A Guiding Light Page 21

  “I’d hardly say I earned it.”

  “Don’t discount yourself so readily. Anyway, here’s what you need to know: the instant His Royal Majesty declares either a state of emergency or martial law, you may file a legal challenge for the throne. You have just cause, as he attempted to murder you in a public place. The attempted murder was witnessed and recorded, so it will stand in court. Nothing in the video shows undue provocation. With a verifiable recording of the king breaking the law and betraying the trust of his kingdom, he can be overthrown. Once you’ve filed and at least five kingdoms have verified the filing, you will have the legal right to take the throne for yourself.”

  Daniel glanced at Marshal, and his silence worried me.

  The young prince looked the RPS agent in the eyes and said, “The approved filing permits legalized regicide.”

  Heaving a sigh, the RPS agent nodded. “Yes, it does. It also allows for the arrest and incarceration of the king. However, with mounting evidence the king was behind the assassination of the queen, even if he isn’t assassinated, he’ll be executed for regicide.”

  “I know. Father liked telling us what the punishment for treason is.”

  “I give it hours, maybe a day, before the media begins reporting the legalities of an overthrow. It’s highly recommended that you file as soon as possible. I can help you prepare and submit the paperwork. Montana is prepared to sign, as is Texas and New York. We have several other candidates for approval, including Alaska, California, and Nevada. It’s a simple enough process, and honestly, I think you could get widespread support for your filing. Only five approvals are needed, so if you do file with every kingdom, I expect you’ll have approval within a few hours.”

  “New York will actually sign?” I frowned.

  “It’s a dangerous political move on their part, but yes, New York is prepared to sign. Prince Ian has confirmed this with me after discussion with His and Her Royal Majesties. This level of unrest will create problems across the entirety of the Royal States.”

  I could see one reason why the royals of other kingdoms would worry. “It’ll remind the public they have the right to revolt.”

  “Exactly. Revolt is necessary. When a royal becomes a tyrant, it is the right and privilege of the elites to do something about it. Today, the person to do something about it is you. No one else is in the ideal position for a successful attempt. But as such, we’re going to need to be careful. As soon as the filings have been submitted, we need to relocate. The media will search for you, as will the king. The king will try to have you assassinated, as you’re a threat to his power.”

  “Understood.”

  “Good. The paperwork won’t take more than a few minutes to file, then we can make preparations to relocate. What we can do is make an advance declaration. When you file, you’ll file stating that in the case the king declares martial law or a state of emergency, you will act under the Royal States Foundation Act. The approvals in advance will support the conditions.”

  The necessity requiring me to take such actions disgusted me, but I saw no way to avoid it, so I moved to a more immediate problem. “How, exactly, are we going to dodge the media?”

  “Very carefully.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Care to elaborate?”

  “You’re too tall to easily hide, so we’re going to hide you in our luggage and play unfortunate tourists riding out a revolt. His Highness will use his talent to avoid detection. It was the only way we could think of to disguise you reliably.”

  I wished I hadn’t asked. “Will I even fit in a suitcase?”

  “It won’t be comfortable, but Dr. Stanton intends on giving you a rather high dose of painkiller to make certain it’s tolerable for you. You won’t have to be in the suitcase for long.”

  Marshal giggled. “If you take him to my sister, you can pretend he’s a present for her to unwrap.”

  “Thanks, Marshal.”

  “I bet she’d like it a lot.”

  I bet she would, too, so I kept my mouth shut and kept my misgivings to myself. I focused my attention on the more important problem in my life: filing the paperwork doomed to lead to my death or put me on a throne I didn’t even want but would take to protect the woman I loved and safeguard her family.

  The next time someone suggested I hide in a suitcase, the answer was no. The drug cocktail Dr. Stanton pumped into me did a good job of mitigating the pain in my leg, but my entire body cramped within five minutes, and I swore never to let someone from the RPS arrange transportation for me ever again. According to Daniel, it would take twenty minutes from the time I entered my luggage prison to regain my freedom. It felt a lot longer than twenty minutes before a grinning Marshal released me.

  The brat dared to giggle over my misfortune. “You look so miffed.”

  “What happened to Veronica doing the unwrapping?”

  “We beat her here. She should arrive within the next few hours. That’ll give you enough time to crawl out and get the kinks out. You get to unwrap her. She’s getting the same treatment. My brothers and sisters are going to a different hotel to keep us separated.”

  Extracting myself from the suitcase hurt like hell, and not even the painkillers could prevent me from wincing and grunting as every muscle in my body reported nothing was fine about my situation. I targeted most of my displeasure at Daniel, who shrugged.

  “It was necessary,” he said.

  I did my talking with a middle finger, which made Marshal cackle like a maniac on a sugar high.

  As hysterical laughter beat hysterical crying, I flipped the RPS agent off again.

  “I see you have opinions over the method of transport,” Daniel said, and he dared to smile at my discomfort. “It’s a good warmup for future sessions. The RPS takes its duty seriously, and that means our charges must be prepared for every eventuality.”

