Solange was attempting a chin-up and she finally dropped down to the ground in frustration. “I have zero upper body strength,” she grumbled to the others.
“Don’t worry,” Elen told her. “I don’t either, and I’ve been trying for a year.”
“It takes time,” Lennox said. “Start using weights to build the strength in your arms and chest. I can show you a few exercises.”
“Thank you.” Solange nodded as I approached.
“Morning, ladies.” I leaned against the weight bench.
“Good morning.” Solange leaned over and I gently kissed her. “I’m going to be able to do a pull-up,” she told me. “Even if it kills me.”
“Requires some strength,” I said, “but you’ll get there. You’ll have to be diligent about working out.”
“That’s what they tell me.” She grinned at me.
“Okay, go do your own thing,” Elen told me, motioning me away with her fingers. “This is a ladies’ workout.”
“Sorry.” I bent my head and stole a quick kiss from Solange. “See you tonight?”
She nodded.
The last thing I heard as I ambled over to the other end of the room was Casey whispering, “You two are so cute together!”
I didn’t mind being the subject of their giggles. God knows, we’d given Sandor and Xander infinite shit about falling in love while they’d been getting involved with Lennox and Elen. I just hadn’t expected it to happen to me.
“Hey.” Sandor got on the treadmill beside mine and gave me a high five. “How’s it going?”
“Good. Anything new on the agenda today?” I asked him.
“Your getaway at the beach has been approved for this weekend,” he said. “And I just emailed you a list of places I want you to visit. All low-key but high-impact as far as allies go.”
“Perfect.” I looked over to where Solange was now trying to do a push-up and not having much luck.
“Lennox will whip her into shape in no time,” he said with a smile.
“I have no doubt of that.”
“By the way, I put it off as long as I could, but I need you up in Braksa for a few days when you get back. We busted your balls about getting tranqed, but the truth is that I need your skill set to set up a weapons and supply cache. Logan and Jonas don’t have the experience to think about the logistics, should we ever need to get in and out of there in a hurry, and Joe and I are too busy.”
“No problem,” I said. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I also want you to do a sweep through Braksa and downtown Vinake on your way home. Check things out, let me know what you see. According to Mrs. Freela, who emails me regularly, everything has been quiet but the factories closer to Braksa haven’t been selling much at the markets. She’s afraid they’re getting leaned on by the Brat.”
I scowled. “Can we just eliminate these fuckers?”
“I wish.” He made a face. “Erik and I are working on it, but apparently they’ve dug in pretty deep in a few places in the country. We’re going to have to work to systematically eliminate them, but it’ll take time. I think there’s going to be bloodshed before it’s all over.”
That had been my fear as well and I glanced over at the ladies. “You think it’ll come to that?”
“I don’t think they’ll just walk away from the money, and if a coup is some kind of secondary agenda, or maybe even the primary one, then yeah, we’re going to have to kick their asses the hard way.”
“Shit. And we’ve got a pregnant princess and probably a pregnant Protector as well.”
He nodded. “I know. Lennox is as tough as they come, but we’ve already agreed that she’ll take a back seat once she’s pregnant.”
“You think we can put Joe back in the field for a while?” I asked. Joe ran palace security but he’d done ten years in the Marines and another fifteen in the CIA before turning to private security. He was almost sixty now but still in excellent shape and as skilled as any of us. It had been his decision to take a back seat now by selling his security firm and running things at the palace, but none of us doubted his abilities, only his willingness.
“Erik and I are going to bring it up.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Definitely.”
My conversation with Sandor left me a little unsettled. We’d had dozens of threats since Erik had taken the throne eighteen months ago, including an attempted kidnapping, an actual kidnapping, and two bombings, but this was different. This was personal now because it started in Vinake, which was where Solange and her family were from. The need to protect her was simply ingrained in me and got more intense the closer we got.
I’d gotten a message that Kostya wanted to talk to me, which was strange since I didn’t think the kid liked me that much, but I had a feeling he was worried about whatever was going on with the Brat as well.
I headed up to his room around lunchtime, since Solange was at the school and their parents were at the inn.
“Hey, Axel.” He opened the door looking better than I’d seen him since we’d met. He’d finally turned the corner with his recuperation and there was some color to his face.
“Hey.” I stepped inside. “I heard you want to talk to me.”
“Yes. Thanks for coming.” He paused, as if trying to figure out what to say. “I wanted to ask your thoughts about the military. For me.”
I leaned against the door, curious about why he thought my opinion mattered. “As a former military man myself, I think it’s a great thing for a young man. Helps you find your passion in life and gives you a sense of belonging. In my case, it also paid for college and gave me the skills for this next part of my life. I don’t know what you want from life, so it’s hard to answer.”
“Military is mandatory here but if you’re the oldest or only son in a family with their own business, you can get deferred, which is what I’ve done up to now. Solange thinks I should go, break free of my parents and find myself. But I don’t know what I want.”
“In your case, it’s a two-year journey to figure it out,” I told him. “You won’t have expenses and you’ll make a decent wage so you can save up for when you get out. Maybe think about college. The king is working on a program where qualified soldiers who complete their training can attend the university here for free.”
“I don’t even know what I’d study,” he mumbled.
“Well, you’ll have two years to figure it out.”
“The doctor said I should wait at least six months, which puts us in the middle of winter, but I think by next spring the time might be right.”
“I think it’s a good idea.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure who to ask. You know, someone who’d actually been in the military.” He paused again. “Were you a spy too?”
I shook my head. “I was Special Forces, United States Marines, but not CIA or anything. Then I went to work for a private security firm and wound up getting a temporary job protecting Queen Casey and the family in Las Vegas. From there, I was asked to join the Royal Protectors.”