CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ryu woke up slowly, cool air on his back and fractured sunlight trying to creep in around the curtains.
He rolled over and stretched, a smile settling on his face as he felt various muscles protesting, a welcome ache that reminded him of exactly what had happened last night.
His ass was deliciously sore from Kentario’s attentions, and he wriggled against the sheets, enjoying the sensuous reminder of their activities.
He’d had sex with his bodyguard. With the man who was supposed to prevent that sort of thing from happening. The irony was oddly satisfying.
But on the heels of that thought came the memories of everything else that had happened last night, and his smile faded.
The sound of the shower shutting off got his attention, and he realised that the running water had been what had woken him up. He pulled the sheets up high, curling into a ball beneath them, wishing he could stave off the need to face the day for another few minutes.
Not long after, Kentario emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of steam following him out.
He was dressed, his gun strapped to his hip, and he paused when he saw that Ryu was awake, his stern glare mellowing just a fraction to a pensive frown.
“Get showered and come downstairs,” he said gruffly, shoving his feet into his boots.
“We’ve got work to do.” Without so much as a backward glance, he marched out the door, and a moment later, his heavy boots could be heard thudding down the stairs.
But far from being put out by the terse greeting, Ryu smiled indulgently as the footsteps faded away.
The fact that last night had happened at all was far more telling than the man’s mood this morning, and he knew Kentario felt like he was currently carrying the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.
And he was right; the danger to Ryu was far from over, and they were going to have to put in some serious planning hours if they were going to figure out what to do next.
Abandoning his attempts at putting off the inevitable, Ryu forced himself out of bed and headed for the shower.
? ? ?
“Coffee?” Oris greeted Ryu as he walked into the kitchen ten minutes later. “You look like you haven’t slept a wink.”
“Please,” Ryu replied. He’d actually slept quite well, for the few hours that sleep had been an option, but a midnight dash through the city and the terrors of the night before had still left him feeling the strain.
Kentario was already seated at the kitchen table, wolfing down a bowl of egg-rice, with a dish of sliced fruit and yoghurt waiting to the side.
He’d put on his jacket, the collar doing a serviceable job of covering the newly-bitten scent gland on his neck, and Ryu had made sure to put on his sweater, the neck covering his own bite mark.
As Kentario had said last night, they had enough complications at the moment without Oris getting wind of this latest development in their relationship.
“Rice?” Oris asked, offering Ryu a steaming bowl.
He was dressed in a button-down shirt and slacks, his usual attire for a day at the palace, assuming there weren’t any particularly important guests scheduled to visit, and his hair was wet, combed back from his face.
“It’s not quite as fancy as you’d get at the palace, but I’m not a complete novice in the kitchen. ”
“I’m sure it’s wonderful. Thank you,” Ryu said, taking a seat beside Kentario. The coffee was ready a minute later, and Oris sat down to join them.
“So, what’s the plan of attack for this morning? Do you want me to phone Maro? Find out what’s happening?”
“No,” Kentario replied immediately. “Let’s take a look at the news first. As far as he’s concerned, you shouldn’t know anything about the attack that the journalists haven’t already got hold of.
If you let on that you know anything about Ryu being missing, he’s smart enough to put two and two together, and then this little ‘safe haven’ is completely blown. ”
Oris gave him a wary look. “I know what you said last night, but do you seriously think Maro could have been involved in this?” There was disbelief in his voice, but also apprehension. “He’s one of the most loyal men I’ve ever known.”
“Look, I’m not trying to lay blame or accuse anyone of anything at this point,” Kentario said, trying to remain calm. “But given the circumstances, I’m not prepared to take any risks. Until further notice, everyone at the palace is to be considered a suspect.”
“Then maybe you should fill me in on exactly what he’s done to make you feel that way. I’m not going to argue with you if you honestly think he’s not to be trusted,” Oris added hastily, before Kentario could bite his head off. “But it’ll help all of us if I know what we’re dealing with.
