A Guiding Light Page 28

One way or the other, by the end of the day, our future would be secured.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chaos gripped Fargo from the farthest suburbs to the heart of the city, and the people converged on the castle. Any other day, the traffic would have spurred anger and road rage, but an eerie calm driven by determined purpose gripped the crowd.

  I’d seen protests before.

  I’d seen riots.

  I’d never seen such a uniformed front before.

  Somewhere in the sea of vehicles heading for the castle, Veronica, Marshal, and a quartet of Montana RPS agents made preparations of their own while I was stuck with my parents, Ian, his RPS agents, Daniel, and Jack. Jack drove while Daniel tapped away at his laptop, his cell phone pressed to his ear. That Daniel was on the phone didn’t bother me much.

  It was who he was on the phone with that made my skin crawl and the little hairs on my arms stick up on end. His Royal Majesty of Montana had a lot to say, and Daniel listened without a sound, not even a hum or grunt of acknowledgment. Whatever they discussed would likely bite me in the ass.

  At least I’d be well-dressed for my own funeral if things didn’t work out to plan. To me, the plan seemed flimsy, but the longer I thought about it, the more I realized it was the best plan we had. Destroying the castle with the king inside would limit the number of deaths.

  Daniel said, “Understood, Your Majesty.”

  Then he hung up.

  I wondered what it said about me that I’d grown accustomed to the stomach-cramping unease and dread plaguing me since it settled in I was about to take over a kingdom by force to protect Veronica and her family.

  I did it for my kingdom, too, but I couldn’t delude myself. Veronica came before my kingdom, and should we live long enough to have children, they would always come before North Dakota.

  I refused to become like the king, a man twisted by his greed for power. As long as I put my family above all else, I believed I would avoid repeating history. Maybe I wouldn’t be a great king, but no one would ever accuse me of putting North Dakota before Veronica and our children.

  “Do I want to know what that was about?” I finally asked, staring out the tinted window at the progression of vehicles all aimed for the same target.

  It disturbed me to think the people were supporting me. I hadn’t done anything to earn their loyalty.

  I was just the safer choice.

  “His Majesty was updating me on matters outside of North Dakota. He wanted me to inform you that there are likely going to be reporters from multiple kingdoms in the crowd, and it’s entirely possible that there may be mercenaries hiding among the protestors. There’s at least a hundred unaccounted for mercenaries in the company, and it’s probable they’ll attempt to get rid of you from within the crowd.”

  “I’ll be on the watch for them,” my father swore.

  My mother spat curses. “I might need more explosives.”

  “I’m so glad I only need to bring myself,” Ian added, kneeing the back of my seat. “How does it feel to be the weakest link, Adam?”

  “I have this urge to kill you right now, Ian.”

  “You’re just cranky because you need all of us to keep you alive and healthy for Veronica. I’m thinking I’ll deliver you gift-wrapped for her pleasure.”

  “Can I kill the New Yorker in the back, Daniel?”

  “I’m afraid killing your friend is out of the question, sir.”

  My mother cleared her throat. “However entertaining it is to listen to the boys playing back here, I might need more explosives.”

  “I already gave you five pounds worth, Mrs. Penshire.”

  “I want another five pounds.”

  Everyone in the vehicle sighed while my father laughed. “Just give it to her. It makes her feel better when her purse of death is full of toys for her to play with.”

  That my father had a nickname for my mother’s purse worried me. “Just how often do you carry explosives in your purse?”

  “As often as I can get away with. A woman can never go unprepared.”

  “Daniel?”

  “Sir?”

  “You should probably add to my mother’s file her purse should be classified as a lethal weapon.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Adam!”

  “You will not be bringing a lethal weapon anywhere near Veronica or our kids. Non-negotiable.”

  “Accept it,” my father ordered. “Note he didn’t ban you from going anywhere near Veronica or our future grandchildren. If you leave the explosives at home, they might even let us spoil them.”

  “Fine. No lethal weapons.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll ask Daniel to give you ten extra pounds as an insurance policy.”

  “I’m not sure I can fit fifteen pounds in my purse,” she admitted.

  “Use your pockets.”

  “They’re not big enough, either.”

  “Ask Dad and Ian to hold some for you. Ian doesn’t have to carry anything for his talent to work, so he can be your mule. Just don’t ask me to. I don’t want any near me, thank you.”

  “Thanks, Adam,” the New Yorker muttered.

  “Boys,” my mother chided. “Adam, knowing how my talent works, you’re not going to detonate explosives while you’re holding them. Our talent is both offensive and defensive, and it’s going to act to protect you. View it as a parasite. If you die, it dies, and it doesn’t want to die any more than you do. It’s just a helpful parasite.”

  “You’ll develop a symbiotic relationship with your talent,” my father explained. “It’s the same with mine.”

  Since my parents ganging up on me wasn’t bad enough, Daniel twisted around in his seat and stared me into submission. “You’ll be carrying several pounds of explosives with you, sir. You might need it, and I’m satisfied after discussion with Mrs. Penshire you won’t accidentally detonate it. You’ll be carrying a different variant from others so your mother can identify your location at all times. You’ll also be carrying a sample of an uncommon metal so Mr. Penshire can track your location as well. This was the safest method we could think of to ensure we know your whereabouts without relying on methods others can readily track.”

