by Renna Peak
My mother stands. “Andrew—”
“What choice do we have? Leopold might be out there…” I clear my throat. “I’m going to inform Elle and Victoria, and I plan to depart within the hour.”
My mother doesn’t look pleased by my decision, but I suspect she knows better than to test my resolve. Or maybe it comforts her to know that I’ll be out there looking for Leopold myself, wherever he might be.
My mother isn’t the biggest obstacle, though. It’s with a grim feeling that I set off to find Leopold’s wife-to-be and my wife.
Wife. Victoria is finally mine, in every sense of the word. I wish I could celebrate that fact more fully today.
I decide to go to Victoria second—Elle deserves to know about Leopold as soon as possible, of course. And I fear that Victoria will try and stop me from going on what is certainly a most dangerous mission.
But when I reach the suite that Elle and Leopold share, I find my wife there as well. I enter to find Elle gently rocking Matthew and Victoria pouring some tea.
Both of them seem to read my face instantly.
“What is it?” Elle asks. “Is it Leo?” Matthew whimpers in her arms.
I keep my eyes on Elle, but I can sense Victoria watching me closely.
There’s no reason to drag this out. “I’ve received a report that there’s been a helicopter crash in the mountains,” I say. “Before you panic—they’ve found no bodies. Whoever was on the helicopter seems to have survived. But there’s reason to believe that Leopold may have been among the passengers.”
All the blood has drained from Elle’s face. Matthew begins to wail.
I go on. “They’re still trying to locate the survivors. I’m going to go help them. If Leopold is out there, Elle, I promise I’ll find him.”
Elle is silent. The only sound in the room is Matthew’s screaming, but she seems completely unaware if it. After a moment, she stands up. “I’m coming, too.”
“Absolutely not,” I tell her. “It isn’t safe, and Leopold will kill me if—”
“Leopold has bigger things to worry about. As do I,” she says.
“I’m coming, too,” Victoria says, speaking for the first time.
I turn to her, even more distressed than when Elle spoke. “No. There’s no reason—”
“There’s every reason,” Victoria says. “Do you honestly expect us to just sit around here while Leo’s in danger out there?”
“There’s no reason you have to be in danger, too,” I insist.
“But it’s okay for you to be?” Victoria shakes her head. “No. Just because we’re women doesn’t mean we’re okay with waiting around, twiddling our thumbs and hoping our men come home safe. We can help.”
Elle nods. “We can.”
I look down at my little nephew in her arms. “What about Matthew?”
Elle’s frown deepens as she glances down at her son. She rocks him gently, and I can see the emotional debate waging inside her head.
“He’ll be all right for a couple of days without me,” she says softly, and I’m not sure whether or not she believes it. “I’ll leave him in your mother’s care.” She bounces him, and his wails subside into little whimpers again. “He needs his father. I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” I tell them again.
“Well, it’s not just up to you,” Victoria says. “Elle and I can make our own decisions.”
I know there’s no point in arguing further—every moment I stand here trying to dissuade them from this insanity is another moment Leopold is out there, possibly fighting for his life.
“Fine,” I tell them. “We leave on the hour.”
Victoria
The bitter cold bites at the exposed skin on my face. Between the cold and the way Andrew keeps yanking at my arm, I’m almost sorry I decided to help with the search party.
The storm finally let up enough to venture outside. We were able to use military vehicles to make it to the site of the helicopter crash. There are dozens of men here, scouring through the debris. I don’t really want to think about what they’re looking for, but by the look of the wreckage, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were looking for body parts.
Elle has already gone off with Nicholas and William, and Andrew and I have gone in the opposite direction. With the way the wind is howling through this area, it’s difficult to hear anyone speak—there are occasional shouts when someone finds something of interest, but otherwise, there’s no choice but to keep conversation to a minimum.
We trudge through the snow for what seems like an eternity. The search party is huge—we’re in a circle, fanning out and scouring every inch of the ground for any sign of life. With the way the snow is blowing, there’s no chance of picking up any footprints. They would have been obliterated by the wind after only a second.
Andrew glares over at me every so often. As we walk farther and our search area gets wider, he eventually has to let go of my arm. But he doesn’t stop looking over at me every few seconds, as though I might get blown away in the wind, too.
I understand why he’s upset with me—he wants to keep me safe. He doesn’t want to have to have a search party coming out after me. But it isn’t as though I’m going to go running off into the mountains. At some point, he’s going to have to accept that I’m not about to become some princess he’s going keep safely locked away in the palace.
Part of me knows that isn’t what this is about at all. We all feel it—we just don’t want to say it. My gut twists with anguish at the thought of anything having happened to Leo. I’m not sure how Elle is going to handle it if we find his body. I’m not sure how anyone in the royal family is going to take it, actually.
But we have to have hope. After looking at what happened to that helicopter, I’m not sure how anyone can honestly have any hope at all. I’m not an expert at crashes, obviously, but to me, it doesn’t look like anyone could have survived.
