In A Roundabout Way...

We begin walking through an astonishingly beautiful gallery of cherry-blossom trees, their petals blowing in the air. In front of me is our talented Butler, and Calyx, the ill-tempered demihuman girl. I hadn’t seen very much of her in our short time together, and I now notice her long, orange-white, cat-like tail swishing back and forth as we walk. The Butler and I engage in small talk about the department, and how things had gone generally.

At the end of this grand procession of pink petals stands Prince Alexander. He doesn’t look any healthier, and he walks with a cane, despite his young age, his silvery hair blown in the wind. A gentle smile overtakes his face when he sees us. Two of his maids stand close by.

“John!”, he beams. “I see Arianne was successful in convincing you to join us. Let me fill you in.”

Convincing me? That’s one way to put it. We shared a warm-hearted greeting and slowly ambled our way towards a massive, imposing estate building.

“Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to tell you of our strategic plans during our short meeting. I’m sure you understand. Don’t worry about me. I’m alright.”

I can barely disguise the concern on my face for this poor fellow. It’s as if stress had sucked the very life out of him.

“Thanks to your being here, we finally have institutional legitimacy to challenge the Slimes. As you can very well imagine, the people have suffered greatly, not only by them, but their supporters as well. You would think that the Royal Houses would have enough power, but these creatures are truly, truly wicked. They would turn any formal complaint by us into an excuse to overthrow the government.”

We stop for a moment. There’s a fire in his eyes.

“I have worked tirelessly for this moment. Tonight, the Royal Houses will come together, in swift action, based on the cases you’ve identified so far. The King, in his frailty, has declined to act until we had convincing evidence from a neutral third party. You will give the keynote speech exposing Uragas’s cruelty, and the wickedness of their Cult, and rouse the Ducal Houses into action with us.”

My blood pressure rises almost immediately. The keynote speech?

“With all due respect, sir, are you expecting me to come up with a speech in the next few hours?”, I probe.

His eyes widen.

“They didn’t tell you about the speech?”

Oh my God. I can’t help but facepalm in frustration. He shares in it with me, vividly.

“I’ll need my case notes from my office. They’re sealed away in a protected chamber in my desk. The other issue is, I haven’t actually finished either investigation. Where I come from, the investigation is finished when the suspect is brought before a court. I’ve been terrified to make a move on this specifically because of how high-profile these cases are.”

“I’ll have them sent for right away, don’t you worry.”, the Prince reassures me.

“The next aspect of this, and the one you should be most worried about, is that the Army is being brought in for this. They will be making a formal appearance tonight, during your speech.”

The Army?

“What exactly do you mean, during my speech, sir?”

“It will be a grand show of force. There will be those within the Royal Houses who have either been paid off by the Slimes, or genuinely support them with conviction; in either case, if they’re stupid enough to resort to violence, they’ll be struck down, and if they’re scared, they’ll reconsider their allegiance before they’re discovered.”

This is big politics. The kind of stuff I had expressly avoided during my 20+ years in law enforcement – the kind of stuff I chose not to think about while dreaming of the Chief’s office.

Prince Alexander coughs, weakly. I decide to give him some support.

“I’ve got it, sir. We’ll have these nobles quaking in their boots. Trust me.”

A big grin stretches across his pale face. “Very good. With that, go see Arianne, and I’ll have your papers rushed to you.”

We continue walking down the promenade, arriving at a grand staircase, at what is merely an annex of a palace that stretches out of sight to my right, as far as I can see. We part ways with a firm handshake and I’m left once again with the Butler and Calyx, leading me up into this palatial building.

It reminds me of the Louvre, or of Windsor Castle. Gorgeous, gleaming white walls trimmed in fancy gold ornamental statues and gilding. I’d only seen pictures of places like this, let alone been invited to them. What I notice immediately, having entered the reception hall, is that my footsteps were completely deadened and silent upon this glossy, marble floor. I try to stomp my feet. There’s no sound.

Calyx glares at me, as if I’m being rude. I give an apologetic grimace. In fact, there’s an eerie, pervasive silence throughout the entire building. We climb a few flights of stairs and arrive at a terrace pavilion towards the center of the building; a grand, floating garden housed within the center of the house with an open roof, with a barely perceptible magic barrier as a ceiling. Gorgeous, exotic plants are featured with a central gazebo at the center of the space.

Sitting within this gazebo is Princess Arianne, in her majestic, if terrifying beauty. Orange must be her favorite color; she’s once again in an orange dress, but this one is leagues fancier than the one I saw her in the first time. It’s impossibly detailed with fine patterns and frills. Her beautiful, golden-brown shoulder-length wavy hair is lightly tousled, with a finely jeweled, dainty headpiece atop it. She’s floating gently in the air with her assistants serving her tea. She lights up when she sees me, and gently descends to the ground.

“I hope you haven’t gotten lost!”, she says, primarily aimed at the Butler. He smiles and shakes his head.

“You’ve brought me my guinea pig. He’s well-dressed!” Her laser-like, purple-hued gaze burns into my soul.

God, I love a woman who would just kill me. She would definitely kill me. Wait, snap out of it, John, there’s business to attend to.

I do a gentle, well-trained greeting bow, from my training this morning with Beatrix. She seems delighted. The next few moments pass in a blur. Essentially, she’s glad I was brought up to speed, if late, and looks forward to my speech. We spend a while chatting about the recent developments since our last meeting, and she mercilessly probes me for information regarding my cases, Beatrix, and Leia.

Meanwhile, a Court Messenger had flown at maximum speed to our police station. The department’s leadership was quickly rallied, my papers were carefully gathered, and a group of my men arrived at the Royal Palace. Among them was Fredericus, Maahnn, Biru, Patrick, Conan, his sidekick, and Munin.

Dressed to the nines in their formal uniforms, they arrived at our floating garden. Fredericus seemed extraordinarily happy to be out and about. One by one, the men kneel down in front of the gazebo, in front of the Princess and I. Fredericus hands me my travel briefcase. I quickly pore through it. Yup, it’s all here.

“I thought it fitting that you should have your own retinue for this event, John.”, the Princess quips.

“Thank you, my Princess, I didn’t know if it was appropriate to bring them.”

“Nonsense! They’re your men. They’re our honored guests.”, she says with a rueful smile.

I steal a glance at Biru, his almost comically large figure barely withheld by his uniform. Maybe she’s right about this retinue thing.

“I have some work to do, and so do you. Consult with your men and write a grand speech. I’m counting on you.”, she says slyly, with almost a tinge of schadenfreude at my expense. We part ways.

The Butler and Calyx lead our group to a meeting room, where I finally get the chance to brainstorm my speech, and review the cases with my men. Piece by piece, we nail down the exact, pertinent details, and I draft a plan in my head.

I’d winged speeches before. My first board interview as a recruit in my 20s, caught totally off guard, every bit of that was improvised. This one will be easier. Back then, I was a nobody, trying to impress a grizzled Major who couldn’t care less whether or not I was prepared to do the job. Now, I can throw my weight around. Half of these nobles are cheering me on, the other half, desperately wishing I’d screw up so they can discredit me. Every detail must be perfect.

A few hours tick by, and we’ve essentially finished. Fredericus, for some reason, has lightened up considerably, perhaps because he was worrying about this part in particular. A thought crosses my mind… did he know? Did this underhanded little elf know this was the plan the entire time? A vein pops out on my forehead. I shouldn’t worry about stupid things like that. I’ve got a show to put on.

A maid gently knocks on the door of the meeting room; it’s time.