Princess in waiting

Chapter12

Danny heard a woman's shrieking above the water. The shrieking rose above the voices that were yelling and aggressively commanding him to be found. Danny dragged his focus back to his breathing. He had to be careful with his breathing if he was to be alive. Then someone fell into the water, right next to him. "s**t! No!" Danny watched as the victim was dragged deeper into the water, as they kicked frantically. Danny froze as he heard a woman's pleading and as his brain confirmed that the victim was a woman. "No! That's the last thing I need right now!" Yet the woman was underwater up to her shoulders. "She cannot swim!" Danny thought frantically. " She will drown, but if I swim up, I will be facing the guillotine. I'll drag her wherever I'm going." Danny quickly swam towards the victim, keeping himself well under the surface of the water. He had swum away from his vessel as the Royal vessel sprayed bullets onto his vessel when his cover was blown. He had to get back to his vessel. "What about the woman drowning right next to him?" Danny swam over to the girl and lifted her body, keeping his body as leverage.

Giselle felt herself being lifted, hoisted up; she inhaled a desperate breath. Giselle looked down at the water and gasped as she saw herself being lifted by a human. "Julian! But this isn't Julian!" Her heart sank. Then he started to swim, and all she could do was take deep, full breaths, thanking the good lord that she was not drowning. Giselle clung to his shoulders, holding him tight.

"This guy has so much strength!" Giselle couldn't help thinking as her rescuer swam endlessly. He had swum near a vessel which was drifting away. He cursed between his teeth.

"Boss!"

Then Giselle caught sight of someone on the deck of the vessel, anchoring the vessel.

The stranger gripped her wrists and stretched them towards the front of his neck, and Giselle understood that this was a signal for her to hang tight. She did.

Danny climbed up the ladder, onto the deck of his vessel.

"Others?"

"They all returned. It was bloody. We gunned down a few of them, and when we were getting outnumbered, we retreated while shooting them."

"I saw two flags. Who were those men? "

The stranger's companion heaved and looked away.

Danny Kay eyed his companion with a sharp look, and Giselle stepped behind Danny as she sensed the subtle exchange of power.

"The Royal Guard." Giselle's heart sank as she realized that she had clung to an enemy's neck and that she had gotten on board the vessel of the enemy. Then she felt the world spin.

****

Danny Kay wanted to be next to the girl when she opened her eyes. He was left without another option when she had fainted and when his members were doubtful that she had been on board with the royal guard. Danny Kay could not leave her in the middle of the ocean.

"You could have thrown her overboard!" A part of him spoke to him.

"I just saved her, and that was the only person I had saved in decades!" Danny wanted to defend his actions.

"If she wanted to go back?"

"Well, I need to find out who she is. If she is somebody who might try to make a mess out of being kidn*pped by the mafia, it's better to keep her.

Danny leaned back on the bed.

*****

Danny had fallen asleep next to the girl on the bed, and he was awoken by a sharp knock on the door. Crew members.

“Boss! You need to see something.”

Danny Kay reluctantly glanced at the girl peacefully asleep next to him.

“Boss, you need to either lock her up or finish her off.”

Danny’s eyes widened, and his underboss noticed this and flinched.

“What’s up with the person I look up to?”

On the mobile screen, which was thrust in front of Danny, was a dignified woman speaking in front of a podium, for an audience of around fifty guests. Danny Kay’s eyes widened in shock as he recognized the woman speaking to the audience. The camera was panning, and it stopped and zoomed in to capture the minister of youth affairs. Danny looked at his crew member.

“Keep your eyes on the screen.”

“Sir Luke Novach is here with us today to announce that we have achieved tremendous success through hard work and strategic moves. The narcotic traders have taken a step back. Today we announce the successful launch of rehabilitation programs for our brothers and sisters addicted to synthetic drugs. Ladies and gentlemen, we are not leaving any loopholes for anyone to ruin the lives of our brothers and sisters through narcotics!”

Giselle did not speak for long. Yet she received a standing ovation.

“Who is she?” “Strategic moves?”

“Boss, the camera is moving. Keep watching!” Danny’s crew member spoke urgently.

Danny watched more carefully. The person was pointing the camera at the back of the gathering. An unclear image of a man making his way through the crowds was the focus of the videographer’s frame. Some men got up from their seats to make way for the man who passed them. Then suddenly the capture turned in the opposite direction, capturing Giselle who was trying her best to make her way out of the crowd of admirers who were eager to get a handshake. Giselle was smiling at people and excusing herself. Having freed herself from the admirers, she rushed towards the back of the podium.

Where was she going?” Danny got the answer.

“The man who had been making his way through the crowd beamed when he spotted her. By the time they hugged, Danny Kay was looking at the video with wide eyes and shock.

“He is the crown prince!”

“They’re engaged, boss! She is his fiancée.”

“There’s something else that bothers me.”

“More than the crown prince?” Danny’s crew member looked at him with surprise.

“Definitely. She was talking of narcotic traffickers taking a step back. And about strategic moves. You know that Novach is an immensely popular leader and that he would go to any length to get into the public’s good books.

“Boss, do you mean to say that…”

“Yeah. You and I know that though no one can challenge our position in the market, there have been quite too many busts for us to be comfortable with. I need you to find out and dig deep. What else has she spoken about drugs in public?”

Danny felt a sudden urge mixed with immense rage. He needed to see Giselle Goldsmith, the brave fiancée of the country's crown prince.

****

“She is the future queen of the country, and the public had already seen her as that! You cannot leave her out there like that!” Julian kicked the golden coffee table, clenching his fists at the king.

“You need to send someone for at least some rescue operations!”

“And I’m looking like a coward right now! I’m taking shelter inside… while…”

King Henry wasn’t listening.

“That would mean allocating our funds for the rescue operations, and that would be the taxpayer’s money! It will be all over the media, and people can get to this very doorstep and throw us out of the palace.” The king was adamant that his son would listen to him.

“She is and was an asset to our family!”

King Henry was silent because he had always accepted this as a fact. Yet he could not act above the royal protocol.

“Still, she is not a member of the royal family!”

The death stare in King Henry’s eyes made Prince Julian flinch. “I’ll do it my way.” Prince Julian walked out of the palace.