Chapter 213

Staying by Caleb’s side is not the only rule he has in place for me. In fact, for three hours after the messenger with Caleb’s agreement, I sat sitting in the Hall, hearing many rules now placed upon me for this trip.

“You cannot let anyone get you alone,” the advisor said. “Gladys herself will try to get you alone. You must avoid this at all cost.”

“If we train her, perhaps she can match wits with Gladys,” another advisor says. “If we could get Harper alone with Gladys then…”

“No,” Caleb says firmly. “We will be sticking with the usual plan. She will not be left alone with anyone, not even Gladys. We know how Samuel feels about her. I’m not putting her in any position where she could be taken or worse.”

“I can do it,” I tell him. “With me alone, Gladys might let her guard down and then we can find out where Tristan is.”

“No,” Caleb says with even more force, not leaving any room for debate.

Against that tone, in front of his advisors, there’s nothing any of us can say. He’s beyond listening. His allowing me to join this trip at all feels like the most he is willing to do. Even that came with a heavy cost of him looking very annoyed.

Caleb takes my arm. Without word or command, he tugs me from the room. The advisors watch curiously but do not say a word as I am dragged out of the Hall and down the hallway to the room Caleb and I share.

There, Caleb drags me to the couch and makes me sit.

Standing before me, he towers so tall that I have to arch my neck to look up at him.

He glares down at me. “Forget everything that the advisors said. You will only listen to me and my orders. Do you understand?”

I take too long to answer. My moment’s hesitation makes him even more annoyed.

“If you do not agree and obey all of my orders on this, you will not be attending this trip. I don’t care what Gladys requires or what we promised. I will go alone before I chance anything happening to you.”

I couldn’t let Caleb go alone, not if I could go with him and be helpful.

“I won’t be a hindrance,” I say.

“Swear to obey me.”

“I do,” I say. “I swear.”

Caleb nods. “Stay here.”

I stay seated, watching as Caleb walks out of the room. He returns a few minutes later carrying what seems to be a vest under his arm and a small box in his hand.

Coming closer to me, he sets the box aside and brings me the vest instead. It’s bulky and awkward. Some kind of military armor?

He holds it up for me. “You will wear this under your clothes at all times.”

“What is it?”

“Body armor,” Caleb says. “It will protect you from knifes and bullets to the chest.”

I accept it from him and nearly drop it, having not expected the weight. “Caleb, I don’t know how I’ll be able to hide this under my clothes.” The vest was so bulky that only my loosest fitting clothes might somewhat hide the harsh angles of the vest. Even then, I wasn’t sure.

“We’ll leave in a week,” Caleb says. “Work with your handmaiden. Find a way to make this work. I don’t care how, but this is not negotiable.”

Bethany is an amazing seamstress. If anyone can figure out a way to make this vest work with my wardrobe, it’s her. “Okay.”

Caleb goes back to the table and grabs the small box. When he has it, he brings it back to me. “This is also not negotiable.” He offers me the box.

Taking it from him, I feel that it’s soft velvet. It’s almost like a jewelry box. Opening it, I gasp. That’s exactly what it is.

Inside, a delicate diamond chain forms a bracelet. There’s a pendent that sits at the top, a simple patch of silver with a crescent moon cut out of the center of it.

“It’s beautiful,” I say.

“It’s a tracking device,” Caleb says. “You will wear it nonstop, and you will never remove it. Only I will be able to track it. If you are gone from my side for even a minute too long, I will find you.”

“I understand,” I say. Lifting the bracelet, I see it for what it is, not just beautiful but also functional. With it, Caleb will be able to keep me safe. “Will you help me put it on?”

“Yes,” he says. He takes the bracelet from me. I stretch out my arm and he clasps the bracelet around my wrist.

As I’m inspecting it, Caleb seems satisfied. But then, so am I.

“Your handmaiden will also come with us,” Caleb says. “She will stay with you in those moments when I cannot be.”

I know he’s talking about the times that I am getting dressed or in the bathroom, or if anything else were to happen. Bethany has taken a bullet for me, so she has undoubtedly earned Caleb’s trust.

Caleb takes my hand and helps me to stand. Once I am standing, Caleb lifts my hand and places a soft kiss to the inside of my wrist. His lips are soft on my skin. This level of tenderness, compared to how harsh he can be, and how demanding his words are, is starkly different and makes me short of breath.

“Caleb…”

I will never get over how such a man who can be so fierce when need be to the rest of the kingdom, can be so soft for me. However it happened, I’m eternally grateful for it.

Caleb turns away from my wrist and then brings his lips to mine. For a while, I lose myself to the tenderness of his attentions.

For the next few days, Bethany helps me with my clothes. With Caleb’s permission, we work with a professional tailor who helps us take in the body armor somewhat so that it fits my body better and hides more easily under my clothes.

Then, with Bethany’s expertise, she changes some of the lines of my dresses so that the body armor is practically hidden underneath.

As I wear one, Bethany finishes the final touches on the dress, then steps back to view the results.

“What do you think?” I ask her.

“It looks great,” she tells me. “You can’t tell at all.”

“Perfect.”

Then, a few days later, it’s time. Our bags are packed and loaded.

Caleb waits for me in the underground, standing outside of a sedan with dark-tinted windows. Four identical cars will be traveling along this route all at the same time, so that anyone who wants to attack us will not be able to properly discern which of the cars contains Caleb and me.

“Ready?” Caleb asks me.

“As I’ll ever be,” I say.

Caleb opens the car door for me. “Let’s get this over with,” he says. “Don’t forget the rules.”

“I won’t,” I say and flash him my bracelet. Beneath my clothes, I wear the body armor.

“Good,” Caleb says and follows me into the car.