Princess Lea (Part 1) Eng.

Chapter 26

Five days before Letycja's wedding, Samuel's grandmother died, and the funeral was scheduled for the day before the wedding. The renovation of the center was in full swing, almost all the rooms on the first floor were finished, but due to the unplanned situation with the funeral, Lea decided not to come there for a while, she arranged an extra team with the help of her father to support Samuel.

– Shall I make you some tea? – she asked as she saw Samuel enter the kitchen.

– Yes, please – he nodded and walked over to her and hugged her.

Since his grandmother had died, he needed a lot of hugs and affection, this death had really hit him hard. Lea patted him on the shoulder.

– For now, no one knows you're coming – he mumbled – but we still have to be careful, I have a vest for you in the closet.

– I don't want to cause a problem, if my presence at the funeral would cause chaos, maybe I'd better stay – she started, but he interrupted her.

– I want you there with me – he looked into her eyes – I need you.

– Fine – she nodded, seeing how he was reacting, she really didn't want to let him go to the funeral alone.

He kissed her and went to the bathroom to take a bath. Lea poured boiling water into two glasses and put tea bags in them. She went into the bedroom to change. She put on black pants, a shirt and the bulletproof vest Samuel had mentioned, threw a coat over it and looked at herself in the mirror.

– I don't see anything – Samuel nodded as he entered the bedroom – correct.

Samuel put on a suit and a white shirt, put on his vest, and hid it under his coat. Lea pinned up her hair and put on Samuel's hat, maybe it wasn't the best disguise so that no one would recognize her, but Samuel assured her that there would be extra security at the funeral, just in case.

The mass in the church ended after an hour, almost all the staff of the center, doctors, Ned's friends and many people from Samuel's grandmother's family that Lea didn't know came.

Lea could see out of the corner of her eye that people were staring at her, but she tried to ignore it. When they reached the cemetery, the atmosphere became a bit more tense. Samuel held on bravely, Ned stood closer to his parents and his grandmother's living siblings.

As the coffin was slowly lowered into the grave, Lea noticed some excitement among those gathered. Samuel noticed it too, someone was pushing through the crowd, the security guards who had been placed incognito in the crowd began to move.

– There can only be one queen! – Lea heard a male voice, she tried to locate the person shouting it, but she didn't see him until the last moment, when the slim man was grabbed by the hand of one of the bodyguards. He was about to be taken away, but he pulled his hand away and struggled with the bodyguard. Samuel stood in front of Lea, shielding her with his own body. The second bodyguard jumped at him, but when the man pulled out a gun, panic set in among the gathered people, making it difficult for the other bodyguards to reach the man. He pointed the gun at Lea and fired. Samuel hugged Lea, shielding her with his body. He felt a sharp pain in his arm. The bullet must have hit his hand. He thanked himself for the vests. The bodyguards overpowered the man and handcuffed him to the floor. The rest of the guards surrounded Samuel and Lea.

– Are you okay? – Samuel asked.

– Yes, and you? You look a little pale – she looked at him.

– I think I got hit in the hand – he struggled to take off his coat, and Lea noticed blood running down his hand. She took a pocket knife from her pocket and with a few deft moves cut the sleeve of his coat.