  “They call them scenarios. In truth, it’s legalized torture,” Marshal told me, offering his hand to help me to my feet. I grunted, accepted his help, and hobbled to the couch, which I took over with a tired groan.

  “Our principals typically dislike the scenarios, yes.” Daniel’s smile broadened. “Until your leg heals, we’ll be limiting your scenarios to things you can handle while seated.”

  “Don’t let him trick you, Adam. There are a lot of ways to torture you while you’re seated,” Marshal muttered.

  “His Highness has opinions on his future scenario schedule. We’ve notified him he’ll be given an attachment of two Montana RPS agents until North Dakota has settled, with the option of transferring his new agents to North Dakota’s branch. They should arrive in the kingdom sometime today. All members of the royal family will have two Montana agents. As the one filing to unseat His Royal Majesty, you’ll have a four-man team. Your two other agents will arrive tomorrow. Due to the unrest in the kingdom, we’re sneaking our agents across the border.”

  “Wise,” I conceded. “What do you need from me?”

  “For now, your job is to rest and research the situation while we wait for replies from the filing. I recommend you do what you do best: monitor the stock markets. If you’re up for hearing what the media has to say about you, watching the news might give us some important information. I’ll be coordinating with the other agents and making sure Her Royal Highness arrives without incident.”

  “Up for helping me do some stock market monitoring, Marshal?”

  “Just don’t let me buy anything. We’ve already established I suck at the stock market.”

  “You’re young and inexperienced. You can learn to be good at it. You’ll be getting an earlier start than I did, too. I can help you pick some good stocks. It’ll be a good nest egg for you in the future.”

  Marshal bounced over and sat beside me on the couch. “Okay. What do I need to do?”

  “I’ll fetch the laptops,” Daniel said, striding across the hotel room to a collection of laptop bags and duffel bags. “This suite has two bedrooms and the couch
out here, so Jack and I will be in one bedroom, His Highness will get the couch, and you will be with Her Royal Highness in the larger of the bedrooms. We’ll use this hotel for as long as we safely can before we move. So far, if anyone has noticed us, it’s been radio silence. Word on the wire is that the media is being careful to filter any news going through the outlets.”

  “He who controls the media is king,” I muttered.

  “Yes, that’s a fairly accurate statement for the situation. Right now, you control the media and a great deal of North Dakota’s financial interests. You’re the former betrothed of the rightful heir. In the eyes of the people, you’re the rightful king.”

  “Shouldn’t that be Veronica is the rightful queen?”

  “Veronica will be an accepted queen, but the public view isn’t as favorable towards her as it is towards you. That’s no fault of hers. The people—and the media—recognize her actions were done for her survival and the survival of the rest of the royal family. She’s the rightful queen, yes—but she’s a trapped princess under the heel of a tyrant king. It wouldn’t surprise me if the revolt evolves to become a rescue mission. It also wouldn’t surprise me if mob mentality takes over. You’re an outsider who is rising into a position of power to overthrow a tyrant. You have the better story for the media.”

  “They won’t target Veronica, will they?”

  “Her Royal Highness should be safe enough. You’re the one more likely to be targeted. The king will want you killed to protect his claim to the throne.”

  “Any other bad news I don’t want to hear?”

  “I expect you’ll be the one telling me once you start monitoring the media, sir.”

  “I expect you’re right.”

  Once I had my laptop in my possession, I booted it up and began the tedious work of checking over the stock market, wincing at the damage the fledgling revolt had already done to the financial sector.

  Marshal’s foresight had been painfully accurate. It would be a long time before the market recovered, and a lot of people would suffer, possibly for years. Taking the throne would put me in a position to rectify the situation, but I expected unemployment rates to surge throughout the kingdom for months, maybe even years.

  Unlike with New York’s initial attack on the economy, there was nothing I could do but watch and hope values wouldn’t plummet further. I believed they would.

  Things always got worse before they got better. It was a rule. The only question was how much worse things would get before they got better. In some ways, I’d already seen improvement to my lot in life, although it’d come at a high price.

  I hoped Veronica wouldn’t regret what my reappearance in her life had cost her.

  I spent an hour coaching Marshal over live stocks, and I picked a few stocks he might make into a small fortune for himself after the market’s recovery, buying them on his behalf and putting them into a trust company I’d give him when he turned eighteen.

  Unlike me, he wouldn’t learn from experience what it was like to be forced into acting like an adult too early. I couldn’t salvage much of his childhood, but I’d try to give him one. I had doubts if I’d succeed, but it was a start.

  The news proved an even worse disaster than the stock market, and I regretted checking online for the latest updates on North Dakota’s fledgling revolt. In truth, there was nothing fledgling about the revolt, not if the media was to be believed. The major outlets were reporting the king had killed or removed his official RPS agents, replacing them with mercenaries purchased with kingdom funds.

  “Daniel, how many RPS agents are supposed to be serving in North Dakota?”

  “RPS data has hit the news?”

  “The major outlets are claiming a high number of RPS agents were murdered or fired and replaced with mercenaries paid from kingdom funds.”

