It was a bright, beautiful morning in Stehen. I stood next to my favorite black BMW while the security detail went about their preparations.

I was excited, though I wasn’t entirely sure why. I was taking an American girl out on a tour of the city. That in itself wasn’t anything special at all, and it was supposed to be below the fucking king. Still, I was looking forward to it more than anything lately.

Finally, I saw Bryce emerge from the castle’s interior. I smiled at her as she waved at me. She was wearing a cute as fucking hell blue sundress. I loved the way her legs looked in it, and I couldn’t help but glance at her full breasts. The girl was absolutely gorgeous.

“Nice morning,” she said as she got to me.

“It is,” I agreed.

“How’s this going to work? Are these guys going to drive us around?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I expressly forbade them. You’ll be with me.”

“Really? I’m shocked.”

“Scandalous, I know. Unfortunately, they’ll be ahead and behind us the whole time.”

“Good. I was worried for a second.”

I laughed and then got into the car. She went around to the passenger’s side and climbed in herself. We waited a minute for the security detail to get themselves situated, and then finally we were ready.

I fired up the engine. “I love this car,” I said.

“Really? It’s nice, but it’s not what I’d imagine a king would drive.”

“Like I said last night, sometimes I like to put all that king shit behind me.”

She gave me a look as we pulled out into the heavy morning Stehen traffic.

The city was laid out in a simple grid. The castle was in the very center of the grid, and the city stretched out all around it. We were headed into north Stehen, which was also known as historic Stehen. This was the oldest part of the town and was where most tourists wound up.

“Historic Stehen,” I said as we pulled onto an old cobblestone street.

“Very nice,” she said. “I love this architecture.”

“Beautiful, no? We try very, very hard not to update everything too much. If something old falls apart, we rebuild it as close as possible to the original, though of course with modern amenities. We’re old on the outside, but we’re very young on the inside.”

“I like that,” she said.

“Good.” I pointed out some local landmarks, statues, and famous shops as we drove through the streets. We began to make our way toward west Stehen, which was really what I wanted to show her.

“This is my favorite part of the city,” I said to her as we pulled down a narrow street.

West Stehen was not as nice as north Stehen. In fact, it was probably the worst part of the city. Most of the poor congregated there, near the waterways, but it was the liveliest part of the whole town.

We pulled over in front of a squat, gray building. I turned off the engine.

“Beautiful,” she said. “Really nice.”

I laughed. “This isn’t an architecture tour.”

“What is it then?”

“Watch.”

We sat there together in silence for a few minutes before finally the doors to the building opened up. People spilled out of them, people of all shapes and sizes and ages and races.

“This is one of the many Stehen food banks,” I said. “If you live in Stehen and you’re hungry, we will feed you. There are hundreds of these all over the city.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Really. We pay for it out of the royal treasury. Any citizen is eligible, though we prefer that people use it only if they need it.”

“That’s very nice,” she said.

“In Stehen, we have food banks, free clinics, and even free lodging for the poorest of the poor. We take care of our people here.”

“We have this back in America too, you know,” she said.

“You do,” I agreed, “but not like here. Nobody is turned away, ever. If every single person in this city showed up here in the next hour, every single person would be fed. Every single day, three meals a day.”

“That’s amazing,” she said.

“And the clinics offer as much free medical care as possible,” I said. “Our country has universal healthcare, and I truly believe that healthcare is a right for all people.”

“Very progressive,” she said.

I laughed. “I’m not telling you this to impress you,” I said, “though I don’t mind it if you’re impressed. I want you to understand that just because we aren’t a democracy, that doesn’t mean we’re tyrants.”

“You don’t seem like a tyrant,” she said. “But shouldn’t the people have a say in who rules them?”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “Maybe they do. But right now, they’re fed and healthy and almost all of them have a place to sleep at night. Things are good here.”

“Except for the rebels.”

I sighed. “Yes, except for them.” I pulled back out into traffic and we resumed our tour.

I pointed out the historic bread bakery, an old hotel that was rebuilt hundreds of times over the years because they kept insisting on leaving candles burning all night long, and many other places.

Finally, we pulled down a narrow alley. “I have one last thing to show you,” I said, “but I want a little privacy.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Instead of answering, I swung the wheel hard to the right.

The tires screeched as I accelerated down the side alley. The front security car slammed on their brakes, but it was too late. The following car stayed behind me.

I came to the end of the alley and wove through traffic, speeding up. The big security truck had a hard time keeping up in the narrow streets. We came to a red light, but I blew through it, blaring the horn.

“What are you doing?” Bryce called out, but I just laughed. We made it through the intersection no problem, and the following truck had to stop.

I made a quick series of turns and then finally slowed down. “I think we lost them,” I said.

“Are you crazy?”

