Thread:StoryGirl83/@comment-28828403-20180121151221/@comment-3452092-20180127162539

Yeah. I definitely didn't see Drake taking the bullet for her. I knew it had to involve something happening to her, but I didn't see that happening, especially if he wasn't the one she was in a relationship with.

You know, that is something I have never actually thought about, but you very well could be right. He has never told anyone what his job is. I think you may well be on to something with that theory. We know that he went America and lived there for a while, but then there was an assassination attempt on the royal family and he came back, because Liam didn't know who to trust. Who better to have as one of your personal body guards, especially if you don't want people to know there is a bodyguard around, than your best friend whose dad was one of your father's guards. No one is going to suspect him of being your guard and honestly, if Drake is, I bet he proposed the idea to Liam. Likely when he was younger he had some training, probably with both his dad and Bastien, since that would have been a way to spend time with them. It also would explain why he didn't stick around in Paris for a while or return there once he was convinced his sister wanted him around. I mean even if he inititially didn't think Savannah wanted him around, once he knew she did, most people would have been on the first plane to Paris at that point, but he had to wait for her to come back to him. That makes sense if he's working as Liam's guard. The fact that he keeps this quiet is probably because 1) He's not doing this stictly as a job. This really is his best friend and he wants to protect him from further assassination attempts, 2) No one is going to let down their guard around Bastian or anyone like Bastian. They are obviously loyal and their job is pretty clear. Yes, Drake is clearly Liam's best friend, but best friends have been corrupted before and it's easier to drop your guard around someone who looks like a construction worker (or something like that . . . not sure how to describe his outfit although he is definitely good looking for a pixelated person) than someone who is wearing a suit and earpiece, 3) If someone's going to cause trouble, they are more likely to do it when they don't think there are threats around, and 4) This way he can spend time with his best friend, doing things with him. . . like I don't know taking him to a bar in New York with two others of his friends and just hanging out without having to worry about obvious bodyguards tipping people off to the fact that Liam was someone important. I had begun to wonder why we never heard about Liam having any guards with him, especially after I did notice a time or two when they were mentioned and suddenly the lack of mention became more and more bizarre. And there were some instances where it was pretty clear they weren't there, such as the bachelor party in New York. Getting away without bodyguards is a lot easier if your best friend also happens to be one, so everyone's less worried because you do have a bodyguard with you.

I sincerely hope that Maxwell has a bigger role in book 3, too. I think you are right that this could mean Drake will.

I don't know. It's certainly possible. Someone (Selena I think) mentioned that idea and I gave some ideas as to why they might. If they were, and I have no idea if they were as they could just be elsewhere in the room, although there silence is a little worrisome since several characters have proven they are there, I do have theories on that.

For Hana, my guess would be something to do with her parents. We don't know a lot about her parents, even after meeting her dad, but they do seem to be insanely wealthy, so potentially trying to get additional funds for whatever their goal is, by ransoming Hana could make sense.

With Maxwell, my best guess is something to do with Bertrand. It could have to do with Liam since Maxwell, is one of his closest friends, but I'm thinking Bertrand. Obviously Liam has more power, but as a Duke of a Duchy with a long history, Bertrand does have a lot of influence. He needs money, but there are things Bertrand will not do for money. Betraying his country is definitely on that list. It gets a bit more tricky for him if you kidnap one of the three people most important to him and use them as leverage (and they could have kidnapped all three, but let's assume if they kidnapped anyone, it was only Maxwell). Unless their information was better than Bertrand's they had no way of knowing about Savannah and especially that she would be there very far in advance. She just showed up in Cordonia, again, that day.

There are a couple reasons why to pick Maxwell over Savannah despite Maxwell being a grown man while Savannah is a woman, considerably smaller in stature than Maxwell with a child to distract her. The first is that Savannah is a woman with a child to protect. Size doesn't matter when your child is in danger. Yeah, you might not win in the end, but you are going to be way harder to get than someone who is only thinking of themselves. When the lights went out, I have no doubt that if Savannah didn't already have Bartie in her arms (and she probably did), she immediately went after him. She would know where he was and she would have grabbed him. And if she didn't find him or if someone tried to take him from her, she would have screamed. I don't care how strong a woman she is. If some took or tried to take her child, she's going to scream, not necessarily to show fear, but to draw attention to her (and maybe to show fear to, but drawing attention first), to gain help from anyone around her. Even if they can't see her, they can hear her. They could use chloroform or something, but as long as she's conscious, she's going to fight and she's going to cause a scene. Secondly, we don't know what kind of training Savannah might have. With your idea that Drake might be one of the King's Guards, it is entirely possible that Savannah might have some training in that direction, too. Probably if she does, it's not as much since she clearly didn't pursue that kind of career, but she could have some sort of training and that might make her a more difficult target.

Much as I adore Maxwell, I know of no reason to believe he might have training in any sort of hand to hand combat. And while he only has his self to think of, that might make him more inclined to follow instructions if a knife or gun was pointed at his neck.

As for the why of someone connected to Bertrand, influence, power, something that Bertrand as part of Liam's circle of friends (sure Maxwell's closer to Liam, but Bertrand's more likely to try and solve things on his own than trust them). Also, they are trying to kill Liam, so. . . who is next in line for the throne? After his dad and brother have already abducated, probably they can't change their mind and his dad's dying anyway. He's not going to be around longer and they have probably learned that at some point. Maybe Bertrand is next in line for the throne. At least in some cases, Dukes can be from royal lines. House Beaumont has weapons that look suspiciously like weapons from The Crown & the Flame and there's evidence that Liam is a descendant of Kenna's. Maybe Bertrand and Maxwell are, too. That would put them as distant relatives, so maybe Bertrand is next in line for the throne and they want to control him by having physical custody of someone Bertrand loves, like his brother.

Okay, that theory did not go where I thought it would, but I like it.

I don't know. I supose it's possible that she could become a possible ally. Implication is that her mom has more power than she does, but we already have one former enemy that was have had the chance to turn into a friend in Olivia, so I don't really see them going down that route, again, in the same book. Although, you did say Ally, not friend. With Olivia, she can actually be sort of a friend (and hopefully she can actually be a friend or not depending on how much you have tried to befriend her in the first two books, so that it quits being wishwashy), but maybe Madeleine can be more like Luthor, reluctant ally until a mutual enemy has been routed (hopefully without the same end result). Definitely not my favorite person (that's Maxwell), but she could be useful as an ally if they choose to let her be.

As for the actual assassins, I don't think we know them, but I wouldn't all be surprised if we know the mastermind. One theory I have come up with is Justin, because I've never trusted that guy. Something is off about him and his reaction to being told hold off on releasing Tariq's confession was even more suspicious. I would seriously love it if Neville was the villain, but unlike Justin, I'm not sure he's smart enough. He could be hiding that, but I haven't seen evidence of that. He is however, arrogant enough and otherwise problematic enough. Right now, those two are my two best suspects. Despite hanging out with Neville a lot, I don't suspect Rashad at all, mostly because of his partnership with Mr. Sloan and things you learn about him in Rules of Engagement. I would love to see more of Rashad, actually, because I think there is a lot they can do with his character. I think the diamond scene in chapter seventeen is the only time in The Royal Romnace where they have truly shown Rashad and Neville were not really the same. I mean they don't respond the same, but it's odd how they are always together when I don't even think they're friends. *Mind wanders off into other theories* Okay, for a moment there they idea popped into my head that maybe Rashad was spying on Neville. I think I'm overthinking this too much, so I'm going to end there.

What do you think?