236 Chapter 236

"Good morning, nightingale." Erik said. He was sprawled across their bed, still looking gaunt but finally getting some color back in his skin. Pearl was already awake. The morning sickness was awful for her.

"How are you feeling, my love?" Erik asked.

"I'm going to need to keep a stash of crackers and soda handy at all times. This nausea is the worst." Pearl said.

Erik stood up and walked to her. Even thinner, he was so beautiful. He put his arms around her and placed his hands on her tummy. "It's a boy. I can just feel it. And he's mine so prepare yourself for quite the handful." Erik said. Pearl smiled.

"I have to get a shower. I'm to be at London Police service headquarters to meet with them and Interpol in less than an hour." Erik said.

"Police? Why? At seven in the morning?" Pearl asked.

"They need a formal statement from myself and the men. My father. Jim. All of us. Bash, too." Erik said.

Pearl began changing, putting on black dress slacks and a white tight fitting button down. She ran a brush through her long dark hair and put it in topknot. She threw on some moisturizer and a bit of makeup and was ready to go.

"Where are you off to?" Erik asked after his shower.

"I'm coming with you." Pearl said.

"Pearl, you don't... " Erik began.

"Always together, right?" Pearl interrupted, putting her finger on his lips.

"Always." Erik said, smiling.

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"Coffee. And lots of it." Pearl said.

"Pearl, is caffeine a good idea?" Erik asked, looking at her tummy.

"I can't have whisky, wine, hot baths or cigarettes. You take my coffee away and I will stab you to death in your sleep." Pearl said.

"Two please." Erik said, holding up two fingers to the kitchen staff at the palace.

"Up and at 'em, I see. Good morning, Pearl. Cousin." Sebastian said, walking in with his new suit on.

"I thought that was for the party tonight?" Pearl asked.

"Tonight? No. Tonight I am wearing a tuxedo I had brought in. Just because I choose to dress like a common peasant doesn't mean I don't have the ability to clean up well." He said smiling.

Pearl shook her head.

They all headed to the police department.

Pearl and Bash sat in an observation room as Erik, Jim and Edward gave their statements. There were at least four attorneys present for the crown and several body guards. It looked like the scene of a 007 film.

"Mr. Williamson is saying that he was attacked in his hotel, not at the warehouse." The police detective asked. "Taken me through it, from how you got the item to cut through the ties, up until Interpol arrived."

"His hotel? How in the devil would I get there? That's completely ludicrous. I was in a warehouse. For days." Erik said. "Ok. The first time I was allowed to look around the room, I took in as much as possible. I saw a metal table with two rusted legs on one side, causing the table to lean. I knew the legs were barely attached. I noted that in my mind as a possible weapon if I was attacked, I looked at the walls, the floor, along with other things in the room. The way it smelled. Sounds. I knew I was In Amsterdam. I heard people speaking Dutch outside the window where I was seated." Erik began. Pearl had a difficult time hearing him speak of such things. He talked of their torture. The starvation. The threats to his fiancée and family. That after they received the ransom, they were going to kill him. Weight him down in the harbor and drown him by throwing him into the sea.

"Anyway, there was a raised piece of metal, lifting off of the beam I was tied to. I used my hands to manipulate it until I was able to peel it off. I held it in my hand for hours, cutting away at the plastic ties. It wasn't easy. I knew they were taking turns watching me and sometimes no one was there. I had to be careful not to be seen doing this to the ties. I had become accustomed to their schedule. Mornings were Charles and another man. Afternoons were Michael or I was alone. Nights were just Charles. I had almost sawed the restraints completely off by the time Charles had come for his shift. But he wasn't alone. Michael was with him. They were together to explain to me their death plot and to tell me my family had the autopsy results from the man in the explosion. They knew I was alive." Erik said.

"So what happened next, this is the most crucial." The detective asked.

"I kept them talking so they wouldn't hear or see what I was doing with my hands. Then when Michael stepped out to relieve himself, I took my chance. I stood up and grabbed the rusted table leg and Charles grabbed his gun. I stabbed him with the sharp end of the leg, through his chest. Just as I dropped him to the floor, Michael came back and ran towards me. I hit him in the side of the face and dropped him. I had on no clothes, no shoes. So I took Charles shoes and put them on to make my escape. Just then, Jim and the others arrived. Michael came to and we had to strike him again and again to subdue him." Erik said. "You all showed up soon after."

"That is this exact series of events the general gave as well as Jim and Edward. Thank you for your time today."

On the car ride back to the palace, Pearl looked out the window, away from Erik.

"Why didn't you kill him? At the hotel. You had the opportunity." Pearl said.

Sebastian looked at Erik. Erik cleared his throat.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The police may believe you were telling the truth in there but I know you were lying." She said. "You're a better person than I am. I would have beat his skull in with the bedside lamp." She said.

Erik looked at her. "I considered it." He said.

"I didn't know all of that happened. He we are, all receiving these medals of honor for saving you, when you had already saved yourself." She said. "I'm proud of you. You fought bravely. You had a will to live and you saved yourself." She said, finally looking at him.

"I did it for you. I promised you I would come back. It was all I thought about. Day. Night. And every moment in between." Erik said.

"No. You did it for us." She said, putting her hand on her belly. "For all of us." She said, looking at Sebastian and Jim. "We needed our Prince to come home and lead and protect us. Don't ever feel guilty for what happened that day, when you took out two men to save yourself."

Erik looked at her with pride. Every time he thought he couldn't love her more, she showed him a way that he could.

He kissed her hand and looked forward. Forward to a future he was finally excited to say was his.