Royal Replicas 2: Royal Captives

by Michael Pierce

  “Can we get her out that way—the way we entered?” Frank asked.

  “No,” Duke Mackenzie said. “I mean, technically, yes. But that will take her through a higher traffic portion of the palace. I think our best option is to go this way.” Duke Mackenzie used the pen as a pointer and mapped out his proposed path.

  “Is that another secret door?” Kale asked.

  “Nope,” Duke Mackenzie said, looking up from the paper. “We’ll have to make one. See, if we do that, we can take this route here, which leads to one of the escape tunnels that will drop us past the stables.” He flipped a few more pages and stopped at one that showed the entire palace grounds and pointed to the location he’d mentioned. “From there we can make our way to this tunnel over here, which will then lead us off the property.”

  I looked more closely at where Duke Mackenzie was pointing and had a strong feeling it was the same tunnel Kale had smuggled me through, during the Queen’s competition.

  “That tunnel has stairs,” Kale said.

  “Several of these areas have stairs,” Duke Mackenzie said in a patronizing tone. “And if things don’t go exactly as planned—which they never do—there are detour options we can take, which may require even more stairs. With several of us, we’ll be able to manage. She’s a slight girl.”

  “Kale, did you tell them the Queen called me this morning?” I asked.

  “I mentioned it,” Kale said.

  “Time is running out,” Frank said, getting up from the table and grabbing a beer from the refrigerator. “That’s why it’s important to get moving.”

  “The Queen plans to attack us,” Kale said. “She expects Byron to lead the charge.”

  “That whiney little bitch would,” Duke Mackenzie said.

  I gave him a cold glare, but he brushed it off with a chuckle at my heated reaction.

  “He won’t lead them to us,” Kale said. “If it comes to it, he said he’d lead them on a wild goose chase.”

  “I’d prefer not to take that chance. That’s why we’re leaving at dawn,” Frank said.

  I’d been waiting for this clarification of our next step, and expected to be going back to the palace, but a shiver shot through me at the thought of returning, all the same—it was the thought of facing Queen Hart again.

  Despite my fear, I was anxious to see Princess Amelia and this time be able to free her from captivity. Confined underground was no way to live. She deserved a real life; she was the true heiress to the Kingdom, after all. What was left of her clones were only pale imitations. I, too, was a pale imitation.

  “Why dawn?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to do this at night?”

  “Not with all the preparations going on at the palace for the annual party the Queen throws for Foundation Day, only two days away,” Frank said. “It’s the best cover we could ask for. The Queen will be distracted—she’s probably already been diverted for several days. And there is always a lot of commotion before an event is thrown.”

  I remembered the chaos the morning of the masquerade ball—the morning I’d met Prince Byron—and realized how easy it would be to slip through the palace unnoticed.

  “How many of us are going?” Kale asked.

  “It will be a small team,” Frank said. “But you will not be on it.”

  “The hell I won’t,” Kale protested. “Is Victoria going?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then so am I.”

  “You’re staying here,” Frank commanded. “This is not up for discussion. You’ve already blown your cover at the palace. You can’t be caught there again.”

  “If Victoria’s going, I’m going.” Now Kale was on his feet; his eyes were slits, his nostrils flared. But his father was not intimidated.

  “Mackenzie can move freely within the palace. With a little styling assistance from Natalie, so can Victoria. Mackenzie has a few men who won’t raise suspicion. They will be in and out before a majority of the palace staff awakes tomorrow morning. Then we can confront the Queen with the leverage we need. You’ve done a lot. I realize that, recognize your capabilities, and admire your commitment to this girl. But I’m sorry, son, you’re sitting this mission out.”

  Kale knocked over the chair he’d been sitting in, which crashed to the floor, cracking the wooden arm.

  “Kale,” Natalie said, holding out a hand.

  Kale swatted at her outstretched arm and backed away.

  Mackenzie was shaking his head with a huge grin spread across his face. “I need people on my team who can follow orders—people I can trust if things get complicated, with the anticipation this will get complicated.”

  “I don’t want you in more unnecessary danger,” Frank said.

  “There’s no reason for her to go, either,” Kale snapped, pointing to me. “And I can follow directions. All the missions I’ve been on and the situations I’ve been in have been nothing but complicated. I keep a clear head. I can do what needs to be done.”

  “Like your clear head now? Your unreasonable reaction and dismissal of a direct order? The tantrum you’re throwing shows me enough,” Duke Mackenzie said.

  Kale was about to give a rebuttal but stopped himself. Any further argument would be feeding right into Duke Mackenzie’s words. He took a moment to collect himself and then righted the chair. “I just want to officially say I disagree with your order,” he said.

  “Noted,” Frank replied. “But the order still stands. I have plenty for you to do—plenty of meaningful work. This is only one mission.”

  “Yeah.” Kale’s comment was filled with hurt and disappointment.

  “It’s okay,” I said once we’d retreated to his room and the adults were going about the rest of their day. “Everything will be fine and I’ll be back in no time. Then we’ll all go to give the Queen what she wants.”

  “Do you really think I’ll be allowed to go then if I’m not allowed to go now?” Kale said. He’d been sulking ever since the confrontation with his father.

