The Black Guard: Book III: The Black Mamba (Black Guard series 3)

by CR Daems

  "That's correct, Captain. And both those entrances are guarded by palace security," Benita said.

  "There are four entrances into the building: The main entrance in the front, and three on ground level in the rear: one into security and one into the left and right wings. Each is guarded night and day."

  "Also correct, Captain. In addition, there is a wall surrounding the palace with only one entrance into the compound which is patrolled night and day with dogs.

  "Do you know how the assassins entered each time?" I asked, thinking it would not be hard based on the number of entrances and the number of people roaming the building.

  "To be honest, no, since the assassins who survived escaped. The single assassin picked a day the queen was holding an audience where security is relaxed as it's open to everyone with a letter. The second group must have climbed the wall and somehow slipped into the staff's entrance, then to the second floor, and finally into the middle hallway. Only the queen's brothers slowed them enough for security to respond," Benita said, giving me a questioning look. "Since, my queen has put you in charge, what are your orders?"

  "I have no interest in managing palace security, unless I think it puts your queen in harm's way. They just need to understand that in an emergency, any Black Guard issuing orders is speaking for you and me and must be obeyed instantly. Those orders will be in the queen's best interest. I would like any normal security you provide the queen personally, like accompanying her from room to room, stopped. That is now the Black Guards' responsibility. You will still provide building and room security," I said. "Colonel, we are on the same team and want the same result. You are providing building security, including the safety of the people inside. The Black Guard is providing personal protection for the queen. That way we will not be confused when an attack occurs, and less likely to aid the attackers, as their greatest advantage is chaos."

  Benita nodded. "I love my queen and it's hard to turn over her protection to…people I don't know."

  "You are not relinquishing that responsibility. If you can stop anyone from getting past your security, she will never be in danger." I paused for her to consider that. "If you slow them down, you have diminished their advantage and increased your liege lord's chances of surviving. You are the first and most important line of her defense."

  She frowned at me.

  "No, Colonel. The Black Guard only wants our client alive when we leave." I smiled. "I would be pleased if you can demonstrate the Black Guard are not necessary to protect whoever sits on the throne. If you can't, then you learn by watching us, so that you can when we leave."

  * * *

  Why is it necessary for Guards to be in my suite and the rooms I enter? Couldn't they just guard access to where I am? Certainly, my wing is safe with my brothers there," Liserli said between sips of her coffee the next morning. Bartli and Ruedi sat with her eating breakfast. Benita, two Black Guards, and I stood back against the walls.

  "You are making all sorts of assumptions I'm not willing to make since they impinge on your safety," I said, finding this the fun part of each assignment.

  "What assumptions?" Liserli said, her voice dripping with indignity.

  "The time of the attack, who is attacking you, where the attack will occur, the weapons they will use, and your reaction," I said.

  "What does the time have to do with it?" Ruedi asked, eyes bright with interest.

  "The queen indicated you would be there to help. Are you there day and night every day?" I asked. "Even if you are, what good would you be if they managed to enter your sister's room before you were alerted, or like right now when you are unarmed? What kind of weapons do you have in your room to repulse men with assault weapons or grenade launchers? What if they broke into your room first? I cannot assume those who want to kill the queen are stupid or that they won't learn from their failures."

  "What do you mean by my reactions?" Liserli asked, her brow wrinkled in a frown.

  "You're not a combat veteran. What will your reaction be when people are attempting to kill you and shots and bombs are exploding around you?" I asked. "The Black Guards protecting you are combat veterans, will be in contact with me or Lieutenant Haber, and will know where every Black Guard is located and their current situation. Consequently, his or her decision will understand your best options."

  "You are paranoid," Bartli said. "I understand you have a picture and information on everyone authorized to enter the family wing."

  "I'm a foreigner in your country. I don’t know your politics, customs, history, or the people you associate with. Therefore, it's better for my client that I don't assume who may want the person killed. It is better I consider everyone a suspect."

  "Me?" Bartli asked, with a touch of a smile.

  "Yes. You and everyone that comes in contact with the queen." I also smiled.

