No Time To Say Goodbye
1573 Words
Nadia’s Point of View
The royal agents move through my apartment with quiet efficiency.
The woman who arrived with them continues to fold dresses into the suitcase. While another royal agent seals my travel documents inside a leather folder.
No one asks what I want.
No one asks whether I am ready.
Because everyone in this room already knows the answer. The King has spoken.
I stand in the middle of my own home, feeling more like a visitor than the woman who has lived here for the past three years. This apartment is small compared to the palace I grew up in.
There are no servants. No guards waiting outside my bedroom. No royal portraits hanging from the walls.
Just photographs proving that for three years I lived like an ordinary woman.
Books lie scattered across the coffee table.
Every corner of this apartment carries a piece of the life I built with my own hands. No.
I cannot leave like this. There has to be another way.
If there is one person capable of changing my father’s mind, it is Aunt Zuri. She has always stood between us whenever duty threatened to silence love.
If anyone can convince my father to give me a little more time, it is her.
With trembling fingers, I grab my phone and search for her name.
Please answer…
The call connects after only two rings.
“Nadia?”
The familiar warmth in her voice nearly breaks me.
“Aunt Zuri…”
My voice cracks.
“I need your help.”
A pause.
Not a surprised pause. A knowing one.
“What happened, my child?”
I glance toward the royal agents quietly packing my belongings.
“My father sent people to bring me home.”
She becomes silent long enough for my heart to begin sinking.
“I knew this day would come,” she whispers.
My brows knit together.
“What do you mean?”
“Nadia…”
Her voice is gentle.
“Your father has been waiting for you much longer than you realize.”
Guilt settles heavily inside me.
“I just need more time,” I say quickly.
“Please… talk to him. You are the only person he listens to.”
“Nadia there is something you need to know.” She says with a serious tone.
My stomach tightens.
“What is it?”
Her next words steal the air from my lungs.
“Your father is not well.”
The room suddenly feels colder.
“What do you mean?”
“He collapsed two days ago.”
For a heartbeat, everything around me disappears.
The nightmare. The one I woke up from this morning. The image of my father collapsing.
It flashes through my mind so vividly that my knees almost give way.
“He has been placed on complete bed rest,” Aunt Zuri continues quietly.
“The royal physicians have done everything they can. But he refuses to eat or take medication.”
I grip the phone tighter.
“Why Is he doing that when he is not well?”
Her answer comes almost as a whisper.
“Because he believes his daughter no longer wants to come home.”
The words hit me harder than any accusation ever could. My gaze drifts toward the open suitcase resting on the bed. Toward the life I fought so hard to build.
Then I close my eyes.
The same man who carried me when I cried. The same man who stood between me and everyone who blamed me for my mother’s death. The same man who never let me believe I was unwanted.
Now believes I no longer want him.
“No…”
The whisper barely leaves my lips.
“Aunt Zuri I never wanted to hurt him. I will come home.”
The words taste like surrender.
“But…”
I swallow.
“I just need a little time.”
Aunt Zuri falls silent.
“Please,” I whisper. “I need to say goodbye.”
Not to this apartment. Not to this city but to Jake.
Because something inside me already knows that when I leave today , nothing will ever be the same.
I lower the phone slowly, my reflection staring back at me from the dark screen.
For a brief moment, the apartment falls silent. Then footsteps approach.
“I am sorry, Your Highness.”
I look up.
The captain of the royal guard stands before me, his posture straight, his expression unreadable.
He extends a gloved hand.
“I will need your phone.”
For a heartbeat, I simply stare at him.
“My… phone?”
“And your iPad, Your Highness.”
My fingers instinctively tighten around both devices.
The words settle over the room like a heavy fog.
He does not explain himself. He does not need to explain. The realization comes all on its own.
These are my father’s orders.
Not my father’s but the King’s.
A bitter laugh catches in my throat.
Of course the Crown has always demanded sacrifice. I simply never imagined I would be the next offering.
My gaze falls to the phone in my hand.
Jake.
He has no idea what is happening. By now, he is probably planning tonight. He is probably smiling to himself. Probably wondering whether I will say yes.
A sharp ache settles deep inside my chest.
Just one call.
One chance to tell him that I am not leaving because I want to.
Slowly, I lift my eyes to the captain once more.
He has not moved. And his hand remains outstretched. Waiting.
My gaze lingers on the phone resting in my hand. I think of everything I am about to lose . Not just Jake but also a way of connecting to him .Our little life that exists on the screen is also about to be taken away.
My fingers slowly loosen.
I place the phone and iPad into the captain’s waiting hand.
The screens disappear into a black leather case before it clicks shut. The sound is quiet. Yet it echoes through my chest like the slamming of a prison door.
For the first time since leaving the Crescent Kingdom I have no way of reaching Jake. No way of telling him where I am. No way of telling him that I did not leave him willingly. He is going to be worried sick about me.
Without another word, the captain steps aside.
The path to the door is clear. I take one last look around the apartment.
The photographs on the walls. The books piled carelessly on the coffee table.
I swallow the lump in my throat and walk away.
No one speaks during the drive to the private airfield.
The silence inside the limousine is almost suffocating while outside, the city continues exactly as it always has. People laugh. Traffic crawls through the streets.
Life moves on while duty calls me into the closed door of the palace.
The limousine rolls to a halt beside the royal aircraft.
Its silver Crescent emblem gleams beneath the afternoon sun. A member of the flight crew opens the cabin door before I even reach the stairs.
Everything has already been prepared. Everything is ready except me.
I climb aboard.
The cabin is elegant, familiar, and strangely empty. This is going to be a long journey.
A flight attendant greets me with a gentle smile before placing a glass of water and a plate of warm pastries on the table beside my seat.
The rich buttery aroma reaches me. And without warning, my stomach twists violently.
A wave of nausea crashes over me so violently that I clap a hand over my mouth.
“I… excuse me.”
I barely make it to the restroom before the sickness overwhelms me. Everyone rushes to assist me.
When it finally passes, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My face has turned pale.
I force out a nervous laugh.
“You are just overwhelmed.”
The words sound hollow, even to me. I splash cold water across my face, straighten my shoulders and force myself to breathe.
Everything will be fine. The stress of leaving Jake without a goodbye is just getting to me .
By the time I return to my seat, the nausea has eased, leaving behind nothing but exhaustion.
The flight attendant offers me a gentle smile.
“Would you like me to call the royal physician, Your Highness?”
I shake my head.
“No… I will be fine.”
Outside my window, the ground crew clear the runway.
Moments later, the engines come to life, their low rumble vibrating through the cabin.
I close my eyes in disbelief of what is happening.
The aircraft begins to take off . And the runway blurs beneath us until, with one final surge, the ground falls away.
Within seconds, the city stretches beneath a blanket of clouds. I press my forehead against the cool window.
Goodbye.
Goodbye to the freedom I fought so hard to build. Goodbye to the man I love.
My heart becomes heavy just thinking about him. Maybe I should have told him the truth about my identity from the beginning. He does not deserve this.
No matter what waits for me in the Crescent Kingdom. No matter how heavy the crown becomes I will find a way to explain everything.
I owe him that much.
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