  “I don’t know. I thought with the Princess as our leverage, then our whole group would be protected when we returned to the palace—even you.”

  “I doubt it,” Kale said. “But I don’t need permission to leave the camp. I might not be going with you, but I’m going.”

  “Don’t,” I warned. “Don’t disobey your father.”

  I was seated at the foot of the bed as Kale paced the room.

  “I can’t sit back and do nothing,” he said. “I’ve come too far with you to sit this one out.” Kale stopped when his phone buzzed and he checked the number. “It’s about time,” he said, with the phone up to his ear. “Where are you?”

  “Is that Gabriel?” I asked.

  Kale nodded. “I’m on my way.”

  We rushed out of the house. Natalie called after us that dinner would be ready soon. Kale promised we wouldn’t be long.

  “Where are they?” I asked once we were outside.

  “In the vineyard,” he said. “No one was going to check out there. The hundreds of acres of vines could hide them for days, especially since most of the grapes aren’t ripe yet.”

  Kale grabbed my hand as we headed into the vineyard, making us look like a couple escaping for a private tryst. My hand felt warm in his. I had to move my legs twice as fast as his to keep up. But I wanted to make it there just as badly; I needed to get to Mina.

  We passed by the row Gabriel and Mina were hiding in when I heard a whistle. We stopped and turned back. There they were, seated in the dirt.

  I broke free of Kale’s grasp and ran to Mina, dropping to the ground and enveloping her in a crushing hug. “I thought I’d lost you for good,” I said, trying my best not to cry. The sight of her safe and unharmed was such a relief.

  “I love you, Victoria,” Mina said, her voice a little shaky as well. “I’m sorry I didn’t go with you the first time. Maybe everything would have been easier. I was afraid.”

  “I know. I don’t blame you,” I said. “Everything will
work out the way it’s supposed to.”

  “So, what’s next?” Gabriel asked. “We can’t stay out here forever. And I highly doubt we’ll be welcomed back into your camp.”

  “Not so much,” Kale said. “I was thinking about this. I believe the best thing is to bring you back to Mama Maud’s cabin in the 24th. I owe her some supplies anyway, so I can make the trip without arousing too much suspicion. It will just be temporary, but you should be good there for a few days—until Victoria’s untethered from the Queen. Then we’ll figure something out.”

  “I should probably work out transport with the Prince to go back to Easteria,” Gabriel said. “I seem to have worn out my welcome on the west coast.”

  “Will you at least stay with Mina for now?” I asked. “I trust you won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

  “You have my word,” Gabriel said.

  “Good,” Kale said. “Then we have a plan.”

  31

  Byron

  The drive back was anything but comfortable, though the roads are at least maintained within the Westeria border. I pulled off the road numerous times to rest, making for slow travel.

  When I made it back to the palace gate, the guards held me up, unsure if they should just let me pass or notify the Queen. I told them I didn’t care because one way or another I was getting inside. After a moment of consideration among themselves, they let me through.

  I parked the SUV on the roundabout and hobbled up to the main house. I hadn’t eaten in hours, but my pain and exhaustion kept me from feeling overly hungry. The sun had already sunk behind the trees and bright light poured from many of the front windows.

  Workers of all different trades were finishing up and leaving for the evening, only to be back early the next morning to finalize preparation for the Queen’s Westeria Foundation Day. Luckily, the palace should be relatively quiet for the remainder of the evening.

  I pushed past some exiting workers, thinking about heading to the dining room; I decided to go upstairs instead. I wanted to check in on Bethany and the girls, but the need for sleep was overpowering. I continued up to the third floor, to my room, and crashed onto my bed. Without so much as removing my boots, I passed out.

  I didn’t wake until mid-morning. The sun was shining through my open curtains; I could barely remember returning home the night prior. All the events of the last two days felt like part of a crazy dream, yet the aching in my side reminded me that what I hazily remembered had actually come to pass.

  I cautiously sat up and kicked my feet over the side of the bed, then examined my side. It felt quite a bit better. I stood up and walked around the room. I still felt tired and a little out of sorts, but was strong and—hungry. Very hungry.

  I headed for the washroom, pulling my shirt over my head and throwing it on the back of the couch. I gazed at myself in the mirror; my face was noticeably sunburned, but it didn’t hurt. I carefully unwrapped the bandage taped to my stomach and inspected the wound underneath. The bullet had hit me at an angle, entering the right side of my abdomen and exiting my side a few inches over. Both holes were fully closed. The skin around the entrance and exit wounds was swollen and tender, but I no longer felt much internal pain.

  I threw the bloody bandages in the wastebasket and started the shower. Before undressing, I placed a call to room service to have a breakfast tray brought up, then decided to make it two. Once my order was placed, I hopped into the shower and let the warm water soothe my tense muscles. I tried not to think of the day ahead.

  After my shower, I quickly dressed and ventured into the bedroom to find my food already waiting on the coffee table. I scarfed down the eggs, toast, and fruit, not even taking a moment to add any condiments. I finished the meal with a black coffee, then sat back and let my food settle.

