Royal Replicas 2: Royal Captives

by Michael Pierce

  “I know,” Kale said. “I’m sorry too. My father had no reservations about him last night. I had no idea he was allied with Mackenzie—though now I feel like I should have seen it. It makes sense those sick bastards are friends.” Kale dropped onto the bench, the empty shackles set beside him, and rested his forearms on his knees.

  The Prince was still seated on the floor. He was sweating profusely and looked awful. He had to be in a great deal of pain and should go back to the medic trailer. The bench where Kale sat was on the far side of the room. I paced back and forth until I was the one closest to the door, and then didn’t hesitate to throw it open—and dash down the steps.

  “Victoria!” Prince Byron and Kale yelled in relative unison.

  I continued in a full sprint down the open path between houses. I could still see my targets up ahead and wasn’t about to announce my approach by yelling at them. I was gaining on them fast, honed in on Master Ramsey. He was not going to sink his vile claws into Mina. Not again. Never again.

  I heard heavy footfalls behind me and did everything I could to pick up my pace, but I was already at full speed. No, Kale! Don’t do this! But he was as determined as I was, and in the next moment, we were rolling together on the ground from him tackling me.

  “Ugh!” I tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of me and all I could release was a breathy grunt.

  After several rolls, Kale was sitting on top of me, pinning me to the ground. I tried to wrench my wrists free and buck my body to throw him off, but Kale’s superior strength practically rendered me helpless.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing!” I yelled.

  “I know exactly what I’m doing,” he growled back. “Stop fighting. You’re not going to get her back this way.”

  I craned my neck and watched the group of men turn a corner and proceed down a perpendicular path. Master Ramsey glanced back and smiled, before disappearing behind a trailer.

  Tears were stinging my eyes and all I wanted from Kale was to let me go so I could continue to chase after them. I didn’t care what happened after I caught up to Master Ramsey. I just wanted—needed to attack. I tried so hard to leave him behind after leaving for the palace and didn’t want to become a vengeful and vindictive monster like him. But I felt an overwhelming obligation to protect Mina at all costs—even at the cost of my own safety.

  “Let me go! Just let me go!” I cried. “I won’t do anything stupid. I need to talk. Just talk to him. I’ll make him see. Make a deal.”

  Kale had been beginning to loosen his grip, but then returned it with full force. “I don’t know what kind of a deal you’re contemplating, but no. That’s not an option.”

  “I have to try. I have to.” The longer he held me down, the harder the tears poured down the sides of my cheeks. “I have to.”

  “Victoria, you have to listen to reason,” Kale begged. He let go of my hands but remained straddling me. “This behavior will destroy everything you’re trying to do in saving the girls, with saving Princess Amelia. We’ll get Mina back. I won’t stop until you do, but we have to let them go now.”

  “Mina’s more important,” I said. It hurt to say that, but it was true.

  “Even so,” Kale said. “Even so, we’re not going to be able to stop them now. I found him once; I’ll be able to do it again.”

  “He said they were staying with his sister in the 23rd Ward.”

  “I don’t know about that. I found him in the 24th, but even if he goes to the 23rd, it won’t stop me from finding him. Are you going to stop?”

  I nodded. “I’m done.”

  Kale got off me and I sat up in the dirt. I wiped my cheeks with the backs of my hands and immediately felt roughness as dirt from my hands was rubbed onto my face. Kale leaned in and helped me wipe it away.

  “Let’s go back to the detention trailer, get Byron and help him back to the medic trailer. He shouldn’t have gotten up.” Kale stood and offered me his hand.

  I took it but didn’t reply. Kale was right, of course, but I didn’t want to admit it. Trying to stop Master Ramsey now would simply put Mina in greater danger.

  “Let me at least say goodbye to her,” I finally said.

  Kale shook his head. “You heard my father’s directions. I’ve already had to restrain you twice. No way.” He looked into my wet eyes and added, “I’m sorry.”

  I dropped my head but didn’t press the issue any further.

