Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
So whenever I’m around her, I feel like I’m being punished over and over again. Something I totally deserve, yes, but quietly devastating all the same. I just want to make her smile, hear her laugh, see that light in her eyes again. I want to be the person who puts that light there, who opens her doors and climbs over the walls, and sees the precious person she hides from me. I want her in every way possible, but I can’t get much more than an icy stare and a cold hello.
My world is very cold now in every way possible.
The SUV pulls up with Einar behind the wheel. Ella, Lady Jane, Laila, and the kids come out of the house, with Lady Jane and Magnus getting in the SUV and the rest of us waiting for the other car to come around.
“Okay, let’s go,” Ella says, and we all pile into Ottar’s car. This is the first time I’ve been in an enclosed space with Laila since everything went to shit, but since I’m in the front beside Ottar, I don’t have to deal with the icy vibes.
“You must be excited,” Laila says to Ella as the car starts down the driveway.
“I am. A little nervous. You know, considering the last time we were in public.”
And there goes that spike of fear again. I can’t pretend that I’m not already on edge over this, though we have extra police presence now, and no one is allowed to get within spitting distance of the royal family without having been thoroughly vetted beforehand.
It doesn’t help that Ella is doing an unveiling of her newest expedition boat for her charity, the Ocean Crusaders, in Oslo harbor, and all the press are invited too. The only good thing about the attack is that it put the focus back on environmental issues in the country, which in turn is giving Ella’s charity more attention.
Of course, there won’t be another attack. I’ll make sure of that. Aside from the extra police, we have a few PPOs taken from the king and queen’s service who will provide extra protection at the scene, and I’m not letting my guard down for a second.
“So what’s the name of the boat this time?” Ottar asks. “Don’t tell me Magnus named it again.” Magnus got the first boat for Ella’s organization, which meant he got to name it. He called it Princess Planet, after his nickname for her. Let’s hope this boat isn’t Princess Planet 2.
“It’s a surprise,” Ella says coyly, and I eye her in the rearview mirror. Oh, she has something up her sleeve.
While I’m looking in the mirror, though, I also catch Laila’s eyes. And for a split second, I swear I see a flash of warmth in them, like the deep freeze has thawed. It makes my heart skip a damn beat.
Then she hardens and looks away and the moment is lost, as so many of them are these days.
I force that out of my head, though. I have a job to do, and it’s an important one.
Once we get to Oslo and the harbor, we trudge through snow and slippery paths toward the docks where a crowd of people have gathered. There are news cameras and lookie-loos, all hoping to get a glimpse of their beloved royal family, and security has already roped off an area where Magnus stands, Einar behind him. I don’t know how on earth they got here so far ahead of us, but sometimes I think Magnus makes Einar drive at the speed of light. Or maybe Einar does it for fun. He probably used to be a rally driver.
People and security part for us and I bring up the back, knowing they’re protected from the front. Ella goes to Magnus and waves to the crowd—it is her moment, after all—while Laila guides the boys behind Ella and Magnus. We’re close to the end of the dock but not close enough to fall off, with the boat covered in a big tarp, ready for the unveiling. I stand on one side of the boys with Laila bookending the other, and I keep an eye out for anything unusual.
Ella talks to the crowd—in English, since there are media from all over—all about how Ocean Crusaders did a lot last year and they’re hoping to do much more with their second boat and the big group of organizers, activists, and volunteers that they have. But I’m not listening much. I’m glad to see her in her element—even though she says she doesn’t like the spotlight, she really comes alive when she’s talking about her organization—but I’m paying attention to everyone in the crowd, memorizing every face, reading body language. So far, everything seems fine and people seem really interested in the cause (okay, there are some protesters with signs in the background, calling out the government for killing a friendly walrus that visited the harbor a few years back, but that’s to be expected).