Chapter 1: The Royal Visit
Erik was sat within his office, scribbling his signature to important documents when Nadir knocked upon the door before poking his head inside,
"Apologies for disturbing you Erik but you wanted me to remind you to look over the documents detailing the arrangements for the royal visit this weekend" Nadir told his old friend whom grumbled,
"Ah Yes. The future King and Queen of Harrington... Where is that again?" Erik mumbled in half interest,
"It's a small kingdom off the coast of England. It doesn't appear on most maps but I have heard from some of the local newspaper articles that are covering the royal visit that it is a very pleasant place" Nadir told his masked friend whom accepted the documents from Nadir and proceeded to browse through the details and arrangements.
Friday morning brought a lovely sunny day to the isle of Phantasma and Nadir was waiting on the pier as the private royal ferry pulled into port; A Handsome and smartly dressed young man disembarked after his two personal body guards; Nadir offered a polite bow of his head,
"Prince Alexander. It is an honour to welcome you to Phanstasma" he greeted, holding his hand out to shake but the prince continued to stand tall as he turned his nose up at the gesture,
"Mister Y, I presume" the arrogant prince noted offhandedly but Nadir shook his head,
"No, your highness. Mister Y was unable to make it today due to a busy schedule... I sent word ahead to your people that this would be the case..." Nadir tried,
"And I replied with demands that he would be here to greet myself and my wife in person" Alexander snapped,
"I'm not your wife yet, sire" a young woman said gently as she disembarked from the ferry; Nadir noted that she had no personal guards of her own but quickly hid his confused expression when she smiled at him and shook his still awkwardly outstretched hand,
"Thank you for meeting us here. I'm sure you had more important things you could have been attending too" The young woman told Nadir whom smiled brightly with another polite bow of his head,
"Princess Isabelle" he greeted before pressing a kiss to her hand,
"The American reporters have not done justice on descriptions of your beauty" he told her causing Isabelle to giggle as she thanked him whilst Alexander rolled his eyes before making his way into the coach that had just pulled up,
"Come Along" he insisted to both Isabelle and Nadir whom were quick to respond not wanting to irritate the prince even more.
Nadir showed the royal couple to the penthouse suite,
"This is the finest suite in the whole of the phantasma hotel, your highnesses. I am sure you will both be happy here" Nadir told them,
"I am sure I will be but my bride to be will not be staying with me... Isn't that right, Isabelle?" the prince said, looking in his finace's direction whom was looking at the roof with a curious and... almost confused manner; She quickly looked towards Alexander when she realised he was addressing her,
"I'm sorry?... Oh... Yes..." She responded, looking at Nadir with a smile,
"It would not be right for me to stay in the same room as Alexander... At least until we're married the month after next" Isabelle explained and Nadir had to hold himself back from frowning but nodded with a polite smile,
"Well, If you would follow me. I can set you up in the East Wing Suite. It has the most exquisite view of the ocean, especially when the sunrises" he told her before leading the way out of the penthouse and back into the elevator.
Isabelle was examining the elevator controls in a curious manner and it didn't take Nadir long to notice,
"Is something wrong, your highness?" he asked causing Isabelle to look at him with a puzzled frown,
"Well... I might be mistaken but... I could have sworn from outside; The concert hall appeared to have a structure that would mean it would have 13 floors but... we were just on floor 11 and... the twelfth floor button is simply marked with the initials 'SA' and you need a key to activate the life's ability to take you there... But then... There is no button for a 13th floor what so ever" She mumbled to herself thoughtfully and Nadir chuckled,
"Very well spotted, your highness. The initials stand for 'Special Access' only a rare few have a copy of the key due to the fact that the 12th floor is Mister Y's private office and living quarters" Nadir told her as the lift came to stop on the 5th floor and they began making their way to the east wing suite,
"... And the 13th floor?" Isabelle pressed curiously and noted that Nadir held a moment of hesitant silence,
"... There isn't one. Simply an architectural flaw. Mister Y had intended for the vacant space to be turned into an attic for storage purposes but then had the basement built instead as it was easily for things to be stored down there" Nadir told her before showing her into her suite.
After leaving Isabelle to get herself settled; Nadir was quick to head to Erik's office to update him,
"Erik we may have a problem" Nadir announced as he burst into his office,
"What have you done now?" the masked man asked in a bored manner,
"It's princess Isabelle... She's very intelligent and she spotted that the concert hall is big enough to have more floors than listed on the elevator... She asked about the 13th floor" Nadir told him and Erik suddenly looked at him quickly with a glare before standing and marked over to him,
"What did you tell her?" he demanded with a growl,
"Nothing. I told her that it was simply due to the fact that there had been intentions for an attic to be built but then there was no need for one with the basement having been installed" Nadir assured his old friend whom sighed in relief but turned away and began to pace back and forth with a thoughtful expression on his face,
"... Intelligence can lead to curiosity most of the time... What about the girl's fiance?" Erik enquired,
"He's an arrogant ass. The princess addressed him as sire... No doubt because he ordered her to do so. If there was any doubt that this was an arranged marriage before then there certainly isn't now" Nadir told him and Erik nodded,
"Well at least the imbecile suspects nothing but as for the princess... I'll have to keep an eye on her" Erik mumbled to himself and Nadir could only nod in agreement.
I'M BAAAAAACK! LOL
:O What's on floor 13?! Review! Let me know your theories!
Kind Regards,
TheAuthor1996