An elbow hit to his chin made him bit his tongue.

I’m so happy!

He had slept abominably. Forgotten open at nightfall, the windows that had let in the hot summer night's fragrances were now bringing the cold of the rainy morning. He was half-frozen, on the right side of the bed, Feyra had pulled all his blanket and made a cocoon out of it; and half baked, indifferent to the cold, on the left side, naked, Heyra was hot enough to make both of them sweat. She was hitting a lot while she was sleeping. He raised his knees to avoid her knee collide with his groin.

My young lioness, my love...

She liked to scratch, bite, and fight while awake too, and it was that part of the night that mattered most to him, not the inadequate sleep.

He slowly crawled out of bed, careful not to woke them, pulled Heyra’s blanket back on her, closed the windows, and went down to the kitchen for an early morning coffee.

The cook was already there, awake.

„Morning, lad.”

„Morning, madam.”

They had inherited her from the previous owner of the villa, the former d’Ornian ambassador and actual d’Ornian Governor, and she was like family to them. The big round woman was now in her early sixties and treated the Royals as her kids.

„Sand-cooked or expresso?” she asked.

It was a tough choice.

„Both, please. I slept poorly.”

The cook winked and put a plate with pastries and the two coffees on the kitchen table. He took the morning newspaper. It was still about Media invading Balirbar’s main island despite the armistice. He sighed deeply.

„Might wanna do something about those bastards, lad, the Triumvirs. Tunnel them in the depth of the sea.”

„I must be discreet,” he sighed again. „I’ll have to consult with Dora; maybe she can come with an idea.”

When the villa was bought, they had a chat about how to keep secrets from the help. They decided to keep a minimum of people and let them know almost all about state secrets, even asked them for advice. Cooks and help were often smarter than learned university teachers in practical matters.

Better show them trust than have them eavesdropping and gossip all over. The bet had paid off, he thought, remembering those moments.

„Have to leave,” he said after drinking the last drop from the espresso.

„Might want to dress first.”

„Goodness! I forgot!”

He was still in his pajamas. The news and the memories of the last night had messed his concentration. A visit to his walking closet, and ten minutes later, he was ready to go.

He appeared in the courtyard of his brother-in-law's mansion, in the Big Island of the Archipelago. The Viceroy welcomed him with a not so warm salute.

„Common, seriously? You’re late again!”

„Do you know what hour is back in the City?” he replied sourly.

„Whatever. Come, they are waiting for us.”

A score of people had already finished lunch on the veranda, and the servants gathered the plates. After coffee and sweets were served and servants were gone, he spoke.

„Honorable members of the Grand Families, I bring bad news. I had to use one of my few traveling magic beads to warn you.”

He made a pause to let the drama rise. Traveling beads were the excuse to keep his tunneling-at-will power secret, and they were supposed to be hard to get.

„Yesterday, Media broke the truce and invaded Balirbar. Soon, they’ll reach the capital. In a month or so, they’ll destroy all meaningful resistance, and then... we can be sure that they’ll start conquering Balirbar’s colonies in the Islands. This is a direct threat to the Archipelago, so I urge you to occupy Balirbar’s colonies first.”

„Why should we bother?” asked Bhorr’s family accountant. „Media is one of our best customers, Balirbar, a competitor. Why lose our market just for some obscure political reasons?”

„You better tighten your buttocks next time you visit the privy, or your brain will escape in the hole!” shouted the Valditriadis family chief’s youngest son. „If they take over Balirbar’s plantations, what need will they have to buy our rubber, our coffee? This is serious. You can do whatever your poor retarded mind can, but we, the Valditriadis, will listen to the Prince.”

The insults would have ensured several duels if made among the City’s noble families, all in the military business, but in the Islands, people were rich, not stupid, and such taunts were considered polite conversation.

„I’ll make sure to visit your sister while you’re gone!” responded the Bhorr, touching a delicate matter without knowing. The young Valditriadis tensed for a moment, but afterward, he let the insult go, the best solution not to attract attention.

„You can visit me instead if you want!” replied a woman from the Aldeheide family, well in her fifties and the most shrewd of those presents by far. „You’re so dumb I could use you as a scarecrow in the garden.”

Istaìnn opened his mouth to say something, but the words were different from what he had intended.

„Can we take a break, please? I’m sick; the heat is killing me...”

He did his best to look shaky and indisposed.

„Sure,” answered his brother-in-law. „Let’s meet over supper; now’s siesta time anyway. I’ll escort the honorable gentlemen and women, you know the way to the guests' room.”

As soon as he reached the room, he pulled his communication device from his pocket. It has buzzed during the talks, and no one would have called him if not for important business, on the screen of the round pocket-watch-like device, his friend’s Lau face. He couldn’t hear any words; they were drowned in noises.

„Shup... shup... shup... Thump ... thump... Clinck”

Through the communicator, he connected mentally to Lau's place to remember the location’s magic coordinates, then closed back the connection and dialed another. He knew those noises. Steam machine-gun fire, walls, and glass on the receiving end of the bullets.

„Dora!” he shouted. „Lau is under attack. Can you give some help?”

Surprises were not a surprise anymore for Mrs. Guerrefido.

„I’m at home, but Diago is at the garrison training some newbies. At the garrison, we always have a dodecade of the special forces ready to go. Let me call him.”

