The Wolf and His Queen

Chapter 2: What Could Go Wrong?

Derek's POV:

I paced back and forth at the base of the stairs, as I knew that the events of the day were supposed to be well underway by now. I wondered how much longer this was going to take, so I checked my watch again, as I had already done so half a dozen times by now. It was just after 9:45 in the morning and we were supposed to head out from here just after 9 am. At the thought of us being late, I could not help but wonder why it was that women took so long to get ready in the morning. I tried to think as to what could take so long as it was simply getting up, showering, and dressing, right? Well, I guess there was a lot more stuff that they thought they had to worry about than we men would have to worry about. We could get up, get showered, and get dressed all in a fraction of the time that it would take for them to be finished. We could be out the door in no time flat. For women, I did not think that was even remotely possible.

When it came to women, on the other hand, I knew that they had to do their hair just right and that that probably included the need to change outfits several times, in order to be ready. Then they had to ensure that their makeup matched the outfit that they finally settled on to wear that day. If their hair was not the way that would be considered to be absolutely perfect, then they might not even let another soul see them for the day. I even knew of some women who might have even made it to where they would create a particular decree in order to prepare for the day. I knew that this particular decree should say something along the lines of that they would have no less than three additional servants who were there to assist them in this preparation process. That way they would be able to get the help that they needed for them to be able to be prepared on time for whatever ventures they had in store for that day.

After coming to that conclusion, I could not help but wonder about our wonderful Princess Rosalynn. Was she one of those particular few that would require extra help? It did make me wonder if she, on the other hand, even required the extra help of servants to ensure that she looked her absolute best before we started out to complete the list of tasks she had planned for the day's listed events. I knew how much the events of this particular day were going to mean to her, and to her very own kingdom, I might add, so I did not want to make her feel as if she was being rushed.

However, we were still almost an hour behind our original schedule and that made me a bit concerned. As head of her security detail, it was my job to be concerned for her safety and well-being, especially when we were not in her very own kingdom. And from that thought, I had to believe that she knew what she was doing. I tried to relax a bit as I decided to stop pacing and lean my back up against the stair railing. As I stood there, I pulled a small set of sheets with listed notes on them out of my front suit chest pocket. I started to look over the details of what was to come from the day's events. There was an assortment of different places that we were going to have to travel to and then we also had to make time to stop for meals there too.

As I was trying to make sure that we had time for this little delay, that was what I thought. I heard a strange noise coming from behind me around the corner behind the staircase. I turned around and walked around the corner of the staircase, trying to figure out where the noise originated from. I was shocked to see Marcus Miller, the next in command of the security detail for this trip, coming out of the closet that was hidden under the staircase. I knew that this old castle had many hiding places and old passageways. However, it made no sense why he would be coming out from behind me when I last thought of him, he was upstairs standing guard outside our Princess Rosalynn's door.

We were informed on our arrival here that there was no need to use the old passageways and that they were all shut and sealed off. We were even shown some that were sealed to help calm my nerves, as I am the one who was in charge of this whole trip. I think I was more nervous about being in charge of the security detail and the lead man to make sure the events were attended to on time. When I looked at him again, I had the hair on the back of my neck start to stand up. Seeing him stumbling forward brought my attention back to the current situation. With one hand, he was holding the back of his head too. It was then that I noticed that he had a piece of rope hanging from his wrist that he was touching the back of his head with. His other hand was stretched out in front of him as he was trying to keep himself from falling forward.

I wasted no more time trying to walk slowly to him due to my confusion. Seeing him like this, I dropped all the sheets of notes in my hand as I rushed over to him and grabbed him before he fell to the floor. I was not sure what happened but I was determined to get to the bottom of this.

“What happened?!” I said in a concerned tone.

This was not a usual thing that happened amongst my men. The men in my detail were chosen for a purpose as they were known as very strong members and admired by others. As well as the fact that they were strong enough on their own and were able to handle themselves, despite whatever situation they encountered. To see him like this, made me very leery about current circumstances and I wanted an explanation as to why one of my best was found in this manner.

“I don't know," he said softly as he winced in pain. "All of a sudden I woke up in the dark with a terrible headache. I tried to get up and I found that I could not move as I discovered that my hands were tied behind my back. I struggled as I tried to free myself and when I looked around, I noticed that I had been put into a closet of some kind."

It appeared that he had some sort of head injury as he was lightly bleeding from the back of his head. I knew then that he had to have been hit on the back of his head after he was knocked unconscious. He would be considered less of a threat if he would not wake up as fast. That was if he had a head injury, I am guessing. I was beginning to become furious with this situation. I wanted answers to what was the reason why this happened in the first place.

"I swear to you, Alpha," he said, trying to defend himself as if that were even necessary at this point. "I never heard them coming."

"That is not necessary, my friend," I mentioned as I tried to help calm his nerves a bit. "You have never given me a reason to doubt you in the past, so I know that this is not your usual character. You have nothing to worry about. We will get to the bottom of this, I assure you."

My mind really started to try to figure out who would have done this, especially today of all days. I was even more furious now, as each moment passed me by, as I was hunched over Marcus who lay on the floor. I knew he was a very strong fighter, so if he was found in this way, then I knew that either he was certainly caught off guard, or the fact that he was up against more than one on one. His clothes did not appear to be torn or damaged in any way, so I had to figure out that he was caught off guard. That could be the only explanation that seemed to make sense of all of the current facts and details that presented themselves.

Just then, that is when it dawned on me. I had focused all my attention on Marcus and completely forgot that he was the one who was to stand guard outside Princess Rosalynn's door last night. If he was there, then that meant that no one was left standing guard outside her door. I never knew Marcus would fall short of any job that he was assigned. That also meant that he would not know how long he was away from the door. I needed to get to her and fast.

I did not waste another moment. I gently laid him back on the floor to help make sure that he did not hit his head again when I got up and out from under him. Then once I was up on my feet, I ran swiftly towards the stairs. As I turned to rush up the stairs, I leaped over them two at a time. I knew that would be faster than taking each step even if I ran up them one by one. My only thought was to get to her to make sure that nothing was wrong and that this was nothing other than some prank.

Once I finally managed to reach the top of the long and curvy staircase, I started to rush down the corridor. As I did, I could feel the burn in my legs as I was not prepared for the sprint of two by two-that I had just accomplished. I did not really pay attention to the burn and I did not wait for the pain to set in, as I had somewhere I needed to be. As I continued to run down the corridor, I happened to pass a servant who was coming out of a different room along that way. The surprise of it all, almost caused me to knock her over as she was carrying out a breakfast tray and was certainly not expecting to see anyone rushing past her down the hall.

As I rushed past her, it was obvious by the expression on her face after I passed her that she did not expect to see anyone moving that fast. I was not here to care about anyone else except that one person, not to even care about the fact that it startled her to such a point that she dropped the silver tray from her grasp. It was obvious how started she was as I heard the tray she was carrying hit the ground. The next thing I heard was the glass plates and small teacups breaking into tiny pieces as they shattered when they came in contact with the floor. She even let out a loud scream at the sudden noise from all the items crashing around her everywhere. I did not pay attention to what happened to her after that, I just kept running.

I did not care about anything else at that point. At that moment, my only thought was to get to Princess Rosalynn and make sure she was alright. The question I had was whether I was too late. What else could go wrong after that?