  "That ridiculous!" Liserli shouted, choking on whatever she had been eating.

  "You don't think kings and queens haven't been murdered by family, relatives, maids, and guards? They have with regularity. You may think you know everyone that works for you but you don’t. And if you do, I don't and won't risk your life by assuming you do."

  "That's insulting!" Bartli growled.

  "It's not personal or directed at you. It's Black Guard training," I said, mostly for Liserli's benefit. The rest of the meal was finished in silence. As the table was cleared and an assortment of drinks were delivered, Steward Vinicio appeared.

  "Your Majesty." Vinicio gave a low bow. "You are scheduled for your weekly audience at nine, then Minister Imelda after lunch, and Minister Marisela at three."

  "What are you two doing today?" Liserli asked, looking toward her brothers as they rose to leave.

  "We have some joint exercises, beginning in an hour," Bartli said. "After that, a critique. So, we won't be back for dinner."

  "How are the borders with King Mateusz?" Liserli asked with a slight frown.

  "Quiet. Why?"

  "Unlike his dead father, he's ambitious. Unless I'm mistaken, he will be testing us, looking for weaknesses, both physical and psychological," Liserli said in a stern sounding voice. Bartli and Ruedi nodded agreement.

  "Should we break his fingers or saw off the hand he pokes into our kingdom?" Ruedi asked, grinning.

  "Just don't kiss it," Liserli said, waving them out. "Benita, any problems I should be concerned with?"

  "No, Your Highness. I've given Captain Sapir a tour of the palace, and introduced her to our people. They understand she is in charge of your security and in charge in an emergency. I don’t' see any problems." Benita looked toward me and I nodded agreement.

  "And you, Captain?" Liserli smiled.

  "Would King Mateusz benefit from your death?" I asked.

  "No. He doesn't like me but my brothers and I are pretty much in agreement so nothing that concerns Mateusz would change."

  "How many people will attend your audience?"

  "The petitioners, I think there are three, and others interested in the petitions and ancillary issues, maybe fifty." She looked at Benita.

  "They set up forty-five chairs, Ma'am," Benita said, then looked at me. "We know in advance as everyone attending will have either a signed petition or obtained a letter authorizing them entry."

  "Who approves the petitions?" I asked.

  "The queen approves the petitions and the appropriate minister for each petition authorizes the attendees," Benita said. "Security checks each person before they are allowed in."

  "Time to go," Liserli said as she rose. She had on a formal ankle length dress which looked like three layered dresses. On top and the three-quarter sleeves were yellow, just below the waist a red dress, and a black dress from the knees to the floor. Two Guards led the way, with me to her right, and two Guards behind me.

  "I feel like a prisoner," Liserli said as we entered the hallway.

  "A very important high value prisoner," I commented which caused her to shake her head. As we reached a small door,
one of the two security guards opened the door and a man inside the door shouted.

  "All rise for Queen Liserli." He was dressed in a yellow jacket, black pants, and a red sash around his waist.

  The door was a private entrance which was only twenty steps from the dais. Liserli sat as we took up our positions: I stood two steps to the right of her chair and a step back, two Guards stood behind and to the left and right of the attendees, and one Guard stood to the left and one to the right of the dais platform.

  "Be seated," a man at the door said when Liserli sat. "The first petition is Merchant Olavo."

  A short pudgy man dressed in an expensive silver-grey suit, rose and walked to the beginning of the steps leading to the throne and bowed. "Your Majesty," he said as he unrolled a document I presumed was his petition. Liserli held up a hand.

  "Merchant Olavo, I have read your petition. Do you have anything to add?"

  "Your Majesty, the Royal Grant was given to my grandfather by King Bolivar, your grandfather," Olavo said, with a slight got you smile. "I offered to let the current merchant occupying the land a chance to buy it. He refused. So, the land is mine. I am willing to let him move the building."

