The Swedish Prince (#Royal Romance 1)

or's

d breathing out, studying me as I stic

n, she is still your mother and she is suffering just as much, or more as you. Please, for her sake try not to add to your worries. Talk to her and if

her to worry. I know she's struggling, I know she's turning to my father a

out of his office into the waiting room. My private secretary, Frederick, gets up, his

ars younger than me and has been my private secretary, personal assistant, an

wedish and English, efficient, incredibly well-organize

hrived under the grief and the pressure of his

ted. Now, I'm shuffled along on a packed schedule that he m

im I woul

mble to him, not wa

e says simply as

polite to a fault, never one to pry into your feelings or priva

eddie says, launching into i

space, but he's under orders of the king

pist instead, as if that will change a thing. "In an hour there's a press c

s sweater and a long, gray wool coat that I carry folded up in my ar

be in the f

uit? Alex did all his

p glasses. A tight smile follows. "Your parents want

t everyone fucking knows by now. T

eddie gives me another look, this one to

s but even so, we go in and out through the back entrances so that no one knows I've been here. I can't imagine how it would

e?" I add as we step out into the b

eracy charity that Alex founded, then you have a radio interview with the national broadcast in Helsinki. Tonight there is a ball held by the Countess at the Alandel Pa

ely woken up this morning before I was shuttled off to a meeting with my parents and the royal advisers, then was sent

ll be for the r

ell Kris, the dr

ck from the doctor's off

ls the c

get out, walking, st

now where

now what

e to get o

is alley turns into the street, walk down the street until it turns in

s!" Freddie y

remain. The constraints. I keep walking, faster now, the end of the alley shining like a beacon un

y appear at the end of t

have dreamed of f

least one. They have been trained to protect me, but training has

o a lot o

e is Tor, the other is Gustav. I look in their eyes. They're determined to keep

t fucking c

ss," I gro

d. They should worry about me. I'm

ays. I can hear Freddie's shoes slapping on the ground be

m, looking them dead in the eyes a

s from behind me, breathless

me pass. I don't want to be at your mercy anymore. I don't wish to do anything you have plan

inks. Just adjusts his tie and gives me a stern look that could rival my father's. I wonder if he's been giving him tips. "I don't think it wi

terrible for the monarchy is having me paraded around town acting like everything

ing away as if he's ashamed he said it. Well he should be a

who would have been you

but you are not a normal citizen, your highness. You are the crown prince, you are the heir to the throne, you are all of these and more and if you

think. All

ing back and my

ard Fredd

tav is fast

ication is alr

es exploding against him as he falls back, k

illed with both

attempting to hold me ba

Whatever fight I

before in all my life, a man who is just doing his best to keep me in line. I can't look at Gustav either, a man hir

dle

n't han

andled. Not carefully, like some f

hat I've

other was. And the worst part of all that is, my brother

t stay

keep

no one saw the fight that just erupted here, a fight that would be splash

you can think of," I tell the cab driver as I climb in the backseat, handing him a stack

*

kto

like music in a dream. Something that you know isn't existing o

please wake up.

a

nt to stay shut forever, like my body is already telling me to give

e," my mother

sitting on the e

m in the palace where I grew up, the palace

my father hovering by the door. It's closed.

ing in an ornate velvet chair b

, my voice sounding gr

remember

ing Gustav. Escaping. Getting a cab to a dive bar in the worst neighborhood possible. Sit

h

Luckily, the people who you had the episode around

or. "I took one of t

ankfully you're here no

did I g

round every hour to keep an eye on you. Finally, he phon

lm cabbies do the devil's wo

oming more stern now, ignoring him. "We

and through a wince, I get a better look at her. She's dressed in her nightgown and robe, her blonde hair in curlers, her eyes and nose

aring my throat. "I'm s

her says gruffly. His word

d not only one of your guards that are charged with protecting you, a guard who would lay down his life for you, but with Frederick Vereb

o that. He's right.

know what

ffs and turns away, hands behind his back, acting like the crown moulding a

only

ow hits me like an i

re down at it, peppered with sunspots, with lines and veins, and I rea

To me, she is a mother. A mother who just lost her oldest son, who i

ng you with Dr. Bon

e to a mental ins

le at that. It

you somewhe

t she means, as my father comes over

o my lap falls a driver's license, a c

ersson. My place of birth has changed from Stockholm

my brain too drugged an

s at Dr. Bonakov who nods ever so slightly. "We know tha

iving me a n

s a break. A break that we would all

said anything

throne, never having to worry about anything beyond just showing up for photos. The press has left you alone for the most part. You've been in the military, you've gone to school, you've

I protest, though even as the words leave m

day you proceeded to forget the names of our own government officers during your meeting with the Prime Min

She was ha

ughter!" he snaps. "You grab

mother says, waving h

huff of air an

to. But we think the best way for you to deal with what happened to Alex, to deal with your ne

tting this sink in. "Who will I be? Even un

ada. Australia. Anywhere away from the continen

how l

get yourself together," my fat

other looks at him for his opinion. "Maybe four. Any

't want to," my father says, "you'll c

now." She smiles at me gingerly. "Four weeks. That's about

hope burning in my stomach, the idea of not having to do any appearances fo

t time I felt this m

f trouble, wherever you are. If it gets back to us that there is a prince on

to answer for. Above all, my

. I've never not had a bodyguard around me, even when

's ri

s. "What you did yesterday, you won't ge

glance at the doctor, at my mother, and do my

to Frederick and Gustav

logize right away. That was...t

, perhaps you can leave tomorrow. Just let u

ort, slowly flippin

are blank

ean

BACK

ie's

onto Korkort Sverige in my parent's bedroom and then running wild

g in the dim light of the hallway, staring at my parent's door, da

am, my underused imagination having conco