It was why he was dressed all in black, armed to the teeth, prepared to investigate the killing field for clues to the perpetrators. Mattias, Leander, Jeremiah, and five other guards waited in his office below, ready to make the trip to Imatra with him. They were a small team for good reason; the faster they could get in and out, the better. Fewer men and vehicles meant less chance of detection.
He set off down the hall, boots quiet over the stone floor despite their heavy tread.
At the end of the corridor, a shadow slipped from a darkened room, taking him by surprise.
Sander reacted without thinking. He snatched a hand around a slender throat and pushed the person against the wall. It only took him a moment to realize he was staring into Eliana’s eyes.
“What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that, Ellie?” he asked. He dropped his hand, chagrined to have nearly choked his own daughter.
Eliana looked surprised at his speed and efficiency, which would have amused Sander under any other circumstances. She must have thought him slower and less sharp-witted.
“I wasn’t sneaking up on you. You just reacted before I could say anything. Jeez, Pop.” She quirked her mouth and hefted the tactical vest higher on her torso.
Tactical vest.
Sander had just noticed she was dressed like him, all in black, with weapons gleaming in their holsters. “And where do you think you’re going dressed like that?”
He already knew where she thought she was going. Little did she know she’d gone to the trouble of dressing and arming herself for nothing.
“I heard what happened in Imatra. I want to go with you,” she said with a predictable lift of her chin.
Just like her mother, that move. Sander recognized it instantly. “No.”
“Why not? I’m capable of helping.”
“Because I can’t concentrate on what I need to do out there if I know you’re with us.”
“You trained me well,” she said. “The only way I’ll get hands-on experience is if I go with you.”
“Not this time, Eliana. I don’t know who we’re dealing with, or if they’re still around. We might be penetrating the border. In fact I’m pretty sure that’s on the agenda and I don’t want the enemy getting their hands on you. It’ll be bad enough if they find the rest of us over there. Besides that, I could use your skill here to help protect the castle and keep an eye on things.” He squeezed Eliana’s shoulder, a show of affection, and continued down the hall.
Silence greeted his command.
If things had been different, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take her with him. To expand upon her training. She was an excellent marksman and tough as nails. The element of the unknown on this mission, along with his need to have extra protection in the castle, meant sacrifices had to be made. He hoped she wouldn’t stay angry too long.
At the head of the stairs leading to the lower floors, Sander encountered Elias. Every time he looked upon his firstborn son, Sander recalled the recent accident and resulting memory loss that had nearly left Elias impaired for life. He was still profoundly affected by all that had happened, still eternally grateful that Elias had regained his memory. The usual pang he experienced faded quicker this time than any other. Perhaps it was the urgency of the situation or his upcoming departure that helped distract him from his thoughts.
At least Elias wasn’t dressed for a mission, proving his son had taken his earlier words to heart. He’d found Elias after his meeting with Mattias, explained his plans and reasoning, and had ordered Elias to remain at Kallaster to oversee things in his place. He’d half expected Elias to push the issue and ask to go to Imatra. To his surprise, Elias seemed to grasp the importance of running the castle in his stead and had gracefully accepted his command.
“I hope you haven’t changed your mind and are about to tell me you want to go,” Sander said by way of hello. He came to a stop at the top step.
“No, Pop. I wanted to let you know that after our talk earlier, I came across councilman Alvar talking with two guards in a hallway. I didn’t overhear what they were talking about, but the way they suddenly broke apart and the guilty looks on their faces has made me wary. With your permission, I’d like to investigate further.” Elias slid his hands into the pockets of his ink-black jeans.
The news surprised Sander and did not sit well given the current circumstances, especially after his recent conversation with Chey. He trusted Elias’s instincts, which tended to align closely with his own. If Elias had thought the men appeared guilty, then he believed him.
“Alvar has been a councilman for thirty years. He’s one of the old guard, as it were. I’d like to think he could never be bought off, but it’s happened before. Go ahead, Elias. See what comes of your research. Pair with Erick and Eliana if you need to,” Sander said.
“I will,” Elias said. “If I do discover foul play, how should I handle Alvar? Do you want me to arrest him or wait until you get back?”
“Yes, arrest him. I realize that could cause chaos with the other councilmen and advisors, but I have faith that you won’t make such a move unless you’re certain of Alvar’s guilt. You’re in charge while I’m gone, Elias. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the acting king in my absence.”
“All right, Pop,” Elias said. “Hopefully it’ll be nothing more sinister than Alvar arranging for the guards to cover his tracks for a visit to his mistress, but one never knows.”
Sander snorted. Alvar did have a mistress, and Elias could very well be right. Better a clandestine meeting between lovers than a traitor plotting against his king.
“Once we reach Imatra, I and the others will be on radio blackout. So you’ll have to wait until we’re done with our mission to contact me with news,” Sander said.
