Chapter 9~
"Princess Megrin?" I ease the bathroom door open to find the princess in the middle of the huge elegant bathroom in front of one of the massive mirrors, smoothing her hair and reapplying her lipstick.
She looks startled when I enter, then she recognizes me and relaxes. "Queen Rosalinda."
"Are we alone?" I ask as calmly as possible. The princess nods.
I reach behind me to lock the door and Megrin's eyes get huge.
"There are a whole palace full of guards trained to recognized the sound of my voice." Megrin starts to panic. "All I have to do is scream."
"I need you to trust me," I say slowly, never once breaking eye contact. "Six months ago, my country was under attack and the Princess Protection Program came to my rescue. I'm here to do the same for you."
"I'm not in danger," she insists. Her eyes flicker to the door. I'm running out of time.
"The Princess Protection Program had reason to believe your regent rulers may be seeking to make their temporary rule a permanent one," I explain.
"You're crazy," Megrin insists. "My aunt and uncle would never hurt me or my brother."
I don't blame her. I wouldn't believe me either, especially not without solid evidence.
"We have intelligence from inside the palace," I tell her. "Someone who knows you and is desperate to protect you believed you were in danger enough to call us."
"Who?" Megrin demands.
"I don't know," I'm ashamed to admit. The PPP didn't tell me that part.
"So you expect me just believe you?" Megrin crosses her arms.
"No." Carter's voice is both in my ear via comms and behind me as the locked door jiggles and swings open. "But maybe you'll believe him."
I jump in front of the princess to block her way of escape and then face the intruders. It's Carter and Prince Petros, who's no longer wearing his mask. His eyes are really blue.
Carter's holding a key ring full of keys ranging in shape and size. She sort of tosses Petros into the girls' bathroom then closes and locks the door again behind all of us.
Megrin looks at Carter, then Petros and looks a lot like a cornered puppy dog.
"Mi dispiace, sorella." Petros rushes to Megrin's side. "There's no time to explain. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you to go with Rosalinda and Carter. You'll be safe."
Megrin clutches her brother's hands. "I'm not leaving you."
"You have to," he says and I realize why the PPP didn't tell us to save the prince. We're not supposed to.
"If they're trying to kill me, they'll kill you too," Megrin says, tears running down your face.
Carter's already half out of her dress, revealing the short black dress underneath.
"Better one of us dead than both," Petros replies softly.
"Don't be stupid, we're taking you both." Carter rolls her eyes as she pulls off her long white gloves.
"You can't," Petros argues, turning his attention to Carter and me.
"We are," I say, shocking Carter by backing her up. "No arguments. We're almost out of time."
I reach under my skirt and dislodge a secured bottle of spray-on hair color. Carter grabs a white towel off of one of the bathroom shelves and throws it around Megrin's shoulders while I spray down the princess' long blond hair, turning her temporarily into a brunette like us.
"We don't have a disguise for you," I apologize to the prince as Carter helps Megrin into Carter's dress.
"This is fine." Petros grabs the towel and hair color and makes himself a brunette too before stashing his crown in one of the bathroom cabinets.
"You need to hurry," Ed's voice crackles in my ear. "The regent queen's looking for the twins."
"There's a helicopter waiting for us outside, but we have to go now," I announce to the bathroom makeover crew.
Carter hands Megrin the plain navy blue mask instead of Megrin's elaborate gold one and Megrin pulls on Carter's gloves to hide her royal signet ring.
Petros drops his ring into one of his boots, then nods at me. "Let's go."