“Penny, what happened?”

“I’m fine, Dad. And Sebastian is fine. I managed to protect him, and he didn’t notice anything was amiss.”

“But what the hell happened?”

“There was somebody on a motorcycle that came out of nowhere. Both shots missed. If they’d been on target, they would have hit me and then taken Sebastian out. It’s all on my report, Dad.”

“Your report? This is getting too dangerous. I knew the king sent you there to protect Sebastian as Royal Guard because he was worried about any potential enemies, but this is something else. We know where Sebastian is. We’ll bring enough guards so that we can force his hand and make him come home.”

“No, Dad. I can do this. Give me the chance.”

“Penny, at this point you’re endangering yourself for a mission.”

“Isn’t that what you do every day? Don’t you send Michael on missions? Don’t you put him in danger? Isn’t that the whole point of being Royal Guard?”

He started to speak but paused before finally saying, “This is different.”

“Why is this different? My whole life all I have heard is that this was the job, to protect the royal family. I’m doing that. I did it today.” Ariel’s words kept coming back to me. I had saved Sebastian’s life. Granted, I’d also been distracted in happy land like an idiot, but I wasn’t telling my father that. And I certainly left that bit of info out of my report.

“But you’re my daughter.”

“And Michael is your son. There’s no difference between us. Isn’t that what you and Mom always say?”

“Penny, you don’t have children yet. So you don’t understand what it’s like to read a report that someone shot at your daughter.”

I tried to remain calm and inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry you read it in a report, but I needed to file it. I would have called after, but you didn’t give me the chance.”

My words were met with silence.

“Dad, just answer one question. Would you be this angry if Michael had been shot at?”

“I would be just as worried, yes.”

“Fair enough, but would you demand that he come home? Would you demand that he walk away from his post? All you’ve ever talked about is the pride being a Royal Guard gives you. I’ve never felt that before. I’ve never had the opportunity because, let’s face it, up until today I was quite bad at it. But the one time I did my job well, you want me to cut tail and run? I don’t think so. That’s not how this goes. That’s not how it works. I have a job to do.”

“Look, Penny, I understand, but this is getting dangerous. You need to get Sebastian to come home, or I’m sending the guard there. I’ll talk to King Cassius. We’ll get—”

“You will do no such thing. Did you send Michael after me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Last week my big brother came to New York to tell me to stop playing toy soldier. To be the little woman and come back home where it was safe.”

“I didn’t send him, Penny. He had leave. How did he know you were in New York?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you have Robert to thank for that. I’d spoken to him earlier. I didn’t tell him where I was, but I think he deduced it from something he heard in the background.”

“Why the hell wouldn’t he bring that information to me?”

“Well, my guess is the two of them thought that they’d get the credit for finding Sebastian and bringing him back. My darling big brother told me to slink away and leave and he’d stay behind to protect Sebastian and call the guards as back up. So since you are now suggesting the same thing, I assume you’re on his side.”

“Penny, that’s not fair. I didn’t know your brother came to see you. He didn’t tell me, and he should have. I’ll address that with him.”

“Don’t bother. If I see any Royal Guard, I’ll tell Sebastian myself.”

“Penelope.”

“I have my mission direct from the king. Until I hear otherwise, I’ll assume that’s still my mission, but I’ll need to hear it from him directly. Otherwise, don’t bother trying to interfere.”

“Penny, I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“And I would be fine with that if you could tell me that you would do the same thing for Michael. But you can’t, so I suggest you leave me alone and let me do my job.” Then I hung up. I’ve never hung up on my father before. Never once in my life had I even considered something like that. My hands were shaking. I couldn’t quite breathe. Just this once, I expected my father to have my back.