by Lisa Lee
“What has happened?” the queen exclaimed, hurrying forward, her expression worried.
Her husband matched her pace, his expression grave. He looked at his son with a message which Gideon understood.
Gideon shook his head in response. “Gabe wasn’t feeling well at the match, and Lily was worried about Gabe. They want to check them both out, just to make sure everything is ok.”
“Yes, he has probably just been pushing himself too hard. I’m sure he will recover soon,” his mother said, hugging herself. Gideon noticed that his mother said nothing about Lily or the baby.
Her husband, normally not one for public displays of affection, put his arm around her in comfort.
His father made a call to the head of palace staff and indicated that the family should not be disturbed while they waited. They sat on the padded benches in the waiting area outside the infirmary. The waiting area was lovely with the walls painted a light blush color and decorated with small pictures of plants and flowers native to the island. The coffee and side tables were topped with an array of pale roses in deference to the queen’s edict that every room in The Red Palace have fresh flowers. If one wanted to catch up on news or be entertained, discreet tablets were available in small cubbyholes with sliding doors built right underneath the circular top of the coffee table.
Gideon failed to see any of these charming details. Instead, he sat unseeing, expecting word any moment, but no word came as a minute became an hour and then hours. Medical personnel would periodically come to and from with a deferential nod to him and his parents, all with the same line about testing. About hour three, the cheerful tone of the staff seemed forced, and eye contact was even less than usual.
“What is wrong with these people?” the queen exclaimed as she got up and paced. “I should fire all of them for incompetence.”
“Jasmine,” the king began, “I can’t . . . let’s not dissolve into histrionics. Gabe and Lily need us to be strong.”
“No, Gabe needs us to be strong. Lily is just a social climber who has brought nothing of value to this family,” the queen said. “I don’t know why you didn’t stop that wedding.”
Both Gideon and his father put their heads in their hands as they waited for the queen to go on another tirade about Lily. She made no secret of the fact that she didn’t like her.
After moments of silence, Gideon hesitantly raised his eyes and noticed that his father’s expression was more tired and grave than usual, his lips a bloodless thin line and his skin chalky underneath the bronze color. As he watched his father, Gideon saw him close his eyes and pray silently.
His father was Christian, and his mother was Buddhist. Because of their father, both Gideon and his brother were Christians, but to Gideon, the rituals of church had no meaning. Church was just another royal duty that had to be done. Gideon knew that his father, however, strongly believed in his faith. As he watched his father pray and his mother pace, he felt like a ship without an anchor, incredibly tired and shaky.
Instead of continuing her tirade against Lily, Queen Jasmine sat beside her husband and leaned against him, her hands held tightly together. Gideon thought his mother let her pride get the better of her. She had a large circle of friends, many with eligible daughters. Before Gabe’s marriage to Lily, Queen Jasmine loved to talk about her “ideal” daughter-in-law. She loved, even more, watching her friends prod their daughters into meeting this ideal. Gideon observed her antics with detached amusement. It wasn’t unusual on the island for parents to actively assist their children in finding a spouse. However, the queen acted as though she had the final say about Gabe’s bride. She planned to get Gabe married off first, and then Gideon.
When Gabe was twenty, she had narrowed the list of suitable brides to three and planned to talk with Gabe about them when he returned home on break from university. Much to her dismay, Gabe returned home expounding at length on the beauty of the heretofore unknown Lily.
* * *
It was just coincidence, Gideon thought as he continued to wait with his parents, that he and Gabe met Lily their junior year at university, when the brothers were twenty and Lily was twenty-three. The brothers attended college abroad in London, where Lily had been raised from birth by her aunt. Lily’s father had taken off when her mother announced the pregnancy, and her mother had died giving birth to her. Like her aunt, Lily was a nurse. At the time she met the twins, she had a master’s degree in nursing and was well-regarded in the private hospital where she worked.
