Royal Replicas 2: Royal Captives

by Michael Pierce

  Kneeling in the dirt, I peered through the grapevines to confirm. Yes; it was Kale. I didn’t recognize the other man.

  I’d found him. This had to be the medic trailer.

  Once they were out of earshot, I found another small opening and dashed for the trailer. I scanned the area as I ran, and though I saw a few people in the distance, no one seemed to notice me.

  I hopped up the few stairs and barged into the trailer—and immediately came to a screeching halt. I did not find Prince Byron, bandaged up and resting in a bed as I had expected. Instead, I found—

  “There’s my little princess,” Master Ramsey said in his low, gruff voice. “I knew I’d find you here. Is Mina here too? I’d love to see her. Would you be a doll and fetch her for me? As you can see, I’m not currently in a position to come and go as I please.”

  I found myself stepping into the trailer and letting the door swing closed behind me.

  Master Ramsey—I wasn’t supposed to call him master—was seated on a metal bench bolted to the floor. His hands and feet were shackled, and those chains had been also connected to the bench. With the way he was bound, he wouldn’t be able to stand up straight. He sat there, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together, glaring at me like a starving wolf.

  “Mina’s not here,” I said.

  “I don’t believe you. There’s no need to lie. Not now. Let us speak freely.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “I’m here as a gift, presumably.”

  “For whom?”

  “For you.” Master Ramsey’s lips curled up into a toothy, murderous grin. “I’m all yours, princess. To do with as you please. What would you like to do to me? Maybe you can have a turn and then I can have a turn—give and take, give and take—you know, like a game. Does that sound like fun?”

  “No,” I said, my voice beginning to shake. Even with him bound to the bench, I felt he could still reach out and grab me. I should run from here as fast as possible, but couldn’t move from where I stood—caught in the sight of a vicious predator.

  “You should try it. You may come to realize you have a taste for it.” Master Ramsey’s sinister grin widened.

  “I’m not like you,” I said.

  “I’ve lost everything because of you.” His voice grew soft. “Queen Dorothea cursed us when she had you injected into my wife. You’re an abomination and you cursed us all.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked… but I already knew. Queen Hart had told me over the phone what she’d done to the Ramseys.

  “Our family name is no longer one of significance. She stripped everything away. All we were left with was each other—and we couldn’t even have that because of you. Where is my daughter!” His last sentence was an explosion. He strained violently against the chains, causing me to recoil in fear and back into the closed door.

  With my final ounce of strength, I shouted back, “You don’t deserve her!” Then I fumbled for the handle, threw open the door and bolted from the trailer without concern for being spotted.

  20

  Byron

  I woke up alone in an unfamiliar room. I was lying in a bed—more of a cot—in line with three others that were empty and stripped of all linens.

  My head was foggy and the far walls of the room were blurry. But with what I could make out, there was a desk, glass cabinets with an assortment of bottles, medical machinery, and stainless steel trays on wheels with surgical equipment. One of the trays had a leftover wad of bloody gauze. There were a few windows with drawn curtains, lit from behind by sunshine.

  Then the events of the previous night began to come back to me—at least I hoped it was the previous night. I was hit by a flood of painful memories. My side burned as I thought of being shot, lying on the ground in a pool of my own blood, and the agonizing transport to wherever this was.

  I lifted the sheet and gazed at the bandages around my stomach. They were tight. My whole middle burned. But I also sensed a numbness and knew that without whatever medicine I’d been given, I’d be in a great deal more pain.

  I knew I had been taken to Kale’s camp in the Outlands, but that was the extent of it. I even told them to take my SUV, which we’d started out in, but switched out for a jeep somewhere past the fence. I knew these guys would be paranoid, and it was probably a good thing. I had checked the SUV for tracking devices before I left Capital City and didn’t find any evidence of them, but I supposed one could never be sure.

  I pushed up onto my elbows. My arms shook from the strain, but I did have some strength, and the pain wasn’t completely unbearable. I then took it a step further and tried to sit up, but quickly found that movement too much, too fast.

  “Dammit,” I sighed and dropped back down.

  As I lay there staring at the ceiling, I heard the door open and glanced over.

  Gabriel stepped into the room and his face lit up at the sight of me. “Sir, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been shot in the gut,” I said and laughed, and also found that was a big mistake.

  “Take it easy,” he said as he crossed the room and pulled a chair to my bedside. “The doc said you’re recovering nicely, but it will still take some time.”

  “I kind of wish you missed,” I said and turned my head to face him since it was too difficult to adjust my whole body.

  “If I’d missed in one direction, then you’d be dead. And if I’d missed in another, I would’ve had to take another shot. Your orders, remember?”

  “I know,” I said. “I just forgot how much it hurts. Hopefully, this time will be the last.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” Gabriel said. He vigorously rubbed his left shoulder. “I need both hands to count all my bullet scars.”

  “How are my guys?” I asked. I didn’t remember other gunshots after I’d fallen, but my memory wasn’t quite as reliable after that point.