Kentario outlined the last few weeks; his own dismissal from Ryu’s attempted kidnapping, the clandestine conversations with the queen, Maro’s refusal to give a straight answer to any of his questions, and the roguish fact that the attackers had made it so far into the place grounds unimpeded.
Oris listened without interruption, his expression growing grimmer with each passing minute.
“Goddess, what a world,” Oris muttered. He reached for the remote and switched on the television.
The current news report was on the state of the civil war in Biermarg – a topic that had kept half the journalists in Galandeen in business for the past six months – and Oris turned the volume to low.
“Nothing yet,” he said. “I guess we just wait, for the time being.”
Suddenly, Kentario’s phone rang, a harsh intrusion into the quiet kitchen that had them all jumping out of their seats. He pulled it out and checked the caller… then froze, his expression turning stony. “It’s Maro.”
“Don’t answer it,” Ryu ordered immediately. “I don’t care how much security you’ve got on that thing, someone could have figured out a way to trace you.” Ryu’s own phone, of course, had been left behind at the palace in the rush to escape.
The call cut out, then a minute later, the phone chimed again, notification that Kentario had received a voicemail. He accessed the message and put it on speaker for them all to hear.
“Goddess curse it, Kentario, answer your fucking phone!” Maro’s harsh voice came through the speaker.
“Where the hell are you? Is Ryu with you? Goddess, I just… Please, tell me he’s okay.
Tell me he’s alive.” There was a pause, broken only by a harsh intake of breath.
“Call me. As soon as you get this message. For the Goddess’s sake, just call me. ” The message cut out.
Oris, wisely, didn’t comment on the heartfelt plea.
“Doesn’t prove anything one way or the other,” Kentario said. “He could be genuinely upset, or he could just be a fucking good actor. Still, it begs the question as to why he waited eight whole hours to call me.”
“News!” Ryu suddenly blurted out, pointing at the television screen, and Oris grabbed the remote, turning up the volume.
On the screen, the previously calm and professional newsreader had turned pale, her hand pressed to her earpiece.
“Can you confirm that, Kaito? Yes, I heard you, but I… Is that a confirmed report?” Eyes wide, she turned back to the camera.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a breaking news story.” Her voice wavered a fraction, and the group at that quaint kitchen table all braced themselves for what she was going to say next.
“We have unconfirmed reports that last night there was an attack against the Royal Palace. A number of civilians have reported shots coming from within the complex, and early this morning, Captain Maro Landis of the Royal Guard was spotted wandering outside the palace wall, covered in what appeared to be blood. We have some preliminary footage, taken on a bystander’s phone, but I repeat, these reports are currently unconfirmed.
” The report cut to a shaky video, and Ryu gasped as he recognised Maro, limping along, hand pressed against an apparent wound on his thigh, while a dark liquid was splattered all down his left side.
Three members of the Royal Guard were with him, guns drawn, bodies tense and alert.
The report cut back to the newsreader. “Now, we have very little other information at this point in time, but the palace communications office is currently not responding to requests for information. Stay tuned, and we’ll bring you updates as we receive them.”
“Well, that gives us something to work with, at least,” Oris said.
“Call Maro,” Kentario said. “Don’t tell him anything, act surprised, and just see how much information you can get out of him.”
Oris quickly dialled the captain on his phone, then set it to speaker. Ryu and Kentario sat quietly, so as to avoid giving away their presence.
“Maro! Thank the Goddess. What the hell is going on down there?” Oris demanded when the call was answered, playing the part of shocked bystander well. “I just saw a news report that said the palace has been attacked!”
“Fucking nightmare,” they heard Maro’s voice, breathless and irate. “A group of rebels broke in overnight. They’ve…” His voice cracked. “Selene preserve us, they’ve murdered the king and queen.”
They all tensed, the news the first real confirmation, aside from the gasping report of a dying man, that the royal couple were indeed dead. “Fuck me,” Oris said, not needing to manufacture any extra shock in his voice. “How the hell did they get in?”
