“This is my daughter, Arizona–”
“Daughter? Well, I never! Spencer doesn’t talk about his family much since you, well, you know…. I am pleased to meet you, Arizona.”
I went to shake his hand, but he didn’t extend it; instead, he put his hands together and said, “
Namaste
.” I guessed that he must be a germophobe or something.
Then Dad introduced him to the others–David, Inez, Javier, Morena, Lars, and Constance. He
Namaste
’d them all.
“Very nice to meet you. I assume you want to see your father?”
“Urgently, if you don’t mind.”
“Certainly. Now, I can only let you and your daughter proceed. The others will have to stay here. Your father was clear in his orders, no one other than Sigma-Ws. I take it the others are Wanderers?”
“Well, no.” Trina used an annoying singsong voice. “I’m a Sigma-W.”
“Stay here, Trina. Just for now. I’ll be back shortly.” Dad took my hand. I was glad that Alfred had just assumed I was a Sigma-W. I wanted to go with Dad.
Trina threw me a spiteful look, probably considering telling on me.
“Well, that’s settled then,” Alfred announced. “Finna will take you to your father. And then she’ll come back and make sure the rest of you are properly entertained. We’ll arrange sleeping accommodations for all of you as well. Please keep to this part of the house and your bedrooms only. It was nice to meet you all. I’m sure I’ll see you again very soon, Rupert.” Then he nodded, turned around, and left.
Finna came back into the room. “Are you ready?”
I grabbed David’s hand as we started walking behind her. I wanted him to come. Alfred was gone, and Finna hopefully didn’t know who was
allowed
. I didn’t have to explain my move to David. Thankfully, he could read me. He just smiled and went along.
We followed Finna’s jaunty steps as she hurried across the whitewashed stone floors. There was a strange lack of rugs and carpets; perhaps Alfred suffered from allergies. I wondered who he was exactly. He had a noble air about him. The smoking jacket he wore made him look almost regal. Plus, London was full of nobility.
And, you only had to look at his house!
The house wasn’t like regular mansions back home. I was always taken aback whenever I passed a construction site at home. The frames seemed to be made of cardboard–one match and it would be toast. This place was very different. It had a solid feel to it, as if built from stone. The walls in the hallway we walked through were covered in large oil paintings, but apart from that had been left bare with no paint or wallpaper covering the raw stone. Between every couple of paintings, dim sconces lit the way, giving the hall an eerie feel. I managed to peek into some of the rooms as we passed. They were mainly empty living or reception rooms, like the one we had met Alfred in. I’d have loved a peek into the kitchen or some of the everyday rooms, but we didn’t pass any.
Surely if Alfred was a noble, we should be calling him by his title? Maybe he was so close to Granddad that we didn’t need to.
We seemed to walk forever, down dark spiral stone stairs, along several corridors, and then down a metal staircase. As we got to the bottom, we arrived at a set of double doors. Finna brought an enormous key from her apron pocket and unlocked them. She opened them slowly, peeking in cautiously.
“Cleopatra, sit down! It’s just me,” she said firmly.
I heard a low growl and stood on my tiptoes to spot a big black Doberman baring a set of very sharp teeth covered in drool. There was no way I was going anyway near
that
.
“Cleo! Boggsy-woggsy.” Finna laughed. The dog rolled onto her back for a rub, her tongue hanging out from the side of her mouth, drool spilling onto the floor. “Come on in and meet Cleo.”
Looking decidedly unsure, Dad went first.
“Just say boggsy-woggsy, and she’ll come over for a tummy rub,” Finna suggested.
“Sure she won’t snack on me?” Dad mumbled.
“Yes, she’s not one you have to worry about in that regard.”
“Boggsy-woggsy,” Dad said firmly, his fists clenched at his sides.
Just like Finna promised, Cleo trotted over to Dad and lay down to be stroked.
“You’ll all need to go through this. Once she accepts you, you’ll be fine to walk around in this section of the building.”
After the Cleo meet-and-greet, we carried on down another corridor. Cleo followed, keeping a short distance. At the end of the hall, we came to yet another door with a knocker on it. Finna slammed it down hard two times, and then proceeded to tap six times rapidly. I heard a key turning, and the door opened.
A serious-looking boy slightly older than me stood in the doorway. His ginger curls bobbed up and down as he jerked in excitement, his lips curling into a wide smile. He opened his blue eyes wide when he looked up at Dad, and then he suddenly bowed.
“Your Highness. I knew you would come.”
Dad nodded, not appearing the slightest bit taken aback at being called
Your Highness
.
“Please come in. Who are your friends? I’m Bruno, by the way, rude of me not to say in the first place. I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes downcast.
“Think nothing of it, Bruno,” Dad said, as he followed Bruno into a room full of sofas, armchairs, a television–everything a family room needs, including a nice cozy rug. A fire was burning in the marble fireplace. David and I sat down next to Dad as he introduced us to Bruno. I noticed that Finna had left, but Cleo was sitting, or rather lying in the corner, looking desperately bored.
