CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #2
“Oh, thank Selene!” The look on Maro’s face was one of pure relief as he caught sight of Ryu. “You had me worried out of my mind!”
In the next instant, three things seemed to happen almost simultaneously. Maro took three quick steps towards Ryu. Ryu, seeing him coming, suddenly tensed, sitting up and preparing to defend himself.
And Kentario, in a split-second reaction, grabbed Maro by the back of the collar, spun him around, and had him pinned up against the wall before he could blink.
“Kentario! What the hell…?” Kentario only tightened his grip, glaring daggers at the Captain.
For all that he’d decided that Maro was innocent of treason, Ryu still had insufficient information to reach the same conclusion, and if the prince felt threatened, then Kentario’s job was to protect him. No questions asked.
Behind him, he heard Ryu get to his feet, crossing the room with quiet steps to come and stand before Maro.
“You’ll have to forgive the rough handling,” he said, not even a trace of contrition in his voice. “But Kentario is currently very enthusiastic about doing his job. I would recommend not getting in his way.”
It was comforting to know they were still very much on the same page. Ryu was no doubt a quivering wreck inside, with far too many pressures weighing on his mind, but he was playing the part magnificently, every bit the king his people needed him to be.
“My apologies,” Maro said, still pinned to the wall. “And you’re right. He’s done an admirable job so far. You couldn’t be in better hands.”
Ryu waited a moment, just long enough to make his point, then he nodded to Kentario and calmly returned to his seat. Kentario let Maro go, then crossed the room to stand on Ryu’s other side. Oris, to his credit, said nothing, looking not the least bit surprised by the display.
“That’s a rather odd thing for you to be saying,” Ryu observed, once more crossing his ankle over his knee. “Given that not two weeks ago, you removed my bodyguard from his post and made it clear that you believed him completely inadequate in his ability to protect me.”
Maro swore under his breath. “For what it’s worth, that was not my decision. I’ve said repeatedly in the past that Kentario’s one of the finest guards we’ve ever seen.”
“Then why did you stand him down?” Ryu’s tone had grown sharper, and though it might have been petty, Kentario was gratified to see him lock horns with Maro now. He’d been wondering the same thing ever since he’d returned to the palace, but had thought it would look childish to press the issue.
“I was under orders from King Sou.”
A momentary frown crossed Ryu’s face. That was not the answer either of them had been expecting. “Why would he assign Kentario as my bodyguard, only to undermine him at the first real test of his capabilities?”
Silence followed, and Kentario watched Maro carefully. Though he’d mentally cleared the man of treason, there were still plenty of things about his recent behaviour that remained unexplained.
Unfortunately, it seemed that answers were not going to be found in the near future.
Maro glanced from Ryu, to Kentario, and back.
“I cannot tell you the reason at the moment. I sorely wish I could,” he added, seeing the cold glare on Kentario’s face.
“But even after his death, I am still bound by promises made to King Sou. At some point in the future, I hope to be able to tell you the whole truth of the situation. But for now, I have no answer for you other than that it was the king’s wishes, and I was obligated to obey him.
And to continue to do so, even after his passing. ”
Ryu sighed. “That’s unfortunate. Because one of the reasons I came back here was to find out whether or not the Captain of the Guard was complicit in the murder of my parents.
And your silence is not reassuring. Nor is the fact that Mister Izarius was able to sneak me past the guards at the gate without any of them so much as batting an eyelid.
” In a long list of minor indiscretions, that last one in particular pissed Kentario off.
As much as he’d wanted Ryu to get back in cleanly, the fact that he’d actually managed to do so was a matter of concern.
Given all that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, the guards should have been far more diligent than that.
But Maro raised an eyebrow at the cool denouncement.
“No, he didn’t,” he said, looking Oris in the eye.
“The guards were perfectly well aware that you were smuggling… something into the palace. A something that was stashed down behind the front seats and was about the size and shape of a certain prince? On the bright side, you have a high security clearance, and they had no reason to suspect you of foul play. And given the situation, I made sure they were all aware of the possibility of His Highness attempting to sneak back inside. You were allowed past on that basis, and then followed, to ensure nothing untoward was going on. And if you want to accuse me of talking out of my ass,” he added, with a wry glance towards Kentario, “then you might recall the phone call about the ‘disturbance’ at the gate?”
