I was going to come with you, Dick, but I forgot your weird servant guy was just standing there in the gym watching me rub my ass onto your cock. Would he not have at least coughed or something if Magnus hadn’t called? Or was he just going to stay for the whole show?

“Can I change first?” I ask.

I’m not sweating from two squats, but I don’t want to walk through the palace wearing these skimpy clothes.

“No time,” Rikard says, grabbing my hand. “Donovan, go tell Siegfried to meet me in my father’s room.”

Donovan nods and disappears down the hallway in the opposite direction.

We take turn after turn down the endless winding corridors. I had to have one of the palace staff walk me to the weight room this morning, and I don’t remember how we got there. I feel like I’d have to live in the palace for at least a year before I would be able to get anywhere without getting hopelessly lost in its halls.

“What did Magnus say?” I ask.

“Try not to worry,” Rikard says, “but he told me ‘something was up,’ and then the cell signal cut out.”

“What do you think that means?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” he says. “But I need to get to my father. I don’t like it.”

We pass a number of people on the way, but no one else seems panicked. Rikard is trying his best not to look worried, but he’s wearing gym shorts, a soaked white tank top, and dripping in sweat. Everyone he passes gives him a weird look, and as we get deeper and deeper into the palace, Rikard’s attire―and mine―looks more out of place.

“We should have changed,” I say.

“It’s fine,” he says. “Trust me.”

“Your Highness?” someone says, stepping out in front of Rikard.

He narrows his eyes at the man. “I beg your pardon? I’m not the prince,” Rikard says.

“You’re not Prince Rikard?” the man asks.

“No,” Rikard says. “Who told you that I was the prince?”

He takes a step closer toward Rikard. “Your cousin Siegfried told me. He said something is about to happen, and he sent me to come get you.”

As Rikard skeptically looks the man over, he raises his hand and points over Rikard’s shoulder. “Ah, good, there’s Siegfried.”

I turn my attention in the direction he’s pointing, but I see nothing. Rikard also turns to look.

I barely have time to see the gun in the man’s hand, but I immediately dive toward him when I notice it.

The gun is pointed right at the back of Rikard’s head when I tackle the guy, but I’m not heavy enough to bring him down, only to mess up his aim.

I hear the shot go off, and Rikard spins around.

He wastes no time. He grabs the guy by the wrist, slams the gun out of his hand, and knees him hard in the gut. The force sends me back off him, and I stumble backward as Rikard slams a fist into the guy’s face, bringing him down.

I look up, breathless, at Rikard. “Did you get shot?” I ask.

“No, thanks to you, I didn’t…”

“Rikard, Jane, get down!” a voice booms out behind us. It’s Magnus’s voice.

We both drop to the floor, and Rikard covers me with his body.

I hear dozens of shots ring out, some sounding closer than others, and then I hear Magnus standing right above us. “Come on!”

Rikard rolls off me, reaches down, and pulls me up by my hand.

Magnus hands a gun to him, and when I look behind us, I see two dead men at the end of the hallway.

“What the fuck?” Rikard asks.

“Your father is safe,” Magnus says, “so they went after you.”

“Jesus,” I say. “What about Jannika?”

“She’s safe, too,” Magnus says.

“We need to find Siegfried then,” Rikard says.

Magnus’s face twitches, but he doesn’t respond

If I remember correctly, Rikard’s sister Jannika is second in line to the crown, and Siegfried is third. Siegfried will be the next target.

Magnus leads us to the elevator, and we get in without anyone seeing us.

“Breivik has us all down in the bunker,” Magnus says. “Just in case.”

“Breivik?” I ask. “You mean Ekdahl?”

The elevator doors shut, and Magnus inserts a key. “No, Breivik led the coup...and he’s being aided by Siegfried.”

My eyes widen in surprise, but not as much as Rikard’s.

Siegfried had seemed so nice, too, and he’d been so friendly toward me. That same smiling guy sent assassins to kill Rikard?

“Are you sure?” I ask Magnus.

“Yes,” Magnus says. “New bomb scanners had been installed after the incident yesterday, and Siegfried set one off. He ran off before anyone grabbed him.”

“Damn it!” Rikard shouts. “Why did no one―”

Magnus shakes his head. “By the time they realized what was happening, they would have needed to open fire on him. No one was there to issue the order, and none of the guards wanted to fire on someone directly in line for the throne.”

Rikard punches the elevator door, but I can understand the guards’ hesitation. I sure wouldn’t want to be the one who fired the shot without receiving a direct order if it turned out that Siegfried was innocent.

The elevator opens, and dozens of men with guns are standing in front of a huge open vault door.

“What the hell is that?” I ask.

“Fallout shelter,” Rikard says. “They won’t shut it unless…”

His voice trails off.

“Unless what?” I ask fearfully.

“It’s a fallout shelter,” Magnus says. “Think about it.”

I gulp, not really wanting to think about what any of this means.

“Is my father inside?” Rikard asks.

Magnus nods.