Bruno looked at me in awe. “I am honored to meet you, Princess.”
“Bruno, are you all alone here?” Dad interrupted.
“Oh, no! The whole council is here. They’re sleeping. I wasn’t tired, so I watched TV. When I heard the knock, the code was right, so I thought I’d open it and not disturb the others. I guess I’ll have to now.”
“Are my father and mother, Spencer and Amadea, here?”
“Yes, of course,” Bruno replied, looking slightly bewildered. “Aren’t you here to see them?”
“Yes, I just wanted to make sure. Are they asleep as well?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. The Queen is probably asleep, but the King–I’m not certain if I should still call him that–is in his office. Working, most likely. I saw a light shining through the bottom of his door earlier.”
“Can you take us there? We need to see him.”
“Yes, of course.” Bruno stood up eagerly. “Come with me.”
We didn’t have to walk far this time. Bruno led us out to the hallway again and pointed to the third door from the family parlor. “That one. Do you want me to come in?” His eyes gleamed in hope.
“Bruno, I think we’re good. Thank you. How long have you been down here?”
“Just a couple of days, but it seems like forever. I hate being in dark places.” He looked sorrowful as he went back to the living room.
Dad knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer. Granddad was sitting by an old maple desk in the corner. He was lost in thought, staring at the wall, his eyes blank. He clearly hadn’t heard us come in.
“Dad?” My dad walked over to him and tapped him gently on the shoulder. David and I sat down quietly on the green velvet-covered sofa opposite the desk. Granddad turned and stared at Dad, still wearing a vacant expression. Then his brows moved, and his eyes narrowed. His lips twitched and curled.
“Rupe! My son! What are you doing here? How did you get here?” Then he looked around and spotted me. “Arizona! What happened?” He got up and put his arm around Dad’s shoulders. “Tell me everything!” He sat down on the sofa beside us with Dad.
“Dad, could you tell us what you’re doing here first?” Rupert asked softly. “There has to be a good reason why you abandoned us.”
Granddad winced. I could see the hurt in his eyes. He nodded, his chin quivering slightly.
“Sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just at a loss–”
“I know, son. We lost one of our own–Rowena.”
“I heard. I’m so sorry about that,” I said. “I feel it’s my fault.”
“No! It’s not your fault! I don’t know that we can blame anyone. But it is I who has to take responsibility. I was Rowena’s King. She answered to me.”
“Dad, I’m sorry about her death as well. Do you know what happened exactly?”
“No. We gather Simla is responsible, but we don’t know that for sure. What we are sure of is that the Sigma-W security was completely compromised, so we had to go into hiding to keep everyone safe. Now we’re waiting for someone to take control of the Sigma-W, for someone to lead us.” He looked down at the floor.
“What do you mean, Dad? Surely you can lead? I know it’s a setback, but you can’t hide out here forever.”
“I know, Rupe. But it’s not up to me anymore. The charter requires me to step down in the case of a death during my reign.”
“But, people die all the time,” I protested. “You can’t be held responsible!”
“Not for naturally-occurring deaths, but I am responsible for Rowena’s murder. There is no doubt about that,” he said firmly.
“The Wanderers have the same rules,” David confirmed.
“Well, who’s in charge then?” Dad asked. “There is a clear line of succession, isn’t there?”
“Yes,” Granddad confirmed, holding Dad’s gaze evenly. “Amadea was next in line, but declined. The next in line after that is Morten.”
“So where’s Morten? Let’s go talk to him. I need the Sigma-W mobilized. Both Harry and Kellan are missing. We think Potomal has them.”
Granddad looked frustrated and angry at the same time. He got up and put his arms at the back of his neck and let out a howl.
Dad stared at Granddad in surprise and disbelief. “Dad? What on earth?”
“Morten is in mourning!” Granddad muttered, with an edge of annoyance. Then he sighed. “Not that I begrudge him the time he needs, but it’s just very bad timing. We need him.”
“So, let’s go see him. We all mourn Rowena, but we have to get it together,” Dad said firmly.
“It’s not as simple as that. Rowena was Morten’s daughter. He is heartbroken. He locked himself in his bedroom, and we’ve not seen him since we arrived. He’s not even spoken to his own son.”
“So, what are we going to do? We can’t wait this out; he could be in mourning forever. What then? You guys just stay here? Forever?” I asked.
“No,” Granddad replied. “We wait five days, that’s two more days, and then the line of succession goes to the next person.”
“Two days is still too long.” Dad got up. “We may have to try to rescue them on our own.”
“You have no chance against Potomal’s group. You’ll need our help.”
“How? How are you going to help, if you can’t make any decisions until you have a leader in place again? Who will it be, if Morten can’t?”
“His son, I guess. Unless we elect someone else. Which I dare say we will have to do, even though it will delay matters further.”
“Who is his son? Perhaps we should go talk to him?”
“His name is Bruno–”
“The boy we met on the way in?” I asked, astounded. “He’s like fifteen!”
“He looks young, but he’s twenty-three. Still young, too young to take on this responsibility, in my opinion,” Granddad mumbled.