I Am Royal: The Search for a Prince

Act II: Coffee

She and her entourage reached the ballroom. There were footmen waiting to open the large double doors for her.

The ballroom was one of Willow's favorite places. It was large and gilded, but it had a crystal ceiling that let in natural sunlight. In the late afternoon, the room was speckled with warm rays, and had a hazy appearance. There were six men along the walls, three on each side. The men with Willow left her in the ballroom. Six security personnel. That was generous.

Khalid was standing alone in the center of the room. He had dressed down, as much as a Prince is allowed to, Willow guessed, with a collared shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, and had the sleeves rolled to his elbows. His pants were blue, and his belt and shoes were brown leather. Willow realized that they clashed terribly, with she in her deep green and he in his gentle blue.

Oh well, Willow thought. No one was around to see them.

He smiled when he saw her, but let her come to him in the center of the ballroom. She tried to keep the stupid smile off her own face.

"Your Highness," he said formally.

"Your Highness," she responded.

Somewhere, the music started up. The ballroom looked old, but it had a very modern sound system.

"I'm not really supposed to be teaching you how to dance," Willow said suspiciously, as The Nutcracker began playing.

Khalid took her hand, and she reflexively place her other hand on his shoulder. He pulled her closer and said softly,

"If we speak quietly, with the music, they shouldn't be able to hear us."

Willow glanced to the sides of the ballroom, where the security was standing. The dance floor was large. Khalid was right. If they danced and kept their conversation low, it would be indiscernible to the men watching them.

"W-what do you want to talk about?" Willow asked in confusion, as Khalid swept them into a simple waltz. She was suddenly very afraid he wanted to talk about their relationship. Willow was very bad at those kinds of talks. Probably because she had never actually had one. She would have preferred to keep things as they were, with them waltzing in the ballroom to the sounds of Act II: Coffee, one of Willow's favorites.

Khalid's face was solemn. He said low,

"A Saudi man from the Arab community contacted me an hour ago."

Willow's heart started to beat faster. She spun out slowly, and when she returned to face him, he said,

"Henry will be released to them by 6:00 p.m. tonight."

Willow almost stopped dancing. She froze, and everything became a little fuzzy. Khalid somehow managed to keep pulling her through the dance, so she didn't just fall over.

"Are you... are you sure?" she said, her voice trembling.

He nodded.

"Why are you only telling me, now?" she asked.

"The transfer has to happen without the involvement of the police," Khalid explained. "The kidnappers agreed to release him, but only if they could give him to the Arabs in their section of Lontin and get away before the Met came."

Willow stared over Khalid's shoulder at nothing as her head swam with the new information.

"So... at 6:00 p.m. tonight..."

"I will tell your head of security," Khalid clarified. "I will tell him that the Arabs have him, and that he is safe. He will be found in their care at 6:00 p.m."

Willow nodded. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because you are so worried." Khalid was still solemn. "No one can attempt to rescue or intercept him until 6:00 p.m., or the kidnappers will not release him. It is better to wait until he is safely with the Arab community before the police go retrieve him, you understand? It is the only deal the kidnappers would make."

Willow must have still looked shocked, because Khalid added urgently, "You must not say anything until I tell your security at 6:00 p.m."

"Of course," Willow breathed. "But... how did you do it? The kidnappers just... decided to release him? Just like that?"

"Yes," Khalid said simply, with a distracted expression.

Willow fell silent. That didn't make any sense.

"That doesn't make any sense," she said.

"They were holding one of the most powerful men in the country," Khalid said. "Perhaps they became frightened."

Act II: Waltz of the Flowers came on, the same song they had danced to at the Maritime Ball before Henry was taken. Without thinking, both of them stepped out of the simple waltz into the more complex dance. It was silly that anyone would think Khalid would need dance lessons from Willow. They moved through the motions with equal skill. Both were distracted.

It was not until they slowed back down, and came face to face again that it hit Willow.

She looked up at Khalid, who was staring over her head as he danced. It seemed like there was a lot on his mind, a lot more than he was telling her.

She said softly,

"You paid the ransom, didn't you?"

He looked down at her in surprise. He did not immediately reply.

"You did, didn't you?" Willow said, her voice catching on the last word.

He hesitated.

"Khalid, how much was it?"

He sighed. "It's not important."

"Yes, it is! Did they contact you right away?"

He seemed to struggle to come up with a way to get around the question, but eventually he gave up and said,

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I assume they... realized that my family is more wealthy..." He grimaced. "No offense meant."

"But you paid it," Willow said in amazement. "How much was it?"

"Willow," Khalid said warningly. "I will not tell you that."

"Why not?"

"It is not important."

"It is important! They probably demanded so much... why didn't you tell us? My family would have given you the money-"

"There was only a small window of time."

"Khalid-" Willow said in frustration. Then she realized she was not going about the whole thing in the right way.

"Thank you," she said.

He finally looked at her directly.

"Thank you so much."

He smiled.

The song changed. It was the crescendo of Act II: Sugarplum Fairy and Cavalier Pas de Deux.

"And thank you for telling me," she added. "So I could know it was you. Henry will be so grateful-"

"It wasn't for His Highness Prince Henry," Khalid said. His face suddenly became pained. "Willow, I... I needed to tell you this. Because it will happen. I wanted you to know, to make sure that it will."

Willow didn't know what he meant by that. The music ended. They stepped away to bow and curtsy as a reflex. Then Willow took his hands and said sincerely,

"No one has ever done something this selfless for me."

He smiled again, but still looked pained.

"Anything for you, Your Highness."

He bent to kiss her hands.

As he did, Willow caught sight of his right ring finger

There was a wide, lighter band around it, as if a large ring he had worn for a long time had recently come off.