Chancery Centre, Anis, The Archduchy of Anisia, The Holy Empire of Coxnord
“Yes, that will be perfect. Thank you. Yes. Thank you for calling. Bye.” Catherine pressed a button on her desk phone, terminating the call. She removed the hands-free piece from her ear and turned her attention to the computer. 25 unread messages. It seemed to her it had just been a moment ago that she had ‘zeroed’ her inbox. Oh well, back at it.
— Begin quote from ____
Dear Anton Dubchevik, CEO of the Veranian Conglomerate, and the Board of Directors,
Thank You for Your congratulations. The East Pacific is indeed a great region to call home and we look forward to developing ties with all of our regional neighbours.
HI&RAM The Holy Empress and HRH The Grand Duchess Mother of Oconia regret to hear that Your nation is unable to attend the wedding between Their sons and are delighted to receive word of Your interest in the processions.
The wedding and formal reception will be televised by Imperial Television (ITV). Perhaps the most convenient method of receiving the transmission will be through ITV’s free Internet broadcasting service ITVplay, available at itvplay.cn, which will be transmitting the live broadcast in its entirety.
Cordially,
Chancellor Catherine Decker, Head of the Second Section of HI&RAM Own Chancery, The Holy Empire of Coxnord
— End quote
“What’s this then? ‘Strategic plan for Chancery Internal Communication’. Right. Hmm, perhaps I could think about that one over lunch. Ah, a message from the Queen Dowager. Oh? What the…? Wha…” Catherine’s eyes widened in shock. After being paralysed for a second she pressed a couple of buttons on her desk phone. “Robert, I need you. Now.” She did not even bother waiting for a response as she knew how her fellow Chancellor would react to such a request, made in such a tone. Sure enough, the door to her office was opened, if ‘opened’ would be a proper word for describing what almost seemed like it was thrown off its hinges. Chancellor Robert Jones, a muscular, army-looking tall man in his early 30s stood before her, not even out of breath. “Read”, Catherine said and swung her monitor around so he could see the message from Vulshain.
And Robert read. “Right”, he said to indicate he was done, to Catherine’s surprise remaining his composure. “Don’t answer the Queen Dowager until you’ve heard back from me.”
Not waiting for any response, Robert bolted back out the door, through the hallway and into his own office. “Christian!”, he yelled to the Vice-Chancellor he knew was in the adjacent office, to which the door currently stood open.
“Yes, Sir!”, the Vice-Chancellor responded as he came running into the office.
“I need the location of Cox and Oconia, now.”
“Understood, Sir!”. The Vice-Chancellor ran back to his own office and after a few seconds shouted from within: “Cox in Imperial Palace, library. Oconia in office.”
“Secure Oconia in office! Stand by for further instructions!” Robert shouted and started running again, back out into the hallway and continuing down to the ground floor and out the door. He took up his mobile phone and chose speed dial #1, the Empress.
“Yes, Robert?”, Anne asked as she answered the call to her emergency mobile.
“My Holy Empress, authorisation requested for Major Red, Cox and Oconia. I repeat, authorisation requested for Major Red, Cox and Oconia. Motivation, quoting message from Queen Dowager, Vulshain: Ivor murdered by radical terrorist group, name ‘Republican Freedom Army’, threat on Queen Dowager, Cox and Oconia. Goal political, overthrowing King of Vulshain. Authorisation requested.”
“Authorisation granted. Oh and Robert”, Anne’s voice trembled, “take care of them.”
“I will personally see to it, My Holy Empress. Authorisation understood. Implementation imminent. Over and out.”
As the call ended, Robert reached the Imperial Palace. He ran up to the closest way in, a side entrance where the guards quickly opened the door as they recognised who it was running at full speed towards them. Robert made his way through empty hallways in the vast palace until he reached the entrance to the library. Coming to a full stop, resting for two seconds and then opening the doors to the library, Robert calmly walked in to find Prince Andrew Sebastian searching a bookshelf close to the entrance.
