What else could he do but agree to his cousin’s proposition, helplessly watch as the royal guard carried the farmer away, and silently question the unwanted emotion the prince could only guess was jealousy. But he had Sophia. And even if he did not, Luke could have any woman in the kingdom not from demanding submission from her, but out of her sheer will. The illusion of the prince charming that the media painted him to be – wealthy, powerful, intelligent, dependably strong, handsome – created a picture of perfection that most women would have wanted in a man. Even then, somebody else was touching, attempting to take away, what was rightfully his. 

“Your highness.” Nolan was standing by the rear passenger door, calmly trying to figure out what his prince’s forlorn gaze was for. “The doctor already got off the SUV. It’s just you inside now.”

Luke cleared his throat. “Ah. I was just thinking.” And it was not a lie. He had been thinking about what had happened in the last few hours after he tossed the keys to Rhiane. The plan was to use her as some sort of a safety net that cushioned the loneliness that resulted from Sophia’s absence. What had happened? 

Without saying anything more, he left the SUV himself with his bodyguard securing the rear. The villa’s security was expected to be thorough after what happened, but he needed to see for himself what had been done so far. “Are the lords and ladies of this region not going to be present to welcome us?” 

“They were this morning, but they must be resting in the other villas as we speak. Should I request for their presence?”

Luke shook his head. “I do not wish to speak with anybody without an appointment.”

“Understood. I shall give out the order to the guards.” Two such uniformed palace guards were at the main entrance, holding the double doors open for the royal. The pair followed Tobias, the doctor, and the maid who ushered them to a makeshift clinic. Nolan shut the door behind him after politely dismissing the maid.

Luke inspected the room. There were two entry points, which were the door they used and a balcony. The latter was concealed from sight by floor to ceiling curtains. “There are guards outside,” Nolan offered the answer to the question lingering in his prince’s head. 

“Cameras?”

“Twenty-four high definition cameras with heat sensors for when it gets dark. Each unit conforms to the palace security standards.” 

The room was not where he expected he and Rhiane would be treated. It may have been transformed, to the best of the staff’s efforts, as a sterile room, but the sitting room was not a hospital. “We’ll get there, doctor. A painkiller will be most helpful at this time.” His eyes wandered to where Tobias had lain the princess elect, then frowned. Rhiane would only freak out when she realizes where she was, when the white linen and steel framing of medical bed registered in her head, when the scent of antiseptic filled her nostrils. It was not good for her present mental state to expose her to another stressor. “The medical team will take time,” he was telling his conclusion to the doctor. “May we wait in our room instead? It will be best for Rhiane to rest for now, but this environment is not helping.” 

The doctor had witnessed the princess elect’s reaction to anything that had to do with the practice of medicine. He would have wanted to keep the patients inside the room to be able to monitor them and react accordingly should there be any emergencies, but the prince had a point. “Here, your highness,” the doctor offered a pill and a bottled water from the box of supplies he carried from the clinic. “I have nothing against your suggestion.” Though he thought the pain medication that was administered to the princess elect may have also lost its effect at that moment, but the woman either had a better pain tolerance than the prince or was stubborn enough to ask for help.

The couple moved to their room upon the prince’s request. Tobias carefully put Rhiane down to the bed then pulled the sheets over her without a word before exiting the suite only to stand guard outside the door. The doctor was the last to leave, making sure that the couple had means to call for help in case of emergency. “Doctor,” Luke stopped him halfway to the exit. “Why is there a makeshift clinic? Are there no clinics in this town?”

“The clinic you kidnapped me from,” the doctor answered in a low voice. “It is the only medical facility in this mountain.” And he was the only physician around. He wanted to verbalize it but didn’t. 

“I did not kidnap you. I did not want them to vent out their frustrations on you, doctor, when they find out that we have escaped.” The doctor’s eyes widened in realization. Of course there was no more need for him once the royal medical team arrived, but he was dragged out of the clinic for other reasons. “Why they kept you alive is beyond me, but we cannot be sure as to the extent of their benevolence. That is all. I’ll call you when I need you.” 

Luke watched the door close behind the doctor. The sound resonated in the silence of the room, so did his sigh. When they left the airstrip that morning, it did not cross his mind that it would be such an eventful day. He dragged a chair from the desk to Rhiane’s side of the bed. After what happened, he wasn’t so sure how she would react to his touch, so he gave her space. Luke sat languidly on the chair, staring at the door without saying anything for a long moment, until finally he found his voice. 

“I was ten when I first witnessed a man killed in front of me.” He did not know what he was doing, and if it would do good rather than bad to her state, but the prince thought it would help if she could feel that she was not alone. Carefully, he reached under the covers to where he thought her hand was. His fingers carefully entwined with her even though he avoided her green eyes. “Seventeen when I first shot a man dead. He was about to attack my sister.” It was not easy dealing with the aftermath and the rationale was not important now. “If you would like some rest, to get away from the memory and this sorry reality, I can ask the doctor for a sedative. I know it may not help much, but the doctor will not allow strong liquor to be served even if I order him to.”