UNWANTED

CHAPTER 20 - E14.29 - LIZAVETA

He leaked the video. I thought as my feet rushed across the bridge connecting the House to Parliament. That would be the only reason I thought would necessitate my presence and the presence of all the high lords and ladies of parliament at three in the morning while my party was still underway in the skies.

"What's going on?" I asked, my heart threatening to punch its way out of my chest.

"I haven't been fully briefed about the situation, but it was regarding the Southwest border." Ly whispered to me as we walked side by side towards the pillared portal of the Parliament.

Southwest. The Peninsula?

Zabdi kept his mouth shut then... for now at least.

"Get rid of Tino please." I whispered, as the blond prince was mere inches away from me and Ilyaas, keeping our pace. He was a decent person, thinking I needed his help though this, but I didn't want him to see how I functioned around the nasties.

Ly took a look at him and smirked. "Come on, he's just practicing for his kingly duties."

"Some MP sons are also in the thirty." I came up. The excuse wasn't good enough.

"So what?"

"Tino won't like what he sees when I speak with the MPs." I usually took my grandfather's route when I addressed them, maybe even a little harsher. Upapa had favorites and was far from his supposed non-partisan stance when it came to real-life interaction. He was firm and they stood on their toes for him. They didn't like doing that for me, but I wouldn't give them a choice.

Upapa was nice sometimes and genuinely liked some of them... I, on the other hand, hated them all and could not wait for the next election. "He won't like me when he sees what I do."

Ilyaas understood. "James and Nat are at the entrance. I'll get pretty boy back to his room."

I nodded. "And come back, okay?"

He grunted and stopped on his tracks to block Tino.

"Your highness..." I heard Ly say.

I kept walking despite Tino's protests, and as far as I knew, Ilyaas won their small argument as he led the blond prince back to where we came from. I kept my back to him. I didn't want to see my betrayal on his face. I couldn't blame him for being confused.

As Ly said, James and Natasha were at the end of the bridge, guarding me from both sides as I passed them. We crossed the grand staircase down to the halls and offices of the MPs. It was much less ornate than the house, but much more opulent than it needed to be.

It was a whole slab of marble, like a really big mausoleum. I guess it was appropriate since it was where all ideals came to die.

Just when I was set to take the stairs down to the Hall of Parliament, Nat guided me down a different path. We passed a hall of mirrors, and I realized how disheveled I still looked and now I was barefoot too.

"Where are we-" I felt my pulse quicken, remembering where the hall led.

WAR ROOM.

I felt a flash of lightning hit my heart.

No. I wanted to run. It was all I could do not to bolt. I looked around for something to ground me, my pulse quickening. One. The floor was cold under the purple carpet. Two. Nat had swollen ankles, probably from walking during the rounds at her hospital. Three. The imperial guards had polished buttons.

So different from the ones I had when I served. And they were few here. Most of the guards were White Coats. They were our military, the ones who swore to me but worked for the government at large. I was one of them once, but I never got to wear the white garb they wore on duty in Eurasian soil or the purple coats they wore in ceremony or in school... only the camo, the overalls, and my crimson version of their tyrian ones.