He had paced for ten minutes but had expended what little energy he had. Exhausted both physically and mentally, he had ultimately collapsed onto the seventeenth-century example of woodworking. No wonder cushions had been invented.

On the other side of the room, Elliott paced enough for both of them.

One of the guards walked inside.

“What’s the latest?” Alejandro demanded.

“Your daughter is safe.”

“Theo’s brother?”

“Dead,” the guard said. “I don’t know many details beyond that.”

“Where is Cassandra now?” Alejandro asked.

“The stablemaster is taking a couple horses up to the ridge to bring her down now.”

“What about the golf carts?” Elliott interjected. “Those are closer.”

“They’re still being used to transport the wounded,” he said. “Darius was shot. So was Levi.”

Alejandro had to swallow before he could voice his next question. “How bad?”

“Darius needs surgery. The medics are hopeful he’ll pull through.”

“And Levi?”

“The Meridian took a bullet in the leg. He’ll be okay.”

The guard’s reference to Levi as a Meridian rather than an American demonstrated Darius’s discretion. Apparently, his captain of the guard had kept Levi’s true identity private, allowing Alejandro to decide who to share the information with.

One of the golf carts that had been sent up to the woods returned. Alejandro recognized the uniform of his captain of the guard and turned to his brother-in-law. “Elliott, I want you to call Dr. Marois. Let him know Darius is on his way in,” Alejandro said, not taking his gaze away from the window. “I want Dr. Marois to oversee his care personally.”

“Of course.”

Alejandro watched a medic rush toward the golf cart with a stretcher.

“If you’ll excuse me, Your Majesty,” the guard said. “I’ll see to it your daughter is brought to you as soon as she returns.”

As much as he hated doing it, Alejandro forced himself to put caution first. “Make sure there aren’t any more shooters out there before my daughter is brought back to the palace.”

“It will take at least twenty to thirty minutes to conduct a thorough search.”

“I want my daughter back by my side, but we can’t afford to take any chances,” Alejandro said. “The open space between the woods and the palace is too vulnerable if someone is out there waiting to take another shot.”

“I understand.” The guard nodded. “I’ll take care of it, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.”

CHAPTER 45

Cassie rode along the edge of the woods, the stablemaster on one side of her and a guard on the other. Though her first thought had been to urge her horse into a full gallop to bridge the open space between the woods and the palace, her guard had dictated their pace as well as their route. It appeared as though no one wanted to take the chance that there might be another shooter waiting in the shadows somewhere.

She could see three guards on foot working their way through the trees. They moved methodically, checking behind every bush, searching every high branch, tromping through every patch of high grass. Cassie didn’t know why the guards had bothered to have a horse brought to her when they could walk faster than their current progress.