A Royal Deception

Episode 2

Damien pov

Later, I might be able to piece together what happened, but at the moment there was no time to think or respond. The lady on the bike just appeared there, in the middle of the road. William swore as he slammed on the brakes, and even though the car hadn’t been going fast, it still swerved. Tires screeched, then skidded those last few feet.

I saw the brunette’s startled face, then comes the sickening thud as the front of of the limo collides with the rear end of the bike. The lady flew in the air, then lands on the other side of the road closed to the bluffs.

I was out of my seat before William could jam the car into park. The lady lay crumpled up on her side, her arms and legs limp, her long, thick brown hair covered her face like a veil.

With my heart pounding, I kneel down beside her. Dear lord, let her be alright, I thought. Gently I eased the lady to her back then brush her hair from her face and place my hand at the base of her throat.

When I feel the warm, vibrant pulse I release a breath that I’ve been holding.

“Lord have mercy!” With a curse on his lips, William comes running. “Please tell me she’s not dead.”

“You haven’t killed her.” I keep my voice even and control, though my heart was pounding fiercely in my chest. I quickly swept my gaze over the lady. Her right arm was scraped and bleeding, and an angry red welt blooming over her right cheekbone. Her blouse was torn and smudged with dirt, her skirt stain with grass.

I glance at her face. Beautiful, is my first thought.

She moaned and her eyes fluttered open, flecks of grey swirled like smoke in her soft greenish eyes. Her skin is porcelain-smooth, pale against the mark on her cheekbone. I feel my throat tightening further as I looked at her mouth. Lips wide, lush and inviting, a mouth meant for a man’s kisses, I thought, then quickly I look back up at her eyes. Confusion and pain swam then..

“What—“ she lift a hand to her forehead, “what happened?”

“Our car struck you when you were crossing the road on your bike.” My stomach twist as blood tickled down her forehead. I follow the trail of blood to a cut just above her hairline. “Are you hurt?”

“My head.” She murmured.

Her eyes slid closed and for a moment I thought she has passed out, when she opens them again, relief wash through me.

“Here, take this.” William pressed a handkerchief into my hands, then reach into the pocket of his jacket and pulls out a cell phone. “I’m gonna call for an ambulance.”

“No.” The lady shake her head then winced from the movement. “There’s no need for an ambulance, I just need a minute.”

“Be still. Let me check for missing limbs, shall we?” I gently dabbed at the wound above her eye. “Do you feel this?”

I touched her ankle, noticed that she’d lost one white tennis shoe and her socks hugged her narrow foot.

“Yes.” She wiggled her feet. “Your hands are warm.”

“Im going to check if anything’s broken,” I say, then slid my hand under her long denim skirt. She has the legs of a runner, or maybe a dancer, I thought. Long and curved and well toned, her skin was silk smooth. I inched the fabric up her knees, her left knee was scraped and there was a little bit of blood. “If you like, you can slap me later for being so rude.”

I notice the small Ruby ring on her right finger as I slowly rises her arm. She sucked in a breath at the movement. “I don’t suppose I’ll be slapping you with that hand anytime soon.” She say’s through clenched teeth.

When an icy gust of wind blows from the east towards us, I felt the goosebumps rise on her skin. Fat raindrops splattered on the ground around us, and thunder shook the ground.

“I don’t think we can continue staying here.” William says glancing as a jagged bolt of lightning streaked down and exploded inside a stand of trees less than a quarter mile down the road. The tree branches cracked and sparks rise upward on a cloud of smoke. The air, charged with electricity, turned thick and heavy making the hair on my arms rise.

“Let’s get to the car.” I yelled over the rising wind and the rumbling of thunder. “I’m going to pick you up and put put you in the car.”

Another bolt of lightning struck pretty close this time, and William predicted proved correct. The sky opened and a torrent of cold rain poured down on us. As gently as possible I scooped the lady up in my arms. She shivered against me and I did my best to protect her from the rain as I dashed to the car. William held the door open for me while I laid the lady on the soft, grey leather seat of the black limo. I climbed in beside her and closed the door.

Bullet-proof glass windows blocked out the ranging storm outside. The interior of the car was quiet and warm. William hopped on the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Shall I go back for her bike?” William asked.

“Later, after the storm subsides.” I kneel on the floor of the car. “We don’t want you to catch a cold on top of your injuries do we?”

In just the short run of the car, the woman’s light hair has been drenched and several strands around her pale face had start to curl up, when she started to shiver violently, I lifted the seats and pulled out a blanket, then draped it over her shoulders.

“Call for Dr. Wilson,” I say over my shoulder. “Tell him what happened and have him waiting by the infirmary entrance.”

William drove while making the call. I closed the heavy glass partition between the front seat and the back of the car so the lady wouldn’t hear. I saw the pain in her clouded eyes, felt my own frustration knot in my stomach. But there was nothing I could do for her until we reached the palace.

Dammit! I force myself to concentrate on the lady instead of the cars slow pace up the road.

“We’ll be there in just a few minutes,” I said quietly. “Are you comfortable?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered so quietly I barely heard her. “So very sorry.”

The intensity of her gaze and the quiet desperation in her voice confused me. I pulled the blanket up and tucked it under her chin. “ you have nothing to be sorry about. We hit you remember?”

She turned away from me. The welt on her face has darkened, and the wound on her head has stopped bleeding.

“What’s your name?” I pressed the handkerchief still I’m my hand on her forehead.

Slowly she turned her head back towards me. I saw fear in her grey-greenish eyes and well as confusion.

“I—I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if there anyone we can call?”

“No.” As if in pain, she closed her eyes. “I mean I don’t know my name.”