The Shield (Prince Harry fanfic #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Harry and Lucy got onto a train, heading for Cologne, Germany. He was happy and talked for a while. She didn't give much conservation back; her mind was preoccupied. She was focused on what happened last night, whoever followed her. Harry stopped talking and watched outside as they started through Europe on the train, heading to Cologne. Lucy originally had a plane ticket but with another passenger beside her, she refunded that ticket for a train ticket.

Lucy's eyes watched the outside. The last time she was on a train, like this one, not the Tube, a gunman had come aboard. She tried not to focus on that, when she wasn't scared of that happening again. That was once in a lifetime event, like the mass shooting. Lucy watched her back when she entered schools, but she didn't expect it to happen again. Lucy watched her back on trains, but she didn't expect it to happen again.

Her mind stayed focused on last night, or early this morning, was the man. It easily could've been someone who wanted to rob her. She wasn't scared of them, but she wanted to believe she wouldn't hand over her money. Lucy wasn't scared to die, but whatever weapon they had wouldn't have scared her. Lucy wasn't scared of guns much anymore, after being shot, when she knew what would happen next. If the man had pulled out a knife, she wouldn't have been concerned either. Lucy had enough training in self-defense, but the knife also wasn't a gun. That was a very American way to think.

If it wasn't someone trying to rob her, Lucy considered it was the paparazzi, whom had been waiting for her. Perhaps her picture was out with Prince Harry, but in the train station, she had seen none of it. There were no tabloids with her picture on the front page or Harry's a matter of fact. It could have been a paparazzo, seeing if Prince Harry would bring her back, if she would show up to her hostile in a black, sleek monarch car.

This unnerved her, when she knew it shouldn't have. There was a good chance that she was in no danger and she had no risk of discovery. Still, Harry sat next to her, watching the outside as they passed through the French countryside. He wore a baseball cap and sunglasses, almost looking exactly like an American tourist. All he needed was the accent, and he tried one out on Lucy and she wasn't impressed. Harry was rather excited about the idea of no one knowing who he was. She reassured him he wouldn't have to have this disguise the whole time, not that he wore a lot.

Harry, noticing Lucy's discomfort, stopped looking out the window and slid closer to her. His blue eyes shined. "Are you thinking about the last time you were on a train?" he whispered, referring to her taking down a gunman.

"No."

"You look worried."

"I am." She brushed her hair back. "It's just.... Do paparazzi follow you, like only one follows you and waits to catch a picture?"

He paused. "I never had it before because they're in bunches every time I go out, but some past girlfriends have reported back some strange things. Do you think paparazzi followed you last night?"

She hesitated and he grew tense. "It may be nothing. No one took any pictures, and it was dark outside. It could've been someone else."

"The driver had specific instructions to drop you off at your hostile. Where could a paparazzo take your picture?"

"If it was a paparazzi, it's a good thing I asked the driver to drop me off a few blocks away from my hostile."

Harry swore his breath. "You could've been attacked. What if it hadn't been paparazzi but some guy trying to rob you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Harry. I know how to handle myself, and don't be angry at him. If it had been paparazzi, we wouldn't be going on this trip. They would be swarming the hostile at the mere thought of an American with Prince Harry."

Nodding, he knew Lucy knew how to handle herself around violent people. She had proved it at least twice before. If he trusted anyone, and thought anyone could protect herself or him, it would be Lucy. As for paparazzi, it was best she made the decision to be dropped off several blocks away from her hostile. She was out of the eye for now.

The train pulled into the Köln Hauptbahnhof, where Harry and Lucy exited the train, taking barely a bag between them. Harry thought to pack more but Lucy talked him out of it. They weren't going to be here for that long, and it was more of the thought of just being on the streets that counted.

"I'm trusting you," Harry stated, unsteadily. He cared for Lucy dearly but he was in a country that he never traveled alone and he didn't speak the language. She had mentioned that many people in the big cities spoke English, but he wasn't so sure.

"Are you saying you don't trust me usually?" she questioned, mocking him.

His eyes turned to her. "No."

"Gut," she winked, speaking in German. Her fingers interlaced with his and pulled on him as they exited der Bahnhof. The breeze hit them from the Rhein River, and Harry's eyes lit up in amazement. Lucy shook her head and laughed at him. "Ja, es ist schön, aber... you're facing the wrong way." Her hands pushed him to face south, where he was greeted with the sight of the Cologne Dome.

"You're right." He laughed. "I was facing the wrong way." With his backpack on, he walked forward. His eyes scanned the cathedral, how tall and old it was, in light stone with dark edges.

"If you want, but a warning," she began, "we can go up on the spires but it's five-hundred-and-thirty-three stairs up. But the view is amazing. It's like you can see the whole world, how it just stretches out."

Harry nodded. "Do you want to?"

"If you have to ask, then you have to go." Lucy stepped in front of him. "However, you're not going to need these." She pulled off his sunglasses and his baseball hat, and she put them in his backpack. "Wir gehen."

Again, fingers interlocked, and they walked toward the cathedral. Though the cathedral was beautiful, built high into the sky where it could touch the clouds, Lucy was more beautiful. His eyes wouldn't leave her. And she desperately pulled on him to walk faster. All she wanted to show him the world.