The restaurant was tucked into a narrow alley that looked like it hadn't changed in centuries.As we approached, I spotted at least three people who were definitely not regular diners: a woman reading a newspaper at an outdoor café who kept glancing at doorways, a man examining produce at a nearby stall with unusual intensity, and someone on a rooftop who probably thought they were invisible but had caught the light when they shifted position.
"I see four of them," I said.
Archie looked surprised."Four?"
"Counter-sniper on the roof, newspaper lady, produce guy, and there's someone in the alley pretending to be homeless who has way too good posture."
"Captain Steiner said you might have good situational awareness."
"I've been watching true crime documentaries for years.Some of it stuck."
The restaurant owner, Giuseppe, greeted us at the door with the kind of genuine warmth that couldn't be faked.His wife Maria appeared moments later, immediately taking my hands in hers and declaring that I was too thin and needed feeding immediately.
"This is perfect," I told Archie as we settled into a private dining room with harbor views."Minus the sniper on the roof, obviously."
"The sniper is for your protection."
"I know.It's still surreal."I accepted the wine Giuseppe poured."Three months ago I was worrying about whether I could afford new tires.Now I have rooftop snipers protecting me while I eat dinner."
"Does that bother you?"
"It should, right?Normal people don't have snipers."I took a sip of wine, considering."But I was kidnapped as a baby.There are people who still want to harm me for political reasons.Having protection isn't paranoid, it's practical."
"That's a remarkably healthy attitude."
"I've been talking to Captain Steiner a lot.She's surprisingly good at explaining threat assessments without making me feel like I should be panicking constantly."
The first course arrived, a seafood dish that made me temporarily forget about snipers and security details and the absurdity of my new life.It was that good.
"So," I said once I'd recovered the power of speech, "tell me something about yourself that doesn't appear in any official biography."
"Like what?"
"Something real.Something you don't tell people at diplomatic functions."
He was quiet for a moment, twirling his wine glass."I used to have panic attacks before public appearances.When I was younger."
That surprised me."Really?"
"Fourteen to about eighteen.The pressure of performing royalty while everyone watched and judged...it got to me.I'd lock myself in bathrooms and try to remember how to breathe."
"What changed?"
"I learned to separate myself from the role.When I'm doing public appearances, I'm not really Archie.I'm playing Prince Archibald, who has no feelings and never makes mistakes."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It was.Still is, sometimes."He met my eyes."What about you?Something real."
I thought about it."I was afraid of the dark until I was nineteen.Like, genuinely terrified.I had to sleep with a nightlight through most of college."
"What happened when you were nineteen?"
"My roommate's boyfriend stayed over one night and unplugged my nightlight because he thought it was childish.I had a complete meltdown.Crying, hyperventilating, the whole thing."I shrugged."My roommate was amazing about it.Helped me realize the fear was connected to something deeper, though we never figured out what.I started therapy that semester, learned some coping techniques."
"Did therapy help?"
"Eventually.I stopped needing the nightlight, at least."I traced the rim of my wine glass."The funny thing is, I never understood where the fear came from.I had a happy childhood, loving parents, no trauma that I could remember.It was just this irrational terror that lived in my bones."
