The Silver Eyed Prince (Highest Royal Coven of Europe) (29 page)

The Major seemed to perceive his thoughts. “We have reason to believe that the Prince had broken up with her.” He arranged a series of images on the desk, depicting the confront
ation in the balcony with a tearful Catherine.

John examined the scene carefully. No doubt, an a
ltercation was evident that ended up with the Prince walking away. His heart began to hammer in exultation. The chance he'd been waiting for had finally come. He could at last make his move. “What brought this about?” he asked calmly though he was simmering with anticipation.

“We recently discovered that Prince William was seeing another girl.” The Major pulled out photos from another envelope.

John stared at a picture of the Prince emerging from a yellow cottage and several snapshots of him in the company of a girl. He took a closer look. Something seemed oddly familiar about her. That red hair . . .

He shuffled through the rest of the pictures and came across a close up shot of the girl. He froze, eyes widening.
Devil be damned! Could it be?

“Major Reynolds! Who is this girl?” he asked ea
rnestly, startling the officer.

“Some Tainted lass the Prince fa
ncied.” The Major pulled out his notes. “I believe her name is—, ah, Miss Elizabeth Hamilton.”

“You have her address? Who lives with her?”

“Yes, Your Grace. We haven't noticed anyone living with her, but then again, our surveillance is focused on the Prince, not her.”

John muttered a multitude of cur
ses. But of course! They have been looking at the wrong lists all along! That crafty little witch outsmarted his men once again! She threw her daughter in with the Tainted! Who would stoop that low except for that bitch?

He picked up the picture once again. The girl was looking up at the Prince. They were smiling tenderly at each other. He could practically see the chemistry b
etween them. The affection showed openly in her eyes.
Her blue-violet eyes . . .

John felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He gazed at the girl and then back at the Prince.
They are in love.

Damn it to hell!
He laughed out loud.

“Your Grace?” The Major raised his eyebrows.

“Reynolds, the old ducal luck struck again! You must assign a surveillance team for Miss Hamilton at once! If my gut instinct is right, she might be the former Queen's daughter!”
and the new Pure One,
he added to himself, euphoric with his discovery. And if everything went well, he could capture the girl and kill the Prince, and perhaps ... get Catherine back. Three birds with one stone.
Brilliant.

“Right away, Your Grace.” The Major bowed to leave then paused, ben
ding to collect a photo that had fallen on the floor from his folder. “Oh, we missed this one.” He strolled back towards him. “We believe he's the Prince's bodyguard. The men spotted him talking to the Prince and accompanying Miss Hamilton, so we assumed that the Prince had asked him to watch over her.”

John held the picture and gasped. He would reco
gnize that face anywhere. The man was assigned to hunt him years ago when he abducted the Queen, and had given him a monstrous dilemma that nearly got him killed.

“Son of the devil!” he bellowed. “Notify all survei
llance teams to distance themselves from this man immediately! I want zero visibility! We cannot risk being traced!” He slammed the photograph on the table.

This is no bodyguard! This—” He stabbed a finger at the angelic face in the picture, “is Colonel Alexus Gunter!”

Major Reynolds gaped at the harmless-looking, almost too beautiful a visage for a man in the photo. “The legendary assassin?
”
He met the Duke's hard gaze, his eyes widening.

“The Angel of Death,” John said grimly.

Royals and the Hierarchy

With Mr. Clark

       E
lizabeth sat rigidly in the front row of Social Hierarchy class with Ben, Carlos and Lela. She could feel her classmates watching her and hear snatches of muffled whispers, but no one dared make offensive barbs, thanks to Chad who sat brooding in the back row.

“Today, we shall discuss the Royals and the Hiera
rchy,” Mr. Thomas Clark announced, interrupting her thoughts. “As you well know, each and every continent has a ruling Royal Coven. Is there anyone who knows how many continents there are?”

Ben raised a manicured hand.

“Yes, Mr. Walker?”

“Seven.”

“Correct! There are seven continents. Therefore, there are seven Ruling Royal Covens in existence in the world. They're the oldest, most powerful clans who rule over other Royal families in every country that comprise their continents. Exceptions are Australia and Antarctica, which do not encompass any countries. The ruling clans in these continents have sole domain and do not have Royal Constituents. Now, does anyone know which Ruling Royal Coven is the most powerful? Miss Weber?”

“The Highest Royal Coven of E
urope,” Jill replied.

“Exactly! They head the Ruling H
ierarchy since the beginning of our history.” Mr. Clark unrolled a large visual aid and posted it on the board.

The Ruling Hierarchy:

Highest Royal Coven of Europe (England)

Ruling Royal Covens in each Cont
inent:

Royal Coven of Australia (sole d
omain)

Royal Coven of Asia

Royal Coven of Africa

Royal Coven of North America

Royal Coven of South America

Royal Coven of Antarctica (sole domain)

Continental Royal Constituents:

All Royal families in countries that comprise a continent under a Ruling Royal Coven.

“This illustrates our Hierarchy.” Mr. Clark pointed at the visual aid. “The Highest Royal Coven of Europe presides over the all the other Ruling Covens, establishing a unified global government. Any questions?” Mr. Clark scanned the room. “None? Very well. Let us now proceed to Social Classification.” He unfurled a large banner and hung it on hooks on top of the board. “This chart illustrates the order of our social class.”

