laughed at him, as he knocked over an empty pot and swiped her across the knees so that she nearly fell.
When she sat down beside the crackling fire in her low camp chair, Shadow abandoned his prize stick and crowded close to lay his head on her knee. Carina petted him absently.
“Someone’s looking for you, you big softy,” she said regretfully. She would have to try to reunite the dog with his owner but, for now, it was nice having a companion around the camp.
Of all the things she expected when she went running for the wilderness, she had never guessed that the silence would be the worst. She had been camping plenty, but it was always with someone. Since their parents had died, that someone was usually her sister, June, but sometimes it was a friend or a roommate. She was used to having someone to point out birds and animals to, someone to share chores with, stretch out tarps with. When it was just her, the spaces seemed vaster, the wind bit harder, and even the birds were less cheerful.
“You probably don’t care about the birds that would make my life list,” she told Shadow mournfully.
Shadow wagged his tail in a rustle of leaves.
She didn’t have her life list anymore to add to anyway. Everything had been left behind: her phone, her computer, her identity. Her entire life was on hold. She had the van to live in, some supplies and a small nest egg to start from, so she ought to be able to stay out of sight long enough to regroup and…she didn’t know what to do from here. Find a journalist willing to take her story and clear her name?
To fill the quiet, and to help ignore the ache in her chest, she read aloud from the brochure on Alaska that she had been given at the border station. She’d found it that evening while she was emptying the glovebox to take stock of supplies, and Shadow seemed as good a listener as any.
“Like many modern monarchies, Alaska has an elected council of officials who do most of the day to day rulings of this vast, rich land. The royal family is steeped in tradition and mystery, and holds many veto powers, as well as acting as ambassadors to other countries. Known as the Dragon King, the Alaskan sovereign is a reserved figure who rarely appears in public. Margaret, the Queen of Alaska, died twelve years ago, leaving behind six sons.” There was a photo, with boys ranging from about seven to maybe twenty-five. Two of the middle children were identical. One of the twins was wearing a hockey jersey and grinning, the other wore glasses and looked annoyed. The oldest—or at least the tallest—was frowning seriously at the others. The only blonde of the bunch was one of the middle boys, who was looking intently at the camera. The youngest looked painfully bored. They all had tongue-twisting names of more syllables than Carina wanted to try pronouncing.
Carina thought it was an interesting photo. The tension between the oldest two was palpable, and the they were all dressed surprisingly casually. She didn’t follow royal gossip much beyond scanning headlines at grocery store checkouts, but Alaska never seemed to make waves; they were rarely involved in dramas and scandals.
Shadow raised his head and cocked his head at some imagined noise in the forest.
“That’s a lot of siblings,” Carina observed, ruffling his ears. She felt so much safer having him beside her. “Just one sister was more than enough for me.” She didn’t want to admit how much she missed that sister right now.
Shadow returned his head to her knee. “Alaska is a member of the Small Kingdoms Alliance, an exclusive collective of independent monarchies scattered throughout the world. Although Alaska has large amounts of land, they qualify for membership because of their small population.”
Carina turned the brochure over. “There are hot springs about fifty miles north of Fairbanks! I hope to make it there.” Before she ran out of cash. It looked expensive. Maybe she could get work there...she’d heard that it wasn’t hard to find under-the-table jobs in this country.
Shadow suddenly leapt to his feet, barking at something crashing through the woods behind them and Carina nearly tipped over backwards in her camp chair trying to stand up.
She expected to find a moose, or possibly a bear, and she was already picking up the chair to use as a flimsy defense against a charging wild animal.
But it was only a man stepping out of the woods, in an official dark blue uniform emblazoned with the eight gold stars of Alaska.
For a moment, terror every bit as keen as the panic that had gripped her at the first sight of Shadow washed over her. They’d found her.
“You’re trespassing on royal land and I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said.
Then she realized with relief that it wasn’t a police officer. He was only a park ranger.
…or was he? Discover love and adventure in a wonderful alternate Alaska with camping and dogs and magic. Reluctant royalty and relentless enemies! Pick up The Dragon Prince of Alaska today!