“Maybe,” I admitted, laughing. “But, man, that was fun.”

“You scared the hell out of me. Tell me if you’re going to do something insane next time.”

“Why? It was more fun my way.” I smirked at her and drove for a few more minutes before finally coming to a stop.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“Come on. Let me show you.”

We climbed out of the car and began to walk down a narrow alley.

“Wait,” she called. “Hold on. We should wait for the security detail to find us.”

I waved her off and kept moving. I heard her run to catch up, and she walked close behind me.

The alleyway ended in a large, dusty courtyard. It was closed in on most sides by buildings all around it. In the center of the courtyard was a large, round fountain.

I walked up to the fountain and sat down on the rim. Bryce walked toward me cautiously.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“West Stehen,” I said. “Well, on the fringes. This is one of my favorite spots in the city.”

“Why did we have to lose the security to come here?”

I gestured for her to sit. “Come on, sit down. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She sighed and sat down. “Now, tell me.”

“When you live in the public eye, there are very few truly private spaces left. Even my apartment feels public sometimes. But this is one of the last places in the whole city I can go to that nobody knows about. If I brought them, they would ruin it.”

She nodded and put her fingers in the water. “Why this place?” she asked.

“I used to live near here. Back before I was king, I’d come here sometimes just to get away from the shit. I like it here.”

She nodded. “It’s nice. Quiet.”

“Quiet, sure, but not nice.” The fountain was crumbling and hardly working anymore, and there was trash littering the edges of the courtyard.

“Okay, fine. Not nice. But I can see why you’d like it.”

“It’s one of the last real places left for me,” I said softly. “Maybe that sounds stupid, but I wanted to bring you here.”

She shifted her weight toward me. “Got any change?”

I grinned. “Sure. Need me to buy you something?”

“No. Come on, hand it over.”

I fished a few coins from my pocket. She took them and tossed them into the fountain.

“What did you wish for?” I asked.

“Can’t say. Otherwise it won’t come true.”

I tossed a few coins in and then stroked my chin. “I don’t know what to wish for.”

“Better hurry. The magic doesn’t last.”

“I wish that you’d finally let me spread your legs and taste that pussy.”

She blushed and looked away. “How’d I know you’d say that?”

“Because you know what’s on my mind.” I reached out toward her and pulled her chin toward me. “We both know what I want. And we both know what you need.”

“What do I need?”

“You need to taste me. Ever since I whispered in your ear, you’ve been thinking about what it would feel like to have me against your lips.”

“Not true,” she whispered, but her body said differently.

“Liar,” I said softly. “You know it’s a crime to lie to the king?”

“You’re not my king.”

I moved closer to her, still holding her chin. She didn’t move, her eyes locked on mine. “Maybe not yet.”

“And how do you think you’ll become my king?” she asked.

“First, I’m going to kiss you, and then I’m going to make you come so hard you forget where you’re from. I’ll worry about the details later.”

She smiled. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I pulled her against me and kissed her hard.

She didn’t fight. She wrapped her arms around me and I pulled her against me, our lips pressed together. Her taste flooded my mind and my mouth, every inch of her like flames against my skin.

It was exactly what I wanted. Her lips were soft and starving against mine, and she let out a soft moan as my hands spread her legs open. She didn’t fight me, and I knew she was mine to do with whatever I wanted.

I needed to taste her, to feel her. I wanted to press myself deep inside her tight pussy and bite her lip. I wanted to fuck her in the shadow of the crumbling fountain, the last place I felt at home.

Instead, as I continued to kiss her, our tongues touching, my phone began to ring.

It rang and rang and then stopped. We kept kissing. It began to ring again.

Finally, she pulled back. “Get it,” she said. “It could be a national emergency.”

“It’s always a fucking emergency,” I said. “And right now, I’m too fucking hard to do anything but feel you.”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Answer it.”

I sighed, pulled my phone from my pocket, and answered it.

“Yes?” I said.

It was Al, and he sounded serious.

“Your Highness, there was an attack at the east Stehen rail station. Reports say two dead, many wounded. We need to bring you home.”

My jaw went tight. “Very well. Meet me at first and Hohle.” I hung the phone up.

“What’s wrong?” Bryce asked.

“We have to go.”

“National emergency?”

I stood up, sighing. “For once, yes.”

She stood, worried. “Is everything okay?”

“It will be. I promise.” We headed back to the car and got in. I started the engine and drove to the intersection. My security detail was already there and waiting.

We headed back to the castle in tense silence. I hated that we were interrupted, but I hated even more that those bastard rebels would start killing civilians in Stehen.

It had only been a matter of time. Their brutal tactics could work only so well so far from the capital city. They were butchers and thieves, and they would pay dearly for this.

I was going to kill every last rebel I could get my hands on. Those bastards were going to feel my retribution.