  "That is true, Merchant Olavo; however, the Royal Grant does not excuse you from the kingdom's laws," Liserli said in a normal voice and without smiling. "Ten years ago, the Ministry of Land Management, MLM, divided your land into two parcels. One was taxed as a business and the other as vacant land. You failed to pay the taxes on the vacant parcel for five years, and in accordance with kingdom law, the parcel was returned to the MLM. Merchant Gervasi paid the current value of the property and the back taxes and was awarded the land. Consequently, your petition is denied."

  "Merchant Flavio, you may approach the queen," the man at the door said in a loud voice before Olavo could say anything. When Olavo looked to the queen, she was sipping water from a crystal goblet and scanning the spectators. Olavo turned and stalked toward the exit looking furious. Suddenly, I heard two pops and Flavio and the rear of the hall were engulfed in a thick smoke. I reached down and gripped Liserli's wrist and spun her out of her throne into my chest as I stepped away while presenting my back to those in the audience. I had barely taken one step when I heard multiple shots and the padded back of the throne erupted into a cloud of feathers. Judging by the spray of cloth and wood, the shots were from an automatic weapon and came from two directions. I saw Sergeant Markov, who was to the right of me, had his Mfw drawn and was firing. I suspect Corporal Kao, on the other side of the dais, was also shooting. Jumping off the dais with Liserli, I moved closer to Markov, deciding not to exit the door to the hallway as other assassins could be waiting. When I heard no more firing, I let go of Liserli and turned to face the direction of the seating which was now engulfed in a cloud of thick smoke. I could hear shouting and the sounds of people scrambling to leave the hall. There was no way the two palace security guards could hold the stampeding crowd. Consequently, if the shooters were still alive, they could flee, hidden by the panicking people.

  "Sorry, Your Majesty. Your throne is too heavy to move and of little protection," I said, mostly to calm her nerves. I still held one of her arms to ensure she stayed behind me. At least I had body armor that provided some protection. I stood watching as the smoke slowly thinned and the chairs began to take shape. Two bodies lay in a pool of blood, one on each side of the aisle. Liserli leaned out, looking wide eyed at her chair and the feathers which were just beginning to descend toward the floor, then to the two bodies who lay less than twenty meters away from the throne.

  She closed her eyes for several minutes before speaking. "It appears those two," she jerked her head in the bodies' direction, "waived their right to a trial." She looked away and was silent for a minute before speaking. "Raol, have someone tell Merchant Injgo his petition was approved, since he left before the session was adjourned." When I looked down at her, she had tears in her eyes. "Captain could you escort me to my room. I'm suddenly tired."

  The walk to her quarters was made in silence. I wouldn't have been surprised to find she was in shock. The assassination attempt had been clever and only a second from succeeding. I would be interested in determining how the assassins got smoke grenades and weapons into the room. When we entered her room, Liserli walked straight to a yellow couch and collapsed into the four puffy pillows and quietly cried. As I began to get ready to leave, she spoke.

  "I always assumed my bodyguards would step in front of me, to shield me, while they shot the assassin," she said between quiet sobs.

  "Not the preferred technique. If your bodyguard gets killed, you're next. It's better to get the client out of harm's way. I pulled you to me as I'm wearing body armor which can protect me somewhat, and I trusted my team would not need me to kill the assassin or assassins, and he or they would be dead before I could turn around."

  "But the smoke," Liserli said.

  "It was a reasonable tactic," I said, having given it some thought on the way to her quarters. "Trigger the smoke canisters which would hide the assassins, freeze you in place, and allow them to exit with the panicking crowd. Their automatic weapons and closeness to the throne made it unlikely both assassins would miss even if you had risen from the throne. The flaw in their plan was the flashes from their weapons. Even in a smoke-filled room, those flashes would be visible and targeting them is part of Black Guard training."

  "How did they get a weapon into the hall? Everyone was scanned." Liserli asked, while wiping her eyes and nose.

  "That's an excellent question which palace security should investigate. It's possible that the weapons and canisters where stored in the hall earlier today or yesterday." I didn't know, but that was the most logical assumption, or they were somehow sneaked past palace security.

