CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE #2
Reiji frowned, his eyes dropping to the floor as he thought back.
“Yes, I remember that. She said… there were deliveries being brought into the kitchen through a service door, instead of going through the main gate… Oh fuck!” His face turned pale suddenly as he clapped a hand to his mouth, and Kentario felt his temper flare again.
Urgently, he stomped down on his anger. They were so close to the truth, and he couldn’t afford to screw things up now.
“Oh fuck, what?”
Reiji glanced at Maro. “I forgot. I was supposed to fill in a report, but I forgot. I’m so sorry. It was really late when the solstice festival finished, and I just went home and fell asleep, and then… I forgot.”
This time, however, it wasn’t Kentario who was ready to rip the young man’s throat out. Maro’s eyes narrowed, his expression turning deadly.
“You forgot?” Maro said. “You forgot to report a major breach in security?” he repeated, his voice deceptively calm. But his expression was far from calm, more like the expression of a mother bear who’d just discovered that her cubs had been killed.
Kentario himself said nothing, unwilling to move even an inch, lest he rip the man’s head off right where he sat.
Instead, Emica stepped forward, though even she seemed to be struggling to retain her composure.
“That service door was used by armed raiders to enter the palace and to murder the king and queen,” she informed the guard, her voice cracking on the very last word.
“The entire stability of Galandeen has been threatened by your failure to make that report.” Reiji swallowed hard, while Emica searched for her next words.
“Reiji Nakamura, you are under arrest for conspiracy to high treason. May the Goddess have mercy on you.”
When neither Maro nor Kentario moved, Emica fetched a pair of handcuffs from a cabinet on the wall and secured them around Reiji’s wrists.
“You have the right to an attorney, and you will be tried in court in accordance with our laws.” It sounded like that last sentence was difficult to say, and it was sorely tempting to just shoot the man where he sat.
But Kentario knew that Ryu would be horrified by such a brutal act, and it was that fact alone that prevented him from drawing his gun and pulling the trigger.
“Go and fetch the police,” Maro told Emica, his voice little more than a growl, then he added, to Reiji, “You’ve got a one way ticket to a very long stay behind bars.”
Emica strode out of the room, returning a moment later with two police officers in tow. They filled them in on Reiji’s confession, and scant minutes later, he was being led away to a waiting paddy wagon.
Once he was gone, a tense silence filled the room.
“This doesn’t answer the whole problem,” Kentario pointed out.
“There’s still the question of when and how that door was opened and who else knew about it.
And then we need to find out how the raiders found out about it and who let them in.
Even without a padlock, that door should have been bolted during the night. ”
“If we were getting regular deliveries through that door, it would have been fairly easy for them to target any one of our suppliers and hit them up for information,” Maro said. “Delivery boys carting fish around aren’t going to risk their lives if someone’s threatening them.”
“But someone still had to let them in,” Kentario repeated.
“One step at a time,” Emica said, ever the voice of reason. “Based on current evidence, can we agree that Aki was not to blame? It would be nice if we could at least ease her mind a little.”
“Agreed,” Kentario said, and Maro nodded quickly. “She reported the breach twice, and at the very least, Reiji confirmed that she did tell the Guard. As Aki herself said, if nothing was done after that, it’s a reasonable conclusion on her part to think that the issue was resolved.”
“We should speak to Liandra next,” Maro suggested.
“But I’m also going to want to interview every single person who works in the kitchen.
There must be more than two people who knew about that door, and I want to know why no one else reported it.
” There were dark bags under his eyes, and he ran a tired hand through his hair.
From his expression, he was blaming himself for the entire attack, regardless of how many precautions he’d taken to prevent that sort of thing, and for the first time since he’d arrived back at the palace, Kentario felt a trickle of sympathy for the man.
Just at that moment, his stomach growled, and Kentario glanced out the window.
It was getting dark, and he checked his watch.
It was getting on for seven o’clock. “Maybe you should get some rest,” he suggested, an unexpected concession on his part.
“You’ve been awake for nearly two days straight.
I think we could all do with a little time out.
” Even though Kentario had managed to catch a few hours sleep last night, the stresses of the day were catching up with him, and even Emica seemed to be wilting under the constant pressure.
But Maro shook his head. “This happened on my watch. I’m not sleeping until I know exactly how deep this goes.”
“There are more than thirty staff who work in the kitchens,” Kentario pointed out. “How are we going to get them all here?”
“The entire Azrahn police force is at your service,” Maro said.
“Maybe it’s escaped your attention, but with your father dead – Odin keep his soul – and until or unless Ryu returns, you now have control of the whole of the Royal Guard, the Azrahn police force and the entire Galandanish military. Whatever you ask, they will provide.”
In all the confusion, that detail had indeed slipped Kentario’s notice.
It explained a lot, however, not least of all Maro’s odd deference to him throughout the day.
But what he’d said was true; as the king’s bodyguard, albeit that Ryu had yet to be crowned, Kentario was now able to overrule even Maro’s authority on any issue of national security.
Oddly, the knowledge brought no satisfaction.
“I’m going to speak to the police,” he said, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion as a whole new weight settled on his shoulders. “And then I’m going to take a walk. I need some air.”
? ? ?
Half an hour later, a fleet of police cars had been sent out to round up the stray kitchen staff, and there was little more progress to be made until they started pouring in.
But that didn’t mean Kentario had nothing to do.
Out in the palace gardens, he found a secluded spot away from the lingering guards and the paramedics still clearing away the last of the bodies.
The police had been going over the scene all day, and with the number of people killed, it had taken them until now to get everything cleaned up.
Glancing around to make sure he was alone, he pulled out his phone.
Though they didn’t have a clear answer yet, the current indication was that Maro wasn’t to blame – not directly, at least – and if he didn’t check in with Ryu soon, the kid was going to be panicking. If he wasn’t already, of course.
In truth, Kentario was absolutely desperate to get back to Ryu. As much as he trusted Oris, he’d never feel completely settled for as long as he had to keep delegating the prince’s safety to someone else. He pulled up Oris’s number and pressed call. Oris answered on the first ring.
“We’re still working on it,” Kentario reported shortly, not wanting to risk being interrupted or overheard. “Sit tight.”
“Understood,” Oris replied.
And then, because he couldn’t quite resist, Kentario asked, “How’s everything going there?”
“No change,” Oris said, mindful of the possibility of anyone listening in on the conversation. “Continue as planned, and keep me up to date.” Me, not us. Damn, Oris was good. He’d said not a single word that could be misconstrued by a third party.
“Will do.” Kentario hung up. He took a deep breath, tilting his head back to look up at the stars.
Why would the Goddess allow this to happen?
Why would she pour so many blessings out on this country, and receive such adoration from its people, and then curse them with such devastation?
And most of all, why would she put two people in each other’s paths, to fall in love, to be so damn perfect for each other, when there was zero chance of them ever being allowed to share that love publicly?
Because Kentario knew that for all Ryu’s na?ve promises, the public were going to have a fit if they found out their prince had committed himself to someone other than his soulmate.
Sadly, no answers were forthcoming from the clear night’s sky.
Kentario turned and headed back to the main courtyard where Maro was waiting for the police to bring in the staff. For all that he was completely exhausted, the night was far from over.