27. Cedrick
As soon as I enter the market, I see them. A man holding Ellie against him, a gun to her head. Panic and desperation flood my senses, and I do the only thing I can think of, rushing forward and planting myself right in front of them.
“Let her go, now!”
The man looks me up and down and sneers. I’m angry that this man is holding a gun to the head of the woman I love, but more than that, I’m scared that he’s going to do something that cannot be taken back. And I’ll do anything to prevent that from happening.
I stare at her terrified face, trembling beneath his touch. My eyes drift down to her stomach. I had almost forgotten that he would be taking two lives, not one.
Police officers swarm the building and yell, guns drawn. The crowd lurches back from them, but I run as fast as I can toward them.
“That’s my wife,” I tell them.
One of the cops stares me down, while the other immediately jumps into action.
“Sir, we’re going to do everything we can. Please let us do our jobs.”
All I can think is, Then why are you all just standing here? My private guards catch up, offering help, and store security is recounting some of the events to one of the cops.
“Someone reported him pushing an elderly woman, and when we got here, he was already holding the girl.”
A young woman nearby approaches. “The woman, she tried to help the old lady. But the man got mad, and he grabbed her.”
A cop a few feet away calls out to me. “You’re one of the Princes. Prince Cedrick, right?”
The young woman witness gasps, immediately stepping back. I sigh. This is the last thing I need, but I suppose there was no avoiding it.
“Yes.” I lean in closer to him, speaking quietly. “I’d like it if you didn’t say that so loudly. This isn’t about me right now. As I said… that ‘girl’ is my wife. Now what are you planning on doing?”
“Prince Cedrick, there’s something you should know. This man has a record. It’s not pretty. He escaped, and we’ve been looking for him.”
“What kind of a record?”
“Assault. Murder. Organized crime. Light stuff.”
I turn back to where this man is holding the love of my life. The mother of my child. He’s not just a dangerous man. He’s a murderer. A murderer is holding a gun to Ellie’s head. This changes everything.
My hands start shaking.
“What are you going to do?”
“We’re still making a plan.”
“I can’t wait that long,” I mutter.
“What?” another one of the cops asks.
“We need to do something immediately. I don’t have the time to sit here and wait for you to come up with a plan. I’m going to try to negotiate with him.”
“Your Highness, I highly advise against that. If he were to turn the gun on you… well, we aren’t prepared for that. The King… if he knew that we allowed that to happen…”
“That’s what you fucking care about right now? The King? You’re joking, right? There’s a pregnant woman’s life at risk right now, a member of the royal family, and you’re worried about him?”
“Sir, we didn’t know.”
“Yeah, no shit. I’m going in. I don’t care.”
I turn to walk back to Ellie, but someone grabs my arm.
“Please, wait. We can do this without you getting hurt. Just let us do this our way. We know what we’re doing.”
“And yet you’re standing here, talking to me.”
“At least put on a vest, Your Majesty.”
I walk away, unwilling to let them talk me out of this. As I approach Ellie, her tear-stricken face makes it hard to breathe.
“Baby,” I whisper.
“Cedrick,” she whispers back, tears streaming down her face.
“Shut up!” the man says, pressing the gun deeper into her. Ellie gasps, her eyes widening.
“Take me instead,” I say. I can’t stand to see the fear on her face.
“You’re joking, right? What could I possibly want with you?”
“I’m Prince Cedrick.”
A collective gasp erupts around us.
“Yeah fucking right. You think I’m going to fall for that?”
“I’m not lying. I can show you proof.”
I pull my phone out of my pocket and do a quick google search, bringing up a Wikipedia page dedicated to me, which includes a picture. I step closer, showing it to him.
He quickly scans it before looking back at me. “You’re the Prince.”
“Yes. And I want you to release her and take me instead. You don’t want to hurt her.”
“No! Cedrick don’t do this! Don’t! I won’t let you!” Ellie sobs.
Her begging breaks my heart, but if this man will listen to me, then I’m going to do this, no matter the risk. In this moment, I don’t care about my own life. I only care about hers and the life of the baby she’s growing inside her.
The police start to close in, guns still raised. The man shifts on his feet, glancing at them nervously. I step back and turn to the nearest police officer.
“Tell your guys to back off. I’ve got this handled.”
“Respectfully, Sir, this is our job.”
“Respectfully, that is my wife. And I’m telling you to back off. You’re making him nervous, and that will only make him act even more irrationally. I don’t want to take any chances. Not while he has her.”
“And what do you expect us to do once he has you instead of her? Just let him walk out of here with you?”
I think about it for a moment. I figured we could pay him a ransom? I hadn’t gotten that far. But as I look back at Ellie, I know the answer.
“I don’t care what you do once he lets her go. But until then, you will be cautious. Get your men to lower their guns.”
Once again, I return to Ellie. One by one, the cops surrounding us drop their guns.
“You can trust me,” I tell the man. “Just let her go and take me.”
“Cedrick, please!”
I ignore her, staring the man down.
“Cedrick!” Ellie sobs.
“Shut the fuck up!” the man shouts into her ear.
Ellie flinches, and the look of pure terror that flashes across her face is something I’ll never get out of my head. He grabs her arm, digging his nails in so deep that she gasps, carving white streaks into her brown skin.
“Please, just let her go. My father, the King, he’ll do anything you want if you have me in your custody.”
I’m so desperate I’ll do anything just to get him to listen to me.
“It’s a trap. I’m not going to fall for it.”
“It’s not a trap, I can promise you that. This is just me wanting to save my pregnant wife.”
“She’s pregnant?” He narrows his eyes on me, as if he doesn’t believe me.
“Yes, we just found out. We’d been trying for a little while.”
“How come I haven’t heard about this in the news? Something like that is usually broadcast everywhere.”
“Because it’s early. It’s personal. It’s only relevant information in situations where her life is in danger, because you should know two lives are in danger.”
I look around at the cops and my personal guards, and everyone looks completely puzzled at the conversation that’s happening.
He shifts on his feet again, eyeing our surroundings.
“Please, sir. If you free her, maybe we can forgive this.”
The main police officer shoots me a nasty look, but I’m desperate.
The gunman’s gaze snaps to mine, and something in his eyes is different. “Fine.”
“No!” Ellie cries out. She sobs uncontrollably.
“Come closer,” he says.
I do as he says, stepping forward until I’m right in front of him. When I’m close enough, he grabs my arm and immediately points the gun at me, pushing Ellie away with his free hand. She stumbles away, nearly falling over.
A nearby police officer grabs her, but she shakes him off, turning around to look at me. She shakes her head back and forth, her hand covering her mouth.
“Take care of her,” I tell the police officer.
The gun presses into my head, reminding me of the danger I’ve gotten myself into. It barely registers with me, because only one thing matters. Ellie’s safe now.