Elias watched dawn break over the horizon from a high window in Kallaster Castle. The cloudless sky promised a temperate spring day, one forecast to be the warmest yet of the year. Shimmering ripples broke the surface of the ocean, creating a magical scene that seemed to stretch to infinity.

His thoughts were far from magic and outdoor activities, however, as he unfastened another button on his once crisp white shirt. He’d yet to change out of his suit from the evening before, and had, in fact, only arrived home a short while ago.

The door to the upper library opened. Erick entered, arms full of folders and a tablet computer, his brown hair tousled around his head. He looked like he’d been up all night, and probably had.

Erick, unlike Elias, looked more like their mother than their father. His features favored hers barring the strong jawline that ran in the bloodline of the Ahtissari men. A few days’ worth of whiskers painted a shadow on his skin, further proof of his distraction.

“Find anything?” Elias asked, flipping the cuffs of the shirt back to his elbows.

“I did find something. Just about three hours ago. So I’m still checking more photographs to see if there are others with this guy in it.” Erick walked the folders and tablet to a large desk in the middle of the library. He set everything down but kept one folder in particular at hand.

Elias stepped around the edge of the desk to his brother’s side. “What is it?”

Erick slid four photographs from the folder and arranged them in a square on the desktop. The images had obviously been taken in public during a celebration, parade, or other gathering.

Inari’s face showed in two of the photos; the others appeared to be random shots of the crowd.

“What am I looking at here?” Elias asked.

Erick grabbed the tablet and turned it on. The same four photos popped up on the screen, in the same order. He used his finger to trace a digital red line around a particular face in the crowd.

Not Inari, but a dark-haired man in sunglasses who had apparently shown up at each of the events. In one, the man looked a little blurry, yet the face shape was the same, as well as the haircut and the telltale sunglasses.

“Now, maybe this guy is a fan. I’m sure a lot of loyal citizens show up to royal events—we see it in Latvala as well—except three of these photos were taken in other countries.” Erick glanced aside, brows up.

Elias didn’t need it spelled out for him. Most citizens, no matter how passionate, did not track their kings and queens all over the world just to attend parades or other royal events.

“All three separate countries?” Elias asked, taking a closer look at the pictures. He could not make out specific details thanks to the sunglasses, the angle of the shot, or the clarity of the photo. Distance played a part as well.

“Yes. Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. The last one was taken in Somero during a charity event that Inari attended. These shots of just the crowd happened because I zoomed in a little or panned to inspect the faces. Inari is present in all the original files.”

“That can’t be coincidence. This is great work, Erick.” Elias clapped his brother on the back. “I think we should take these to King Thane and let his people start to work their own angle. They might even know who this guy is.”

“I ran the clearest pictures through facial recognition but didn’t get any hits. Which is weird. Usually you can get something, even narrow the details down. Nothing whatsoever came up.”

Elias was not a fan of the current worldwide database that was accessible to everyone. The ideology on privacy had fallen away decades before, where people had been convinced it was safer to submit their likeness and personal details to a nebulous global entity who worked hard for The Better Good. Privacy had ceased to be a choice not long after he’d been born; now enrollment was a requirement whether you liked it or not. For those who refused to freely submit, they were added via one of several different avenues: driver’s license, passport, school photos, street surveillance, shopping venues, through social media sites, and from personal computers or phones. Facial recognition attached to the database could locate anyone, anywhere, at any given time.

He might not agree with the practice on principal, but he couldn’t deny it made identifying criminals easier.

“I suppose there are a few people left in this world who have avoided the system, or know how to beat it. For all we know, that’s not his real face.” Elias tapped one of the photos with a finger.

You just never knew.

“I’ve got another few hundred photos to look through, but we can send this over if you want to,” Erick said, dragging a hand through his hair.

“I say send them. They need to know this might be a lead as soon as possible. You can offer to keep looking, but take your cues from Thane. Once we turn this over, it’ll be his choice how to proceed.”

