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“Do you re up to the coup was like?” He shoved his fingers through his hair as if he could wipe the memory from his brain “I enty-two and hoht I was about to take over the world—then everything crumbled”
The reports in the beginning had been sporadic ru Elskov was a small country, and on their island word traveled fast
The heated pink in Elle’s cheeks drained until only a ashy pallor was left She clutched her hands together in front of her “My father tried to hide it fro was so tense there really wasn’t any way There were paid protestors outside the castle gate Someone had to taste my food before I could eat it In the last few days, I wasn’t allowed to leave the castle, even in the armored SUV”
In those last few days, the country was obsessed with sightings of royalty, false or not “The Fjende claimed your lack of visibility was proof your family had abandoned the country”
“My father would never have done that” She shook with indignation as disgust wound its way into words “He bled for Elskov, for all the good it did The coup won anyway”
Her words slapped him in the face, and he nearly flinched “The war isn’t over yet”
“What war?” She spun around to face hi with fury “No one in the international coladly eat up the bullshit that I’m alive and sorta well, that no coup ever took place, and thatis business as usual”
“We can change that” The frustration of being so close to what he’d worked so hard for and discovering there was yet another hurdle to cli forward could be done without her cooperation He’d co what needed to be done, no e that”
She opened her h, closed her eyes, and the fight went out of her For aher eyes and hitting hi for years “You don’t need this Why do you want it so fucking badly?”
“You’re wrong I do need this I’ve been waiting for ten years to make it happen” The words came out before he could stop theht on the accent I had the best language and dialect tutors, but they weren’t good enough for soistered foreigner My fa to become official citizens Despite that, my parents were loyal royalists They were not quiet about their support of your father and pledged to do whatever it took to help hi people heard about this and decided topast the agony the words brought to the forefront “The night your father was shot and you fled for America, they were murdered Their mutilated bodies were displayed in the square near Elskov Castle to serve as a warning to other loyalists It worked”
He didn’t knohen she’d walked over to hi in front of hie hands into her own small ones “I’m so sorry”
Stopping the story there was the s It allowed him to hold a little bit of the pain back, but he needed to tell her He had to let her know that although she ht have been alone, she hadn’t been abandoned
“Their names were Sabine and Ras unspoken that they seeue
She gasped and released him as if he’d burned her
“Yes, the same Sabine and Rasmus ere supposed to meet you in Harbor City and keep you safe after you’d escaped,” he said “It took me a year and you don’t want to kno many bribes to track you down You’d hidden yourself well”