  Great. Not only would I be turning myself into a target, I’d be doing so while carrying enough explosives to reduce myself to mush if they detonated. “I question your definition of safe.”

  “I’m not going to let you detonate the explosives accidentally, Adam. I can sense the differences in the plastics, and I’ll be making certain yours isn’t detonated unless it’s supposed to detonate. And if it’s supposed to detonate, it’s because you’ve sent me a text asking me to detonate it.”

  Trust was a fickle beast, but I’d already committed, and I had no other choice but to trust my mother and father with my life. My doubts lingered, but I pushed them aside. If everything worked out, we could see if the old, burned bridges could be rebuilt, but necessity demanded I hold enough faith in their intentions to get me through the rest of the day without dying. “Noted.”

  “Speaking of phones. Sir, we’re going to give you a Montana RPS phone; while they’re tracked, the phone you’re using belongs to a known agent present on site. He’s using a domestic line to mask his presence in the Montana RPS and isn’t part of our communication network. Your phone is being treated as though it belongs to the agent still. That should prevent anyone from pinpointing that you’re the one carrying it. This agent will be nearby, so if someone does recognize him, they’ll believe he’s carrying his phone. It’s a precaution we don’t usually use, so it should work—in theory.”

  I could think of a lot of reasons why it might not, including an infiltration of Montana’s RPS. “Probability someone has infiltrated the system?”

  “Slim but not impossible.”

  I wondered how royalty made it through every day wondering who would be out to kill them. I was developing an unfortunate understanding of what a deer felt like during hunting season. Sigh
ing, I wondered how everything would have changed if I’d just minded my own business.

  The reality sobered me. Had I, Veronica would likely be dead along with her mother. No, I’d made my bed, and I’d lie in it. I wouldn’t like it, but I’d do whatever necessary to make certain she survived. “All right. I’ll have a gun for this?”

  “Yes, sir. You’ll be using the same weapon you had at the mall, as you’ve already had positive results with the firearm.”

  “Affinity matters with us and firearms,” my father added. “That gun’s going to be yours until it’s no longer serviceable. It took me years to find a gun that just worked, and you got lucky from the first draw.”

  “Likely a matter of necessity, Mr. Penshire,” Jack said, speaking for the first time since we’d piled into the SUV. “You had the luxury of finding the ideal firearm for your needs. He didn’t have that luxury. After his coronation, we’ll attempt to match him with the ideal handgun and make sure it’s his skill doing most of the work, not his talent.”

  “You’re going to have a difficult time shutting off his talent.”

  “Suppressors, Dad. Also, why exactly did you take them away, Daniel? If I stub my toe, Veronica’s going to hunt me down and murder me.” Veronica had given me a very long list of things she’d do if I got even a scratch, and ‘kiss it better’ hadn’t been on said list.

  My retaliatory threat, whispered in her ear, had involved turning her over my knee and giving her a spanking she’d never forget if she was scratched, but I’d miscalculated. She’d liked the idea. She’d liked the idea so much I’d forgotten how to breathe while she looked me over as though trying to figure out how to get what she wanted without having either one of us injured.

  It’d been a very frustrating morning for both of us.

  Both of my RPS agents sighed. “Flaring is better than dying, sir. And right now, your uncontrolled talent is one of our best defenses for you. We both have suppressors for you if needed, but unless they’re truly needed, you’re best left with your talent able to function at full power.”

  I’d heard the same speech several times before, but after growing up hearing how dangerous an uncontrolled talent was, I couldn’t help but feel I was more dangerous than the explosives I’d be carrying around in my pocket. “I don’t suppose I can get a list of things to do beyond don’t die, make myself a target, and ignore everything I’ve learned about talents in my entire life?”

  “I recommend you get near the front lines and demand that the military present His Royal Majesty to face justice for the murder of Her Royal Majesty and the attempted murder of His Highness. After that, we expect the fighting to actually begin. The crowd will form a mob and try to take the castle while the royal family sets the explosives inside the building and gets a head count of people in there—and potentially help evacuate innocents. We doubt there’s anyone left inside who isn’t a mercenary or conspirator unless there are hostages we don’t know about.”

  “Right, and I’m not supposed to begin until after the explosives have been placed.”

  “Her Royal Highness and the others should be in place before we arrive; they’re arriving off road and will use their talents to slip into the palace grounds through a gap in the wall defenses.”

  “I’d like to know more about this gap,” I said.

  “A rocket launcher in the middle of the night tends to create a very large hole in stone, and rubble is difficult to defend. We managed to take out thirty feet of the back wall. The media helped cover it up by claiming a weapon depot had been robbed in the early evening.”

  “Fargo has a weapon depot?”

  “There’s an entire military base, sir. The military is, of course, very embarrassed a bunch of commoners stole their rocket launchers and several small warheads.”

  “Are you telling me Montana’s RPS raided a military base to steal rocket launchers and small warheads? What the hell is a small warhead?”

