"Your Highness this is bad," Willem said as he burst back into the shed with his eyes full of worry. "Prince Jorien is using Haro's mercenaries to break up the crowds."

"What?" Maia said, digging her nails into Mateo's arm. "But Eline's out there."

"He doesn't care," Mateo said, shaking his head. "But her guards will be near her. She'll be safe."

"You better hope so because those mercenaries aren't going to break up the crowds," Bas scoffed. "This is all part of Mr. Haro's plan. He'll use them to create more chaos so Prince Jorien will have no choice but to put the country under martial law."

Mateo grit his teeth as he curled his hand into a fist. "Which will give my brother complete authority to do whatever he wants for as long as he likes."

"Yes," Willem said. "Lars has been trying to get through to King Harald to stop him, but he won't speak to anyone, not even the queen."

"Then you have to go to him," Maia said, sliding her hand over Mateo's. "You have to tell him you're alive so he can stop this."

"No, King Harald isn't going to be the one to stop this," Cornelis said, leaning his hand on the table as he pierced Mateo with a stern gaze. "You are. I know you never wanted this, but you have to claim your birthright or our country will never be the same again."

"I know and I won't let that happen," Mateo said, curling his fingers around Maia's. "I'm ready, as long as you are, liefje."

Maia took a deep breath. "I'm ready."

"Wait," Bas said through gritted teeth. "What about my family? I told you what I know and You promised you'd make sure they're safe."

"I'm a man of my word, Bas. Your family will be protected," Mateo said. "But we need to get to the Palace first."

Demetri raised an eyebrow as he slid his hands to his hips. "How the hell are we going to sneak in there with the military surrounding the place?"

Gerrit grinned. "Easy," he said, slapping a hand to Demetri's shoulder. "We'll use the old tunnels like we used to when we were kids."

"Precisely," Cornelis said, sliding the brown sack over Bas' head.

"What are you doing?" Bas roared, struggling as Cornelis pulled him up from the chair.

"You're still a prisoner and I don't want you to see or know where we are," Willem said, zip tying Bas' wrists behind his back. "You may have given us valuable intel, but I don't trust you."

"I know this is probably inappropriate, given the seriousness of the situation," Demetri said while Cornelis and Willem escorted Bas out of the shed. "But will you two be addressing the public?"

"Yes, most likely." Mateo nodded as they stood from the table. "We'll need to make some sort of announcement to stop the protests. Why?"

Maia shook her head as a soft laugh escaped her lips. "Because we don't look like royalty at the moment."

"No, you don't," Demetri said. "And if you're stepping up as King with Maia by your side, you at least need to look like you've taken a shower."

"Dem's right on this one," Gerrit said, nodding. "You need to make an entrance."

"Then you can make that happen," Mateo said, slipping his arm around Maia's waist. "There's a tunnel to Vijverwoud. You and Gerrit will go there and pick up whatever you need and meet us at the palace."

A smile tugged at Demetri's lips as he bowed his head to Mateo. "Yes, sir."

"We'll meet you at the car," Mateo said, squeezing Maia's side. "I need a minute with Maia before we leave."

"Of course," Gerrit said as he and Demetri slipped out of the shed.

Maia looked up at Mateo and her heart clenched at the worried look in his eyes. "What's wrong?" she said, sliding her hand to his cheek.

"Everything's happening so fast," he said, pressing his forehead against hers. "I just wanted to make sure you're really up for this after last night."

"I promise, I'm fine," she said, kissing him softly. "But I won't lie and say that I'm not nervous about us getting caught sneaking into the palace and I'm worried about Eline leading the protests."

"I'm worried about her too, but we just have to hope her guards will be vigilant," he said, brushing a wayward curl from her face. "And we won't get caught. The tunnels lead to the oldest part of the palace. No one will be looking for us or expecting us to show up."

"That's true. We're supposed to be dead," she said as a soft laugh escaped her lips. "I'll be honest, lekker ding, I didn't think our story was going to be this thrilling."

Mateo chuckled. "Neither did I," he said, curling his fingers under her chin. "But I'll be ready to start our happy ending after this."

Maia smiled, leaning into him. "Me too," she whispered against his lips and she wanted to keep him there to drown in his warmth, but he pulled away too soon as if he knew if they kissed any longer, it would turn into something they had no time for.

Mateo pressed his lips against her ear. "We need to go, liefje," he whispered, kissing the skin just below her ear.

She moaned in frustration as she pushed at his chest. "That was an inappropriate tease, Your Highness."

"Forgive me, mijn koningin," he said, grinning as he thread his fingers through hers. "I promise to make it up to you."