  "Thank you, Captain Sapir. I trust Colonel Benita with my life, but I'm afraid I’d be dead now if I had relied on palace security." She laughed. "You are going to be the only person in the kingdom's history to have assaulted a monarch," she pointed to her arm which was beginning to show a large black and blue bruise from her wrist to her elbow, "and not be executed."

  * * *

  "Minister Hipolito would like to see you to discuss next year's proposed tax changes," Steward Vinicio said as the queen pushed away her breakfast plate and picked up the coffee cup the maid had just filled. "I thought around two this afternoon. That will give you time for lunch. Other than that, you are free."

  "Thank you, Vinicio. I think I'll go to the firing range for some practice," Liserli said, and turned toward me, a slight defiant set to her lips. "I do practice regularly, Captain, and can hit what I aim at."

  "I think that is an excellent idea," I said smiling, thinking it would accomplish several objectives. Liserli’s look turned suspicious. "My myopic goal is to see you alive when we leave and to feel you have adequate security to cope with future assassination attempts."

  "That goal appears contrary to Jax's goals," Liserli said, frowning. "After all, you are mercenaries."

  "I wish no one dead, even those that challenge our client, the Guard, and me. I would rather they think me a heartless murdering bitch to be avoided and our client's death not worth the risk."

  Liserli laughed as she rose. I noticed Benita staring at me as we proceeded down to the first floor, into the security building, and then into the underground firing range. They had been warned the queen was coming as several security troops were in the area, but the firing lanes were closed and the targets were all new. Liserli drew the pellet gun she wore, then carefully took a firing stance and shot several times.

  "Would you like to examine the target," she said with a I told you so look. The target had five of the five pellets she fired in or around the bullseye. The target was set close to fifteen meters.

  "A very respectable performance even for someone in the military," I said nodding to her. "However, I would respectfully ask you not to draw your weapon if there is an assassination attempt."

  "You arroga
nt…" Her voice two octaves higher. She paused before continuing. "Why?"

  "Because the assassins would not stop moving for you to shoot, wouldn't be fifteen meters away, your pellets that miss will travel a thousand meters unless it encounters something or someone, and I would rather you didn't harm the men and women who would be trying to stop the attack." I held up my hand to stop her from replying. "Ma'am, it is one of the reasons most palace security doesn't perform well against assassinations. With your permission, I would like to give you a demonstration." I cocked my head in her direction.

  "So, you can demonstrate how well you can shoot?" Liserli asked, looking angry. She was a queen and not used to being criticized.

  "No. So, I can show you and Colonel Benita the problem."

  Liserli reluctantly nodded.

  "I would like several motorized rails set up at ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty meters. Then fix the targets on the rails. Paint two black targets on the ten-meter rail, two regular targets painted white on the fifteen-meter rail, one or two with red paint on the head and heart areas on the twenty, and twenty-five-meter rail, and three white targets on the thirty-meter rail," I said, and left Sergeant Toch to supervise the construction. "It should be ready after your meeting with the minister," I said. Benita looked intrigued, while Liserli looked defiant yet interested, not sure if this were a good or bad thing for her image.

  * * *

  "What we have here is one of many possible assassination scenarios," I said looking at the targets. "The two black targets in the front are your security. The next rail contains civilians who have been caught in the assassination attempt. The next two rails have four assassins coming to kill you, and the three behind them on the fifth rail are fleeing civilians." Colonel Benita and I have set up a two-minute assassination scenario and agreed to let her security try the exercise first," I said not wanting to embarrass the queen by letting her attempt the exercise first. Liserli stared at the range with open mouth fascination. As she did, two men in palace security uniforms stepped up to a line we had drawn on the floor after removing the normal booths. "The start signal is a blast from a horn. Benita smiled as she pressed an icon on her tablet. When she did, all the targets began moving accompanied by shouts, screams, and weapons firing. Two seconds later a horn shattered the air. The men drew their Mfws and stood there several seconds searching the maze of moving targets before shooting with their weapons on automatic. Benita stopped the moving targets and stood looking horrified, then laughed as she walked around the targets. Every target had several holes, some shredded, and only two of the assassin targets were hit in the kill zone.