The remainder of the reception dinner passed without note. Except for the part where Reina went from dancing with the imperial chancellor to dancing with the imperial high commander, and then both of them spent the rest of the night watching her like hungry wolves. If Cor hadn't been assured that she could handle herself, he would have started standing in front of her instead of behind her.
As it was, he kept close enough to be seen. And to see. The princess was drawing a great deal of attention tonight and Cor didn't like any of it. A quarter of the guests were the Crownsguards Cor and Clarus had smuggled in on three hours' notice. Of the remaining three-quarters, roughly half had a vested interest in the death of the entire royal family, but Reina in particular was vying for attention. What was she thinking, dancing with two of the most powerful imperials in Lucis?
At least the remainder of the Kingsglaive was in attendance as well. Reina's new captain was still wearing his Glaive formals, but he seemed to have taken to his new position well. That was one less thing to worry about. On the other hand, the imperials had almost certainly noticed that their general was not present and had been unreachable all afternoon.
As Reina had said, the cards were all on the table now. But he wouldn't have put it past Aldercapt to have something up his sleeve.
By the time the evening finally wound down and Cor was permitted to escort the princess back to the Citadel, he was sure he hadn't taken one full breath in two hours.
Not that the Citadel was much better.
The royal family took the lift to the upper levels. Cor followed automatically, without waiting for Reina's orders. Noctis' retinue hesitated outside the lift until he said, "You guys coming or what?" After which they scrambled aboard.
Strange. Cor hadn't been a bodyguard in almost thirty years, but he fell back into it like a well-remembered stance. Muscle memory.
The only sound was the whir of the elevator as it ascended. Prompto stifled a yawn, Gladio shoved him into the side of the lift, and Ignis stood with his arms crossed, contemplating his shoes. Reina stood between her father and brother, both hands wrapped around Regis' arm.
The lift brought them to the royal lounge, where Noctis dropped backward over the side of an armchair with a dramatic groan. The others settled a little more gracefully: Reina helped Regis to the sofa and folded herself beside him, and Noctis' retinue joined them after a beat. Cor stood. There was a wall behind the sofa that Reina was sitting on. That was where he wanted his back.
"And now?" Regis broke the silence.
"Now we wait," Reina said. "The board is set. The next move is Aldercapt's."
"So we can sleep, now?" Noctis yawned.
"Yes," she said. "In fact, that is an excellent idea. I believe we could all do with the rest."
She turned to look pointedly at Regis who, Cor had little doubt, had hardly slept in days. He looked worse for the wear. Not that he ever looked well these days, but this was worse than usual.
"Especially you, Father," Reina said.
"Especially you, my dear."
Gods. Were they going to mutually fuss over each other? They could go on like this all night. No one had any right to be so sickeningly concerned over another person.
Better to be distantly concerned and in denial about it.
"As you say, Father. I will go to bed if you do."
"We have an accord."
But of course she was going to break it. Either Regis didn't see it or he chose to ignore it. She bid goodnight to all of them and walked Regis to his rooms. Once they were gone, Noctis rolled out of his armchair and stumbled off to find his own bed, waving vaguely for his retinue to follow. They trickled after him, leaving the lounge to Cor. He could have gone down to his own rooms, but he wasn't going to do much sleeping tonight. He didn't even bother to take off his shoes or lower the lights. Reina would be back and hell if he was going to let her wander off on her own.
Sure enough, she reappeared less than an hour later.
How many outfits did she go through in one day? This must have been the fourth, at least. Admittedly he hadn't seen her before noon, so there could have been others. Either way, she had already gone through more clothes in one day than Cor went through in a week.
He stood when she came in, drawing her attention.
"I might have guessed you wouldn't be asleep," she said—half resigned, half fond.
It could have been a compliment. It could also have been an insult. Strange how so many of the things she said now were that way.
Reina sighed. "Very well. Come if you're going to come. We have work to do."
He followed her into the lift and they descended to the lower levels in silence. They might have continued that way indefinitely if they hadn't walked into the altercation at the bottom. Cor could hear the voices before the doors opened.
"No one is allowed admittance to the royal family's quarters without express permission." That was the Crownsguard set to guard the elevator.
"Well then get permission." And that was the imperial high commander.
The doors opened to the back of a Crownsguard and the front of the imperial high commander—livid, though he usually was. Behind Ravus was Lunafreya.
"Stand down, Sergeant." Cor stepped out of the elevator first; his Crownsguard spun around and stepped to the side so quickly he nearly landed on his face. Cor pretended not to notice. "What's going on?"
Ravus didn't even look at him. His eyes were locked past Cor's right arm—where Reina stood.
"My sister is insisting on seeing her betrothed. I consented to escort her here and have encountered your guard dog. Am I to understand this is not permissible?" He certainly didn't sound as if he had enjoyed dancing with Reina earlier that night.
Then again, everyone in the Citadel was lying through their teeth right now. Why not the commander? The only question was: which was the lie?
"I apologize for the difficulty, Commander, Lady Lunafreya. She may, of course, see Noctis." Reina stepped aside and motioned to the still-open lift.
She couldn't honestly be considering letting the imperial commander upstairs. Not when her brother had only his few friends and her father had no guard at all.
Lunafreya and her brother both stepped forward. Reina stopped the latter with a raised hand.