Gideon and his brother had needed a few routine vaccinations to remain in London, and Lily was the nurse who administered them. After they got to know her, Lily told them that the night before they met her, she had been assigned the night rotation from midnight until eight in the morning.
“You were?” Gabe had asked before he burst into laughter with Gideon. By then, the twins knew Lily well enough to know that anything less than eight hours of beauty sleep left her quite irritated.
“It’s not funny. By eight, I was so exhausted I just wanted to cry,” Lily exclaimed. “And then, to make matters worse, the eight o’clock nurse didn’t show up, so I had to work even longer. It’s a wonder I even gave you the right shots. At least, I hope I did.” Lily’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember.
“Don’t worry about it,” Gabe said. “I’m sure you gave us the right vaccinations.” Gideon wasn’t so sure, but he figured that thought was better unexpressed. Gabe was completely, utterly in love with Lily. He had shared with Gideon how he had become interested in her and maneuvered their first date.
According to Gabe, when he came in the private hospital late that morning with Gideon and their security detail, he would never have thought that he expected a certain amount of fawning over his title, well-honed physique, and impeccable tailoring. If one had even dared to imply that he was that vain, he would have expounded at length on the weight of his future responsibilities and his duty to always put the welfare of Seahorse Island first above all. Still, he admitted to Gideon that what drew him initially to Lily was her total lack of deference and her ability to treat him the same as everyone else.
Gabe told Gideon that Lily had laughed when he mentioned her ability to be unfazed by his status. She later shared with Gabe that she was normally a little star struck by some of the more famous patients that visited the private hospital where she worked, even though she was professional enough not to show it. But when she met the twins for the first time, she had been on her feet for almost the entire length of her extended shift. All she could focus on was the thirty-minute countdown to noon when the replacement was due to show up.
She vaccinated Gideon first and then Gabe, with their security detail present. After she vaccinated Gabe and gave him instructions for what to do should he experience side effects, Lily didn’t process his request to perhaps go out for coffee correctly. She thought he asked for coffee, so she requested from the hospital’s concierge staff that coffee—dark brew, cream but no sugar—be delivered right away to Prince Gabriel. She missed the smirk on Gideon’s face and Gabe’s answering scowl. The security detail pretended they saw nothing.
When Gabe made it back to his apartment on the River Thames in London, he still carried the cup of coffee, which he stared at for a while. Finally, he concluded to Gideon that he wanted to know the dark-haired nurse better. She made him curious. He came up with various plausible side effects from the vaccines and went back to the hospital a few days later. As luck would have it, Lily was on the day shift, and she was in a more conversational mood.
“Are you available for dinner tonight?” Gabe asked Lily as his visit concluded.
Lily smiled regretfully. “I’m so sorry, but the hospital has a strict policy about not going out with patients. Otherwise, I would love to go out for dinner.”
“Well, what time do you go for your coffee break?” Gabe asked.
“Around noon?” she answered with a question in her voice.
“At the place on the cor
ner?” He followed up with his most charming smile.
“Perhaps the Coffee Bliss place a few blocks north,” Lily answered with a small smile as she caught on.
A few “accidental” coffee dates later, Gabe knew Lily was the woman he wanted to marry. It took over a year to make that dream a reality. First, Lily had to be convinced that Gabe was dating her with serious intentions. Then Lily had to make the harder decision about whether she wanted to date Gabe and incur all that dating him entailed—lack of privacy, nosy media, learning a different way of life than the one for which she had trained so very hard, and dealing with potentially difficult in-laws. Gideon had never seen his brother put so much effort into courting a woman as he did with Lily. Gideon had stood with pride as the best man at Gabe and Lily’s marriage ceremony.
