Chapter 19

Ivan marched through the palace like a storm. His face was clouded over but his eyes were restless. Try as he might to hide it, the more he thought about his conversation with Prince Jun, the more anxious he became.

'And why is it you care about her so much, I wonder?'

He couldn't respond. What could he say? That he cared about her every bit as much as he did for Jun and his brothers? That would have been the confession that landed him in hot water. Neither could he lie and say he didn't care for her at all. In the end, he let his silence be the answer.

Jun waited for him to make some kind of denial but none came. That was when he knew. He was disbelieving for a moment but only a moment. He realized he was trying to spare her.

He cared for Alex and she for him in return. But the differences in their stations... As a member of the royal house, even in honor alone, she was above him. Not even his seniority would protect him from the crime of coveting that which the king called his. The embarrassment of the scandal would be nothing compared to the actual punishment. Ivan would be demoted and removed from the palace entirely. He was too valuable, knew too much, to just be dismissed from service outright. Instead, he would be sent to be employed by someone the king trusted and worked until misery became his only companion. As for her... Being a foreigner made the situation that much more complicated. If she had been just a guest then she'd simply be exiled. But having the royal bracelet on her arm and the succession on her head, there would be calls of treason and the only relief awaiting her would be either life imprisonment or death.

Seeing the slight moment of pain on his once mentor's face made a part of him regret his provocation. But he would not let up so easily. He refused to lose.

"Tragic," Jun said, laughing all the same.

"You have no choice but to relinquish your feelings. You have no choice at all," he repeated firmly. "I will do whatever it takes to get the crown and whether you love her or not, there is nothing you can do but stand back and watch."

Despite his earlier words of not being afraid of him, his actions were the complete opposite. The ferocity with which Ivan moved across the room backed him into a corner. His boldness had found it's limit as Ivan stared him down. He did dearly love Jun like a son, but he held no hesitance to cut him down if it was needed. The disassociation in his eyes was a part of Ivan that he had never seen before. He spoke to him in a cold voice and crude tongue.

"I still have my order to protect her and I will. You can be as snippy as you want but if you lay a single hand on her again to try and hurt her, I will break your entire arm."

Jun swallowed. No matter how he tried to see past it, Ivan was not lying nor was there any metaphorical meaning to his words no matter how hard he wished there was. He had meant as plainly as he said it. Jun could think of no witty response or verbal way to subdue him. He couldn't even mask his unease with his usual smiling facade. The only thing that had saved him from those suffocating moment was Melchiorre's intrusion. He'd rather fight a needless skirmish for theatrics then continue a war he couldn't win.

Ivan left with no clear destination in mind. All his thoughts had turned to her. He needed to see her, to speak with her, to confirm that she was okay. He didn't divert his attention until he opened the door to her room and realized his mistake.

A sea of unfamiliar faces stared back at him. They were servants who had been tasked with cleaning up after last night's devastation, but weren't under his command. His eyes swept over the broken furniture and strewn debris. He wordlessly shut the door and shook away the disorientation. He tried to force himself to regain his bearings.

He walked away, this time lost in thought formulating a plan of action. If she was in the harem now then of course he couldn't go to her directly. He had to send for her, to call her out... If he could get someone to do it for him, he could come up with some reason or another that wouldn't be a complete lie. But he still needed a location, somewhere secluded and safe where it could be just the two of them. And then what would he say to her once they were alone?

A hand grabbed his shoulder and gave a firm shake. He smacked it away and spun around, genuinely curious as to who would be so daring. He did so with the troubling realization that his learned demeanor hadn't fully come back to him yet. He quickly bowed and apologized, hoping that his slip up wouldn't be noticed.

"Ivan, are you alright? You're acting a bit shaky."

It was only Khalid. Ivan let out a small sigh of relief. He felt he could show at least that much honesty in front of an old comrade.

"I'm fine," he answered. "Those are your people cleaning the room, I take it. Have you learned anything?"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk you about. Have you noticed anything... strange with your staff as of late? Any new faces or irregular absences?"

It was only at this line of questioning that he fully wrenched his attention away from his planned rendezvous. He tried his hardest to recall any instances but the last few days had went by in a haze. He answered in regret but his mind continued to comb through every memory as his eyes darted back and forth.

"I haven't but I'm assuming I should be? Why do you ask?"

Khalid brought up his hand and rubbed his fingers together, "glove prints."

Wearing gloves hadn't left any stainless surfaces but it had complicated the investigation. They had dusted for finger prints and found none. Instead, all they had managed to pick up was the weave pattern of the cotton gloves the culprit had worn. The problem with this, and infuriatingly so, was that every member of the housekeeping staff had at least several pairs of gloves, with used pairs being disposed of all the time.

"Before you get too worked up, there's no way to tell for sure if we're looking for a servant or someone who just used a pair they found lying around."