"I grant admission only to Lady Lunafreya," she said.
The commander snarled at her. "I will not send her up there on her own."
"Then you will not send her at all."
They stared at each other for a tense moment, Reina impassive, Ravus seething. Cor was only standing a few feet away, but he took a step forward, anyway.
"I do not need an escort, Ravus," Lunafreya said.
The commander continued to stare at Reina for what must have been a full minute. But just when Cor was preparing to reach for his blade and help the imperial commander find his way back downstairs, Ravus stood down.
"Fine. Then I charge you with her safety," he said.
"But of course," said Reina. "She will be safe upstairs."
He stared at her for another moment before turning abruptly and walking away without another word.
"I apologize for my brother, Your Highness," Lunafreya said once Reina had turned back to her. "But may I say how lovely it is to see you again—we did not have the opportunity to speak at dinner."
"Some other time," Reina said curtly as she leaned in to activate the lift once more. "Follow the hall to the right. Noctis' room is the second door; there are three guest rooms farther down, past the double doors in the back. Don't disturb Father."
Lunafreya only hesitated an instant with surprise on her features, but it was stark in contrast to her usual stoicism. "Of course."
"Cor." Reina turned without waiting to see if he would follow.
She led the way down the hall and they took a second elevator to the king's study.
"Why would Niflheim consent to sending their princess to us on her whim?" Cor asked as they walked. "I admit, the concept of political marriage is beyond me, but tensions are high and both sides are holding their assets close."
Reina only glanced at him without answering his question. What had he really been expecting? She hadn't been answering any questions since she returned. It wasn't his place, anyway.
She took him to Regis' office and closed the door behind them. And then, against his expectations, she did answer.
"Niflheim didn't, nor was it a whim. But they did mean to use her as bait. I suspect that, in their general's absence, they turned to the commander to smuggle her out of the city. It matters very little; they never intended to do anything with her save draw our forces away from the city. But I suppose Noctis will be pleased to have her here, instead."
There was a lot of information and very little of it made any sense. But most perplexing of all:
"Why would the commander bring her to us?"
"Because he values her safety." Reina raised her eyebrows in an expression that implied she meant more than she was saying. "And because Niflheim isn't the only one who can draw a double-edged blade."
The dance at dinner tonight—had that really all been Reina's way of recruiting Niflheim's officers to her side? And, if so, did that mean the chancellor had also turned? He felt a surge of respect for Reina. True, she kept her cards close to her chest and took no counsel but her own, but she saw a picture bigger than any of them could even imagine. Perhaps she had been a princess a few days ago; today she was the queen Regis had always said she would be.
"Marshal, do you copy?" His radio crackled to life. "We're bringing in the civilians from the rebel group we raided tonight."
In the massive clusterfuck that was today, he had all but forgotten Clarus' instructions regarding the raids—presumably handed down from Reina. At least those orders had gone out before they had slipped his mind.
He reached for the radio. "I copy. Have them locked in—they can rot until the rest of this mess is through."
"One of them is claiming to be a Kingsglaive, Marshal."
The wasn't exactly a shining reputation to bargain with, given recent events. He glanced at Reina. "Are you expecting a Glaive in with the rebels?"
"Yes, Libertus Ostium. He's not one of the traitors; just a man in an unfortunate position making stupid decisions."
"What do you want done with him?" Cor asked.
"Have him brought back to the Kingsglaive headquarters." Reina crossed her arms over her chest. "Captain Ulric will deal with him—likely he'll wake up when he learns his new friends have been taking bribes from Niflheim."
"His old ones, as well," Cor said. "Monica, have the Glaive transferred to the custody of his captain."
"Affirmative, Marshal."
Cor turned back to Reina as she leaned over her father's desk and sifted through papers. "What next?"
"We need to rearrange the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive for tomorrow." She didn't look up, but she did seem to find what she was looking for—a folder packed so full of papers that the elastic hardly fit around it anymore. "The imperials intended to strike during the signing ceremony while the Kingsglaive were distracted recovering Lunafreya and the vast majority of the Crownsguard were dealing with the rebel traitors setting off explosives in the Citadel square. I can only guess what they will do, knowing that their general has been found and incapacitated."
"So what do you propose?"
"I want every Crownsguard that can be spared stationed here in the Citadel—as quietly as possible. The guard outside the crystal chamber will need to be bolstered—doubled, at least, but if we have more to spare then I would put them there. We will have to run the numbers. The guard in the treaty room will also have to be doubled." She flipped through the papers in the folder and found the pages that detailed duty rosters for guards and Kingsglaives inside the Citadel. She set those out on the desk and began to pace the length of wall along the back of the room.
"And the Glaive?"
"With the crystal. There are two things Niflheim wants; the crystal and the ring. The latter will do them no good at all, but if they get the crystal then Insomnia falls."
"They would have to kill your father to take the ring," Cor said. Not because he wanted to remind her that she had already lived through that, but because she needed to consider the risk associated with the ring, even if it gained the empire nothing.
Reina stopped pacing.
"Yes..." She said slowly. "Unless he didn't have it."
"If he removes that ring, the Wall falls."
"Yes."
It was impossible to guess what she was thinking. Cor wasn't sure he wanted to know.