Medical staff, a mix of men and women, were tending to their needs. Everything seemed to be in hand now, but the carnage of the day was evident.
“Good God, Archie,” Francis muttered, turning back to his friends. “I hope this won’t cause an international problem.”
“It’s unlikely, sir,” Gustav said quietly. “As open as things are here, most other courts will want to keep the, er, particulars of this event under wraps.”
“They might still hold a grudge, though,” Maddie said, then looked behind Francis. “Who’s your friend?”
“Oh!” Francis had forgotten his manners in the chaos of the moment. “This is Hasim,” he said, glancing back at his companion.
Hasim’s face was still blank with shock, yet he bowed politely to Francis’s friends. “If you will excuse me a moment,” he said, then moved away to speak with the doctors in Turkish.
“He speaks German?” Christian said, at the same time Maddie hissed, “Who is he?”
“I, uh, yes, he does,” Francis said, feeling his cheeks grow pink under the scrutiny. “I believe he is the cat caretaker, or possibly royal family member.”
“Possibly?” Maddie squeaked, as Christian raised his eyebrows.
“Who?” Archie demanded, unable to see with his purple eye.
“Francis,” Maddie said with a sigh. “We didn’t come all this way for you to cavort with any old fellow. You’re supposed to be gaining the attention of King Omar.”
“Um…?” Gustav said, looking between them and Hasim with a stricken expression on his face. “Francis?”
“One moment,” Francis said to Gustav, before he replied to Maddie. “We came all this way for several reasons, actually,” he corrected her. “And I’ve been making myself useful. Making contacts, buttering up the right people. It isn’t all about being a consort, you know.”
“You’ve buttered up a cat caretaker?” Christian asked, confused, as Archie and Maddie laughed.
“No.” Francis harrumphed. “Maybe, yes. But I think he is part of the family, he knows people. He has sway here. I’ve met some engineers today and had a very interesting conversation about the conversion of solar energy.”
“Oh, the thing that makes the tram go,” Maddie said excitedly. “Did you see the solar energy?”
“Yes, I did,” Francis replied. “I saw a solar farm. The engineer is a woman, actually. Sanay.”
“Can we see it, then?” Maddie asked. “And meet the engineer?”
“I can’t see anything right now,” Archie piped up.
“Prince Francis!”Gustav hissed under his breath to get his attention. “Sir, if I may…”
“Yes, what it is?” Francis asked but was immediately distracted by Hasim and a woman doctor approaching them. “Hasim?”
“The eye doctor assured me that your friend’s eyeball isundamaged, and the swelling will go down in a few days.” He nodded at the young man tending to Archie. “The nurses here will keep it on ice.”
“Oh, that’s a relief,” Maddie said. “Did you hear that, Archie?”
“Yes, I can hear just fine,” Archie replied tartly. “My eye is swollen, not my ears.”
Francis shared a look with Hasim, trying to gauge how the other man was feeling. Still a blank face, hard to read.
“The doctors also say,” Hasim added, “the injuries your friend inflicted upon the other men are clear breaks, have already been set, and will heal in a few months. They foresee no problems.”
“Thank you, Hasim,” Francis said. “I must thank the doctors, too, and, uh…apologise to Montferrat and Wittensbach.”
“You will not!” Archie cut in, but Francis shushed him.
Hasim almost smiled and looked at Francis now with a hopeful gleam in his eye. “Prince Francis…may we speak?” he gestured with his hand.
Francis nodded, and said to his friends, “I’ll be back in a moment. Try not to injure anyone else while I’m gone.”