  “Legal if done with the standard security budget, illegal if the funds were funneled from other departments. Mercenaries tend to be expensive—more expensive than an RPS task force. RPS agents aren’t cheap, but mercenaries capable of handling RPS work tend to be prohibitively expensive, which is why most kingdoms opt to maintain an RPS force over private security.” Daniel joined me on the couch and read over the article. “That should be easy enough to verify.”

  “And if it’s accurate information?”

  “I expect violence. The RPS has strict rules on how it deals with the public. Mercenaries don’t follow those rules. They do as they’re told by their hire. Considering they were willing to murder the queen, they’re the sort of trash who won’t surrender without a fight. They live for the dollar, and they die for it, too. It’ll become violent. How violent? I don’t know. It depends on the public. The best thing we can do is try to get a profile on the mercenaries and warn the public about their abilities, armaments, and skills. That way, the elite in the general populace can handle them. If they’re heavily armed, the best people to handle them are your parents. Their skills are ideal for a revolt.”

  I flinched at the reminder I had parents. “Let me guess. You want to consult with them.”

  “They’ll also be able to offer insight on your potential talents. They might become a target, too. It would be wise if we brought them into safe custody—or at least confirm they’re not a part of the king’s conspirators.”

  “They’re not,” Marshal announced. “I dreamed of them last night. They’re feeding the revolt. They want revenge.”

  “You dreamed last night?” Disappointment the prince hadn’t escaped from the nightmare of his talent washed through me.

  “It was a good dream.”

  I hesitated. “Pardon?”

  “It was a good dream. There wasn’t anything scary about it, but your parents are really mad. They won’t scold you too much. Probably.”

  Why was I too large to fit under the bed? Hiding seemed like a better and better idea the longer I thought about it. “Good to know.”

  “Don’t worry. My sister will protect you from them as you need. But you won’t need her help. It’ll get better.”

  Understanding struck me hard and fast.

  Marshal couldn’t fix his family, but he could fix mine, and his dreams gave him the hope that what had fallen apart could be mended. It wouldn’t undo his mother’s death or prevent his father’s, but it gave him something positive to hope for.

  His good dream was my fear, but I wouldn’t take away what he clung to to overcome his grief. If I had to face my parents to keep his dreams positive, I would. What else could I do?

  It would hurt, but I’d survive through it.

  “Do you know when this will happen?”

  “Soon?”

  Damn it. Sighing, I turned to Daniel. “Are you the right person for me to ask to make the arrangements?”

  The RPS agent smiled. “You’re learning. Yes, I am. Consider me an extension of your will. That’s part of our job. We handle security, but we also handle other matters for a royal. While you’ll one day have a secretary or two, your RPS agents are your first resource for many things.”

  “All right. I’m going to keep scouring the news for more information. Get in contact with my parents and see what they’re concocting. They’ll become targets, too, if the king catches wind they’re joining the rebellion.”

  “I can request a detail for them, although with their talents, they might not need one.”

  “Why do I have a feeling Montana’s going to be annoyed with me for stealing so many agents?”

  “You’ll have a chance to pillage agents from other kingdoms soon enough, sir. I recommend Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Carolina, and Colorado. They have a good track record for producing good agents. You might request training in Hawaii, too. Hawaii has stellar agents, but they don’t transfer from the kingdom. You might be able to convince one to come to North Dakota temporarily to help you establish your protective detail. I’ll inquire.”

  “Thank you.” Our conversation pointed at a future where I’d have to make a lot of decisions�
�and rule an entire damned kingdom. How had theoretical discussions turned into a bleak reality? I’d meant to hand over the financial sector as soon as the economy had recovered.

  At first, I hadn’t even believed I’d be able to have Veronica in my life at all. If things continued as they were, I wouldn’t have her as just my wife. She’d be my queen, and the tables would turn. She’d be my queen because I’d chosen her, not because her father had initially chosen me.

  I’d be choosing to accept the fate foisted on me as a child.

  Daniel rose to his feet and returned to the desk, where he went to work on his laptop while I stared at the screen of mine without seeing anything.

  “You look worried,” Marshal whispered. “Why?”

  “I have no idea how this is going to work without becoming a disaster,” I admitted.

  “It’ll work out. It just may take a while. But it will. You’ll see.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to remind Marshal the future could change, and if he wanted to believe in his pleasant dreams, I wouldn’t ruin things for him. If his belief in his dreams got him through his grief, I’d do my best to make certain his pleasant dreams became a reality.

  Doing what he wanted was best for him, best for me, best for Veronica, and ultimately, the best for the kingdom we called home. In that, there was no choice for me at all. I could walk away, but I wouldn’t.

  I’d never be able to live with myself if I did.

  I straightened my back, lifted my chin, and resumed the tedious work of sifting through the news for information of use.

  It didn’t take me long to find reports of full-scaled rioting in Fargo and other parts of North Dakota, and the public wanted the same thing: they called for justice for the queen’s death, and the king was in their sights. Outside of the mainstream media outlets, whispers of retaliation targeting the castle made waves.