“Doing okay?” Oris asked softly, as he eased his car through the crowd and up towards the vehicle entrance to the palace. The police had seen him coming and were doing their best to clear the spectators off the road. Nonetheless, it was slow going, but in only another minute or two, they would arrive at the guard station, and then it would be time to see if this spectacularly reckless plan was going to work.
“Fine,” Ryu answered, his voice muffled. Oris resisted the urge to look behind him. Ryu, dressed once more in his black pants and sweater, was curled up in the footwell in front of the passenger seats, a black blanket covering him from head to toe. To any observer outside the car, he would be completely invisible. Whether he stayed that way or not, of course, depended on how thorough the guards at the gate were being today.
Crawling forward again, Oris eased the car up the slight hill towards the palace gate. The last of the civilians parted before him, and he pulled up at the guard station. It was positioned just inside the entrance to the garage, out of view of the majority of the spectators, and the dimmer light might just conceal what he was trying to hide, if he was very lucky.
“Oris Izarius,” he said, offering his ID card before they even asked. “I’m a diplomat in the palace. I saw the reports on the news – obviously – and I thought I should come. I was speaking to Captain Landis on the phone yesterday.” That line of argument wasn’t going to get him far, as any guard worth his salt wouldn’t accept the word of a random stranger that Maro had given him clearance to do anything at all, but with luck it would open a further line of conversation.
“Step out of the car, please,” the guard said. Oris complied, standing still while he was patted down. Meanwhile, another pair of guards opened the boot of the car, checking inside, and checked the underneath with mirrors, lest he have any explosives attached to the car.
The more senior guard checked his ID, then handed the card back. “Did the Captain ask you to come down here?”
“Not specifically, no,” Oris admitted. If he lied and said yes, the guard would just check with Maro, who would instantly deny the story. “But I thought my services would be of use. Captain Landis made an announcement to the public regarding the king and queen’s death, but we’ll still need to issue formal statements to our international allies. And given the missing prince, that may need to include a statement about the ongoing stability of the Galandanish monarchy. I assumed – perhaps over-optimistically – that my help might be appreciated.”
“All clear, sir,” the guards checking the car reported.
“He’s on the list of approved visitors,” another guard inside the gate reported, checking Oris’s details on a tablet. “Security clearance level four.”
The senior guard peered around Oris, regarding the interior of the car. There was Oris’s coat on the passenger side and a couple of financial magazines lying on the back seat. Strategically placed there, of course, in the hope of distracting the guards from exploring any further. His expression was sceptical, but in the end, he sighed. “Day staff have been called in for their regular shifts, so I suppose there’s no harm in letting you in. Keep in mind though, if the Captain’s busy, he may just send you home again.”
“Fair enough,” Oris said. “I don’t want to get in the way. But the sooner we can get this mess under control the better.”
Under the guard’s watchful gaze, he climbed back into the car and headed slowly down into the garage. “So far, so good,” he muttered, knowing Ryu would hear him. The kid hadn’t moved a muscle in the last ten minutes, and Oris was genuinely impressed.
“Not out of the woods yet,” Ryu replied.
“So true,” Oris agreed. “So true.”
◊◊◊
“When the day shift arrive, make sure every single one of them is screened properly,” Maro ordered the guard stationed in the guard house. “And send out word that the rest of the detained staff are allowed to leave. We’ve arrested everyone we need to for the time being.”
The guard nodded and hurried off.
“What’s happening with the Arctesian ambassador?” Maro asked one of the senior guards. By some miracle, the ambassador himself had survived the attack, though one of his aides had unfortunately been killed. They’d spent yesterday under guard, more to keep them safe than because they were under any serious suspicion.
“Right now, he’s just grateful to be alive,” the guard reported. “They’re asking to be allowed to return to Arctesia. Given the situation, I think we’d be better off with them out of our hair.”
“Have them escorted to the airport,” Maro agreed. “And get the communications office to send an official letter of condolence to the Arctesian Parliament apologising for the death of their associate. Some sort of formal gift should probably be sent as well.”
“I’ll see they sort something out,” the guard promised, before striding away.
“How’s that mob outside the gate doing?” Maro asked next, and another of the guards, a woman in her thirties, answered the question. “Restless, but under control. The gate staff changed shift at seven this morning, and the police are still holding their ground.”
“Excellent. This may not be the time for this,” he added, turning to Kentario, “but I propose we pay full overtime rates for all the guards detained here during the lockdown. They’ve been going out of their way to maintain order, and aside from that idiot who’s been arrested, they’ve all proven themselves to still be loyal to the Crown.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Kentario agreed, fighting to keep from pacing the room. It was getting on for an hour since he’d slipped away to phone Ryu, and he had yet to hear any news about their attempt to re-enter the palace.
Suddenly, Maro’s phone rang, and he answered it quickly. “Captain Landis.” There was a pause. “I see,” he said, his tone concerned. “Good to know. Well, keep an eye on it. Yes, excellent idea.”
“Problem?” Kentario asked, once he’d hung up.
“Just a small disturbance at the gate,” Maro told him. “Nothing to be concerned about. The guards have it under control. Now, I suggest we head over to the main wing,” he said next. “As soon as the day shift start coming in, I want to assign the housekeepers to start getting the palace back in order. The police have cordoned off the areas that were damaged by fire, but they’ve wrapped up their investigations into the rest of the palace, and the sooner we get things back to normal, the better everyone will feel.”
Finding no objection to the idea, Kentario followed him across the courtyard and up the main steps. Maro immediately turned right, to head towards the staff quarters, and Kentario toyed with the idea of making an excuse to get a moment to himself. Ryu should have been here by now, and the waiting was starting to drive him crazy… But just at that moment, his phone rang. He ripped it out of his pocket, seeing that the call was from Oris.
“You go ahead,” he told Maro. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Maro obediently strode away, leaving Kentario in relative privacy. “What’s happening?” he asked, as he answered the call.
“We’re in,” Oris reported, his voice low. “In the main parking garage. We’ll head upstairs and meet you in the sapphire lounge.” It was one of themost popular meeting rooms, often used to host visiting dignitaries, and it was also the room with the most direct access from the stairs to the garage.