“Touché,” Kentario said, with perhaps the slightest hint of admiration in his voice.
Ryu, for his part, gave no reaction to the announcement.
“Well, since I’m here now,” he said, sidestepping the issue for the moment, “perhaps someone should fill me in on exactly what’s been going on in my absence.
Who broke into my palace?” His palace, now, and for the foreseeable future.
“How did they get in? And what have you done to ensure it never happens again?”
They spent the next half an hour filling him in on all the details, the service door in the kitchen, the staff who’d been arrested, and the cascade of errors that had allowed the breach to happen in the first place.
Ryu listened patiently throughout, asking an odd question here and there, but for the most part, simply letting them talk.
“Neither Liandra nor Xi are saying much at the moment,” Maro admitted, as he came to the end of the story, “but we have enough evidence, based of the stories of the rest of the staff, to build a case that Liandra was responsible for the service door being re-opened, and Xi was the one who let the Nalmagians in. Both of them have been arrested and charged with high treason. I’ve also ordered that the door be permanently bricked over, so that this can never happen again. ”
Ryu said nothing, and even Kentario was unable to work out exactly what he was thinking. No doubt it was cold comfort knowing the truth of the matter, as the fact remained that his parents were dead and his entire world inexorably altered. “Thank you, Captain Landis,” he said finally. “You may go.”
Okay, so that part was far easier to read. Ryu had no fucking clue what to do next, and he wanted to consult with Oris and Kentario to work out what their next move should be.
But rather than leaving the room, Maro instead stepped forward, with a wary glance at Kentario as he did so.
“There is one other issue I’d like to address before I go,” he said.
He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket, unfolding the neat creases and presenting it to Ryu.
“I am formally resigning from my position as Captain of the Guard,” he announced.
“I hope you have been assured that I harboured no ill will against the monarchy and that I had absolutely no direct involvement in the attack, but nonetheless, seeing to the security of the palace is ultimately my responsibility, and it’s clear to me, and to everyone in this room, that I have failed in that duty.
My sincere condolences to you, Your Highness, for the loss of your parents.
Words cannot express my disappointment at my own failures, and I feel this is the only honourable course of action for me to take. ”
Ryu stared at the neatly printed letter, his shock evident only in his own inaction. Maro stood there, holding out the letter, his patience seemingly endless as he waited for Ryu to take it from his hand.
Finally, Ryu moved, accepting the letter without a word.
He folded it again, following the same crisp lines that Maro had unfolded.
But instead of addressing Maro, he turned to Oris, still standing silently at his side.
“Mister Izarius, would you mind leaving the room for a moment?” he asked politely.
If Oris was surprised by the request, it didn’t show. He bowed, one hand placed reverently over his heart, then quietly let himself out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Kentario felt a thrill of tension run through his body, not having expected that response. And somehow, he had the feeling that more surprises were just around the corner.
“Sit down, Maro,” Ryu said, setting the letter aside. He sat up in his chair, a contemplative look on his face, then glanced up at Kentario. “Take a seat,” he said softly, and not knowing what else to do, Kentario sat down, choosing a position midway between Maro and Ryu.
“The last forty-eight hours have been rather instructive for me,” Ryu began, choosing his words carefully.
“A lot of expectations about the future have changed, but at the same time, some of my perspectives on the past have also been called into question.” Kentario felt the surprise register on his own face, the expression rapidly schooled back into one of stern neutrality.
What the hell had Ryu and Oris being talking about in his absence?
Oris had worked in the palace since he was in his twenties, and in that time, he’d have seen and heard some truly remarkable things.
“I have one question for you, Maro, and I would like you to answer honestly.”
Maro bowed his head. “Allowing for any vows already taken, Your Highness, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
Ryu waited until he raised his head, then made a point of looking directly into his eyes. His question, when it came, was spoken in such soft tones, with such a lack of anger, that Kentario at first assumed he must have misheard.
“I want to know if you and my mother ever had an affair.”