi asked in place of hello. She listened for a moment, then happily shared with them the good news that Alexander, too, had escaped the attacks and had been spotted somewhere in northern Africa. When she thanked them again and closed the call, she updated everyone on what she’d learned.

  “Gramma and Grampa were followed by three different cars. Grampa led them on a wild-goose chase, just like he promised, but he said eventually the men took off. They must have gotten word on our real whereabouts from the others who were after us.”

  Isabelle smiled. “I bet Grampa had a great time.”

  “I’m glad of that,” Kirk agreed, “because it sounds like he provided enough distraction to help us get to New York. If those three cars had been after us, we likely never would have made it here.”

  Stasi’s eyes widened. “It’s staggering the kind of manpower they have after us. We’ve got to come up with a plan soon.”

  “I agree.” Kirk nodded. “Let’s outline our objectives.”

  “For one,” Levi began, “we need to try to sort out the rest of who is behind these attacks, and how they all come together.”

  Stasi added, “The best place to do that is in Lydia.”

  “And, two—” Isabelle held up two fingers “—talk to Parliament. They can’t do any official business until a ruler is crowned. It’s been five days already, and they’re starting to get antsy.”

  “The Lydian Parliament has been working with a United Nations peacekeeping team to find a solution that’s acceptable to everyone,” Levi explained. “It’s only right that the Royal House of Lydia have a say in those conversations.”

  Stasi nodded. “Obviously that needs to be taken care of in Lydia, too. But there’s a third thing. We need to get Dad back on his throne.” She looked at Kirk with understanding. “You and I already took a crack at that and failed miserably.”

  Levi cleared his throat. “But we have the advantage of backup. Sanctuary International can bring a team in with us. We might have to take on Lucca and whoever is there guarding your father with him. But we’ll do whatever we can to get King Philip back on his throne. In the meantime—” Levi looked at Kirk and Stasi “—we’re going to have to split up. Isabelle and I can take a team to Milan. Do the two of you feel you can handle the situation in Lydia?”

  “Do you have a backup team for us, too?”

  Levi shook his head apologetically. “When Isabelle was hijacked, we discovered a breach in our security. Until we can be sure no one else is working as a double agent, we’ll have to limit who we can trust. For the time being, I’m afraid we don’t have any more agents to spare. You two will be safer working alone than you might be with a backup team.”

  “A backup team that would only stab you in the back,” Isabelle added. “It’s safest this way.” Her expression turned imploring. “I hate to send you in without more support, but at the same time, we don’t have the luxury of waiting. Kirk, surely you have friends in the royal guard—”

  “Are you forgetting?” Stasi interrupted her sister. “Kirk is the most hated man in Lydia.”

  Kirk’s hand rested on her shoulder. “I have a few friends I can trust. And they might be able to identify more. I can assemble my own team. There are still men in Lydia loyal to the
crown. All we’ve got to do is pull them together.”

  “But, Kirk,” Stasi protested, “it’s going to be dangerous.”

  He leaned down and looked into her eyes. “You don’t have to come. But I took a vow to protect the royal family. It’s my duty.”

  Stasi swallowed. “You’re injured. I have a duty to my people. You’re the one who should be staying here, at least until you’ve had a chance to heal.”

  “Anyone might be on the throne by then.” Kirk shook his head and turned resolutely to Levi and Isabelle. “I’m going.”

  “I’m going.” Stasi all but stepped in front of him.

  He looked down at her determined expression. He’d hoped she’d be willing to lie low and stay somewhere safe. Obviously, she wasn’t that kind of princess.

  THIRTEEN

  Kirk had no intention of letting anyone know Stasi was in Sardis unless he absolutely had to. In spite of Levi’s warnings that Sanctuary International wouldn’t be able to back them up, the organization was able to fly them back to Sardis in a private aircraft, avoiding possible detection from flying commercially. Kirk felt grateful for that.

  Black clouds blocked the moonlight, helping to conceal them. Stasi kept her head down and her hair up under a hat, and Kirk’s father rendezvoused with them at the underused landing strip outside the city in a car with dark-tinted windows. He took them straight to the Covingtons’ cottage behind the castle.

  “Why are there so many lights on in the palace?” Stasi peered out the window as they skirted the towering stone structure. “None of us are home.”

  Albert Covington cleared his throat and muttered something about usurpers.

  His words were covered by Stasi’s gasp. “My bedroom—there’s someone in my bedroom! I saw a figure pass by the window.” She reached forward from the backseat and patted Albert on the shoulder. “Please drive around again. I want to get a look at who was in my room.”

  “You’ll need binoculars if you’re going to recognize anyone.” Kirk hoped to get her to the relative safety of his parents’ home before she was spotted.