A Royal Ransom

VIII

"Yeah, my life is what I'm fighting for, can't part the sea, can't reach the shore, and my voice becomes the driving force, I won't let this pull me overboard."

- Head Above Water, Avril Lavigne

♛

Crap, crap, crap. We were beyond utterly screwed. The Royal guards stood their ground, both their eyes and their guns trained directly at Ryder and me. 

"I swear on my life, I'm going to murder Flynn," Ryder seethed beside me.

If it came to that, I wasn't going to stop Ryder.

I swung around, fuming, "Flynn, what the bloody hell?"

Flynn shrugged, "Looks like it's a you problem now. Goodbye, convicts!"

He attempted to close the door on us, but Ryder was quick to kick his foot between the door and its frame.

"You're a filthy piece of scum, you know that?" Ryder yelled as he pulled Flynn out of the house, pressing the muzzle of his gun to his head.

Flynn struggled to escape Ryder's grip, but it was clearly no use.

"One word from your mouth, and I'll put a bullet through your skull," Ryder threatened.

I turned back to face the Royal guards. I knew they wouldn't shoot me, I'd grown up with them, under their care and service. At least I hoped they felt that way.

"Princess Diana, step away from the criminal, we mean no harm to you."

I didn't recognize who had spoken, but among the group, I found an all too familiar face, Edward's. I felt myself frowning at the memory of Edward lashing Ryder. Clearly, the guards were here under my father's order and Ryder was going to be killed if I didn't think up some genius plan immediately. 

My mind buzzed furiously, sorting through all the crime shows I'd watched in my life, when an idea hit me.

The Royal guards stood a good few meters away, so I decided to take the risk and tell Ryder "We can use me as a shield, and get to the car and get the hell out of here," I whispered under my breath.

"No. We're gonna use Flynn as a human shield and then get the hell out of here," Ryder replied, just as quietly. 

"Surrender now, and we won't fire, we'll take you back to the castle and deal with things from there," one of the guards announced.

"But if you show any resistance, Mr. Underwoods will be killed before he is due to be," Edward added.

I locked my eyes with Edward's. He held my gaze and ever so subtly raised his left brow. 

I blinked. He repeated the action. There was no way. He wasn't serious? Was he?

Almost as if to answer my internal questions, Edward nodded his head at me.

Since I had started talking, my siblings, Edward and a few other guard friends all developed this sort of secret signalling system. It was all just for laughs mostly to get us out of trouble for the stupid things we did. 

I hadn't used any of the signals since Ronan's death, but if I remembered correctly, the slight cocking of one eyebrow meant create a diversion. 

I decided it was worth the risk. With seven guards surrounding the front of the house, I knew I had to do something one way or another. The issue was the limited time and material I had to create a good diversion.