  Kale put an arm around me as we walked back to find Prince Byron. I wanted to believe the gesture was to comfort me, but it was probably more so to keep me from running off again.

  When we reached the trailer, Kale had me climb the stairs first—which I did with an exaggerated sigh. But when I opened the door, I found the trailer empty. Prince Byron had already left on his own… or he’d been taken.

  26

  Byron

  The situation was dire, a big part of which was directly my fault. Despite my injuries, I needed to be the one to fix it if I hoped to have any of Victoria’s faith restored in me.

  It would be nice if these damn nanobots would work a little faster.

  As soon as Kale raced out of the trailer to catch Victoria, I got to my feet and stumbled down the metal steps. I figured Victoria wouldn’t get far with Kale after her and they’d be back soon, so I needed to disappear.

  I hobbled around the back of the trailer and past a few more small buildings before stopping to rest and calling Gabriel.

  “Ramsey is being let go and allowed to leave with his daughter, Mina,” I said. “I need your help in going after him. And we need to keep this quiet.”

  “Of course,” Gabriel replied. “Where are you?”

  “Can you commandeer a jeep? And I need a gun.”

  “I’m sure I can find something. How much time do we have?”

  “None,” I said. “We need to go now. Just tell me where to meet you. It’ll probably take me as long to get there as it’ll take you to get everything ready.”

  I certainly didn’t know my way around this camp, but Gabriel had me go East until I reached the last row of buildings. I staggered to the far side of the community as quickly as I could, ignoring the burning in my stomach that continued to shoot pulses of sharp pain through my lower extremities.

  I reached the edge of the camp without stopping and found a sprawling vineyard beyond, with the grapes in their infancy stage of ripening. The air was sweet, reminding me I hadn’t eaten yet. Maybe some of my weakness was due to hunger, but I had to try and ignore that too.

  A jeep came driving up in a cloud of dust a few minutes later. I moved closer to the buildings in case it was some type of patrol and not my ride. But the jeep slowed as it approached and I could finally make out Gabriel’s face behind the wheel as the dust cleared.

  I staggered around to the passenger door and opened it.

  “Climb into the back,” Gabriel said. “Stay down.”

  I went around to the back door, climbed in, and stretched across the seat on my back. I wasn’t perfectly hidden to bystanders, but at least my identity wouldn’t be immediately noticeable.

  Gabriel tossed me a bagel before hitting the accelerator, causing us to be swallowed by another cloud of dust.

  “You read my mind. Thanks,” I yelled over the exterior noise. “Did you bring me a gun?”

  “I brought a few options,” Gabriel said. “What’s the plan? Are we going to kill him?”

  “I’d sure like to, but don’t think that will be the best option, especially with his daughter present.”

  “You can cover her eyes while I do the honors,” Gabriel said, and I think he was only half joking.

  “If one of us does end up killing him, it should be me,” I said. “We dropped off our SUV in the desert, right? Let’s head there. If it’s in a good spot where we’ll see them making their way back to the 24th Ward, then we’ll hold there. If not, we’ll find a spot with a good vantage point.”

  “It’s at a good spot,�
� Gabriel said and continued into the desert.

  The driving certainly didn’t help the pain. It took about two hours to reach our stowed SUV. Most of the driving was on a primary trade road, but it probably hadn’t seen any cosmetic upgrades in decades. The drivability was better than off-roading, but not by a significant amount. I tried to rest up and save my energy for whatever confrontation lay ahead. I just wanted to be able to bring Victoria’s little sister back without jeopardizing whatever plan she’d been working on to help the remaining girls in the palace. I also knew contact needed to be made with the Queen—and soon.

  Once we’d been driving on flat, open land for a while, I periodically checked behind us for any sign of another vehicle. It wasn’t until we’d nearly reached our destination, that I saw a cloud of dust rising in the distance, which could very well have been kicked up by their jeep.