  “Tactical non-nuclear missile with a very limited blast radius. It’s for pinpoint targeting. And yes, we did. Well, His Royal Majesty of Montana did.”

  I covered my face with my hands. “His Royal Majesty of Montana walked into a North Dakotan military base and stole missiles and rocket launchers.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And no one stopped him?”

  “They very probably tried, sir. His Royal Majesty is very annoyed with this rebellion and the murder of a woman he considered his friend. He was pleased to put a hole in the castle defenses on your behalf.”

  “How many laws did he break stealing missiles and firing one at the castle?”

  “It’s best if you don’t ask, sir.”

  What had I gotten myself into?

  I’d expected hundreds or the low thousands to congregate on the castle, but a few images taken from a media helicopter shattered my delusions. Thousands to tens of thousands congregated on the castle grounds, and I had no idea how we’d get to the front of the line.

  “This is a larger obstacle than I anticipated,” I confessed.

  Like some well-oiled machine, cars dropped off protestors and drove away to find parking somewhere nearby—nearby being relative. The future turned decidedly bleak as fertile farms were turned into parking lots.

  “We’re going to ride, sir, and you’re going to make it clear who you are. People will move. Your parents are recognizable, and your picture has been displayed through every media outlet in North Dakota. Very few are going to doubt who you are.”

  “I haven’t been on a horse since I was fifteen, Daniel.”

  “We have an excellent horse picked out for you. He’s well trained. He was shipped in from Montana last night for this purpose. We’ll all be on good horses, and they’re trained for riot situations and other hazards.”

  “Like warfare?”

  “Essentially, yes. They’re trained in a fashion similar to police horses. His Majesty has an affinity for horses, and he was involved with the training of our animals. You’ll be riding one of Her Majesty’s horses, as there was no better animal we could get on short notice.”

  I didn’t know much about the man behind the mask, but I knew one thing: he loved his wife more than life itself, and if I hurt his wife’s horse, I’d be a dead man. “Ain’t that just fucking spectacular.”

  “He’s big, he stands out, and he’ll draw attention to you, which is exactly what you need. He’s also as steady as they get, and if someone comes at you on foot, they might live to regret it. He takes offense to anyone trying to hurt his rider. He’s the sweetest horse you’ll find in Montana unless someone shows his rider aggression, then he’s the meanest stallion on the block.”

  “I’ll be riding a stallion.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Since common sense had flown out the window long ago, I gave up trying to shoehorn our expedition into something logical and sane. “All right. I’m riding a stallion I can’t, under any conditions, allow to be hurt, as the Montana monarchs will have my head on a platter. Is there anything else you’d like to add to ruin my day?”

  “You won’t have your head served on a platter should any of the horses be injured. They were sent knowing they would be going into a war zone. It’s Montana’s job to provide in situations like this, and sending some of the kingdom’s best horses shows Montana is backing your move far more than signatures on a piece of paper ever will. If you think the horse you’re riding is worrisome, your parents are riding His Majesty’s horses. I’ll be riding my own horse, as will Jack, as they were already in the area, but they’re not as well trained as the horses you’ll be riding.”

  I turned to my parents. “Guard those horses with your life.”

  My mother’s brow rose. “You’re overreacting.”

  “Crazy king with a rocket launcher and a horse affinity,” I retorted.

  Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

  “Oh, indeed. Rule one, we don’t let any of the horses get hurt. Rule two, we don’t let any of us get hurt. Rule thr
ee, don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Boy,” my father said, “you have no chance in hell of sticking to rule three, so you may as well strike that one from the record. You’re taking over an entire kingdom because the king threatened your woman.”

  “Where do we get these horses?” I said, my tone resigned.

  “An agent is going to take the SUV and we’ll rendezvous with the horses as soon as we’re on foot. They’re not far.”

  “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Within ten minutes, we joined the gathering crowd armed with several backpacks of supplies and slinked through the crowd, which had its attention fixed on the castle ahead, something none of us could see so far back. Only a fraction of the mob would fit within the castle walls. If the mob decided to make a run at the castle, nothing would stop them.

  Explosives and plans wouldn’t be required. They’d win by numbers alone.

  “This is insanity,” I observed while skirting the edge of the throng hoping to get closer to the action. The longer there wasn’t any action, the happier I’d be. I’d be happiest if everyone packed their bags and headed home without bloodshed, although the plan I’d agreed to go along with, by default, involved violence and bloodshed.

  Assuming I survived, my first act as king would be to kidnap Veronica, take her to our waterfall, and hide for a while.

  “Necessary insanity,” my father replied, pressing his hand between my shoulders and pushing me along. “You’re just going to have to wait until this is all over to have a nervous breakdown. I’m sure Her Highness will be happy to tend to your bruised ego and soothe your frayed nerves.”

  “Don’t taunt him,” my mother ordered. “Continue to whine, Adam, and you’ll come home with us instead of doing whatever you were initially planning on doing, probably with Princess Veronica.”

  What made them think I had a plan? I didn’t even know where my wallet was. If they were expecting much from me, they’d be disappointed along with the rest of North Dakota when they found out I’d taken an unfortunately haphazard approach to taking over the kingdom so I could remain with Veronica for the rest of my life, however short that may be.