„Do it. I’ll make a tunnel in a minute.”

„Make it two.”

He walked back and forth, those two minutes feeling like an eternity. At the precise second, they were over, he constructed a soap-bubble-like tunnel at the Guerrefidos’ home, one in the garrison yard and one for him.

He stepped out of the bubble next to Lau, obviously a foyer of sorts in a magnificent building. Instantly, he made a protective force field around the room. Dora, Diago, and the soldiers jumped out from their bubbles too.

„One machine gun next to that column, the other here!” barked Dora some orders, making her soldiers jump into action.

„What’s going on? Where are we? Who’s after you?”

Lau sighed with relief. He had a bow in his hands, and next to him there was Ulfsen, the dwarf, with a hunting rifle. All around, there were bodies, Lau’s guards.

„We’re at the Opera,” answered Ulfsen, „and they’re not after him, but after Ejlsa. Only she had abruptly left during the night with her flying yacht. No explanation to where or why, and her communicator was left behind.”

„And what were you doing at the opera so early in the morning, Lau?” asked the prince, frowning, hands on his hips. “Or better said, so late in the night?”

„My honor is safe, thank you very much for your care!” replied Lau sourly, because it was obvious his friend was suspecting him of courting Ejlsa. „Li-Hua came here yesterday to date a young guard she fancies. She’s quite wild for a westerner, you know, didn't return for the night, and I came in a hurry to pull her ears and send him to guard potatoes against bugs for the rest of his contract. But...” he sighed, „ as soon as I’ve arrived, somebody attacked. Bombed the garrison from a blimp, then blocked all center town with troops. I tried to go to Ejlsa’s palace to warn her, but they were blocking the way, so I had to take refuge here, just before they attacked. We resisted... ten minutes already. All my guards were killed, some... taking a bullet for me...”

Lau had tears in his eyes, and it was the first time Istaìnn had seen him cry.

„Brother,” Lau whispered, „I just hope she was not at the garrison when they struck. There’s nothing left of it... just bits of people everywhere, unrecognizable... Even if she returns home bearing child, I’ll be happy... anything, but not to have been there...”

He grabbed Lau’s shoulder.

„Keep calm. The garrison is the last place to be for two lovers. Do you think they would have risked being seen? If he’s a guard, the first thing he’d do is to protect her and hide together somewhere safe.”

„The guns are ready,” announced Dora. „The ones outside stopped shooting a minute ago, probably from overheat, but they’ll start again soon enough. There are preparing an assault; I see many men behind walls, trees, and bushes, everywhere. They are over a hundred.”

„Splendid!” announced Diago, taking his montante greatsword from his back. „Finally some fun.”

„As soon as they come, I’ll let the force field down,” announced Istaìnn. „After you take out the main force, I and Diago, we’ll go to Ejlsa’s place to try to find out what’s going on.”

„Common, it’s obvious! They are Medians or mercenaries working for them. They don’t want her meddling in their business anymore, now that they invaded. She’s hurting them with her operas more than an army,” explained Dora.

„It crossed my mind too. Here they come. Shield down in three, two, one...”

The two machine guns of the special forces began their song. Ra ta ta... Ra ta ta... Ra ta ta... Hugely expensive, using both magic and technology, they used explosion bullets and were meaner, faster, and way deadlier than the steam ones. They had much less ammunition too, so in less than a minute, they shut down, their barrels spinning from inertia. But in that minute, the rivals’ machine gun was destroyed, and all but a few enemies laid dead on the ground.

„Diago, with me, Dora, capture some alive, don’t let anyone escape in the streets,” ordered Istaìnn.

As they went out, he invoked protective shields over everyone, including Diago and himself. They strolled through the Opera’s park but met no resistance. Every soldier who could still move was trying to flee from their path, maybe because Diago was crushing the wounded soldiers' skulls with his boot, here and there.

„This was from the City,” he stated as he killed another. „From the nobles. A lot of the smaller families have no money and work as mercenaries. Bad decision.”

Ejlsa’s mansion was just after the park, as soon as they reached it, Istaìnn hissed:

„There are magicians inside. I can feel. The use of magic for wrong purposes is unacceptable; I’ll make an example of them.”

„Try not to demolish the building with us in it, please,” asked Diago. „ Need a weapon?” he offered a knife.

„I’m good. I'll try to stick to magic, but Feyra just finished a gun for me if the need arises. Like the one I gave Vellantina.”

In the hall, a gruesome sight, a pile of bodies. Every last one of Ejlsa’s servants, and her preferred tenor.

„Goodness!” sighed Diago. „They killed Rhodrigo! True, he was just a tenor, but still... he did not deserve this! I’m furious!”

„Furious is peaceful compared to what I am now!” growled Istaìnn.

A shade moved from behind a column, making a soundless sound which had some whisper yet in it, a sword being pulled out from its sheath. It was a man in his forties, dressed in western swordsmen's typical fashion, hair cut on half his head and put together in a loop, high heeled slippers. The man pointed his finger first at him, then at Diago, then at the prince and the ceiling.

You will fight with me and he with those upstairs, that was the meaning.

Istaìnn was already pulling his gun out when he saw the sad, imploring, puppy eyes Diago was making to him. Sighing, he went toward the stairs.