“What the fuck are you doing, Bran?”

I stare, my heart racing, as Bran steps out of the car.

“Wait!” I yell. “Bran, stop!”

“Fuck,” Aleks says, and then speaks Bellestanian into his walkie. I get the sense that things are very, very bad, though. He looks back at me. “Under no circumstances will you leave this fucking car, understand?”

“Bran’s out there,” I say wildly.

“Mila,” Aleks says sharply. “Bran will be fine. He’s tough. You stay here, understand?”

I nod once, my mind racing.

“Good. Artur, stay with her.” Aleks pushes open his door and steps out.

Artur, the other guard, glances back at me then watches his boss, a worried expression on his face.

I slide across the back seat and roll down the window.

“Please, no,” Artur says, but I ignore him. I get the window down and lean out.

The crowd is beginning to murmur. I watch as Bran, followed closely by Aleks, walks up to the lead car. Bran says something to the men inside the car, and they all slowly get out. Bran turns and waves to the crowd almost as if nothing strange were happening, like it was some regular photo op.

I hear more murmuring from the crowd, and I start to hear something very clear being said over and over again.

”Prince Bran.”

Nobody moves toward Bran and his guards as the men start to slowly push the shopping carts out of the way. The crowd doesn’t help, but they do get out of the way as the carts are moved out of the road. It feels like it takes forever, and the crowd keeps mumbling Bran’s name.

For his part, Bran doesn’t look afraid. He smiles and waves and even laughs as he pushes the cart. I catch sight of a man in the crowd near Bran laughing along with him, like the two men just shared a joke.

Slowly, the vibe starts to change. Things felt horrible and on edge when we first stopped, but the crowd feels like it’s shifting. People start to call out Bran’s name more loudly, and he waves when they do. One young girl even runs up to him and takes a selfie with him. People nearby are speaking to him as his guards finish moving the shopping carts, and Bran embraces the crowd, laughing and talking with them.

Soon, he’s shaking hands, and things feel okay. Aleks still looks nervous as hell but the road is clear and the people aren’t revolting. If anything, people are clamoring to get a picture with Bran. He’s so damn charming and handsome, it’s almost as if the people can’t help but like him. He laughs and takes a picture with a group of old women, and one of the women kisses him on the mouth, which makes the whole crowd erupt in cheers and laughter.

Bran waves and speaks to them. I don’t know what he’s saying, since everyone is speaking Bellestanian, but they seem happy.

That’s when the reporters start to join the group. They walk up tentatively and start taking pictures.

“Where’s the Princess?” someone in the crowd yells, and Bran laughs. He points back to me and motions for me to join him. I look over at Artur who frowns at me, but Aleks waves, indicating that it’s okay.

Slowly, I climb out of the car, and the crowd erupts into cheers. I can’t help but smile. Two guards flank me on either side, with Artur in the back, as we head over to where Bran is smiling.

I walk up to him and he embraces me. He looks at the crowd then kisses me, a little on the chaste side, but the crowd eats it up.

“Prince Bran! Princess Mila!” they shout.

“Thank you, everybody,” I yell and wave.

I shake a few hands and old women kiss my cheeks. I can feel the reporters getting closer, taking pictures and writing on little notepads. Bran keeps me close under his arm, smiling and waving, but clearly he’s not trusting these people just yet.

They keep speaking in Bellestanian, and I just smile and nod as we slowly move back toward our car. The crowd moves with us, but nobody gets in the way or impedes our progress. After a few minutes, we’re back at the car, and Bran has his hand on the door.

That’s when it happens.

I don’t know where the rock comes from. I don’t see it at all. But one second Bran is holding onto the handle, and the next second a rock smashes into the window next to his head. It misses him by inches and cracks the window but doesn’t break it.

Instantly, guards surround us, and there are screams. More rocks get thrown and the crowd suddenly changes. People are running away as the guards draw their guns and point them. Bran is screaming at the guards, but the men are grabbing people from the crowd and punching them, clearing a space.

Aleks appears next to us. “In the fucking car,” he says. He throws the door open and Bran pushes me inside.

The two men shout at each other in Bellestanian.

“Bran, come on!” I say. “Get in the car!”

“Fuck!” he yells. “I had this under control.”

“You can’t control everything,” Aleks says. “Get in, we have to go.”

Bran gives one more look at the chaos, curses again, and gets into the car.

Aleks gets in the front seat and puts the car in gear. He has to drive slowly because of all the people running around, but we manage to make it clear of the chaos.

The last thing I see is three guards kicking a man with a handkerchief over his face as we speed away from the scene.

“Fuck,” Bran says. “Did you see where that came from, Aleks? It was the fucking opposition.”

“Of course it was,” Aleks says, his face calm now that we are clear.

“They set this up. You know that, right?”

Aleks hesitates. “It’s likely.”

“Likely? Fuck that. They did this.”

“What can we do, Bran?”

“I don’t know, but Perko is going to pay for this. That fucking cunt paid some assholes to set that little roadblock up and leaked our route. Most of the people out there just wanted to see me! It took just one fucking asshole with a rock and an agenda to set the whole thing on fire.”

I bite my lip, watching Bran. I’ve never seen him so angry, but I can’t blame him. He had the crowd under control. Frankly, he had them eating out of his palm, and they loved him for it. He was charming and kind and they clearly were happy that he was there in their little village.

All until that rock. Things were going great. Now, the story is going to be about the attack, not about how Bran changed the whole vibe of the crowd and won them over simply by being brave and charming.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say softly to him.

He sighs. “I know it wasn’t. But I was so close. I did so well.”

“I know you did.” I reach out and take his hand. He squeezes my fingers and looks at me. “I’m proud of you. What you did back there, that was brave.”

“Stupid,” Aleks mutters.

Bran frowns at me. “Fuck, Mila. I put you in danger.”

“I’m fine, though.”

“You’re fine, but we’re lucky. If that rock was thrown earlier, or if he missed and hit you…” Bran trails off, eyes wide.

“Bran, stop. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I was the one that allowed her to come out,” Aleks says.

“It was my idea. Mila, I’m so sorry.”

“Stop,” I say. “Bran. You didn’t do anything. You were brave and amazing back there. This is Perko’s fault, not yours.”

He nods once and chews his lip before looking away. He gazes back out the window and I know he wants to be left alone for the moment, but he doesn’t let go of my hand.

We ride back to the castle like that, hand in hand. Aleks doesn’t speak. When we get back, we learn that the reporters are all safe and the guards are fine. They arrested a few people from the crowd, but nobody knows who actually started the whole thing. Nobody was seriously injured, thankfully, but the story coming out of the press camp isn’t good.

I know Bran blames himself, but it wasn’t his fault. I do know one thing for sure now, though.

This game of royal politics is dangerous. And I’m going to have to be careful.