SOCIAL CLASSIFICATION

HIGHEST ORDER:

European Royals and Nobility

SECOND ORDER:

Ruling Royal Covens from other Continents

European Descendants of the First Water

(Fifth Generation Alpha Deimons)

THIRD ORDER:

Continental Royal Constituents

FOURTH ORDER:

Nobility from Other Continents

FIFTH ORDER:

Descendants:

Academics and Defenders

SIXTH ORDER:

The Tainted

HELLIONS:

(Unclassified)

“Uh, Sir?” Julie Ann raised her pen. “How did the European Royals and Nobility become the highest o
rder? Wouldn't the other Royals from the other continents protest?”

“Good point there, Miss Riggs, but no, the Europ
eans have the oldest ancestry. It is believed that the etiology of our race came from Europe, therefore their class is the highest order.”

“Sir, are you implying that the sacred land was in Europe?” Lela asked.

“Very good, Miss Ikeda. The answer to your question is a yes.”

“Does that mean that Royals from other continents are also Europeans?” Carlos asked.

“
Were
Europeans, Mr. Guerrero, before the establishment of the Hierarchy. During that period, many emigrated to different continents and raised their clans there. Then, later generations intermarried with their cousins from other continents, even with humans, which resulted in the proliferation of another breed we now call
Tainted.
By the time the Hierarchy was established, the blood relation of the immigrants' descendants to their European ancestors was so far down the line that the breed had degenerated in quality and thus were no longer considered true Europeans.”

“Sir?” Jared Crowe raised a hand. “How come E
uropean Royals don't intermarry with Royals from other continents?”

“Because they prefer not to co
ntaminate their breed with a lesser bloodline. The purer their pedigree is, the more powerful they are. This is important to maintain their dominion over the others. Yes, Miss Parks?” Mr. Clark pointed at the girl seated a row behind Elizabeth.

“So that means if a European Royal has an affair with ah–, say a Tainted, he could never be serious right? Would you agree that all he really wants is a booty call?”

A rash of giggles emanated in the room. Elizabeth felt her blood boil. She swung around and gave Debbie a dagger look. Debbie shrugged with a disdainful twist of her lips.

“Miss Parks! I shall not tolerate that kind of la
nguage in my classroom!” Mr. Clark exclaimed. “If you'd intended to spite someone with that comment, I suggest you apologize right now!”

“Sorry,” Debbie said in a voice as insincere as the expression on her face.

“You better be,” Chad growled from the back.

“Everyone settle down!” Mr. Clark yelled amidst the increasing murmurs in the room.

The bell rang.

Mr. Clark dismissed them with a lecture on the co
nsequences of bad behavior during class.

Elizabeth stood up and gathered her things, holding back the sting of tears that began to cloud her eyes.

Someone tugged on her sleeve. “Sorry you had to go through that,” Bret Kline said, his pale blue eyes sharp with disgust.

“Ignore Debbie,” Lela said with a thankful smile at Bret, who blushed and quickly walked ahead, as they made their way out into the hallway.

“Yeah,” Ben said, darting his eyes at Lela. “She's just bitching coz she could never land a Prince with that horsey face.”

Elizabeth suddenly remembered the meaningful looks her friends exchanged earlier. She paused in the middle of the corridor. “You guys knew, didn't you? You knew someone like me can't get involved with him!”

Lela bit her lip. Ben studied his nails and Carlos stared at the ceiling. Students squeezed past them, rushing to the next period until only the four of them stood in the hallway.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Elizabeth exclaimed in disbelief.

“We thought you knew,” Carlos said. “Everyone does.”

“Let me explain.” Lela took control of the conve
rsation. “Royals are notorious flirts. They would take fancy on someone not in their social class just because they can—, and there's plenty of willing subjects. Well, usually they lose interest within a week or so, no big deal, but then—”

“We saw you arrive with him this morning,” Ben added. “
His Royal Hotness
had his arm around you and he was glaring at everyone. And then the way you guys looked at each other—”

“T'was like you wanna make babies together,” Ca
rlos piped in.

“We knew then, that it was a big deal,” Lela added in a grave tone. “And the repercussions would be ugly.”

“Repercussions?” Elizabeth wanted to vomit all of a sudden.

Lela beckoned for her to come closer, then, she glanced around and lowered her voice. “European Ro
yals are really weird when it comes to finding a mate. Sure, they have flings here and there, but they never get into serious relationships with any other breeds. In fact, they don't even intermarry with Royals from other continents. I know it’s shocking, but they only mate within their clans—, as in cousin to cousin, whether close or distant, it doesn’t matter as long as they are European Royals.”

“You’re kidding me.” Elizabeth gaped.

“Lela’s right,” Ben interjected. “As a Tainted with part human genes, I know you think it’s disgusting, but European Royals are zero percent human, my dear. Human stuff does not really apply to their equation. It’s the total opposite for them, as in—cross-breeding, the way humans mate, is a big no-no. Something about keeping their bloodline pure or some hokey-pokey stuff like that. Anyways—, it’s kind of an unspoken rule.”

“And that's why you're getting all the hate talk,” Carlos said. “Citizens don't like their Royals getting hot and heavy with lower breeds. They say it corrupts their pedigree. Now, if you're a mixed breed, it's even worse—, almost as scandalous as a Royal having an a
ffair with a human.”

“And you're in a forbidden relationship with not just any royal,” Ben added. “But with the sole heir to the throne.”

“Oh, God!” Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hands. “I didn't know! I swear—” She felt the breath whoosh out of her.