Chapter 6 - THE PRINCESS THEY INTENDED TO CROWNRachel woke inside a moving car with blood on her lip.
That was King Adrian's decision.
It sounded insane until I understood his reasoning.
If the person who had sent the warning believed Voss had succeeded, canceling the reception would signal that something had gone wrong.
So the orchestra kept playing.
Champagne kept flowing.
Guests kept dancing beneath chandeliers.
And while the world watched a fairy-tale royal wedding, Commander Vale and I hunted a traitor through the ballroom.
Rachel refused to leave.
“You're going to the secure suite,” I told her.
“No.”
“Rachel.”
“You vanished from my life for months at a time and apparently saved kings while I thought you were organizing supply spreadsheets. You do not get to use the big-sister voice right now.”
Under different circumstances, I might have laughed.
“This isn't a discussion.”
“I'm the target.”
“Exactly.”
“So use me.”
Alexander looked horrified.
I looked at him.
“She always like this?”
He nodded solemnly.
“Constantly.”
Rachel glared at both of us.
King Adrian intervened.
“She has a point.”
“Your Majesty, with respect—”
“Your sister's existence is the center of whatever is happening.”
Rachel folded her arms.
“Thank you.”
I disliked being outvoted by royalty.
But Rachel wasn't wrong.
The message sender had known I was being summoned before I arrived.
That meant someone had access to Royal Protection communications.
High-level access.
Only sixteen people had known about Vale's convoy.
We reduced the list.
King.
Queen.
Alexander.
Vale.
Five senior security officials.
Four members of the prime minister's staff.
Three royal advisers.
And Rachel's newly appointed private secretary.
Most were inside the ballroom.
One had disappeared.
“Who?” I asked.
Vale checked his tablet.
“Lord Marcus Bell.”
Adrian's face tightened.
His chief political adviser.
Seventy-two years old.
Served the royal household for four decades.
“Marcus wouldn't betray us,” Adrian said.
“I've heard that sentence before,” I replied.
Vale pulled up Bell's last known location.
Table Nine.
He had left twelve minutes earlier.
I looked toward the ballroom doors.
“Find him quietly.”
We entered separately.
I had changed into my full dress uniform.
Not because Rachel wanted me to.
Because I did.
The reaction was immediate.
Guests turned.
Some recognized the ribbons.
Some didn't.
My parents did.
Mom was standing near the dance floor.
She saw me and went completely still.
Dad's champagne glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
I kept walking.
Mom intercepted me.
“Eleanor?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“What are you doing here?”
Before I could answer, King Adrian entered behind me.
Dozens of people bowed.
He walked directly toward us.
Mom's face changed.
“Your Majesty.”
Adrian smiled.
“Evelyn.”
My mother looked ready to faint.
He hugged her.
Actually hugged her.
Then he shook Dad's hand with both of his.
“Thomas. It has been too long.”
Dad's eyes went to mine.
Questions.
Many questions.
Adrian turned.
“And, of course, you know Major Carter.”
Mom stared at my medals.
She touched one ribbon carefully.
“What is this?”
“Later.”
“But—”
“Mom.”
Something in my voice stopped her.
“Where is Lord Bell?”
Dad answered.
“I saw him near the terrace.”
“When?”
“Five minutes ago.”
I nodded to Vale.
We separated.
Music swelled.
Couples danced.
Every smiling face now looked suspicious.
I crossed the ballroom.
Rachel joined me despite explicit instructions to remain near Alexander.
“You're terrible at following orders.”
“So are you.”
“I'm an officer.”
“I'm a princess now.”
“You've been a princess for six hours.”
“Still counts.”
I almost smiled.
Then I saw Lord Bell.
He stood beyond the terrace doors.
Alone.
Holding a phone.
“Stay here.”
Rachel grabbed my sleeve.
“Ellie.”
“What?”
She looked suddenly young.
“If something happens…”
“Nothing will.”
“You don't know that.”
I did know something.
My sister and I had wasted too much time being angry at each other.
So I pulled her into a quick hug.
She froze.
Then held on.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“You know.”
“Later.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because people keep trying to sabotage your wedding.”
That almost made her laugh.
I crossed the terrace.
Bell saw me.
His expression showed nothing.
“Major Carter.”
“Lord Bell.”
“I've heard extraordinary things.”
“Recently?”
He smiled.
“You were always something of a royal secret.”
“Funny thing about secrets.”
“Yes?”
“They tend to attract people who shouldn't know them.”
His smile faded slightly.
I glanced at his phone.
“Messaging anyone?”
“My wife.”
“May I see?”
“No.”
“That's unfortunate.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Then I suggest you remember your position.”
I stepped closer.
“And I suggest you remember mine.”
His eyes flicked to my decorations.
“Your medals don't impress me.”
“They aren't for decoration.”
Bell's jaw tightened.
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked down instinctively.
I saw the screen.
A message.
CARTER IS ON TERRACE. MOVE NOW.
I grabbed his wrist.
He swung harder than any seventy-two-year-old political adviser should have been capable of swinging.
Training.
I blocked the blow.
He tried to pull away.
I twisted his arm behind his back.
Then the ballroom lights went out.
Screams.
Music stopped.
“Rachel!”
I released Bell and ran.
Emergency lights flickered red.
People surged toward doors.
Royal guards shouted instructions.
I pushed through the crowd.
Alexander appeared.
Alone.
“Where's Rachel?”
His face was white.
“She was right there.”
My heart stopped.
“When?”
“When the lights went out.”
Vale reached us.
“Major!”
“Lock every exit.”
“Already done.”
I grabbed his tablet.
Cameras offline.
Someone had killed internal power and surveillance simultaneously.
Professional.
I thought of Bell's message.
MOVE NOW.
“They took her.”
Alexander's expression changed from fear to fury.
“Who?”
Bell.
I turned.
The terrace was empty.
He was gone.
Vale shouted orders.
Teams moved.
I forced myself to think.
Kidnapping Rachel from a heavily guarded royal wedding required either madness or planning.
Bell knew the security architecture.
He knew evacuation procedures.
He knew exactly where Rachel would be moved during darkness.
So he wouldn't fight security.
He would use it.
“Where is the emergency extraction point?”
Vale stared at me.
“North motor court.”
“That's where they're taking her.”
We ran.
Through kitchens.
Past frightened staff.
Down a service staircase.
At the north court, three black sedans waited.
Royal vehicles.
One was already moving.
“Stop that car!”
A guard stepped into its path.
The sedan accelerated.
He jumped aside.
I reached the court seconds too late.
Through the rear window, illuminated by emergency lights, I saw Rachel.
A hand covered her mouth.
Beside her sat Lord Bell.
He looked directly at me.
Then smiled.
The gates opened automatically.
The sedan disappeared.
Alexander arrived behind me.
“Where is she?”
I stared into the darkness.
“They have her.”
Adrian came running.
The King looked at the empty drive.
“What does Bell want?”
I remembered Voss.
Rachel's bloodline.
The succession question.
Then Vale handed me something recovered near Table Nine.
A folded document.
I opened it.
At the top was the seal of the Valorían Parliament.
A proposed constitutional declaration.
It named Rachel not merely as Princess Alexander.
It named her:
RACHEL SOPHIA VOSS, RIGHTFUL SOVEREIGN HEIR OF THE HOUSE OF SOPHIA.
And beneath it was a list of signatures.
Members of parliament.
Military officials.
Business leaders.
Dozens.
May you like
This wasn't kidnapping.
It was a coup.
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