Chapter Two
After he had given this Wendy his cell number and fake name, Michael started running in the same direction he had been when she bumped into him, or was it him into her? Anyway he was running, running away from his bodyguards.
"Can't I go outside without a bodyguard?!" Michael had asked his mother only minutes before. "I'm almost 17 for goodness sake!"
His mother, Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Castria, had looked at him in a disapproving way. He always complained about the bodyguards.
"You do not act like it. You know better, Michael, you are the only heir to the throne of Castria, you need to be safe!
Michael's mother, the Queen, was always looking after her son with much protection. He was the only Heir to the throne of Castria, a small European nation of about 3,000 people. His family was staying at the St. Regis Grand Hotel in Rome for the weekend for the large Royal Ball to be held in the Vatican on Sunday Night. His mother was a former Debutante who had won the heart of Michael's then-young father, the Prince of Castria. They were married soon after and had Michael. 12 days after Michael was born, his Grandmother died, thus his Father became the King of Castria and his Mother, the Queen.
"Dad?" Michael asked his father who was reading the New York Times.
"Listen to your mother, son," his father said, not looking up from the paper.
Michael believed he was too old to have a chaperone at all times. He found it wasn't fair that he never could be truly alone. He had been planning his escape for months. The bodyguards are off duty inside the hotel but then his parents watched him like a hawk. He had to have the right opportunity. When his mother started helping his father put his tie on, he knew this would be his only chance. Then, in seconds, he had fled from the suite.
"Michael, come back here this instant!" He heard his mother screaming as he ran out into the lobby of the second floor and towards the staircase. He could hear the footsteps of the guards running toward him. He ran as fast as he could until he was out of the hotel and onto the cobblestone streets of Rome. It was so crowded he knew he didn't have to run as fast, even though he could still see his bodyguards running out of the hotel. That was when he ran into Wendy. He had made up the name Ronald because he didn't want her to tell anybody where he went. Now, he didn't know where he was going.