by Lisa Lee
The drivers turned the cars around to face forward, and they were quickly met by a company of other vehicles. Through the flurry of voices coming through on James’s watch phone, it became clear that the other vehicles represented the rest of Gideon’s security detail.
Arriving at the palace, Gideon was again surrounded and rushed inside. As the other guards left him, Matthew and James remained, but instead of a group of three men, there were four men. Brother Adam was the last of their quartet. He was doubled over and wheezing.
“I will call for medical,” James said, looking at Brother Adam with concern as he lifted his wrist.
Brother Adam waved his hand to indicate for James to hold off as he glared at Gideon.
“You call . . .” He paused to suck air down his throat before he continued. “You call that driving!”
“I wasn’t just driving. I was trying to stay alive,” Gideon retorted. “And sit down before you keel over.”
It was a testament to how tired the brother was that he did exactly as Gideon said.
Gideon realized he would have to see what accommodations could be made for Brother Adam. It was already evening, and Gideon wanted to find out what was going on before he sent the brother on his way.
“Gide!” a voice called out.
Turning, Gideon saw his brother walking toward him with his arms out. Gideon was enveloped in a bear hug which he returned wholeheartedly. Both the brothers’ eyes were damp when they finally released each other.
“I am so glad you’re here!” Gabriel exclaimed, reaching out to give his brother’s shoulder a squeeze. “Even if that idiot Segenam is the reason.”
“He was behind the attack?” Gideon questioned.
Gabriel looked at the guards and said, “The king wants an update immediately. Let’s head over.”
“Brother Adam . . .” Gideon began.
“Is making himself quite comfortable,” his brother responded. “Look over there.”
Gideon looked and saw a staff member leading the brother away, deeper into the palace. The staff member was walking, but Brother Adam was riding a smartly designed red-and-silver mini-scooter intended for individuals with limited mobility.
Gideon shook his head and then fell in step with the other three men to walk toward the king’s offices. Gideon had been expecting more of his family to greet him, but all he saw was security personnel. No one looked at him askance, and they bowed respectfully as he passed. Although, he supposed the respect could have been for his brother. Nonetheless, his day was ending very differently than he expected. The adrenaline from the car ride was wearing off, causing his hands to shake, so he fisted them.
As they continued walking toward his father’s offices, Gideon noticed the difference in lighting. While the palace was carved out of mountain stone, slanted skylights toward the front part of the roof let in much-needed sunlight during the day and an arresting blend of star and moonlight at night. Sometimes as a boy, he would stand underneath the skylights and just stare at the night sky, mesmerized. For privacy reasons, the glass was one way so those inside the palace could see through the glass to nature’s vibrant wonders but those on the outside could not see inside the palace. Tonight, though, the skylights were covered in specially made heavy curtains, blocking out all light. Someone had turned on extra lights inside to offset the darkness, but the light seemed artificial and jarring.
When they arrived at the king’s office, Royal Assistant Joseph Park motioned for the guards to sit in the waiting area and said to Gideon and Gabriel, “They just got started. You aren’t too late.”
Not too late? Gideon thought to himself as he and Gabriel walked into the king’s office. The brothers stopped at the sight that greeted them. Their father was not alone. Seated with their father around the conference table were the king’s chief of staff, the minister of internal security, the minister of communications, and a nun. To Gideon, the nun looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. Everyone stood when he and his brother entered the room.
“Please excuse us,” the king said to the people at the table.
They all quickly exited, leaving the king alone with his sons.
The king stood and gave Gideon a lengthy hug before pulling back, still holding on to Gideon’s arms. “Are you well?”
Gideon nodded. “Yes, Father.”
“I’m glad you’re home,” his father said before releasing him with a final pat on the arms and sitting back down. “Unfortunately, we have to deal with this emergency before celebrating your homecoming.”
The meeting began again with the addition of Gideon and Gabriel. Gideon’s head was swimming from how quickly things had moved in the last few hours. He felt uncharacteristically unsure of what to do or say, like a little kid sitting at the grown-ups’ table for the first time. From want of something solid to hold on to, his hands gripped his knees under the table.
“As I was saying yesterday,” Gabriel began, “thanks to Gideon, we now know about the sex trafficking ring Segenam was managing.” He avoided looking at Gideon’s shocked expression.
“How many kids are involved?” the king asked.
The chief of staff shook his head and grimaced. “Using conservative estimates, about a thousand, sir.”
The folks seated at the table gasped almost in unison. Immediately, everyone began talking at once. “Impossible!” “That much?” “How sickening!” and so forth.
The king banged his hand on the table to restore order. Once the table quieted, he turned to the chief of staff and said succinctly, “Explain.”
Yes, Gideon thought to himself, please explain.
The chief of staff replied, “Once Gideon alerted us to the youth standing in food lines, we did some digging.”
“Why was nothing done before?” Gideon interrupted, remembering the brother from the trolley at the farm who was upset that The Red Palace hadn’t responded to reports of hungry kids.