“Your Imperial and Royal Highness. I come on a most grave matter. My apologies.” Robert took a quick look around, confirming they were alone. “A threat has been made to Your Imperial and Royal Highness’ life. We are treating this with the utmost seriousness. The Holy Empress asks that Your Imperial and Royal Highness be secured. I advice that we move immediately to a secure location in Malmund.”
“Malmund?”, Andrew asked. “Does that mean…?” His voice trailed off.
“Yes, I regret to inform Your Imperial and Royal Highness that this threat extends to His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Oconia. He is in His office and I have ordered the First Department to make sure nothing happens to Him. I will soon make the call and have Him properly secured. Shall we?”
Andrew nodded, at the moment failing to react to what he was told.
Robert lead the way into the back of the library. He grabbed hold of a bookshelf and opened it, because in addition to being a bookshelf, it was also a door. The Chancellor and the Prince made their way down the secret hallway. Robert, as if he had never spent his time anywhere else, opened the door to a spiral stone staircase going down. As the two started descending the stairs, Robert picked up his phone again.
“Yes, Sir?”, Christian answered.
“Connect me to the person securing Oconia.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Hello?”, someone answered.
“This is Chancellor Jones. Major Red, Oconia. I repeat, Major Red, Oconia. Proceed to nearest secure location.”
“Understood, Sir.”
“Over and out.” Robert called the Vice-Chancellor again.
“Yes, Sir?”
“Major Red, Cox and Oconia. General Yellow, yesterday. Talk to Yellows. Consult Fourth, if Clean House, go to Second Bedroom and talk to House. Talk to Bench.”
“Understood, Sir”, the Vice-Chancellor replied, a bit taken a back by these orders.
“Over and out”, Robert said and ended the call. He and the Prince had now reached the bottom of the staircase. They had reached the secret underground station under the Imperial Palace. Robert went up to the empty, dark train and accessed the external control panel, allowing him to turn on the electricity and open the doors.
“Your Imperial and Royal Highness could take a seat in the suite”, Robert said, the rhyme not intended.
“Yes, I see…”, Andrew said, but added: “If it is all the same to you, could I join you in the control room instead?”
“Of course”, Robert replied and smiled a bit, liking how the Prince opted out of comfort for control. It would however have been closer to the truth to understand the request as the Prince not wanting to be alone.
Meanwhile, in Oconia…
The Palace, Malmund, The Grand Duchy of Oconia, The Holy Empire of Coxnord
Christopher had been surprised when First Department personnel had come to his office, citing orders to see to it that he was safe. But oh well, probably that paranoid Chancellor Jones up to something again. The Grand Duke was not going to let such a thing distract him as he was working on his wedding vows. Christopher was used to giving speeches and writing them himself, but not about such personal things. This would take a lot of time to get done, properly done. He could not deny being a perfectionist and while that did not make him the most efficient worker, people were always satisfied with his results.
A phone rang. What was that signal? That was not any phone Christopher used. One of the ‘Deppies’, as they were colloquially known, took up and answered a mobile phone.
“Hello?” Pause. “Understood, Sir.” The man pocketed his phone and turned to Christopher. “Your Royal Highness, I am afraid I have bad news.”
“Oh?” Christopher did not know what else to say.
“There has been a threat to Your Royal Highness’ life. The Holy Empress asks that we move to a secure location.”
“You mean under ground?” Christopher knew very well what location the Deppy was most likely talking about.
“Yes.”
Christopher did not say anything further. What was this threat? Why exactly was he being hidden? Probably useless to ask these Chancery minions such questions, they were on a need-to-know basis and Christopher himself probably had higher security clearance than they did. The group started moving towards the facility underneath the Palace.
All over The Holy Empire of Coxnord
Per Chancellor Jones’ orders, everyone in the Imperial and Royal Families and a few select others received constant supervision by the First Department of the Third Section of HI&RAM Own Chancery.