He let out a lazy yawn and was only irritated that he had wasted the resources collecting such information. If Ivan hadn't noted anything unusual for them to go on, then they had next to nothing.

Ivan's mood only worsened as he blamed himself despite his words to be calm. Management of the domestic staff was his job. He relayed instructions to the heads of each department on their daily assignments but usually kept a keen eye on how the work was done. Usually, even the most minor details never missed his eyes. Usually, he could recall every detail of who worked where from the front gates to the royal family's bedrooms. Usually, he could catch a single absence or a head too many in an instant. It was the least to be expected from him as the king's last line of defense. But that he was not his usual self and the culprit could have at any time been right in front of him shook him.

"I'll check thoroughly just in case," he told him.

Khalid shrugged at how seriously he was taking the suggestion. His own slothfully avoidant personality was unshakable even in the face of his harsh job. Except in this instance, his usual do-nothing policy was the only route they could take until they had something more substantial to go on.

"Much appreciated. I will say this ward of yours seems to have a habit of collecting trouble. But as long as she's in the women's quarters, then nothing more should happen to her."

He finished his sentence just as his phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out to read the incoming text and soon corrected himself.

"Oh... Never mind. It seems she's leaving the palace."

"And going where!?"

Alex thought thought it insane when Alvah burst into her room asking her to help Jun. No matter how much he insisted that Jun wasn't himself, she was adamantly against the idea of having anything to do with him ever again. There was only one thing he could say to persuade her, a promise to finally put an end to it all.

"I'll explain everything I can but for you to understand, I need you to come with me."

They donned disguises just as he had asked and she followed him out of the palace. They walked at a brisk pace but she followed him at a steady distance. She trusted Alvah but the palace had taught her to be cautious above all else.

He led the way out through an old smuggling tunnel that ran beneath the palace from the pit of the harem's kitchen cellars. There was no telling where it had come from; if it was originally part of the palace or was a later addition. Only the lack of light and the suffocating air attested to its age. Alvah had only found it on a rainy day of indoor exploring but no one else seemed to know it even existed. He used it sparingly to ensure that it remained his secret.

As they journeyed on, he began to explain, "I was coming back from the kitchens late at night when I overheard Jun talking to Minister Balam. It was an accident at first, you know."

He shrugged, pleading as if his eavesdropping needed an excuse. His usual cheerful voice was gone. He sounded hollow though clearly burdened. She noticed not only his anxiety but his weariness.

"It was only the tail end of the conversation but they were talking about getting rid of someone."

"And you think they were talking about me?"

She asked hesitantly, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't know... No matter how many times I ask him about it, he won't answer me."

He furrowed his brows in agitation.

"Even though I told him I don't think what he's doing is a good thing, getting so close to Balam, he just says that it's none of my business! I know my brother's faults... But as hard as it is to believe, he has his good sides too! I never thought he would try to hurt you or anyone over the succession."

She didn't know what Alvah saw, but she didn't have as nearly as much sympathy towards him. If Alvah wanted to save Jun, that was fine. But she had only come along as part of a bargain, and that bargain was for her safety.

"But you said you have a way you can stop this though," she asked him. "Did you mean just Jun or..?"

"No," he turned to face her and answered harsher than he meant to.

She stopped in her tracks and refused to take another step until his look softened. He knew she was on edge and complied apologetically.

"I mean... I know Jun isn't acting alone. Some one's putting him up to this. He won't tell me who they are but we can find out."

"Okay so we prove Jun's innocence," she said with a heavy tone of disbelief, "what does that do for me?"

"When they have been outed, you'll have your ticket home. That's what you want, right?"

"And the succession?"

"Don't take it so seriously," he chuckled. "It wouldn't be your fault if the king you chose is bad."

She was taken aback not only by how quickly he switched back into his carefree attitude, but his disregard towards the succession had to be worse then Melchiorre's, a feat she formerly thought impossible.

"Are you really sure it's that easy?"

"Any of my brothers would be fine," he shrugged. "I would support them."

"But you, yourself...?"

"I don't care for it. I don't have any preference either."

She fell silent and accepted his words. But contrary to his nonchalance over the throne, he seemed to care about Jun a great deal. She hoped that was enough to motivate him to have a real plan.

After a long and tiresome walk, they emerged from a wooden manhole. It opened up to some desolate strip of empty land on the bank of a river. The palace loomed overhead, perched on a cliff high above them. The gentle slope of the tunnel had hidden the truth of how deeply they had descended. She watched Alvah put the cover back in place and swallowed hard. It would be all too easy for anyone against the royal family to slip in and out of the palace if they found it. Not undetected to say the least but they had a sure way in and out.