The only good news that’s come out of finding the wreck is that they’ve still not located any bodies—or parts of bodies. That should be enough to keep us going for a while.
There’s a shout to my left. Andrew races over to me, grabs my hand and we run to where the man nearest us is standing, waving his arms.
“Your Highness!” He yells over the howl of the wind. “Look!”
On the tree, there’s a tattered piece of red fabric—it looks like someone tore it and tried to spike it over a branch at eye level.
Andrew pulls me into an embrace and speaks into my ear. “It’s Leo.”
“How do you know?” I’m almost yelling back at him, even though my mouth is almost against the side of his face.
“I just know.” He pulls away from me for a moment, looking into my eyes. He tilts his head and kisses me for a second before pulling away again. “You should go back.”
I shake my head. “I’m coming with you.”
Though I can’t hear him, I can feel him sigh.
There’s another shout from about twenty feet away, and we run over to the next man, who’s found a similar bit of cloth on a tree.
Andrew nods. “This is definitely them.” He points in the direction of the next man. “We should go that way.”
I nod, looking up at him.
He gives me a weak smile, and I can see something about his expression has changed. There’s finally a glimmer of hope in his eyes—something that hadn’t been there before.
And I feel it, too. My stomach unknots just a little, and my heart skips a few beats. We might actually be able to find them.
“We should get word back to Elle and the others!” I yell up at Andrew.
He gives me a sharp shake of his head. “Not until we’re certain.”
I suppose he’s right. It’s probably best not to give her false hope, especially when we’re not sure what we’re going to find—or if we’re going to find anything.
We continue on the path of the red fabric, finding a small p
iece about every twenty feet or so for another six or seven trees.
But then the signs stop. There’s nothing on the next tree or the tree after that.
Andrew finally turns to me, his eyes widened. He pulls me under one of the firs, shielding us somewhat from the wind. “This isn’t good.”
“Maybe they ran out of fabric.” I let out a long breath. “Or maybe they changed direction. Maybe they started up the mountain. Is there anything that way?” I point in the direction of the incline. “Maybe they saw shelter?”
He rubs at his jaw with his glove-covered hand. “It’s probably the best explanation.” He motions at one of the men still searching each tree in the vicinity. “You! Start up the mountain.” He juts a thumb over his shoulder. “And tell the others.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The man rushes over to the next man in line, and then that man does the same.
Andrew looks down at me, frowning. “It’s going to become much steeper. I don’t think—”
“I’m coming with you. Stop trying to talk me out of it.”
“Your nose… You’re going to get frostbite.”
“And so are you. Andrew…” I shake my head. “I’m not going to let you do this alone.”
He presses his lips together, giving me a grim nod. “I know.”
I reach out and take his hand with mine. Even though we’re both wearing gloves, I bring his hand to my lips. “I love you. And I can’t—”
I’m interrupted by a shout from one of the men. “Your Highness! Your Highness!”
Andrew and I rush up the steep slope of the mountain to where the man is jumping up and down, waving his arms.
“What is it?” Andrew looks at the tree the man is standing near. “I don’t see—”
“Your Highness, there’s a new trail.” The man gulps before he turns and points behind him. “Look.”
Andrew and I edge around him, and there’s no mistaking what we see. There, on the snow, is a dark red, plate-sized spot.
It’s blood. And there’s a lot of it.
Andrew
My eyes take in the large patch of blood on the snow. I feel numb, and not just from the cold.
But I can’t stop yet. I won’t stop until I find my brother.
“Why are we standing around staring at this?” I demand. “It’s not helping anything. Keep going!”
The other men fan out, and I follow, taking what looks to be the mostly likely trail among the brush and snow. Victoria is just behind me. I avoid looking at her, not wanting to see her expression—I know I’ll only find the fears I’m desperately trying not to feel.
That could be anyone’s blood, I tell myself. That could be an animal’s blood, for all we know.
Still, I’m grateful that Elle is elsewhere with William and Nicholas. I can only imagine how she’d react to such a discovery.
“Your Highness!” comes a shout from my right.
I turn and jog toward the man without hesitation. He’s found another patch of blood on the ground. This one isn’t as large as the first, but if it belongs to the same person, we’re clearly dealing with a serious injury.
“It looks like they may have gone up there,” the man says, pointing up a rather precarious trail toward an outcropping of rock. Sure enough, I spot another dribble of blood about five meters up the slope.
I don’t pause to assess the danger. I clamber up the slope, scrambling over slick, snow-covered rocks and around scrubby bushes. After the first spot of blood I find another. Then another, just beyond it.
“This way!” I call to anyone within earshot. “This way!”
I don’t let myself think about what I might find. I focus on putting one foot in front of the other, on keeping my balance on this icy slope. The air is so cold it’s almost painful to breathe, but the sharp stabbing in my lungs keeps me alert, at least.
When I reach the outcropping, I don’t see any more blood. I turn slowly, scanning the slopes above and below, but I don’t see anything.
The trail can’t end here. Where the hell has he gone?
