We ride the elevator back up again after getting dressed. It’s well after two in the morning and Mila is clearly getting tired. She stifles a small yawn and looks at me with a little abashed smile.

“You’re allowed to be tired, you know,” I say.

She shrugs a little. “I feel like I was just in some kind of important ceremony. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”

“Well, you were,” I say to her. “But you can just be yourself. It’s over.”

She hesitates for a second. “You aid something down there, before we drank the water. What did that mean?”

I shake my head. “I really don’t know. A lot of the meanings have been lost for us. The Soviets forbade the old religion, and they did everything they could to stamp it out.”

“That’s awful,” she says.

“I wasn’t around for most of that,” I reply, laughing. “But my parents were. They have nothing good to say about Russia.”

“So, what, you just lost all that history?”

“Pretty much.” I sigh, shaking my head. “The Soviets took over a lot of distinct cultures in this region in those days, and the communists didn’t like distinct cultures. They did everything they could to make everyone blend into their system, including destroying whole cultures and histories.”

“How could they do that?” she asks.

“They couldn’t, not entirely, which is why I know that ritual at all. But they did damage.”

“That’s awful.”

I smile at her and kiss her softly as the elevator doors slide open. “Don’t worry,” I say. “We’re surviving. Hell, we’re thriving. Fuck the Soviets.”

“Fuck them,” she says and we laugh together.

We head down the hall until we get back to our room. The guard on duty looks exhausted but he manages to bow as we approach.

“You go on in,” I say to her. “I’m going to go get something to eat.”

“Eat?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “It’s like, two in the morning.”

“I know, but I like to have a little bite after…” I trail off, not wanting to say it in front of the guard.

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, sure.”

I grin at her. “Don’t wait up.”

“I won’t.” She heads back into our room and the door shuts behind her.

I walk off toward the kitchens whistling to myself. Nobody will be working this late, but of course I can get inside and grab something. The royal kitchens are always well stocked so there’s never a shortage of some late-night snack. I know it’s maybe a little silly, but I worked up a damn appetite, and I don’t feel tired just yet.

I get to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich. I pour myself a little glass of whisky, and I eat and drink standing in the middle of the kitchen. There’s an old radio in the corner, and I tune it into some all night talk radio show that’s apparently obsessed with UFOs.

I don’t know why the whole country suddenly seems into conspiracy theories, but maybe it has something to do with Perko’s plan. It doesn’t matter, though. I feel too happy in this moment to really care. I have my whisky, I have my sandwich, and I have a gorgeous Princess waiting back in the room. I don’t think we’re sleeping in the same bed anytime soon, but at least I know I can take her body when I want it, and I definitely am going to be wanting much more of it.

When I’m finished, I head back out down the hall. I have a glass of whisky in one hand and I’m smiling to myself and humming. I feel good, and I’m pretty sure I’ll finally be able to get to sleep.

Just as I cross into the royal wing, one of the doors bursts open. I’m startled as a man steps out toward me, a gun raised in my direction.

The whisky saves my life. Almost by instinct, I throw the whisky into the man’s face, splashing the alcohol into his eyes. He’s close enough that I don’t miss, and just as it hits his eyes, he screams and pulls the trigger.

He misses. The bullet screams off across the cavern. I step closer to him and smash the glass down onto his skull, breaking it and splintering the glass into his head and my hand. I grunt with pain and he yells again, bringing the gun up wildly.

I grab at his wrist and shove him back. He grunts and suddenly realizes that he’s losing this fight. I bring my knee up into his groin and I can see the pain register on his face as I do it again and again, my hands on the wrist that’s holding the gun.

He punches me in the gut with his free hand and I grunt. I whip my head back then slam it down into his nose. I hear the bridge crunch and break as I do it again. Dizzy pain washes over me. The man struggles and punches me again, but I don’t let go of his wrist.

There’s more yelling and suddenly several royal guards are surrounding us, yelling at the man to drop the gun.

“Fuck the royals,” he grunts, and lets the gun drop.

“Step back, my Prince,” one of the guards calls. I do as he says and step away from the man. The guards close in to take him, but the man doesn’t let them.

He runs forward and dives into the glass overlooking the cavern. His body smashes against it and it shatters, but he doesn’t fall through. The guards move to grab him, but not fast enough as he manages to crawl up a second time and throw himself over the balcony.

The man screams as he falls to his death hundreds of feet below us.

I stand there, dazed and shocked.

“Are you okay, my Prince?” one of the guards asks.

“Aleks,” I say. “Take me to Aleks.”

The next few minutes are a blur. I’m in pain and shock. A man just tried to kill me in my own palace, and he almost succeeded. If I didn’t have that glass of whisky in my hand, I would be dead. He was close enough that he wouldn’t have missed. If I had reacted a little slower, I’d be dead. Hell, I should be dead right now.

I got lucky as hell. Really fucking lucky. And thankfully Mila wasn’t around for that.

Aleks meets us at the door to the guard wing. “Bran,” he says. “I heard.”

“He attacked me,” I say, shaking my head, anger flaring up again. “In my own fucking home.”

“We’re going to find out who he was and who sent him,” Aleks says. “I swear to you, Bran. I’ll make sure this never happens again.”

I stare at him for a second. “Double the guard on Mila,” I say.

“And on you, my Prince,” Aleks says.

“She’s more important,” I snap.

“As you say.” Aleks frowns at me. “You look hurt. And you’re bleeding.”

I grunt and look down at my hand. There are still shards of glass in my skin and blood is dripping on the floor.

“Go to the infirmary,” Aleks says. “I’ll handle this.”

“The bastard almost killed me.” I feel like my words are coming from far away.

Aleks frowns and nods at one of the guards next to me. “Go with him,” Aleks says. “He’ll get you to the infirmary. The doctor is already up and heading over.”

I suddenly reach up and grab Aleks’s shirt and stare him in the eyes. “Protect Mila,” I say. “If she gets hurt, you’re responsible.”

He nods slowly. “She’s safe, my Prince.”

“Good.” I release him and sag backwards. The guard gently takes my elbow and steers me away and toward the infirmary.

I don’t know how this happened, but I’m too tired and in too much pain to feel anything right now. I know the anger is going to come, and it’s going to come strong and fast. But for now, I just want to make sure Mila is safe, and I want to sleep.