Princess in Peril. Rachelle McCalla

a coded message at a Sanctuary outpost on the Albanian border. The next morning his body was found floating in the Mursia River.”

      Isabelle found that her steps had slowed as she listened closely to Levi’s explanation. “What did the coded message say?” She shivered a little as she stepped tentatively through the darkness, uncertain whether she really wanted to know the answer to her question.

      Apology and regret filled Levi’s voice. “It contained instructions for an attack on the royal family.”

      “Today’s attack?”

      “Presumably. It did not give a date or time. That’s why I immediately replaced your usual bodyguard.”

      “I don’t understand.”

      “The message was supposed to be delivered to Alfred, the man who was scheduled to guard you today. He was apparently a member of this insurgent organization. The message contained instructions. As soon as the first explosion detonated, Alfred was supposed to kill you.”

      TWO

      Levi didn’t like sharing the details of the planned attack with Isabelle. He didn’t want to cause her any more distress than she’d already experienced. But because she didn’t trust him, he didn’t know how else to impress upon her the gravity of her circumstances. Whether she trusted him or not, he needed her to follow his every instruction. Their lives would depend on it.

      Now the princess stumbled and Levi held her arm more firmly to steady her.

      “Alfred?” Isabelle repeated, disbelief in her tone. “He’s been part of my guard for four years.”

      “I know, and a member of the royal army for sixteen years before that. We have been unable to determine when he joined the insurgents.”

      “Where is he now?” Isabelle asked. “I should hope he was arrested and questioned.”

      “He was floating in the Mursia next to the man who brought us the message.”

      “Yet the insurgents still went through with the attack? If they knew enough to kill those men, they had to have known the note was intercepted.”

      Levi could only guess at what their original plans might have been. “Perhaps they thought the longer they waited, the more time we would have to prepare a defense.”

      “But if my father knew about this, why did my family stay in Lydia? Why didn’t we leave the moment the message was intercepted?”

      With his head bent a little closer to hers in the darkness, Levi wished he could study the face of the princess entrusted to his care. “Surely you know the answer to that question.”

      A resigned sigh was Isabelle’s only indication of emotion. “My father would never leave the throne. It would signal to the insurgents that he was a coward.”

      Levi nodded. “They would see it as an open door to walk through and take the country.”

      “Then why weren’t my brother and sister and I at least sent away? Why were we all in the same motorcade?”

      “The three of you were originally supposed to be riding in the same car,” Levi reminded her. “Your father refused to call off the state dinner for the same reason he would never run away from his throne.” Levi had begged the king to send his children away for their own safety, but he understood King Philip’s reasons for keeping them there. They had argued about it well into the night. Levi was still exhausted from missing sleep.

      Now he answered the princess patiently. “Your father believed that, with the message intercepted, the insurgents would change their plans and call off their attack. He feared that if he tried to send you away, they would see it as a sign of weakness and instead attack with greater force. He thought this would be the best way to keep you safe.”

      Isabelle trembled. Levi realized that, on top of all that had happened, the damp cold of the catacombs was probably getting to her. With only narrow straps instead of sleeves, her dress surely did little to keep her warm.

      As her regal posture sagged under the weight of all she’d absorbed, Levi slid off his tuxedo jacket and nestled it around her shoulders. He, too, feared for her family and what may have happened to them. She had surely guessed their fate, and Levi had no reassurances to give her. There was really very little hope for the Royal House of Lydia.

      “We should keep moving,” he said softly after her trembling had given way to sniffling. “If we can reach other Sanctuary team members, perhaps they will have good news about your family.”

      “Maybe I should try calling them.”

      Levi sucked in a breath.

      “Why not?” Isabelle pulled back from him.

      “We don’t know who would answer your call, and we can’t risk the wrong people finding out where you are. For the same reason, I have no intention of using my phone until we reach a safe location. If Alfred was working for the insurgents, anyone could be.” He urged her on. “The best thing we can do right now is get you out of here.”

      The princess took several deep breaths but made no move to head forward.

      “You still don’t trust me?” he asked.

      “I trusted Alfred.”

      Levi nodded. “Perhaps you are wise not to trust me.” Her long hair, which had been piled high in an artful arrangement for the state dinner, had come loose, and a thick strand brushed his hand. “Can you open the light?”

      She clicked her phone open, and her wide brown eyes stared fearfully up at him in its thin glow. Gently he pushed the loose hair back from her eyes.

      “Your hands were burned,” she accused him as his fingers passed through her line of vision.

      “I hadn’t meant for you to notice,” he apologized. “There is nothing we can do for them here.”

      The princess straightened, as though drawing from a well of courage only a royal could tap. “Then we must get to a first aid kit. Let’s hurry.”

      Levi took her cue and turned them down the next tunnel, which would lead under the centuries-old Cathedral where many Lydian saints were buried. The church had been built upon the rumored burial place of the original Lydia, an early leader in the Christian church whose conversion by the Apostle Paul was detailed in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts in the Bible. The nation of Lydia had been named for her house church, and the royal family, including Isabelle herself, could trace their roots back to Lydia’s family.

      It was a reminder to Levi of the amazing lineage of the woman who held their only light as they walked through the darkness of the catacombs. Though he had long respected Isabelle from afar as he’d read about her humanitarian efforts as a princess, he was even more impressed with her in person. And she was even more beautiful than the newspaper photos he’d seen.

      “Which way?” Isabelle asked when they arrived at the next fork in the tunnel.

      It was a good question. Levi had studied hand-drawn maps of the tunnels, which were known only to a select few. Because King Philip had supplied the maps, Levi had assumed the whole royal family would be familiar with the layout of the catacombs. It surprised him that Isabelle was unaware of their very existence. Now he tried to recall the detailed twists and turns of the elaborate underground labyrinth.

      The light from Isabelle’s phone dimmed. “Do you know which way it is?”

      Finally able to picture he map in his head, Levi pulled her a little closer to him as they headed down the left-hand passageway. “This way, but let’s leave the light off if we can. We might need it more later.”

      To his relief, Isabelle didn’t argue with him but shuffled along beside him as they made their way down the tunnel in dizzying darkness. He could only hope she would cooperate with him for as long as it might take to get her to safety. Their situation was difficult enough,