Amelia Autin - McKinnon's Royal Mission

Unfortunately, when he’d raised the issue with Alec and Liam, he had a rude awakening. “Sorry, McKinnon,” Alec had said with regret. “We don’t ride.”

That just left him to accompany the princess, and he foresaw a curtailment of his free time if she insisted on riding on the days he wasn’t officially working. He didn’t think she would be amenable to riding only three days a week, and not even the same three days each week at that.

Then there had been the issue of meals. He, Alec and Liam all had rooms in the estate’s guest house, which came complete with an adequate kitchen and a well-stocked pantry. Trace had planned to fend for himself at mealtimes, and had assumed Alec and Liam would do the same. But the princess had other ideas.

“That is silly,” she’d told him. “There is a perfectly good meal already prepared, and will be every night. My chefs are Le Cordon Bleu trained— artistes —and they would be insulted to think you prefer to eat your own cooking instead of theirs.”

When Trace had tried to explain that the hired help didn’t expect to share her table, her green eyes had flashed. “I do not eat in solitary splendor,” she’d told him firmly. “There are many in my household who eat with me.” He’d given in with as good grace as he could muster, not wanting another battle, but then he’d realized she’d actually done them a favor. Their presence at her table would be the perfect opportunity to listen to the conversations between the princess and the rest of her household, whether spoken in English or Zakharan.

Then, when they were all at the dinner table, he’d noticed she wasn’t eating. Not much, anyway. She’d passed on several dishes that were offered to her, settling for a plain piece of bread without butter and a dish of custard. She hadn’t made a big deal out of it, and no one else in her household had seemed to think it worthy of comment, but he’d noticed. And wondered. It wasn’t until he was wandering through the kitchen after dinner and overheard her cooks— chefs —he’d reminded himself, talking to each other in voluble French about that very same custard that he learned why.

Motion sickness.

Why hadn’t it occurred to him before? He’d been concerned when she first appeared in the plane’s doorway, had suspected something was wrong, but then had let himself be distracted by her peremptory demand that her Zakharian bodyguard let her go. Maybe that even explained her curt response to the man’s offer of help. Maybe she hadn’t meant to be so cold, but was just feeling out of sorts the way anyone might when they were sick.

The princess was full of contradictions. Maybe that’s why he felt so tired—he never knew what to expect. Guarding her had become an impossible mission already, and it was only the first day—things could easily get worse. Trace murmured to himself, “‘Your mission, Jim, should you choose to accept it,’” using a phrase Mission Impossible had made famous, making the impossible seem possible. Then he laughed ruefully. If they could accomplish impossible missions, so could he—he’d done it before, hadn’t he? All he needed was a little cooperation from the princess.

A shadow moved out of the corner of his eye, and he turned sharply, his right hand automatically reaching for his SIG SAUER. Then he cursed softly under his breath when he saw who it was. So much for cooperation. “Princess!” he called.

Startled, she turned toward him. “Oh,” she said. “Special Agent McKinnon. I did not see you in the shadows.”

“What are you doing outside the house...alone?”

Her brow wrinkled. “I do not understand. I am not riding alone. That is what you told me my brother said, yes? I am not to ride alone?”

He sighed. “Look, Princess, your brother’s orders were quite explicit. You’re not to step outside the house alone.”

“But—”

“No, no, and no. Do I agree with him? No. Do I think you’re in danger here within the grounds? No. But am I going to let you go against his express orders? No.”

She stared at him, her green eyes betraying her contrition...and uncertainty. “I would not...that is not what I...” She stopped then started again. “So I am a prisoner here?”

Now it was Trace’s turn to look puzzled. “What do you mean, a prisoner? You’re not a prisoner. You’re free to go wherever you want, so long as one of us is with you.”

Her face contracted. “I thought...here...where I am not known...I would not be in such danger.”

“I don’t know what kind of danger you were in at home. But even in this country there are dangers for people like you.”

Her voice was very small when she asked, “People like me?”

“Rich. Well known. Well connected. Putting aside any threats against you because you’re a political target, there are crazies out there who kill for no other reason than to become famous by killing someone who is already famous.”

She glanced away, staring toward the Rockies in the distance, hulking dark shadows against the night sky. “I was guarded at Oxford. Every minute of the day. And in Zakhar, of course. But I did not realize here, too...” She closed her eyes for a minute and sighed noticeably before her eyes opened again. “I was hoping my life would not be so restricted here in Boulder.”

Trace felt a flicker of pity for her. “Don’t worry, Princess. That’s why you’ve got me. To make sure nothing happens to you. But I’m not your jailor. With just a little cooperation on your part, you can be nearly as free as you’d like to be.”

“But I can’t just be Dr. Marianescu, can I?”

“Who’s that?” The question slipped out before Trace made the connection.

A peal of laughter escaped her, and it startled him. It was such a normal thing...but not for her. The sound of her laughter slid inside his defenses, just as her eyes did. “ I am Dr. Marianescu,” she explained, still laughing. “That is my family name. Mara Theodora Marianescu. When I received my doctorate from Oxford two years ago, I became Dr. Marianescu.”

Her laughter faded away, and a wistful expression came over her face. “Andre was there. He was so proud of me—earning my doctorate so quickly. If not for him I doubt I would have accomplished it. At least, not when I did.” At Trace’s questioning look she added swiftly, “I cannot explain...there are reasons...it is not something I want the world to know.” She shook her head as if shaking off an unpleasant memory. “But I achieved my PhD despite everything. And if not for Andre I would have had no one with whom to rejoice.”

“What about your father? Wasn’t he alive then?”

She went still all over, emotion erased from her face as if a curtain had fallen over it. “Yes,” she said, her voice flat and unmusical. “He was still alive. He did not die until two months later.” She stood there for a moment without saying anything else. Then she turned and walked back to the house, leaving Trace standing there staring after her, a hundred questions running through his head. But no answers.

Chapter 3

The estate’s active alarm system went off in the dead of night three days later. Alec was on duty, but both brothers responded immediately, guns drawn. By the time they made their way from the guest house to the main house, the princess’s household had been roused from sleep by the blaring alarm. Her staff was milling around, but surprisingly no one had tried to turn off the alarm. Her entire contingent of Zakharian bodyguards—only two of whom had actually been awake and on duty when the alarm went off—were already stationed in and around the princess’s sitting room, armed and dangerous. Two of them whirled and drew down on Liam and Alec before they recognized the two DSS agents.