  Gabriel quickly brought our jeep to a stop, angling the vehicle across several lanes of the road. He then turned off the engine and hopped out.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, following him out, but not nearly as gracefully. Gabriel passed me a handgun, then went around to the back of the jeep. In the back, there were two bulletproof vests, a set of shackles, and a rifle case. He handed me one of the vests and the tangle of empty shackles.

  “That should be them,” Gabriel said, gesturing the way we’d come. “I’m guessing they’re about twenty minutes out. The SUV’s around the rocky hill over there.”

  I looked to where Gabriel was pointing and saw the landmark a couple of hundred yards away.

  “Are you ready for this?” Gabriel asked, handing me an earpiece.

  I certainly didn’t feel it after everything I’d been through in the last twenty-four hours, but I nodded and placed the small device in my ear.

  “Stay here—out of sight behind the jeep.” Gabriel put on his bulletproof vest and grabbed the rifle case. “I’ll take up position on top of that ridge. If they don’t slow or stop to check out our jeep, then I’ll shoot out a tire. That’ll get their attention. Then they’ll be yours. Testing, testing. Can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear,” I said.

  “Then give me directions when needed.” Gabriel turned and started jogging toward the ridge.

  “Gabriel, thanks for doing this,” I said.

  He stopped and glanced back at me. “You know you can count on me.”

  “I do,” I said and began my search for the most comfortable location to sit and wait.

  27

  Byron

  “How close are they?” I asked into the earpiece with the built-in microphone. I felt like I’d been sitting on the hot pavement for over an hour, but it probably hadn’t even been half that amount of time. It was nearly midday and the sun was high overhead, unobstructed by anything in the sky. It was getting too damn hot to be out here for any amount of time without shade.

  “It won’t be long now,” Gabriel’s voice said into my ear.

  It hurt too much to move and I wanted to save all my strength for when the jeep got there. I couldn’t hear it yet. I just wanted to get this over with and get the hell out of the sun.

  A few more minutes passed, and then I thought I could hear a faint hum of a motor in the distance.

  “Anything to report?” I asked.

  “Almost here. Just be patient,” Gabriel said. “I’ve got them in my scope. Identities confirmed—Ramsey and Mackenzie. I can’t make out anyone in the back seat, but I’m sure the girl’s there.”

  “Well, at least they didn’t leave with an army.”

  Gabriel didn’t respond.

  I gazed out at the horizon and I could just barely make out the perimeter fence of Westeria. It didn’t have the same artificial mirage effect that it did on the interior, but the blistering sun created its own rippling effects on this side. It was still probably a thirty-minute drive from here. The last few hundred yards were a man-made dirt moat where the sandworms patrolled. Luckily, I had a remote to keep them at bay.

  The approaching jeep was getting louder now, breaking the silence of the desert. Then I could hear the engine downshifting and knew they were slowing at the sight of my jeep across the road. There were more lanes so they could easily maneuver, but hopefully, they’d be curious enough to stop.

  But they didn’t stop.

  Mackenzie’s jeep slowly drove around the front of mine, and I locked eyes with Ramsey in the passenger seat as the vehicle passed. I figured he would say something and have Mackenzie pull over so he could confront me on more level ground. But there wasn’t enough time to react before a shot was fired.

  Gabriel’s rifle sounded like thunder, and the moment I heard the shot, the front tire exploded. The jeep came to a screeching halt.

  I figured it was finally time to get to my feet, which was easier said than done. I made sure not to let my movements look as labored as they felt. I cocked back the slide of the handgun Gabriel had given me and pointed it at the front passenger window as I cautiously walked toward Mackenzie’s jeep.

  “What are you doing?” I heard Mackenzie ask from the far side of the jeep. I heard a door slam, but he remained out of sight.

  As I drew closer, I could see Victoria’s little sister huddled in the backseat, eyes wide, terrified of the sudden attack. I gave her a small consolatory smile to attempt to ease her worrying.

  The front passenger door finally opened and Ramsey spilled out with his hands up, a pistol clutched in one of them. His fingers were outside the trigger guard.