The way his brother and Lily loved each other sometimes made Gideon wonder when he would find a woman to love that deeply. His secret relationship with Angel seemed pale in comparison. Sometimes he felt lonely, especially with his brother preoccupied with Lily, and Angel was always available. But she wasn’t the one. He wanted the woman he would know for sure was for him. Angel wasn’t her, but at least she helped him not be alone. He was supposed to meet her that evening, but it wouldn’t be the first time he didn’t show. He figured he would connect with her on another night, once this situation with his brother had been straightened out.
* * *
The chief physician finally appeared. Instead of coming through the infirmary doors, however, her image appeared on the VCD—Visual Communication Device—that had been hidden behind a wall panel. The doctor wore a closed expression. Gideon feared for what was to come next as he stood with his parents to hear the doctor’s words. The physician bowed her head slightly on the screen.
“Your Highness, my sincere apologies for the long wait,” the physician began.
“Please tell me; how are my son and his family?” the king requested.
“Why are you on the screen and not out here?” the queen asked.
After a slight pause, the physician said, “Let me start with the baby. He has a strong heartbeat. His mother did experience premature labor, which we were able to stop. We can monitor that—”
“What about my son?” Gideon’s mother interjected, impatient.
THREE
Eden, School Days
I jerked awake the next morning, my muscles still tense. For a moment, I lay in a confused panic, wondering why the ceiling was so low and dingy. Then I remembered how I came to be in a room so very different from my own.
I sat up and grasped my knees, gasping as the motion caused pain to start again. My arms were still sore from being suspended, and the parts of me that had been hit were bruised and painful to the slightest touch. There was no mirror in the room, so I didn’t have an idea of how terrible my face looked. The clock in the room said it was 4:30. I was no less confused this morning than I was the night before.
I remembered reading in church about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac and thinking with confidence that my mother or father would never sacrifice me for God or man. They would go to hell first, I’d thought, certain I was loved, that I was the sun that radiated life in my neat little world. My mind understood the need to get away from Inspector Brown, but my spirit could not accept that my parents would arrange for so brutal an arrangement. Anger rose within me like ocean waves. My body shook as I tried to contain the waves like a dam. I thought to pray but couldn’t find the words. Instead, I thought about my new school.
The woman who greeted my arrival last night said her name was Mrs. Stout and that I was at the Joseph Hyde School for Exceptional Girls. Something about the way she said the word “exceptional” made me think she was mocking me, but I couldn’t trust my own impressions at that point. She walked determinedly up the stairs to the room in which I was to sleep, explaining that breakfast was served at 8 a.m. sharp and that my orientation would be right after breakfast with Mrs. Grey. She slammed the door shut on her way out.
My room held a small closet with several changes of the school’s uniform: a gray-white-and-black plaid jumper dress, black tights, black lace-up shoes, a long-sleeved white shirt to go underneath the dress, and a black-buttoned sweater for cold days. I felt depressed at the lack of color. There were also underwear and two long gray nightgowns. My skin itched from the nightgown I’d put on last night.
The surprising thing was the school logo: a mythical seahorse with the body of a horse covered in scales, elegant fins instead of hooves, and a luxurious mane of thick curly hair. The logo was on all the clothes, even the underwear. I shook my head briefly at the illogic of putting a logo someplace where no one would ever see. All the clothes were in my size, giving credence to Mrs. Stout’s statement that my parents had arranged my placement at this school for “exceptional” girls.
If I stood in the center of the room with my arms straight out on both sides, I could almost touch the walls. The floor was brownish, and the walls were a dingy beige color. There was a small window with decorative wrought iron black bars. I could only open the window to circulate air; I couldn’t lean out. I didn’t see any fire stairs.
Still, the room had a plus. It gave me a better view of the campus than a room facing away from the school would have. The center of campus was laid out in a cross shape: a walkway going east and west, bisected in the middle by a walkway going north and south. The walkways were layered with attractive red brick and lined on all sides by beautiful shady trees. The lawns surrounding the walkways were still vibrant emerald, and a few benches loitered here and there.