On their walk to the nearest city, he talked fast as he pointed out monuments and landmarks. But through his attempt to be cheerful, his mind was elsewhere. He kept pausing in the middle of sentences, would forget his words, and kept repeating things he had just said. Although he had resolved to stay out of it, the stress of the succession and palace intrigue was still a burden on his shoulders. His forced smile was only making his tiredness even more apparent. Although she had been attacked, she found it even more unsettling that the renowned 'cheery one' was no longer smiling.

"Alvah, you know you don't have to cheer me up if you don't feel like it."

He paused and tilted his head down to avoid her eyes. After a moment of silence, he raised it and reached out his hand to her. She took it and he held it with an uneasy smile.

"I don't want you getting hurt over this. So no matter what happens, I'm always your friend."

She nodded in agreement. It was hard to think of Alvah as some who would have ulterior motives or ill intentions. He had treated her warmly from the moment she arrived at the palace and without any hesitance on his part. Everything about him was in stark contrast to her relationship with Jun, she wondered why Alvah even wanted to help him. Was he not as concerned about his other brothers?

The answers came when, after a ride by street car, she arrived once again in Meheret. Alvah walked through the city with no sign of fear. With their disguises of plain clothes, neither stood out. Still cautious, she pulled down the sleeve of her shirt to keep the bracelet hidden as they waded through throngs of people cramming the streets. He guided her through narrow alleys and back streets until they came to a brick wall.

She was surprised that this was the first time she had ever seen them. Not that she hadn't seen walls before, but this one, with its medieval construction, stretched the length of the city and should have been impossible not to notice. It had been apart of something larger, a rampart perhaps, but all that remained were scattered ruins, crumbling towers, and overgrown ditches.

While she was greatly interested in its historical significance, Alvah's explanation of it was all he could care to remember about it in as few words as possible. It was a wall, it had always been here, and would probably always be here unless someone knocked it down.

Despite his lack of interest, he walked along side it knowing where he was going. When they came to the door of the nearest tower, he pulled out a key, unlocked it, and ushered her inside. The room within was littered with trash. Candy wrappers and toys were strewn about the floor, there were scattered papers and broken crayons, swords and shields made out of cardboard, and the most telling evidence, long forgotten jackets and shoes that could only fit a child.

"A secret base," she asked.

Alvah smiled and spoke with a wistful look on his face, "Jun and I would come here when we were kids. We made Ivan put a lock on it for us and only the two of us have keys. We passed the master key onto some kids so this mess must be theirs."

She watched as he picked up one of the makeshift swords and swing it around. It was easy to imagine Alvah as a rambunctious child but Jun, not so much.

"You guys came this far from the palace just to play?"

He stopped and let out an almost apologetic sigh.

"No... We lived here."

He put the stared at the cardboard prop as if he were studying it carefully to hide his embarrassment. He couldn't escape the feeling of her eyes upon him as she waited for an answer.

"Jun and I... We get along because our mothers got along. They were both apart of our father's harem and they were both pregnant around the same time. Jun and I were born only months apart. We were raised together and he truly is my closest brother. He was my favorite."

He was reluctant to continue but her accusatory stare persisted. He put down the sword and walked across the room. Hidden behind a shoddy tarp curtain was an impromptu basketball court. It was only the size of a half court with a broken milk crate and hand-knotted yarn to serve as the backboard and net. He picked up a basketball and took a shot. He made it look effortless and retrieved the ball to do it again. She watched as he let himself get lost in the motions.

"Our father fought his own older brother to get the throne. During that time, life at the palace wasn't safe for any of us. We weren't treated as family, we were treated like suspects, like traitors. We were the children of an insurgent, after all. We were forced to leave for our own good. If we stayed... it wasn't really an option."

She swallowed hard and remembered the passage she read in the history book. Chezem's emotionless reaction suddenly made sense in this new context. His majesty had killed his brother's children only as an act of retaliation, blow for blow. She could accept this in a way, naively softening to the shock of his actions. But her first mind and the crueler assumption had been closer to the truth.

"Jun and I came together to this town. Since Jun's mother was born and raised here, we were safe. No one would turn us over to the guards. For a while, we were like normal kids. But the conditions here... You've seen them yourself, the dirty streets, the cramped buildings, and the filthy water. Back then, an epidemic broke out because of it. Jun's mother got sick... Even after she passed, the people here still continued to look out for us until it was safe to return. They were his family. That's why this place is important to him."

Alvah bounced the ball at his feet and posed as if he were about to shoot. He stood stock still, staring vaguely ahead and hugged the ball close to him.

"But Jun is important to me. That's why I want to end this once and for all. Even if the succession proceeded, our relationship would only grow more hostile. We were rivals and best friends. I want to go back to that! I want him to go back to the brother that would laugh and joke next to me. I don't want things to grow worse."

Picturing the Prince Jun he described wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. She relented that there were sides to him, to all the princes, to their stories and their pains, that she didn't know. A new doubt that she could properly choose the next king from among them seeded in her mind.