“I understand,” Elias replied.
Sander clapped Elias on the shoulder and moved on.
In his office on the lowest level, Sander found the others waiting for him as planned. Mattias, Leander, and Jeremiah stood with the chosen guards, men skilled in stealth and combat. They were men Sander trusted with his life, and also men he trusted to keep secrets. All were dressed and armed similarly to himself.
“Are we ready?” Sander asked without preamble. The time for planning and talking was over.
“Ready,” Mattias and Leander said simultaneously.
“Then let’s go see if we can find some answers.”
Chapter 4
Chey exited the master suite an hour after Sander departed for his mission. She navigated the upper hallway but rather than head for the stairs and lower floors, she arrived at a doorway on the same level as their bedroom.
She took a key from her pocket and opened the door.
Emily glanced up from a set of tables arranged in a U shape. Several floor lamps had been brought in to shine more light on one particular wall where five whiteboards hung in a row.
“You got this organized really fast. How is it coming?” Chey asked as she closed the door.
“So far so good. I have all the paperwork you asked me to print out.” Emily gestured to a stack of folders sitting on one table. Other folders and sticky notes made a haphazard pattern on the table Emily stood in front of.
“Excellent. I want to put all the councilmen and advisors’ names on the farthest board, along with the top ten members of security in the castle. On another board, let’s put all the latest updates of any attacks. Include Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia if necessary. Not just attacks, but threats and warnings and any other act that could be construed as a strike against us.” Chey examined the stacks of supplies Emily had gathered. She had collected markers, sticky notes, notepads, magnets, and an array of other office supplies they might need.
“I’ve already got all the councilmen and advisors’ names ready to go on a board,” Emily said. She wore blue jeans, a long-sleeved shirt of mint green, and had gathered her hair back away from her face. All signs she was ready to throw herself into the project.
Chey fou
nd the stickies with all the councilmen’s names and plucked the stack from the desk. “Some of these we’ll be able to check off immediately. I know the men your father considers unfailingly loyal and would trust with his life, the ones he’s very close to and spends time with outside the council rooms. But all the rest need closer examination. A handful of advisors as well. The ones who always kick back against your father, who say snarky things about the monarchy when they think we’re not listening, those I’d definitely like to investigate deeper.”
“What made you decide to take a closer look into the councilmen?” Emily asked as she took the stack of advisors’ names and walked to another board.
“I’ve felt for a while now that we’re long overdue to properly vet the political apparatus here in the castle, and with the recent strike on Imatra, plus the threats against us and Somero, it’s time to dig a little deeper. I want to really look into the backgrounds of these people we typically put so much trust in. I mean, we know the surface details. Which ones have families, where they spend their spare time, and what other countries they sympathize with. But it’s all surface knowledge. I want to know who these men are fraternizing with outside Kallaster. Who they’re calling on the phone. I want details of meetings—both scheduled and not—and any other pertinent information we can use to tell whether or not we should be wary of them. They’re brought in to do their job because they’re qualified, but who is vetting these men beyond their job qualifications? No one, that’s who. And that’s going to change. I’ve already talked to your father about it. Now seems like a good time to start.”
“A lot of them have come up through the ranks because their father held a place on the council,” Emily added.
“Exactly. Which instills an automatic sense of trust. Generations of councilmen must all be loyal, right? I don’t think so. Not anymore. Not when those guards were turned last year after Elias’s accident. If they can be bought, so can a councilman or an advisor. Not only that, but something just feels wrong about the attacks in Imatra and the warnings we and Somero have received. It feels like an escalation. It feels as if whoever was behind them waited out the winter and has come out of the woodwork to implement their plans. The fact that three countries along our coastline have been attacked or contacted with threats suggests to me a bigger agenda. And, insofar as I’ve seen in my time here, there are usually insiders at work within the machine.” As she talked, Chey neatly arranged the stickies in rows along the whiteboard. She knew each councilman by name. Once or twice she experienced a twinge of guilt at a certain name that she couldn’t imagine would ever turn against them. She left the names up anyway.
“To be fair, some of the councilmen and advisors are downright hostile to the monarchy. I get that it’s their job to question everything, and that not everyone will have the same opinion on every event. But now and then I get the impression that the hostility is driven by something else,” Emily said.
“A handful of these men would love nothing more than to wrench the throne right out from beneath Sander. From our whole family. History is filled with stories of men who went to war for the sake of power alone, and it’s no different today. Of course, the councilmen aren’t too obvious, but some have let slip their true feelings now and then. Personally, I think those that push too hard to end Sander’s rule should be fired and barred from Kallaster permanently. Maybe we can make that happen eventually.” Chey stood back to examine her handiwork. The whiteboard was covered in rows of sticky notes in varying colors. Emily’s board looked similar.
“I think you’re right. It’s way past time someone did this,” Emily said as she returned to the tables.
