a whoosh, the weight of the oversize soldier knocked what remained of Levi’s breath from his lungs.
He groaned as he attempted to heave the deadweight figure off of him.
A small, neatly manicured hand appeared, hefting the man by the shoulder, adding just enough lift to allow Levi to push the man off to the side. As his vision cleared, Levi looked up to find Princess Isabelle smiling down at him.
“How did you—?” he started to ask.
She held up another shuttle like a royal scepter. “There were two of these.”
Levi moaned and sat up. “But how did you get the stone rolled back from the inside?”
Motioning with the shuttle, Isabelle imitated how she’d levered the shuttle through the opening to move back the stone. “Simple tools,” she said, glancing back at the heap of men behind her as a groan rumbled from the bottom of the pile. “We should get out of here.”
“Sure.” Levi leapt up and, with a quick kick in the direction from which the groan had come, muttered, “That should keep him quiet.” He plucked up the radio that had flown free when he’d knocked out the man who was trying to use it. “Let’s go before anyone else realizes what just happened.”
Isabelle hesitated. “Do we want to take their guns? We don’t want these guys to be armed when they wake up—especially if it takes us a while to get out of here.”
Although he didn’t want to waste the time it would take to do so, Levi had to admit Isabelle’s idea was a good one. The men could very well awaken before he got the princess through the cathedral and safely across the street to the American Embassy. “Okay, but let’s be quick about it.”
Levi grabbed the guns, stuffing several of them into the vault where Isabelle had hidden, before closing the stone seal. He then hurried to empty the soldiers’ pockets of anything that might be useful before slinging an assault rifle over his shoulder.
Isabelle grabbed a flashlight from one of the prone figures. “These men are Lydian soldiers. I might have thought they were after me to protect me if they hadn’t fired a shot at us.” Her features clouded. The soldiers had betrayed their vow to protect the royal family.
But why?
Much as he didn’t want to think about it, he knew the question needed to be voiced. “Whose orders were they following?”
Concern filled Isabelle’s face. “As king, my father is the head of the Lydian military, but if any of the commanders had turned—” Her words broke off, the situation clearly catching up to her.
“Someone issued a command for these soldiers to come down here looking for us.”
“Do you think they knew who they were looking for? Every soldier takes a vow upon enlistment to serve and protect the royal family. They must not have known they’d been sent after me.”
Levi sensed her struggle as she considered what the presence of the soldiers meant. Did the soldiers know who they’d been sent after? He didn’t have time to sort it out.
“We need to get moving. These men could wake up any moment.”
With the bright lights shining down from the hallway ceiling above them, they ran the length of the hall, finding the door to the stairs still open where the soldiers had entered.
“Do you think it’s safe?” Isabelle asked in a breathless voice.
Levi listened carefully but heard no sound above them. “I imagine the men were dispersed in teams to search the area surrounding the ambush. The cathedral is only about three blocks from where the motorcade stopped. It will take them a while to canvass the area. I doubt anyone will come back to this building until they realize our men downstairs haven’t checked in.”
“I hate to think they’d be organized enough to make that realization very quickly.” Isabelle’s intelligent eyes looked up at him intently, her loose lock of hair tumbling down and brushing his hand again. He doubted she was even aware of it, yet it did terrible things to his focus.
Her determined expression took his breath away. He knew she was shaken by all that had happened—she’d wept not very long ago—but here she was, already dealing capably with the situation. And she’d saved his life with that shuttle.
He swallowed, struggling to think what to say next. What had they been talking about? The woman was far too beautiful. As soon as he got her to safety he’d hand her off to someone else. She was difficult to work with—for all the wrong reasons.
Before he could gather his scattered thoughts, Isabelle surprised him by scooping up one of his singed hands into her much smaller fingers.
“Before we go any farther, we should pray,” she said softly, pinching her eyes shut and bowing her head without waiting for a response from him.
“Lord God, Protector of Lydia, Sovereign of our Nation and Lord of the Universe.” In her royal way, she began with God’s majestic titles before pleading for protection—not just for them, but for the rest of her family. “Wherever my parents and siblings are, I know that You are with them. In Your infinite mercy, watch over them. Keep us all safe until You bring us together once again. Amen.”
Levi also offered an amen and half expected Isabelle to linger after her prayer, but she didn’t even look at him before she headed through the doorway. It took Levi another second before he realized he would have to hurry to keep up with the woman he’d been hired to protect.
Isabelle proceeded as quickly as she dared up the stone steps to the main back hall of the cathedral. She knew the way to the front entrance, having worshipped regularly at the ancient church since she was an infant. Not only did she want to make up for the time they’d lost already, but she felt the need to stay ahead of Levi. He’d begun to make her feel uncomfortable.
She was used to having bodyguards. They’d gone everywhere with her all her life. They were a part of her life.
But she’d never prayed with one before, never clung to one like she’d held on tight to Levi as she’d fought him, cowered in fear with him and wept with him.
Sure, she was plenty used to bodyguards. But she wasn’t remotely used to getting that close to a man—any man. The very thought made her recall the final terrified minutes of her failed engagement. Tyrone’s face popped into her mind—the face of the man she’d wanted so much to love, the man who had only wanted to take advantage of her.
The hard-learned lesson dug itself a little deeper into her heart. She hadn’t even suspected Tyrone’s true motives until it had almost been too late. Tyrone had been in love with royal power. He’d wanted to marry her for the prestige it would give him.
Her desire to be loved had blinded her so much that she’d almost let him get away with his evil plans. Almost. She would never allow herself to make the same mistake again. She was a princess. Any man who pretended to love her was likely only in love with her royal title. Tyrone hadn’t even taken the time to get to know her.
And she’d learned better than to waste her time chasing after love. She shrugged off the unfamiliar feeling of closeness that praying with Levi had caused her to feel. It meant nothing. As soon as she got away from the insurgent threat, she’d figure out how to get away from Levi, too.
They made their way quickly down the ancient stone hallway, which was slightly more worn than the floor of the chambers below but otherwise remarkably similar. Light from the setting sun streamed in through the beveled panes of the antique windows, prisms of vibrant colors splashing them as they ran past.
They reached the front doors, and both of them crouched back against the solid wood, peeking through the clear panes to the scene outside.
The cobbled street and limestone walls looked innocent, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened in Sardis that day.
Isabelle watched as Levi’s hand settled over the door latch.