No one was out and about just yet. It was that fragile time between night ending and day beginning. Each walkway led to one of four large buildings, each made with grimy Greystone facades and bricked sides, with few decorative touches. Each building seemed to be about five floors, with the top floor having some attic rooms with slanted roofs like the room I had been assigned. I felt hemmed in, even as I slept.
Around a quarter to seven, just when I thought I should start getting ready for the day, I heard a quiet tapping at my door. I stared at the door in surprise for a moment before opening it a sliver. Two faces looked back at me, one avidly curious. The faces belonged to two girls who looked about my age. I opened the door a little wider.
“Oh no! You look terrible!” said the tall, gangly girl with green eyes. Her hair was bright red and pulled back into a tight bun. Her face was covered with freckles, and there was a little gap between her top front teeth.
She pushed the door open and stepped in. “Giovanni must have been in a worse mood than usual. How are you? Does it hurt badly?”
She looked at me so sympathetically and warmly that my eyes started to tear up. I blinked back the tears. I didn’t know her. Come to think of it, before being captured, I hadn’t spoken to anyone who hadn’t been introduced to me by my parents. So, I didn’t say anything and just stared at the two girls, chewing my bottom lip indecisively.
“Well, I’m Kaitlyn, and doom-and-gloom over there is Bethany.” Kaitlyn sat on the floor and looked at me expectantly. The other girl, presumably Bethany, sat as well. Her skin was pale ivory, and her blue-black hair was also pulled back into a tight bun. She frowned slightly and fiddled with a piece of red yarn in her hand.
Not knowing what else to do, I sat down on the floor as well, wincing slightly as I did so. “I’m Eden,” I said. “Who is Giovanni?”
“Someone to avoid,” Bethany replied.
“He only captures us,” Kaitlyn said. “Once we’re here, he doesn’t have much to do with us. Just remember to follow the rules.” She shrugged her shoulders.
I nodded, even though I didn’t really understand.
“How old are you?” Kaitlyn asked. “I just turned fourteen in August and Bethany—”
“I can speak,” Bethany interrupted. “I’m fourteen too. I assume you’re the same age since your room is between Kaitlyn’s and mine.”
“Well, I’m thi
rteen,” I said, “but I will be fourteen in October. I’m from Sunny City, New Jersey. Where are you from?”
“You’re only thirteen!” Bethany exclaimed, looking totally discomfited. “This is high school, not junior high.” Her tone made it seem like a complaint. She looked away from me and started biting her nails. They already looked well-bitten.
“Don’t worry about Bethany,” Kaitlyn said. “She’s always PMSing.”
I laughed from surprise or shock. I didn’t know. Generally, one didn’t talk about private things.
Bethany just rolled her eyes at Kaitlyn and stuck out her tongue. We all laughed at her antics and continued talking about nothing of consequence. I was dying to ask about their families and why they were at the school. I was trying to think of a safe question to ask when I heard Bethany gasp.
“You have to get dressed now,” she said. The other girl was already opening the closet and pulling out clothes. I looked at the clock. The time was 7:53. I remembered that Mrs. Stout had said breakfast was served at eight sharp. Bethany and Kaitlyn were already dressed in their uniforms.
I hurriedly put on my clothes under my nightgown. The other two girls looked me with puzzled expressions. When I was fully dressed and had hung up the nightgown, Kaitlyn took a comb and tried to get it through my kinky, unruly hair, but the comb just snapped in half. That stopped her administrations momentarily, but then she just yanked my hair back into a big ponytail with the ends tucked under and declared me done. Bethany made the bed with quick, abrupt efficiency.
There was a slight creaking sound, and the girls hissed, “She’s coming.” In three seconds, they were gone.
I heard Mrs. Stout’s hard gait. When she arrived at my open door, she took in my neat appearance. Her lips thinned in displeasure. She glanced around the room, and then I saw her eyes get a sudden gleam which made my stomach clench and my bowels get a little looser. She was a predator who had spotted a weakness.
