Post-Assassination, Sieragona

Golden summer lingered into the early months of fall on that fateful year of 1870, encouraging King Vincent II and his family with its drowsy warmth and pleasant sunshine to likewise linger in their Summer Palace, situated by a pristine beach near the Heatherton Falls coast, which was renowned for its breathtaking beauty and old-fashioned charm.

During their vacation, the Royal Family took some time to enjoy a whirlwind of fox hunts, barbecues, and lively festivals--the trademark entertainment Sieragona was famous for. As the finishing touch, Their Majesties ceremoniously accepted the honor of presiding over that kingdom's annual St. Catherine Masquerade Ball.

King Vince and Queen Linda had been in the midst of planning a spectacular evening ball to celebrate Princess Stephanie's betrothal to King Hunter, ruler of the neighboring country of Terrencruise, when the First Captain of the Imperial Guards himself arrived on horseback with the news of Lord Bischoff's abrupt assassination.

The ruler of the Thelian Empire was thunderstruck for several minutes, while his wife turned so deathly white at the news that the palace servants were kept in an uproar, fearing lest Her Majesty should fall into a fatal faint. When King Vince finally regained his power of speech, he let out a bull's roar that sent half the household scrambling for cover and even drew a brief wince from the newly-arrived Captain Shawn Michaels. Ordering that his valets and his queen were to leave the room immediately, King Vince closed the door so that only Shawn remained, and promptly went to work on unleashing his fury upon the hapless Imperial Guard leader.


At the same time, outside the Summer Palace, an exotically seductive young woman of obvious Asian heritage paused by the cluster of tall, fragrant trees growing gracefully by the platinum-gilt gates. Gail Kim broke into a wide smile as she looked across the arching driveway of magnolias and lindens leading up to the palace. On the other side of the road, a lovestruck boy of about thirteen stared in astonishment when the beautiful, dark-haired young woman unexpectedly vanished in the blink of an eye amidst a rustle of red velvet and a faint whisper of fragrant rose water.


"I'm not paying you and the other captains incomes of well over ten thousand a year just so you can look heroic in your splendid uniforms!" King Vince was still blustering inside the palace, his face turning a characteristic beet-red in color the way it always did when he was riled up about something. "Damn it, Captain Michaels, if you couldn't protect Lord Bischoff against even one of those crazy women...!"

"Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to say, it was a tragic mistake on our part. However, the truth is that the Imperial Guards were never meant to be some sort of overglorified security team in the first place," Shawn hastily reminded his outraged king. "Our main purpose is to put down attempts at revolutions, and so far--"

"And so far you've all done a stupendous job at that, Captain," King Vince broke in irritably. "However, that doesn't change the fact that one of my most powerful allies is dead--because of the carelessness of one of your men!"

Shawn grimaced.

"Are you planning to punish Captain Orton for his oversight?" he ventured quietly, after a few moments of tense silence.

"That young man has certainly had a colorful military career, hasn't he?" his king sardonically muttered instead, more to himself than to the First Captain of the Imperial Guards. "Captain Orton's father was actually a general for me back during the French-Thelian War, and I hardly remember him being quite so--"

King Vince never got to finish his sentence, for at that moment a shuriken(1) flew through the window of the room, shattering the expensive, varicolored stained glass in the process as it sailed across the distance of the chamber and imbedded itself less than an inch from Shawn's left ear. The Imperial Guard leader, admirably enough on his part, hardly even flinched at this unexpected visitor. King Vince, on the other hand, nearly had a heart attack, as he let out a strangled gurgle of surprise before diving to hide under the relative safety of his heavy, ornately-carved rosewood desk.

Shawn bent his head to hide a growing smile of amusement at this undignified conduct from the sovereign of one of the most powerful empires in the world, concentrating instead on pulling out the sharp-tipped shuriken still buried in the wall.

"There's a note attached to the knife," he observed thoughtfully, gently unwrapping the parchment from where it had been tightly wound around the shuriken and taking care not to prick his fingers through his gloves on the pointed blade in case it might be poisoned. One just never knew with ninja. King Vince looked expectantly at the younger man as the latterskimmed over the brief note, his brows slanting together and his eyes growing darker and more troubled with each word he read.

When Shawn had finished reading, he straightened up to his full height and crumpled the piece of paper in his hands until it crackled and split into a hundred infinitesimal fragments. King Vince arched an eyebrow questioningly at his action, but Shawn, lost in thought, failed to catch this unsubtle movement on the part of his ruler, and continued to ponder over this latest turn of events.

Looks like Orton's prediction turned out to be true after all, he thought darkly to himself. His hands clenched into fists, tightening with each passing second until his knuckles turned white, and he added silently, Damn it! Damn ninja indeed!


Hidden amongst the heart-shaped leaves and fragrant golden flowers of a majestic linden tree, Gail Kim, clad in her Kuro Kei attire, tilted her head upwards in the direction of the stained glass window her shuriken had broken through. After waiting a few seconds, she agilely swung down onto the grass below, stepping lightly around the tender green clovers and discarding pieces of her fighting garb as she walked.

Five minutes later, a striking, richly-dressed young lady in a daring velvet crimson gown and a matching plumed hat worn over one mischievous russet eye stepped out of the arbor and into a waiting brougham by the sidewalk.

"To the Queenston train station, please," Gail instructed the driver, her never-faltering smile brightening as she added, "I'll pay you twice your regular fare if you can get there by noon."

The driver looked a bit surprised by her apparently urgent need to get to the station, and asked carelessly as he brought down his whip on his horse and began a steady trot down the road, "Going somewhere important, lady?"

"Why yes. I have an appointment at Belmont College this evening that I simply must fulfill," Gail replied saccharinely.


1. shuriken--a throwing dart