God Save the Queen Read Online Free

killed in a car accident, we knew that the curse was back--just delayed for some reason. And so, since you were only four years old, we sent a Russian government official to live with you.” He then nodded toward Linda.
                  “Is it true, Linda?” I blurted out in frustration and confusion. “And you never told me?”
    “ Anya, it was for your own protection,” she responded in an even, calm tone. “If I had told you, then the people who went after your parents would be after you next.”
    My mouth dropped open. “What did you say?” My voice sounded strange to my own ears, high-pitched and maybe a bit hysterical. “What people who went after my parents? It wasn’t just a drunk driver hit-and-run accident? They were--” Murdered, the word was murdered, but I couldn’t make myself say it out loud.
    “You must understand,” Linda said. “Knowing this would have been too big a burden for a young girl. You would have been living in fear.” 
    “Well, I am now, ” I shouted at her.
    I settled back into the chair just as Kevin cleared his throat. “And it is because of this reason that no one else can know about this as well. So when we leave for the palace…”
    Things were happening much, much too quickly, and t his was the last straw. “ Leaving? I think you’re a little whacked in the head if you think I’m leaving.”
    “Actually , you have to if you want to rule a country.”
                  I could hear the irritation in his voice, and that angered me even more. Anger was the only thing that powered me right now. “Well, here’s the thing. I don’t want to rule a country. I want to stay here and go to school and maybe go to college and figure out what I’m going to do with my life--not have someone decide all that for me.”
    “ Yeah, well, here’s the thing, ” Kevin shot back, mocking me, “You have no say in the matter.” He was now standing, leaning over the table. “You’re leaving on Friday and you’re going to be on that plane whether you go willingly or we have to carry you on.”
    I was standing now, too. “I’d like to see you try.”
    “That will be enough!” shouted LaGard. There was silence. “Sit down, both of you.”
                  We took our seats again, scowling at each other from across the table. “I am very sorry, my dear,” LaGard went on, “but you must come with us. It is of the utmost importance.”
    “But what am I going to tell my teachers--my friends?”
    “We’ll take care of the teachers. As for your friends, you’ll simply tell them that you have to leave on family matters.” He stared me down.
                  I had no choice. There was nothing I could do. I was leaving on Friday for Russia, and my life was now going to change forever. I never in a million years thought I’d be content to be dorky Anya, but now I wanted it more than anything. I nodded.
                  “Then it is settled. Kevin, you will pick her up in two days.” Kevin nodded, though it was clear that he wasn’t happy about it either.
                  Then at least one good thing came from this , I thought.
    *               *              *
                  The fact that I was leaving wasn’t the hardest part of the next two days, but the crazy rumors that had begun to circulate. One was that I had gotten the best grades in the state and was going to college early. I liked that one. Others were that I witnessed a murder and was entering the FBI’s witness protection program. The worst was that I’d been having a long-distance relationship with an older guy who had visited me during the summer, and I was now pregnant.
                  “Do people really have that much time on their hands?” I said, cleaning out my locker. “I mean, where do they come up with this crap?” I was leaving in two hours and all the rumors were finally getting