“Will do. I’ll contact their people immediately.” Erick gathered the photos and stuffed them into the folder.

Elias turned from the desk, a troubled frown on his brow. He didn’t like where any of this was going. And he definitely didn’t like that Inari appeared to have a stalker who seemed hell-bent on taking her life.

---

Inari ran up on a horrific scene. A scene so heartbreaking and devastating that, at first, she mentally stumbled. Panic threatened to obliterate her self-control and throw her into a fit of tears and wailing. But panic helped no one, and the fifteen or so people hovering over her inert sister would remember a breakdown of that magnitude for years to come.

There could be no breakdowns or meltdowns. No loss of control.

She went to her knees at Lisbet’s side, her father on the other, and used a cloth someone handed down to dab at the foam bubbling from between her sister’s lips.

“Lisbet! It’s Inari. I’m here. Hold on, help will be here shortly. Can you hear me?”

Lisbet’s svelte frame convulsed. Her eyes rolled back into her head.

It didn’t look good.

“What happened?” Inari demanded of the crowd, turning Lisbet’s head to the side with help from her father. Distress painted the king’s features, but also determination to try and save his daughter’s life. There was no panic, only a flicker of fury amid grave concern.

“I think there was poison in the drink. She’s been poisoned!” Mrs. Larssen, the head chef said.

Someone had attempted to end her the same way only days before. Poison in the champagne glass. Was this an attack on Somero? The royal family? Perhaps Lisbet had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had imbibed something meant for the future queen.

“What did she have?” Inari asked.

“Apple cider,” Larssen said.

The reply made Inari’s blood run cold. Apple cider was the one habit Inari indulged in every evening before bed. She liked it hot, with two cinnamon sticks, in a favorite mug made for her by a child of the kingdom.

Lisbet had consumed a drink meant for her.

“Step back, step back, please!”

Inari released Lisbet and stood as the doctor and his aides arrived. Her father kept a private physician and staff on retainer in the castle, not only for emergencies with the royal family but for all the staff as well.

Tonight that decision might very well save Lisbet’s life.

Thane paced, expression still as stone, as the doctors went to work. When he suddenly reached for his phone and stepped back a few paces to speak quietly into the receiver, then glanced at her over Lisbet and the physician’s heads, Inari knew it had to do with her.

“Let’s get her into the car and to the helicopter. We need to transport her to the hospital as quickly as possible,” the physician said. He stood as his aides eased Lisbet onto a stretcher.

“Is she going to make it?” Inari asked, taking a step forward. She’d just promised her father not to leave the palace, yet she had every intention of flying to the hospital with her sister.

The doctor paused to glance back. “I don’t know, Your Highness. She’s in bad shape.”

Inari opened her mouth to speak, but the doctor hastened after his aides. She fell into step behind him, but paused when her father touched the crook of her elbow, effectively halting her progress.

“I want you to have your assistant gather some things. King Aleksi has agreed to harbor you until we find out how the hell poison got into the palace. It’s not safe here when we’re getting hit inside the walls,” Thane said.

His tone brooked no argument.

Inari wanted to argue anyway. Her sister needed her. Perhaps her father, always an astute man, understood her concern.

“Your mother and I, as well as Carsten, will follow Lisbet in another aircraft. She won’t be alone. Right now, I feel this is the safest course of action to preserve our line,” he added.

Clearly he considered remaining within the palace’s walls to be a dangerous risk. She only hesitated a moment before nodding her head.

“All right. Please update me as soon as possible.” She wanted to ask why he hadn’t called Latvala and sent her there instead of Imatra, but Lisbet’s health came first. There wasn’t time to get into a debate about where she would seek temporary refuge.

Thane kissed her brow and broke into a run down the hallway.

Inari pivoted in the opposite direction, intent on following her father’s instructions to the letter. She only hoped the assailant wasn’t someone inside the castle with them, right then, waiting for a new opportunity to strike.