  “Well, guess who’s decided to be the hero,” Ramsey said. “Doing the dirty work yourself for once.”

  As Ramsey inched toward me, I saw Mackenzie peek around the front hood, arms extended, handgun aimed at me.

  I stopped and took a few steps back to keep Ramsey from getting too close. “Drop it,” I commanded. “You too, Mackenzie. Come out where I can see you and drop your weapon.”

  “You’re not looking well, Byron,” Mackenzie called. “I know you didn’t come out here alone. Where’s your back up?”

  “I don’t feel well either, so I’d appreciate you following directions so we get this over with quickly and without incident,” I said. When neither man dropped their weapon, I spoke to Gabriel. “Shoot the back tire.”

  As soon as I finished the phrase, another loud boom sounded and the back tire withered to a puddle of black rubber.

  This got their attention. Now there were no questions in their minds that there was a gun aimed at them they couldn’t reach.

  “Let’s try this again,” I said. “Drop your weapons and I want you both out here where I can see you.”

  Ramsey sighed and tossed his gun into the dirt beyond the road. It was far away from him, but also far away from me.

  “So, is the next order you give going to take me out?” Ramsey asked, staring me down—not an ounce of fear in his cold, defiant eyes.

  “That depends on you,” I said. “And your friend here who still has not handed over his weapon.”

  Mackenzie strolled around the front of the jeep. The pistol was down by his side, but his finger remained on the trigger. “You can’t kill me,” he warned. “If you do, then your little girlfriend back at the camp will never get what she’s after. I have the best access at the Palace—more than you. Victoria is back there amongst my friends, not yours. Oh yeah, and I found Princess Amelia. You guys will have a hard time getting her back without my help.”

  “That’s why I don’t plan on killing you,” I said. “But it doesn’t mean I won’t if I have to. If you make one wrong move, Gabriel will take out one of your knees. If you try anything beyond that, then it will be a single shot to the head. I’m sure you’ve looked him in the eyes and know he has no qualms about pulling the trigger.”

  “Neither do I, Your Highness,” Mackenzie said and stopped beside Ramsey. “If you shoot my friend here, I will kill you before your backup can squeeze off a shot.” He tossed his gun aside, which skidded across the pavement. “And I don’t
need my gun to do it either.”

  I didn’t doubt Mackenzie meant what he said and didn’t know if he could actually pull through on his threat. But I didn’t want to find out.

  “No one has to die here today,” I said, my aim now on Mackenzie.

  I picked up the shackles Gabriel had given me and threw them to Ramsey.

  “Put them on,” I instructed.

  Ramsey scowled but did as he was told.

  “You can join us,” I said into my earpiece microphone.

  “Already ahead of you,” Gabriel said.

  I glanced out into the distance and saw a backlit figure approaching, still a hundred yards off. When I turned back to Ramsey, I saw he’d shackled his hands.

  “Feet too,” I said.

  “Is this really necessary?” he complained.

  “Very,” I said and walked over to the back of Mackenzie’s jeep. I opened the back door and found Victoria’s little sister huddled on the far side of the bench seat. “You’re going to be okay.” I tried to sound as calming as possible. “No one’s going to hurt you. Come out. We’re switching jeeps.”

  Gabriel came walking up a few minutes later. He briefly surveyed the situation before tossing Mackenzie a pair of handcuffs.

  “Your turn,” Gabriel said. “Get into the driver’s seat of our jeep and cuff your hands to the steering wheel.”

  Mackenzie glared at Gabriel with pure contempt but followed the instructions.

  Once Mackenzie was locked behind the wheel, Gabriel walked over to Ramsey and smashed him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. Ramsey crumpled to the ground. A puddle of blood grew from where his head hit the road.

  Mackenzie cursed and yelled from inside the jeep.

  I helped the frightened young girl into the backseat of our jeep and turned back to Gabriel.

  “That went pretty well,” he said. “How’re you feeling?”

  I shook my head. “I’m ready for this day to be over.”