“The council and advisor positions have existed in the same way for centuries. None of the men are actually voted in by the citizens of the country, they’re elected by other councilmen and advisors, and then those with the most votes take any open seats. Women have never been allowed to hold a council or advisor position, either, and any time I’ve ever brought it up, chaos broke out. They’re stuck in their ways and refuse to accept change. I think your dad will decide to overrule them, though. That should be interesting.”
Emily scoffed. “They’ll accept a woman on the council when all other men are dead.”
Chey laughed at Emily’s cynical take on the matter. She wasn’t wrong. “Which should make things even more interesting if I decide to fire a few of them in your father’s absence.”
“Mom! You wouldn’t dare.” Emily sounded scandalized.
“If I find evidence of foul play, you bet I will.” Chey picked up a black marker and approached one of the clean whiteboards. Across the top she wrote the names of the nearest countries along the coastline: Imatra, Somero, Latvala, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. Beneath, she added events. Two attacks for Imatra, a warning each for Somero and Latvala. The lists would help her visualize any patterns that might emerge if the situation escalated again.
Emily marched two extra sticky notes to the advisors’ board and slapped up the notices beneath two separate advisors’ names.
Intrigued, Chey stepped over to take a look—and laughed.
Bastard, each note read.
“I’m guessing those were the advisors that gave you the most trouble when you temporarily became heir to the throne?” Chey asked.
“You have no idea. Serious pains in the backside. All knowing, all seeing. I nicknamed them The Oracles,” Emily said with a lopsided grin.
Again, Chey laughed. She loved Emily’s sense of humor. “We’ll be sure to keep an eye on The Oracles.”
“Speaking of keeping an eye, who are we bringing in on this?” Emily asked.
“Us, Elias, Erick, and Eliana. I don’t want to expose this little project to anyone else yet, not even your cousins. If it works out that we find no evidence of foul play, all the better. But if we do, I want to keep the information as contained as possible until we have solid proof of treason.” Chey returned to the array of tables and grabbed her own stack of sticky notes. She had a few questions about one or two advisors to add to the board.
“How should we go about this without drawing attention to ourselves?”
“Use your position to your advantage. Take note of closed-door meetings. Maybe even walk in on one and see what you hear before they stop talking. Ask to sit in. They might let you.” Chey was being facetious with the unannounced sitting in. She knew the advisors would never agree.
Emily scoffed, proving she knew they’d never let her sit in either.
“Sometimes the staff gives up information by accident as well. Pay closer attention to any mentions of travel that have not been cleared on the schedule. Day trips to the mainland that are not family related are of special interest right now,” Chey said. She stood at the tables again, surveying the whiteboards and the information they’d gathered so far. A slow start, but a start nevertheless. The process wouldn’t be quick or easy.
“You know, now that I think about it, some of the advisors do travel to the mainland a lot. I never really paid much attention to the reasons why.”
“Ninety-nine percent of it will be harmless, I’m sure. But if there is a plot afoot to overthrow Imatra, Somero, and Latvala, then I’m pretty sure someone inside our trusted circle either knows something, has heard something, or might be easily persuaded to fight for the other side. We have to at least consider the possibility.”
“What do you think Pop will say about all this?” Emily returned to the tables and stood next to Chey.
“I think he’ll be surprised that I’ve gone ahead and taken the initiative. I told him that I think we should do this, though I’m sure he didn’t expect me to start today.”
“He’s usually behind you in everything you do.”
“My photography and charity work, yes. Only time will tell if he’ll be on board with me starting this before we’ve hashed out the details.” Chey drew an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Let’s go find your brothers and sister so we can get them up to speed.”
Something was up, and he wanted to know what.
Besides clearing up his questions, it felt good to be in control of his life once more. The accident last fall that had nearly stripped him of his destiny was well and truly past, an otherwise nasty time he preferred to forget. Latvala would one day be his kingdom to rule, and he’d embraced his future with a startling amount of diligence since recovering his memory. If anything good had come of his amnesia, it was his newfound dedication as heir to the throne.
“Elias, can we speak to you a moment?”
He paused at the top of the stairs to look back at the hallway. His mother and Emily stood side by side, staring at him expectantly. There was something about the seriousness of their expressions that swayed him to give up the chase of Alvar. For now.
“Sure. What’s up?” he asked as he turned from the stairs.
“This way.” Chey gestured for him to follow.
He set a pace behind the women until they reached the third floor and a door that they needed a key to unlock. The only rooms that were locked in this manner usually contained jewels and other family treasures.
Inside, he discovered what at first appeared to be a classroom. Or a setup for someone writing a spy novel. He frowned as he eyed the whiteboards and the array of tables facing them. From his current vantage, he couldn’t see what was written on the many sticky notes that had been attached to the boards.
Latvala Royals: Darkest Hours Page 3