Victoria reaches the outcropping, and another couple of men arrive just behind her. Half a dozen others are still scrambling up the slope behind them.
“Spread out!” I command. “He’s around here somewhere!”
I make another scan of the surrounding land. A moment later, I feel a tug on my sleeve. Victoria.
“Up there,” she says, pointing to a spot up the mountain to our right. “Something’s moving.”
I follow her finger. Sure enough, there’s something—or someone—there. Some smudge of movement against the snow.
A couple of my men have already started toward it. I sprint past them, slipping on the snow, propelling myself forward in any way possible. As I get closer, the figure becomes clearer. It’s definitely human. A man. And he’s waving his arm, trying to get our attention.
Thank God.
But deep down, I know there’s nothing to be thankful for yet. Not until I see my brother alive and well.
And as I get closer, I see that it most definitely isn’t my brother on the slope above. The height and build are wrong. My heart drops, but then I realize there’s something mildly familiar about the figure. Something about those dreadlocks…
And then it hits me. I’ve only met Elle’s brother once before, and under rather unpleasant circumstances, but the fellow left quite the impression. How the hell did that disreputable pothead end up here?
As my mind is trying to answer all these questions, I suddenly catch sight of another figure, emerging as if from nowhere. I recognize him, too.
Matthias.
If Matthias is here, then Leopold is, too. We’ve found him!
Assuming he’s still alive…
I shove down that thought, somehow finding the power and strength to move even faster. In moments, I finally find myself in front of the two men, wheezing and trying to catch my breath in the bitter cold.
“Where…is…he?” I manage to get out.
“In here, Your Highness,” Matthias says weakly, his voice scratchy and raw. “The only shelter we could find. But Your Highness—”
I push past him, charging into what I now see is a small cave among the rocks. The slope and the snow hid it from view until I was right in front of it.
Inside, I nearly trip over the remains of a sad little fire. There are two figures leaning against the far wall. One is a woman I’ve never seen before. The other is my brother, whose head is tilted back against the stone wall. His eyes are closed, and his left arm has been bundled up in a makeshift bandage. The bandage and most of his clothes are soaked in blood.
I’m down on my knees next to him in an instant.
“Leopold,” I say, shaking his shoulder. “Leopold, can you hear me?”
“He hurt his arm in the crash,” Elle’s brother says. “Lost a lot of blood.” His voice is scratchy like Matthias’, and he leans against the wall as if he can’t stand upright otherwise.
“How bad is it? What have you done to stop the bleeding? When was the last time he was conscious?”
He doesn’t get to answer my flurry of questions, because that’s when the others arrive. Suddenly the small cave is filled with people—soldiers and rescuers springing to action, eager to put their training into use. Elle’s brother and Matthias are wrapped in emergency blankets and quickly ushered away. The woman next to Leopold is barely conscious, but two men wrap her up and carry her carefully out of the cave. Others try to get to Leopold, but before anything else happens, I need to know that he’s alive.
“Leopold,” I say again, shaking his shoulder once more.
One of the rescuers kneels on the other side of my brother and feels for his pulse.
“He’s still alive. And breathing,” the man tells me. “We need to get him medical assistance as soon as possible.”
I’m forced to get out of the way so they can lift him. The moment they do, though, his eyes drift slowly open.
“Leopold,”
I say. “Thank God.”
Leopold’s gaze finds me. “It’s…bloody…cold.”
“And you’re lucky you’re bloody alive.”
He blinks a couple of times, and his memory seems to return. “Helicopter…”
“You crashed. We found the remains. And obviously you were injured.” I’m trying to avoid looking at his arm. “But you’ll be all right. Don’t worry.”
A half smile appears on his lips. “I didn’t get the worst of it,” he whispers. “Meghan…”
That must be the woman. “She’s also getting care.”
The men have started carrying him toward the entrance to the cave, and I follow. Leopold turns his head to look at me.
“Elle. And Matthew… How are they?”
“Matthew is safe and sound back at the palace, don’t worry.”
“Elle?”
“As we speak, they’re probably alerting her that you’ve been found. She’s been helping us look for you, but she and William and Nicholas went to the other side—”
“What? She’s here?!” Leopold’s outburst is so sudden and loud that one of the men carrying him starts and nearly drops him. “Why in bloody hell is she here? Why did you let her—?”
“You know I couldn’t have stopped her. What was I supposed to do? Tie her down?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what you should have done!” Leopold starts wriggling, trying to escape the grasp of the men carrying him. “Let me down. I need to go find her and—”
“She’s safe, I assure you,” I tell him. “But neither of us will be if she finds out you hurt yourself further by being a bloody fool.”
That seems to calm Leopold somewhat, but he’s fully alert now.
“You’ll see her in a few minutes, I promise,” I tell him.
Leopold isn’t looking at me anymore. Instead, he’s staring up at the sky. “As long as she’s safe. As long as they’re both safe.”
“They are.”
“Good.” His eyes close again, and his lips curl up into a full smile. “Good.”
