Protecting The Princess - Nadine Millard Page 0,4

inside her.

For her whole life, Harriet had done exactly as she should. They all had. It came with the territory of being a royal.

The only time any of them had stepped out of line was when Alex had hidden the fact that he was a prince at all when he’d gone to England.

And look how that had turned out!

He was more in love with Lydia than anyone Harriet had ever seen, and he had a baby on the way. He was blissfully happy. And all because he’d followed his own path and not the one laid out for him.

“So, you’ll go and pack?” Christopher asked, that steely determination in his voice.

“I will,” Harriet agreed immediately. And she wasn’t lying. She was going to go and pack. But she wasn’t going anywhere with Althea’s dreadful family.

She turned and hurried toward the door, her mind racing with possibilities.

“Hari.”

Stopping at the sound of her brother’s commanding voice, Harriet turned to see Christopher watching her with suspicion lighting his eyes.

“You won’t do anything foolish.”

It was a statement rather than a question, and once again, annoyance flickered to life within her.

“You’ve always been—impulsive,” he continued. “But this isn’t the time for that. I need you safe so I can concentrate on fixing this.”

He needed her out of the way, he meant.

But Harriet didn’t argue.

She gave her sweetest smile, trying to look as innocent as she could.

“I would never put myself in danger, Christopher,” she assured him softly before darting from the room.

She had no idea if she’d convinced him or not.

But she didn’t particularly have the time to worry about it.

Not if she was going to get out of here before the Furbergs arrived!

Christopher stared at the space where his rebellious sister had stood before issuing a sigh that emanated from the depths of his soul.

It was difficult to be the Crown Prince and a big brother. Especially to one such as Harriet.

Her romantic notions and flair for adventure would get her in trouble if he didn’t have her watched closely.

Allowing her to go to England with Alex had been a mistake, and he’d told their father as much.

Alex had always been the renegade and had proven that by taking up with Lydia Charring and deciding to rusticate in the English countryside, rather than seeing to any royal duties in Aldonia.

Christopher was happy for his younger brother, of course. He liked Lydia, and he’d never seen Alex so content.

And of course, that wasn’t a twinge of envy he felt. He’d never minded being the heir to the throne, or the shackles of responsibility that came with it.

But in the last couple of years, those responsibilities had felt as though they were drowning him.

Firstly, with Father taking a step back, then with the renewed uneasiness in the truce with the Tallenburg family.

And now, a damned assassination attempt.

Christopher knew who he suspected. He’d be blind or completely stupid not to think his power-mad cousin was behind all of this. What he didn’t know, however, was how his cousin would have gotten someone past the guards, or how he would have known about his father’s routines and habits.

With everything going on, the last thing he needed to worry about was one of Harriet’s flights of fancy.

She’d given her word, however, that she wouldn’t do anything foolish.

So, it was a question of whether he trusted her or not, Christopher supposed.

Sighing again, Christopher moved to his desk, ringing for a footman with one hand, whilst removing a sheaf of his personal parchment from the other.

It was time to send for reinforcements.

But with someone in the palace leaking information, this particular letter wouldn’t be going through any official channels.

Chapter Three

Harriet once again silently thanked her brother Alex for having insisted that they travel as commoners when they’d gone to England last year, for it lent her the experience needed for doing so now.

Christopher would be furious, she knew. Her parents worried. And honestly, she was worried herself. After all, there was a presumably skilled killer on the loose. One who had it in for the royal family.

And she was the only princess.

But Harriet had lived a relatively private life, confined to the palace or the homes of the peers of Aldonia.

She’d rarely travelled through the towns and villages of Aldonia, and certainly never without a royal guard and a full entourage of servants and maids.

The only time she’d travelled anywhere of consequence had been when she’d gone to England with Alex. And being fussed over by one’s big brother didn’t feel