“We’re still working on it,” Maro told him. “They didn’t come through the main gate, or any of the garden gates, from the looks of it. I don’t know how else they’d have gotten in, and that says to me it was an inside job.”
“What about…” Oris glanced at Ryu. “What about the prince? Is he okay?”
There was a pause. “I don’t know,” Maro said.
“The Guard have searched the entire palace. Nobody’s found a body, but we can’t find any trace of where he might have gone.
Odin’s balls, I’m losing my mind here. I don’t know if he’s alive, or injured, or for all I know, he could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere. ”
“Do you think they might have kidnapped him? Holding him to ransom, or something?”
“I don’t know,” Maro said, defeat thick in his voice. “It’s a total shit-storm down here at the moment. Half the palace staff have been arrested, I’ve got dead bodies littering the courtyard, I don’t even know which of my own men I can trust at this point!”
“Do you want me to come down there?” Oris offered, the next logical step, if he was genuinely concerned about Ryu’s welfare. “We could set up a search party? Scour the bushland surrounding the palace? If he managed to make it past the wall, he might be hiding somewhere nearby.”
Maro sighed. “No, you stay put. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got enough well-meaning idiots running about the place as it is.
We’ve already sent out search parties. My only hope is that if he actually managed to make it out of the palace, he’s found somewhere safe to lay low for a while.
Kentario’s missing as well, and at this point, I think that’s actually a good thing.
If anyone’s capable of keeping that kid safe, it’s him.
” Ryu raised an eyebrow at Kentario at that proclamation.
For a man who’d kicked Kentario out of his post only a few weeks ago, he seemed oddly convinced that he was capable of doing his job now.
“All right. Let me know if you hear anything,” Oris said.
“Will do. Stay safe.” He ended the call.
Oris gazed pensively at Ryu and Kentario. “Well, that’s it for the moment, at least. It goes without saying that you two are welcome to stay as long as you need.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the news reporter began again, sitting up straight in front of the camera, “we have further information on the breaking story of an attack on the palace. We’ll cross now to Alana Binet, a journalist reporting from the scene.”
The camera cut to an ageing woman standing outside the palace.
She was dishevelled, dressed in jeans and a wrinkled shirt, without makeup and her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, a far cry from the usual prim and proper standards of the media.
One could assume that she was a seasoned journalist, who’d rushed over to the palace the instant she got wind of the news, more intent on doing her job than on making sure she was neat and well-presented.
“Good morning, Rieta. Scenes here outside the palace are chaotic this morning, with reports that late last night, a group of rebels broke into the palace and attacked the Royal Guard. Eye witnesses report hearing multiple shots fired, and fire fighters are on the scene, attending to a fire which broke out in the eastern wing of the palace. No details yet on exactly who has been injured, nor on the safety of the royal family, but as you can see behind me…” She turned to peer over her shoulder, the camera operator focusing on a cluster of ambulances parked near the main gate.
“…multiple ambulances have been attending the scene. At least a dozen personnel have already been transported to the Royal Azrahn Hospital, and paramedics are continuing to treat injured palace staff. There have been no further reports of gunshots or fighting this morning, and though we haven’t been allowed too close to the gates, the palace grounds seem eerily quiet this morning.
Our investigations are continuing, and we anticipate an official statement from the palace sometime early this morning. ”
“Well, the good news, at least, is that this doesn’t look like a revolution,” Oris said, turning down the volume again as the report crossed back to the studio. “No riots, no apparent civilian involvement. It’s not exactly what I’d call a silver lining, but it’s better than the alternative.”
“So what do we do now?” Ryu asked. Part of him was itching to get back to the palace and find out what was going on, but he knew Kentario would never let him back there until he had answers to a lot more questions.
“Now we wait,” Kentario said. “If the palace does actually release a statement, I want to hear what they have to say before we go jumping back in.”