“It’s simply not our job,” the chief of staff replied. “Sectors are expected to take care of kids without guardians or parents in the same way as they are supposed to care for the elderly without relatives.”
“But that is not what’s happening,” Gabe said, as he turned to look at Gideon. “After I got your text, I discovered it wasn’t a simple issue. On paper, the sectors are doing exactly as expected. They pay a fee to the usual charities to have such children trained in a marketable skill. The expectation is that they won’t become rich, but they will be able to support a moderate lifestyle.”
“Selling sex?” the minister of communications asked impatiently, arms crossed over her chest.
“Wait,” Gideon said, holding his hand up for emphasis. “I hate to sound like a playlist on repeat, but the training requirement was put in place years ago to avoid this type of situation. And we get reports every year on how much the sectors spend on training. What happened here?”
His brother replied, “We get the combined dollar amount from all the sectors but not the per sector amount or the amount per kid. But once we compared birth record data with the number of kids in training programs and in the school system, we realized that there are a whole lot of kids that are simply unaccounted for.”
“Unfortunately, truer than it should be,” the minister of internal security said. He was a few decades younger than the chief of staff and about a decade younger than the minister of communications. “We’ve discovered, thanks to Prince Gideon, that for the most part, the kids who make it to a charitable training school are trained. There are a few problem charities, but most of the charities do what they say they do. The problem is the kids who don’t get to a reputable training organization. The best case, at least for a special few girls, is they get sent to a school in Saved America which specializes in training girls to be brides. While we’ve known about the school for years, it is only recently that we discovered that placement is not always voluntary and that some girls are trained to be companions. Our intelligence agency missed that fact.”
“Or maybe they decided not to share it,” the chief of staff said, glancing at the king with a look Gideon couldn’t decipher.
“Does it matter if it’s voluntary or not?” the minister of communications asked. “It is just plain wrong for a fourteen-year-old to attend a training school for brides or, worse, companions.”
“There’s nothing wrong with training girls to be wives,” the minister of internal security replied with a puzzled expression.
The minister of communications stared at him incredulously. “You really are as clueless as they say you are.”
The king interrupted their squabbling. “What happens in the worst case?”
“Worst case, they’re sent to brothels which cater to a certain clientele. Thankfully, the brothels are in Thailand or in some other country and not here,” the minister of internal security replied, still red-faced from his exchange with the minister of communications.
“I’m not sure the location matters to a child who’s being raped,” the nun said. Her rebuke was spoken in a low, mild tone, but the minister of internal security’s face still flushed a deeper shade of red.
“Perhaps it’s time to make an example of Segenam and anyone else who’s involved,” the chief of staff said. “Our analysts figure that eighty-six percent of those involved in domestic terrorism come from unclaimed youth. We need to cut off this tree at the root.”
“First, we need to make sure we have an alternative for these kids,” the king said. Turning to the nun, he said, “Abbess Turner, can your organization handle the logistics involved in taking care of this island’s unclaimed children, including the ones who have not been trafficked?” Switching to look at the chief of staff and minister of internal security, he asked, “How many kids are in this latter category?”
The minister of internal security shook his head with an embarrassed look on his face, but the chief of staff calmly said, “We are working on getting final numbers to present.”
“Good, get it to me as soon as possible,” the king said before turning back to Abbess Turner. “Based on what we know today, could your organization handle this task?”
“We could, but we would need to bring in foreign help,” she replied, looking at the king.
The table fell silent as everyone considered her words. To bring in foreign help would be unthinkable, but the Abbess couldn’t save each unwanted child. She was busy enough overseeing current placements at the temple and the Sisters of Mercy.
As the silence stretched out from moments to minutes, Gideon fought the childlike urge to fidget. The chief of staff sat confidently, his salt-and-pepper hair cut short and expertly layered, not a strand out of place. The minister of internal security played with an electronic pen as he waited like a quivering hunting dog for his master to release him for the hunt. The minister of communications sat with her back straight, her dyed red hair pulled back into a bun secured with an antique hairpin, waiting to spin what needed to be spun. The Abbess sat quiet and serene, accepting the outcome of the meeting, even as she waited for the king’s verdict. Gabriel sat looking at his father, but Gideon couldn’t gauge his father’s expression.
Finally, the king said, “Shut down the problem charities immediately. The minister of communications shall appeal to the good hearts of the island’s citizens and request on behalf of the royal family that a home be given to unclaimed children. The royal family itself will bring in one such child as a ward.”
Gideon and Gabriel looked at their father, mouths agape in surprise. “Have you talked to Mom about this?” Gabriel asked.
The king held up his hand as if Gabriel’s comment was of no consequence and said to the minister of communications, “Work with the finance department to figure out an affordable monthly stipend that can be given to each family.”
“That’s very generous of you, Father,” Gabriel said, even more surprised than before. He looked at Gideon, who looked back at him. Their father was notoriously stingy with money.
“Now for the hard part,” the king said. “What to do about Segenam and his affiliates.”
