The sun was shining cheerfully over the capital as if it existed in a different world from the mountains where Luke and his future bride found themselves on. Without a gray overcast and sharp lightning bolts, blue skies stretched on for forever with but a few thin clouds breaking the monotony. None of the howling wind and angry gusts threatened the busy streets around the palace or the central business district. The temperature foretold the coming of winter, but not of a storm. 

 “How am I supposed to stop worrying about my son?” The queen snapped. It had been a couple of hours since the emergency signal was detected by the Royal Guards and yet nobody had confirmed the whereabouts of the crown prince. There was a report from a small medical facility that Luke and his fiancee was brought in by a concerned citizen, but the storm affecting the area had prevented the local security team from confirming the said report. Besides, the quality of the call was not good enough to extract satisfactory information. Telling her to stop worrying was like ordering a puppy to sit for the first time and expecting it to know what to do. 

The prince consort may have been her source of comfort many times and in many ways, but even his reassurances would not sway the queen that day. Prince Damien patiently set down his cup of coffee. “We have been in this situation over and over again. It’s not like this is the first time he went missing. Remember how Lucius managed to get home safely every single time.” There was nothing he could say to calm the woman pacing in front of the floor-to-ceiling glass. There was a threat to the life of the princess elect. Queen Camilla should have been relieved that her children were not the target, but her son was too close to Rhiane for his own safety. She knew Lucius. He may be an elitist and had little regard to those not belonging to the same class as himself, but the prince had an annoying fixation to winning in every situation. Because he knew that his enemies sought to take his betrothed from him, it would push him to keep her to himself, exercising every power he had in his disposal to make sure that they would not succeed in whatever scheme they were planning. 

“Every single time in the past was a near-miss.” She turned her back at the bright blue sky and the city of New Florence. “I nearly lost my son. This kingdom nearly lost its future king. One day we might not be as lucky, then I will not be able to live with myself, Damien.”

Prince Damien turned his attention to the screen showing feed from several pinned news outlets. “Today is not the day we lose favor from lady luck. Lucius will call you when he can. Worry about how to manage the rumors.” The delay in the arrival of the couple had inspired speculations from the media team camped at the venue.

The queen frowned. “I should have listened to Luke. I should postpone the tour while the investigations are on-going. It can--”

“None sense!”  

Just then, a message popped-up on the screen showing a call notification. “A call from an unknown source, your majesty,” said the queen’s virtual assistant. If at any other time she would have hesitated to answer a phone call from an unknown caller, that day Camilla was too eager to hear who was on the other end of the line. 
“Mother, it’s Luke.”

The queen’s breath caught in his throat. Her eyes widened and she rushed to the communicator on her office desk. She picked the device up and took the conversation privately as her husband sipped his coffee. “Where are you exactly?” But static answered her question, followed by fragmented sounds of what could have been a sentence. “Luke?” 

[hr]

“Mum,” Luke was frowning at the ceiling. He lifted the mobile device over his head, put the call on speaker and tried to make sense of what his mother had said. But there was only static and unintelligible sound. Outside the facility, the storm still raged on, possibly messing up the signal. Or perhaps it was already messed up to begin with. He tried again and again, but the more he tried, the more frustrated he became. It was impossible to communicate under such conditions. Luke hit the cancel button and instinctively tossed the phone to the bed out of frustration before he remembered that it was not actually his. 

He picked the device up and placed it on the bedside table. He did not like how vulnerable the they were. The facility was manned by only the doctor. Perhaps it had no security personnel, but even if it did would it protect Rhiane or side with the enemy?