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Gideon touched her shoulder. “Go on. I’ll stay with your father.”
Taking a shaky breath, she nodded her appreciation and followed her uncle to the other room.
“Is there more? Have you told me everything?”
“You know as much as I do. Nicolas kept his destination a secret, but we believe the plane was headed to Athens when it—” He swallowed hard and continued, “The last time we heard from him.”
“Who’s doing this to us, Uncle Jacques? Who hates us this much?”
“I don’t know, Lina. Our intelligence officers are looking everywhere, but so far, there is no one who looks any guiltier than any other of our enemies.”
She knew it was naïve of her, but she truly couldn’t comprehend why anyone would hate her family so much. The monarchy wasn’t perfect, and disagreements in policies were common, but her father was conservative when it came to change. He liked the old ways and believed the people of Ile de la Lune did, too. Poll after poll had shown him that.
And to try to destroy her entire family? That was more than policy disagreement. This was a ruthless hatred—something so malevolent and insidious that the perpetrator, or perpetrators, didn’t care if they hurt innocent children to accomplish whatever insane agenda they had.
“Any word on Alex?”
“No. The doctors said the surgery could take several hours.”
“Chloe’s family must be devastated.” She felt so badly about her. She had not known Chloe as well as she knew her other sister-in-law, but Chloe had always been kind to her.
“They are. As well as her fiancé.”
“She was getting married?”
“I believe she had just agreed to marry a young man from America a couple weeks ago. They hadn’t yet made it public.”
So many lives destroyed and ruined. And for what?
“What are we telling our people? Has there been any official announcement?”
“We haven’t made any statements about Nicolas’s plane. We have a few hours before we have to do that. Hopefully by then, we’ll know more. Chloe’s death and your brother’s injury couldn’t be hidden, as they were gunned down in the presence of about one hundred citizens.
“I’ve asked Stephan Garnier, your father’s aide, to issue a family statement, requesting prayers for Chloe’s family and for your brother’s recovery.”
“But no announcement about my father’s illness? Didn’t people see him get sick?”
“Yes, but we covered it quickly. Few people could tell what was really going on.”
This was all so surreal. A nightmare within a nightmare. She could have lost her entire family tonight.
Her uncle touched her hand. “Go be with your father. If I hear anything about Nicolas or Alexandre, I’ll let you know.”
She pressed a quick kiss to his weathered face. “Thank you, Uncle Jacques. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
Turning, she headed back to her father’s bedroom. Pushing open the door, she was startled to see Gideon and her father having an intense conversation. She knew Gideon had a deep respect for the king, but it almost looked as though they were arguing.
“Gideon? Papa? What’s going on?” she asked.
Straightening his shoulders, Gideon faced her. She knew him well, but for the first time in a long while, she couldn’t read him. His mouth was slightly grim, but his eyes were blank.
“I was just telling Gideon,” her father said, “that you should both go back to your apartment and get some sleep. There’s nothing you can do here, and you’re going to need your rest.”
Shaking her head, she went deeper into the room and stopped by his bed. “I’m not leaving you, Papa.”
He patted her hand. “Stay until I fall asleep, and then go get some rest yourself. How does that sound?”
“You’ve got a deal.”
