I Am Royal: The Search for a Prince

Rescued

Willow was back in her room, pacing.

She was still wearing the green dress. It was actually quite comfortable. It was 6:15 p.m.

Dan opened the door to her suite, and said,

"I'm sorry, no one is seeing-"

Willow jumped up and rushed over to the door.

"I invited him," she told Dan. "Euri, come on in."

Her friend scooted past Dan, who looked disgruntled.

"Your Highness," Dan said. "This isn't really the time-"

Willow ignored him. She grabbed Euri's hand and led him into her bedroom. She slammed the door shut.

"Willow, how scandalous," Euri said. "Taking a boy into your bedroom, and closing the door? People will talk."

"Literally everyone in the palace knows you'd rather be in here with Dan than me."

Euri, who was impeccably dressed as always, smiled and sat in one of the sofas in her room. "Your bodyguard is a beautiful man."

"Euri-"

"He looks a little like Channing Tatum, that American bloke? Such a jawline."

"Euri." Willow snapped her fingers in front of his face. "I need a favor."

His smile disappeared. "Will, isn't this a bad time? I mean, I would hate to agree with your hunk of a bodyguard over you, but... I believe the Crown Prince Khalid just alerted the Met to the fact that Prince Henry is safely in the hands of a Saudi family, and they're running a rescue mission right now."

"That's classified information," Willow said.

Euri smiled. "You know me. I like to be in the know."

"That's actually why I'm asking you this favor..."

Willow came over to him and sat on the arm of his chair.

"Can you do something for me, and not tell anyone?" she asked.

"Is the Princess of Fengland asking me to be her secret agent?" Euri said teasingly.

Willow looked at him with a serious expression.

"Yes, of course, love," he said. "Whatever you need."

She stared at him a second more, and then pulled the ring out of her pocket, the one she and Chelsea had found in the Underground. She handed it to him.

"What can you tell me about this?" she asked.

Euri took the ring from her and immediately exclaimed,

"My god, Will, where did you get this?"

"Not important. Your family's business is finery. You know all about precious metals. Talk to me."

Euri brought the ring close to his nose and peered at it. He looked genuinely impressed, which made Willow nervous.

"This is..." Euri paused, and gently ran his fingernail over the surface of the ring. "...this is 22 karat gold."

"What does that mean?" Willow asked.

"It means it's almost pure gold. That's rare. And... it's so heavy. Six ounces? Six ounces of 22k karat gold is five thousand pounds, without knowing anything else."

"But, what else can you tell me?" Willow pressed. "Where's it from? How old is it?"

"I don't have any of my tools," Euri protested.