  “Everyone was fine,” Gabriel said. “Kale knocked out Rod with a blow to the head. He’ll have a pounding headache today, but he should be fine. The other two I got with tranquilizers. We moved all of them under that messed-up tree before leaving for the gate. There was enough of your blood left behind to convince them the attack had been real.”

  “It felt pretty real,” I said, laughing again, and regretting it again.

  “I did what you asked. I got you this far, so what’s our next move—once you’re relieved of bed rest, of course.”

  “Is Duke Ramsey here?”

  “He’s no longer a duke, but yeah, he’s here. Charming guy.”

  “How about Victoria? How is she?”

  “We’ll all have some explaining to do,” Gabriel said. “She was pretty upset at the sight of you last night.”

  “She saw me?” I hadn’t wanted her to see me like that. “Did we say anything to each other?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “You were way too out of it by that time, and she was far too distraught.”

  How could Kale have brought me back to his home? Victoria wouldn’t have seen me last night if I had been brought straight here. I felt terrible about this and my tactic to get out here didn’t seem as well-planned anymore. Maybe it never was. “I need to speak to her.”

  “You need to speak to whom?”

  I then noticed who I could only presume was the doctor, standing in the doorway. I remembered someone showing up to treat me, but any specifics of the night prior were lost to me.

  “Good morning, Prince DuFour. I’m Dr. Stetson. You seem alert. Your color has certainly returned.”

  “He just woke up,” Gabriel said. “I was here all night and just stepped out to get a bite to eat.”

  Dr. Stetson walked over and placed a hand on my forehead. “Your fever broke.” Then he placed two fingers on my wrist and gazed at his watch. “How’s the pain?”

  “It’s there,” I said.

  “Can you sit up?”

  “I tried a few minutes ago and decided it was a bad idea.”

 
Dr. Stetson took a look at my bandages, gently pressed on my stomach, then moved closer to my wound.

  “Ouch!” I complained. “Do you mind?”

  “I’m sorry. I just haven’t had the pleasure to experiment with nanobots before,” Dr. Stetson said with the giddiness and curiosity of a child. “Your recovery’s amazing. The infection appears to be gone. Your pain is obviously bearable without the use of NSAIDs. Remarkable.”

  “Well I’m not going to volunteer to get shot without them,” I said. “Thank God the dose I had eventually worked. I thought I was dying for a while there.”

  “I don’t know enough about them,” Dr. Stetson said. “I know they can be impacted by severe temperatures, radiation, and powerful electromagnets.”

  “Yes. I should have had the dose tested beforehand,” I said.

  “It’s working,” Gabriel said. “We know better for next time.”

  I glared at him. “There will be no next time.”

  “Do you have any left?” Dr. Stetson asked. “I’d love the opportunity to study them. It’s not every day we have royalty delivered to our camp.”

  “I’ll be sure to bring you some on my next visit to the Outlands,” I said, sarcastically.

  The doctor shrugged and sighed. “It couldn’t hurt to ask.” He requested his desk chair back from Gabriel and sat down. “At the rate you’re recovering, I expect you’ll be on your feet, walking around by tomorrow morning—maybe even this evening. It’s obvious now you didn’t need me.”

  “You helped me get to this point,” I said. “Which is a hell of a lot better than I was feeling last night.”

  “Is there anything I can get for you?” Gabriel asked.

  “Victoria,” I said.

  “How about some breakfast first?” he suggested.

  “Though don’t eat too much,” Dr. Stetson chimed in. “Your stomach will most likely still be rather sensitive.”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t want food. I haven’t come all this way and been through the hell of last night to eat breakfast first. I simply want to see Victoria.”

  “Maybe you should wait until you’re feeling a little better—you can’t even sit up yet,” Gabriel said.

  “Why does that matter?” I asked and pushed back up on my elbows. “And besides…” I continued upward until I was in a seated position and dropped my legs over the side of the cot. I winced as my bare feet hit the floor, but I tried to bury the reaction as quickly as possible.

  “Trying to prove a point?” Gabriel smirked at me.

  “I think I just did.”

  “Yeah; that you’re still in a great deal of pain.”

  But before I had a chance to respond, the door opened again and she was standing in the doorway. The sun was shining in from behind her, making her appear glowing… like an angel.

  I straightened my back, gripped the edge of the cot for support, and smiled.

  21

  Victoria

  I didn’t tell Kale I’d found Master Ramsey, but insisted he take me to Prince Byron early the next morning. I didn’t know if he’d be awake yet, but I hadn’t slept a wink the night before, and couldn’t wait any longer.

  Kale led me to the medic trailer, for which we passed right by the trailer holding Master Ramsey, and then I insisted I go in alone.

  “I’ll see you back at the house,” Kale said as I made my way up the metal stairs. But he didn’t seem to be leaving. He simply stood and watched me enter the trailer.

  When I opened the door, Prince Byron was sitting up in bed on the far side of the room. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and was bandaged around his entire stomach. He was talking with Gabriel and the doctor was sitting at his desk.

  When Prince Byron noticed me, he stiffened, then managed a painful smile.