"Oh you will," she grumbled. "And as your Queen, it'll be my choice what we do."

"I'm looking forward to that," he said, bringing her hand to his lips as they walked out of the shed toward the waiting cars in the small driveway.

Maia gripped Mateo's hand tight as they walked through the dark and eerily quiet tunnels beneath the palace that smelled of mildew mixed with a terrible stench of rot and decay. She looked back at the darkness that swelled around Cornelis as if a black abyss was slowly creeping up slowly behind them.

"I don't like this," she whispered, molding her body against Mateo's side. "I can't believe you guys used to come down here. It's creepy."

"There's nothing down here, but cobwebs, mildew and a few rats." Mateo chuckled, slipping his arm around her waist as if to shield her from the dark. "But I'll keep you safe, mijn koningin," he said, kissing her head.

"I don't know," Cornelis said, walking beside them. "I'm sure a lot of people died down here. This tunnel leads to the old dungeon, so I doubt we're alone."

"Don't say shit like that!" Maia hissed, digging her nails into Mateo's shirt as the hair on the back of her neck rose at the thought of ghosts and lurking in the darkness. "I have a very overactive imagination and I'm already scared as it is."

"Don't be scared. We're almost there," Mateo said, rubbing her side. "The door is right there."

Maia looked to where his flashlight was pointing and relief washed over her that they'd be leaving the creepy well of darkness soon. She normally didn't scare very easily, but the moment they climbed down the creaky ladder into the tunnels a heavy wave of unease washed over her. It also didn't help that they'd been walking for what felt like miles beneath the city in the dark, save for the bubble of light from their flashlights.

"Stay quiet, turn your flashlights off and stand against the wall while I check inside," Willem said as he handcuffed Bas to a pipe in the stone. "I'll knock twice if it's safe. If I knock once, go to Vijverwoud."

Mateo and Cornelis clicked off their flashlights and Maia whimpered as the tunnel fell into complete darkness.

"You're alright, liefje," Mateo whispered, Mateo gathering her in his arms and holding her close as they stood against the wall. "I'm right here."

Maia closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest as the steel door creaked open and closed behind Willem. She focused on Mateo's steady heartbeat as they waited in silence for Willem to give them the signal that it was safe for them to enter.

The wait was agonizing as a million different scenarios of them being caught and killed for real floated through her mind. "I'm scared," she whispered as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. "I don't want to die and be a ghost trapped down here."

"I would never let that happen," Mateo whispered against her ear. "We're going to be fine."

A loud knock thumped against the door and Maia held her breath as fear trickled down her spine. A second knock thumped against the door and she nearly slumped in Mateo's arms at the relief that stole her building anxiety.

The door creaked open and light spilled into the pitch black tunnel. "It's all clear," Willem said, stepping out to release Bas from the pipe he was chained to.

"Come on, you're shaking, liefje," Mateo said, keeping her tucked under his arm as he guided her to the door. "Let's get you into the light."

"I'm sorry," she said, laughing softly as they walked into the old stone walled dungeon room that was being used as a storage room for old furniture, bedding and kitchen supplies. "I don't know why I'm so shaken up right now."

"Don't apologize. A lot has happened, but we're safe. No one is going to know we're here," Mateo said, leading her to a chair beside a stack of folded white linens before he tugged a blunt from his back pocket. "And I think you need this."

Maia snatched the rolled herb from his hand. "You had this the whole time and waited until now to offer it to me!"

Mateo laughed. "I didn't want that overactive imagination of yours to run away from you in the tunnels," he said, holding up a lighter for her. "I've been your muse long enough to know how you are."

"I would've been fine." Maia rolled her eyes as she took the lighter and lit the blunt, taking in a long toke of the citrus herb. "Thank you." She sighed.

"You're welcome," he said, kissing her cheek as the loud creaking of a door filled the room. Maia's eyes grew wide as she gripped Mateo's arm. "It's alright."

"Hendrik? Oh God, Hendrik!"

A small smile tugged at Mateo's lips. "It's my father."

A/N: Was getting a bit suspenseful at the end there! Shame on Mateo for not letting Maia have that blunt to calm her nerves while they were walking through the tunnels! I'm not sure I could've done that, my mind would've been racing like Maia's. shit sounded like the beginning of a scary movie 🤣 In all seriousness, I wasn't sure if the coast was going to be clear or not when I was writing this 🤷🏾‍♀️I'm glad they made it into the palace and now Mateo needs to take his birthright, but I have no idea how he's going to stop Jorien from his military take over.

Translation:

mijn koningin - my queen