My attention returns to the note.

The first communication from the representatives.

Grabbing one of the matches, I strike it against the desk and bring the flame to the note, watching it burn.

How absurd to think that we could meet in my office. There are cameras in here. I stare up at one of them pensively.

Unless …

It takes me fifteen minutes to find the head of security, who’s outside with some type of technician, discussing models and makes of camera equipment.

“Your Majesty,” he and the technician bow when they see me, “it’s an honor to finally meet you.”

“Likewise,” I say, trying not to sound too impatient.

“What can I do for you?”

“I would like to go over the last several hours’ worth of footage taken from my office.”

He appears baffled by the request. “Of course. Right this way.”

He leads me to a small auxillary building a short distance away. Inside is a bank of monitors, all showing different images of the palace and the surrounding grounds. He pats the shoulders of the two men manning the desk. “Would you two mind handling Steve? He’s on the northwest end of the palace.”

They get up, startling when they see me behind their boss. Placing a fist to their chests, they bow and murmur, “Your Majesty.” Quickly, they exit the room.

Once they leave, the head of security pulls one of the vacated chairs up and taps on a screen. “This is one of them, and—” he taps on several others, “these are the other three.”

Pulling out a keyboard, he begins typing. “You said you wanted to see footage from the last hour?”

“The last several hours would be even better.”

He pats the chair next to him. “Take a seat. We’ll be here awhile.”

It’s dummy footage. All three hours of it.

I never see who placed the envelope and matches on my desk, and I never see myself enter and retrieve the letter. Someone went in and tampered with the video feeds.

Even after all this time there are holes in the king’s security.

Someone’s betraying the king.

We come to the end of the footage.

“That’s it,” the man says, rubbing the gray scruff of his beard.

He gets up, prepared to leave.

I stand with him, my eyes still locked on the bank of screens. “I want to know the weaknesses in the palace’s security, should there ever be an attack.”

“Your Majesty,” he seems startled, “I assure you, no such thing will—”

I cut him off. “I haven’t survived based on luck alone. I want a thorough understanding of this place—how many officers are stationed around the grounds, their hours, tasks, the weaponry they carry, what sorts of emergency exit strategies the king and I have at our disposal. And today, I want to start with the rest of the security footage and audio for the entire palace.”

“But your Majesty, the security footage alone will take hours, possibly even days, to go over.”

“Then we better get started now.”

The King

I rub my lower lip as I watch Serenity through the very cameras she’s inspecting.

My vicious little wife has taken a keen interest in the palace’s inner workings.

She’s a strange creature; this could just be one more way she feels she has some control over her situation. But it could also be something else.

Something that could come back to bite me in the ass if I don’t watch her.

Does she believe an attack is imminent?

Or does she have other reasons?

I already know she visited Marco’s Sleeper yesterday when she’d claimed she needed to retrieve her jacket.

I squint at her image.

I steeple my fingers and press them to my mouth. I have to acknowledge what I’ve always known: I have made Serenity larger than myself. She’s only rising to the role I’ve given her. Not just as queen, but as some sort of savior.

I call in Heinrich.

When he enters my office, I nod to my computer screen, where the footage of Serenity still plays. “Keep an eye on her, and give me updates on everything she does.”

My grand marshal inclines his head.

“Is that all?” he asks.

“Yes.”

I watch his back as he exits.

“Oh, and Heinrich?”

“If she begins to do suspicious things or breaks palace code, let her.”

“Even if it involves your men?”

I nod. “Even if it involves you.”

Serenity might be sneaky, and right now she might be secretive, but I have my men’s loyalty.

I want to see what she’s up to.

Serenity

I rub my eyes then pinch the bridge of my nose.

By the time 2:00 a.m. rolls around, my brain feels like it’s about to explode with all the information I’ve gleaned today.

Blueprints of the palace and the surrounding grounds are spread out in front of me. Already I’ve begun circling areas where I know cameras are installed. Some of them will need to be rigged.

I roll up the blueprint and set it aside.

A few minutes later I hear a gentle knock on the door. My pulse speeds up in anticipation.

Time to meet one of the West’s moles.

Withdrawing my gun from its holster, I approach the door. Whoever has been planted amongst us, I don’t trust them any more than I would an enemy aiming a weapon at my head. Traitors are the worst sort of people.

I would know. I have become one myself.