“Sir,” said the chief of staff. “I received word during the break that Segenam died in the car chase involving Prince Gideon. His car flipped over when he tried to block Gideon on the road.”
“Well, at least that’s one problem taken care of,” the king said. “I would have ordered execution for the man who almost murdered my son brazenly, but it would have been most politically inconvenient. This way is a lot easier.”
Gideon kept his face stone-like, but inside he was sinking. Segenam tried to kill him just so he could keep trafficking children? It was a sickening thought and didn’t make sense as the car chase wasn’t exactly discreet. As he thought about it, he concluded that the most likely reason for Segenam trying to kill him was revenge for exposing his secret. That thought was disturbing too. He wasn’t sure what would have happened had the EMP blast worked and he’d been surrounded by Segenam and his men, but the odds weren’t good that he would have survived. On the flip side, he wasn’t sure what would he have done if the car systems had reported signs of life in the mangled vehicle. Would he have helped? Recognizing that his thoughts were spiraling, Gideon took a deep breath.
Gabe gave him a sympathetic look, and Gideon felt some relief that he could discuss things with Gabe later.
“His affiliates?” the minister of internal security asked, his hands no longer twirling the pen.
“Execute them all,” the king said. “The royal executioner is back from vacation.”
“Yes, sir,” the minister replied, the hunting dog within him standing up on hind legs and barking in eagerness.
Sighing, the king turned to his chief of staff. “For those citizens abroad who are involved in this business, try to get them extradited back here to the island. Otherwise, work with intelligence to have them taken care of in place.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the chief of staff replied, his mind less hunting dog and more that of a master chess player strategizing his moves, trying to stay two steps ahead of his enemies. “There may be repercussions,” he continued.
“Yes, Segenam’s father is influential,” said the minister of communications. “He is head of the largest sector, with extensive business connections in China, the United Koreas, and U.S.S.A, or Saved America.”
“I think he wants to make a match between Gideon and his daughter,” added Gabriel.
The king shook his head. “She is not a good fit for this family. I have someone else in mind for you,” he said, looking at Gideon before turning to his chief of staff. “The arrangements are being taken care of?”
The chief of staff nodded slowly before saying, “I spoke with Jack. We had to move the timing of things up a bit, but everything is falling into place.”
The king’s brow furrowed, and he said, “Good, but schedule time to update me on the situation.”
“Yes, sir.” The chief of staff nodded.
Gideon looked between the two of them. It wasn’t uncommon on the island for parents to heavily facilitate the marriages of their offspring, but normally their children knew upfront what was going on. He wasn’t aware of any such marriage discussions, but maybe his parents felt the need to step in after the Angel debacle. All he knew was that this day needed to end soon. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could maintain the stoic façade. With relief, he noticed his father take a breath and place his hands on the table, a sign that he was about to end the meeting.
The king said, “I want it to be clearly understood that Sector 16 is no longer in favor. The sector will receive no royal grants for the next year.” There was silence at the table as everyone considered this unprecedented sign of royal rebuke.
“That would punish the entire sector, though,” Gabriel said. “Not just Segenam’s family.”
“Exactly,” the king responded. “Once it is clear the sector is no longer in favor, the sector will most likely appoint a new leader, someone other than Segenam’
s father.”
Gideon happened to glance at the chief of staff as his father spoke. A smug look crossed the man’s face so quickly Gideon would have missed it had he not been looking directly at him. He remembered with a start that the chief of staff was a member of Sector 16. The chief of staff wouldn’t try to become Sector 16’s new leader, would he?
After the meeting ended, Gideon and Gabriel stayed behind with their father.
“Gide, how was the military?” Gabriel asked. “Lily asks about you all the time.”
“She must be due soon?” Gideon asked.
Gabriel looked at him in open-mouthed surprised, and then he and the king started laughing.
“She had the twins a few days ago!” Gabe said. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know. I assumed father would tell you.”
“And I assumed Gabriel would tell you,” the king said, shaking his head and smiling. “We should have told you.”
“You think?” Gideon asked and immediately regretted his snide tone. “I can’t wait to see them. Hopefully, they take after Lily.”
“They are absolutely perfect!” Gabriel enthused, missing Gideon’s little joke entirely. “You have to see them!” Gabe then proceeded to show Gideon picture after picture of his perfect girls.
“Do they have time to eat?” Gideon asked. “It seems they’re getting pictures taken every waking moment!”
“I didn’t take pictures of that,” Gabriel replied, embarrassed. “Lily doesn’t like me taking pictures of her breastfeeding, even though—”
“Gabe!” their father interrupted.
“Sir!” Gabe replied, startled.
“Gide will see my beautiful granddaughters tomorrow. He and I need to talk now.”
“Oh, right,” Gabriel said. “Talk tomorrow?” he asked Gideon.
At Gideon’s nod, he left his brother and father alone in the room.
The two men stared at each other, not speaking.
“Father?” Gideon finally said to test the waters. He needed to know if he was talking to the king or his father.
