They walked most of the way in silence. The halls were mostly quiet, despite there being a major ball coming up.

“Will the ambassador be returning to his position soon?” Quinton asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Sorry?”

“Do you think the ambassador will be returning to his position soon?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” she answered in reply.

He stopped in his tracks and looked questioningly at her. “Before, you said that you were standing as a temporary replacement for the real ambassador.”

Oh shoot. Her first day here and she was already making mistakes. “Ah, that ambassador. I’m not entirely sure to be honest. Like I said, I haven’t been told that many details.”

“Right.”

They walked the rest of the way to her room in silence. Quinton, going over what she said in his head, and Ailith, afraid of opening her mouth and blurting something suspicious.

“I’ll leave you here, then.” He said when they reached her room.

“Yes, that would be fine. Thank you, your highness.”

He simply gave her a brief nod and went to do his own business.

Ailith headed towards the washroom, eager to finally have a break from the royal family and their overly polite mannerisms. She turned on the shower and cleansed herself as best she could. A shower felt super refreshing after having to spend nearly 15 hours in a claustrophobic plane and then, having to deal with the royal family. She had to admit, it was hard talking to them with a smile on her face, knowing her true intentions. Perhaps even in the future of her stay in the palace, her bedroom would be the only place she would be able to seek privacy and comfort. “Ah, so refreshing.”

Ailith stepped out of the washroom feeling whole again but it was soon to dissipate when she saw Alex sitting on her couch. He was reading some kind of strategic book.

“Hey, you’re done?-” he said, as he turned his head to face her.

“Ah! Why are you in my room?” she asked, jumping back to grab a towel, anything to cover her naked body.

He turned his focus back to his book, the only semblance of privacy he would allow her. “Why shouldn’t I be?” he fired back in return.

“I’m naked!”

“That shouldn’t be your biggest concern at the moment.” Alex said, his face turning serious.

Concerned, Ailith threw on a loose shirt and pants and sat down on the couch opposite him. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Sighing, he stood up, closed his book, and started pacing back and forth around her room. “Yes, something is wrong. Have you heard of the rebel group in this country?”

Ailith shifted to a more comfortable position on the couch. “Yes, the queen accidentally mentioned it while we were talking. Where were you by the way?”

“While you were meeting with the royal family, I was doing some research on this country. Turns out that recently, there have been several instances of rebellious behavior in varying sectors.”

“What does it matter to us?”

He whipped his body around to face her. “Are you an idiot? Think for a second why this might pose as a problem!”

She scrunched up her face. If he weren’t stronger than her, she seriously might have punched him in the face. “I don’t know. I-” Ailith stopped mid sentence as it dawned on her.

Alex realized it and nodded, satisfied. “Yes, precisely. As you may have figured, this could pose a great risk to our plan.”

Ailith tilted her head. “What exactly is your plan? I mean, after my role in it? ”

Alex hushed her. “Don’t speak of it so loudly.”

“Ok, but I think I deserve to know at least this bit. After all, I NEED this information to execute my plan, right?”

Alex pondered her words for a minute before he sat back down. Then got up, locked the door and returned to his seating position. “Ok. What I’m about to tell you is top secret information. You are to take this to your grave, do you understand? If you were to tell anyone, the government would hunt both you and the person down and execute you on the spot. That’s how secretive it is.”

Ailith hesitated for only a moment. “Fine. What is it? What’s your plan?”