  A tidal wave of emotions flowed over me at the sight of him—the sight of him injured, the sight of him here, the sight of him after all we’d been through during the Queen’s competition. With him now before me, I couldn’t deny the feelings I’d had for him—the lingering feelings I didn’t want to admit I’d still had after walking out of the Choosing Ceremony.

  “I think I’ll give you two some time,” Gabriel said and glanced over at the doctor.

  “I have a scheduled home visit to make,” the doctor said and looked at his watch. “It’s a little early—I could use some coffee first.”

  I stepped out of the doorway and let the two men pass. When I glanced back as the door swung shut, I realized Kale was gone.

  “I don’t even know where to begin,” he said. His arms shook as he sat on the edge of the bed. It seemingly took all his strength to remain upright.

  “You scared me last night,” I said, crossing the room to be near him.

  “I’m sorry about that too,” he said. “I’m sorry about everything. That I couldn’t save the others at the Choosing Ceremony—that I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry I could not run after you. You have no idea how much I wanted to.”

  “But you chose Bethany,” I said, hopping up to sit on the doctor’s desk.

  “I had to make another formal choice, per the Queen’s command. Flat out defying her in the moment would have condemned us all. I had to play along. Remember, we were all playing along with the Queen’s game. Up until…” His head sank and I knew what he was remembering. “I tried to save them. I didn’t know the kind of power the Queen—the doctors had over them.”

  “It obviously wasn’t absolute because I’m still here, as are Piper and Constance.”

  “Yes… they… are…” The Prince swayed with the words. Sweat had broken out around his temples.

  “Why don’t you lie down,” I said, stepping down, and helping guide him down to the bed.

  He didn’t protest, taking deep, labored breaths once he was on his back. He brought his left hand to his bandages and held it there.

  “Why would you do this?” I asked.

  “I never stopped loving you, even more so after seeing how you handled the Queen. I wish I could have been the one to do it.”

  “You could have. I was waiting for you to.” I brought the chair from around the desk and set it next to the bed.

  Prince Byron shook his head. “You don’t understand my role in all this,” he said. “I can’t openly defy the Queen. She holds the fate of my Kingdom in the palm of her hand—the fate of my family.”

  “You and she said our two kingdoms were working together to better relations. That’s why the joint marriage was so important.”

  “It makes for a nice story,” he said, turning his head to look me in the eyes. “But it’s not the truth. The truth is she practically owns our Kingdom. We’re at war—one lost battle away from destruction—and she’s financing us, keeping us afloat. If she rescinds her backing, Easteria is as good as gone.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

  “It’s not exactly something we want to advertise. Everything seemed to be in control until her veto at the ceremony. Then I lost you.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t even fathom the type of pressure he was under—solely responsible for the fate of his entire Kingdom. And I’d been harboring resentment for him not standing up for me against the Queen since the night of the ceremony and for choosing Bethany over me in the end, and not riding after me as I’d ridden Misty out of the palace gate and into the uncertain night.

  “I put a great deal on the line organizing Kale’s escape,” Prince Byron said. His eyes looked so sad. “I knew it wouldn’t make up for what I couldn’t do before, but I hoped it would help restore some faith in me. I love you, Victoria. I certainly don’t want to condemn my family and my Kingdom, but I don’t want to lose you either.”

  “What if you can’t have both?” I combed through his dark hair with my fingers and then rested my hand on the side of his head.

  “I refuse to make that choice,” he said, closing his eyes and nuzzling his head into my hand. “There has to be a way. And that’s why I’
m here. To show you my sincerity. To beg for your forgiveness and do anything within my power to restore what we had.”

  “I don’t know exactly what to think about all this…” My mind was reeling. From the moment I saw him, I realized a big part of my heart was still his, but where could we really go from here? What about Bethany? What about the Queen and her hold over his home?

  “I brought a gift as well, which I’d like to present to you as soon as I’m able—once I can get out of this bed, which shouldn’t be long. Tomorrow probably.”

  And then I remembered what Master Ramsey had said last night. I cringed from his words. I’m here as a gift. I hoped this wasn’t the gift to which Prince Byron was referring, but I had a dreadful feeling it was.

  “Is it a gift I’ll like?” I asked, my voice faltering.

  “One you’ll appreciate,” he answered, sounding a little too confident.

  I certainly did not appreciate Master Ramsey here. And with Duke Mackenzie around as well, who seemed to have decent clout with Frank. For all I knew, they might free Master Ramsey and turn me over to him. I shivered at the thought.

  “Are you okay?” Prince Byron asked.

  I was tired of all the secrecy. If we were going to get back to any semblance of the relationship we had before, then I needed some transparency. “Does your gift have anything to do with Ma—Duke Ramsey?”

  22

  Byron

  “You’ve seen him,” I said, not as a question. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It felt like things were going well. She seemed to understand—that she’d probably be willing to give me another chance. But now—with the mention of Ramsey—I felt the trust I was rebuilding start to crumble.

  “Yes,” Victoria said. “And before you go blaming anyone, I discovered him last night by accident. By the look on your face, you wanted him to remain a secret. Well, last night I was looking for you, and ran across him instead.”