  A faint buzzing caught my attention and it took me some time to remember where I had left my cell phone—in the front pocket of my soiled pants from yesterday, still in a heap on the washroom floor.

  “What’s happening?” I asked, after Kale’s curt greeting.

  “Mackenzie and Victoria are on their way back to the palace,” he said. “I don’t know what time they left, but I’d expect they’ll get there midday.”

  “And you?”

  “I’m in the 24th Ward with Gabriel,” Kale said. “I’ll be leaving soon too and will probably need your help getting in.”

  “You’re not coming with them?”

  “I wasn’t invited.” I could sense his bitterness.

  “I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for the info,” I said.

  Things were finally in motion. Now, I needed to play my part. I retrieved the still full tray of food and left the room. I brought the tray down a floor to Bethany’s room. It wasn’t overly early, so I didn’t know if they had already gotten breakfast but didn’t want to show up empty-handed.

  I knocked before opening. I took a knife from the tray and placed it in between the door and the jamb to keep it from closing completely and locking me inside the room.

  Piper looked up from the book she was reading on the couch; her legs were outstretched, her feet resting on the coffee table. I still couldn’t get over how different she looked. And now she had a full head of hair, probably a wig—platinum blonde, short, just barely covering her ears. Her face was more rounded, her nose smaller, her features softer than before. When she smiled, even her teeth looked different—I didn’t know if it was an illusion due to all her other altered features, but something about them certainly looked different.

  “I brought some breakfast,” I said, walking over to the couch.

  “We already ate,” Piper said.

  I looked at the coffee table, then over at the desk where there were three mostly empty trays of food ready for housekeeping.

  “Then perhaps it can serve as a mid-morning snack,” I said and placed the tray on the coffee table.

  Piper stood and gave me a hug. The gesture was warm, but not romantic; she had become like another sister to me.

  I could hear Constance talking to someone in the washroom. The door was open and I saw her standing in front of the mirror in a long white robe.

  “Who else is here?” I asked, letting Piper go and taking a seat beside her on the couch.

  “No one,” Piper said, sitting on one leg and angling herself toward me. “She does that sometimes. She’d rather talk to herself than me.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I didn’t. “Where’s Bethany?”

  “The Queen put her to work,” she said. “Helping get the Palace ready for the celebration tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” I said. It was a good sign that Bethany seemed to be released from room arrest. “How are you feeling?”

  Piper shrugged and pursed her lips. “Okay, I guess. I mean, I feel fine. It’s just so strange. It’s such a weird feeling looking at yourself in the mirror and not recognizing the person looking back at you.”

  “You look beautiful,” I said.

  She smiled shyly. “I wish I could believe you.”

  “Well, you are,” I said. “I remember having conversations with several of the girls—I think you might have been one of them—about the insecurities of feeling like a carbon copy, a replica, a counterfeit of the original. But now you are an original.”

  “But I’m not,” Piper said. “Don’t you see? Now I’m even more of a counterfeit than I was before. I may now look original on the outside, but I’m still a copy of Princess Amelia on the inside. I’m more of a fake.”

  “You’re not fake,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Oh look, our radiant knight in shining armor has returned,” Constance said sardonically.

  I was about to say something, but she was gone as quickly as she’d appeared. All I saw was the back of her billowing robe as it disappeared into the closet.

  “I’m trying to help. I really am,” I said, turning my attention back to Piper.

  “I know,” Piper said. “It’s just a difficult time
for all of us right now.”

  “I realize that and I’m not trying to make any excuses,” I said. “I just need you to know my intentions are pure.”

  She smiled, but it was a weak smile. I gave her another hug before leaving to find Bethany, then the Queen.

  I was nobody’s favorite person right now, not even my own. All I could do was keep going, keep on trying to fix the mess I’d had a hand in creating.

  32

  Victoria

  Natalie styled my hair to look more like Bethany’s. I gave her as much detail as I could remember. She had golden highlights and her layered style was a few inches shorter than mine. Natalie also had an orange cocktail dress befitting palace attire. Once Natalie took it all in and applied my makeup, I saw Bethany staring back when I looked in the mirror. I just had to watch my tone when talking, or I’d totally give myself away.

  The makeover was not meant to be a foolproof disguise, but just enough of a similarity to be able to walk through the hallways of the palace without arousing suspicion… unless I was stopped by the Queen herself. Hopefully, we’d be keeping to the less common areas so that wouldn’t happen.

  Natalie said very little to me while she worked. When she was finished, she walked around me with a critical eye and simply said, “That should do. Go bring the Princess home.”

  When I protested against the heels she offered in exchange for some flats I could actually run in, she insisted I look the part.

  Mackenzie, Frank, and two other men were waiting outside by an idling jeep when I came down the front steps. I froze, receiving another sickly moment of déjà vu at the sight of who waited for me—equivalent to what I’d felt when Duke Mackenzie saved me from the kidnappers. The short, clean-cut, bespectacled man with the thick mustache had also been present in the limousine on that fateful night with Master Ramsey.

  When he looked at me, he didn’t show the same sadistic hunger as Duke Mackenzie had shown—in fact, he seemed to show no emotion at all. But it was certainly him, I was sure of it.