Princess in Peril. Rachelle McCalla

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СКАЧАТЬ protest rose to Isabelle’s lips, but she doubted it would do her any good to voice her fears. Levi was right about the light. There was nothing more for it to illumine—just the stone walls of the catacomb, and they could feel their way along those well enough. Surely the light would become more urgently necessary in the future. He was wise to advise her not to waste it.

      She snapped the phone shut and the light went out, leaving them in total darkness again. “Explain, then. Who are you? And what just happened up there?”

      Levi cupped her elbow with one hand. In the total silence of the tunnel she could hear his other hand skimming along the wall as they moved cautiously down the cobbled floor. The blue-eyed bodyguard began his story.

      “My father works for a Christian organization called Sanctuary International. Their primary mission is to help religious refugees find asylum. Thirty-five years ago, when he was working in the Balkan region, he formed close ties with your father. Lydia is one of the few countries in the region where religious freedom is zealously defended, and your father proved to be an invaluable ally.

      “During that time, my father and mother met and were married, but they returned to the United States before I was born. I received dual Lydian-U.S. citizenship through my parents, and though I was raised in the United States, I often spent summers visiting my grandparents in Lydia.”

      Levi paused. “The wall curves away,” he murmured, “and I suspect it forks.”

      Before he finished speaking Isabelle had her phone out, and its tiny light illuminated the two branching tunnels gaping open in endless darkness. The bodyguard glanced between them before nodding. “This way.” He didn’t hesitate to step forward down the right-hand branch.

      “Why this way?”

      “After two more turns we will be below the Sardis Cathedral. It should be safe to exit there.”

      “How do you know the catacombs so well?” Isabelle closed her phone reluctantly, still suspicious of his motives in spite of his story.

      “I’ve been studying them for the past six days.”

      “Why?”

      Levi seemed to struggle with how to answer her. Once again, Isabelle’s suspicions were raised. Was he really who he said he was? Did the history he told her really happen, or was he simply making it up to placate her until the rest of his nefarious plans could be accomplished?

      His answer seemed to come in a roundabout way. “Our aid workers in the region have formed close ties with many Christians with diverse political ties. Six days ago, an informant delivered 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 СКАЧАТЬ