Elias was getting bored.

After Alexandra had left the room, the men began talking about other economic matters that Elias soon tuned out. He would much rather be going to expose the piece of trash—ahem—Prince Nicholas with Alex. 

"...and our northern intel has detected suspicious movement again." 

Wait what?

Jolted out of this thoughts, Eli looked at the two men for an explanation. The Duke's expression had darkened after the king's statement, and the king himself looked no happier. However, this did not make sense to him. Why would there be suspicious movement in the north?

Noticing his confusion, King Leopold began to explain.

"Do you know which countries border our own?" he began.

Elias nodded his head. After all of the Geography classes he'd taken as a child, it would be truly shameful for him not to know the answer to that question. The Kingdom of Iridia was a fairly large country, big enough for dukes to have their own fiefs to govern over. It was located on the southern edge of the continent and was bordered on the north, west, and east by three different countries. To the west was the kingdom of Belladryn, a place that boasted great military might. To the east was the kingdom of Moshu, a smaller country of mages. To the north lied the vast lands of Kokaror, the largest one of the three. The four countries were currently in a peaceful agreement, however, so there should not be any openly hostile actions from other countries.

"Yes my king," he replied. "But I was under the impression that we were still at peace with our neighbor to the north."

"You should know by now, Elias," reprimanded the Duke, "but our relationship with Kokaror is only peaceful on the surface. Sooner or later, they will want to expand into our land, and we cannot allow that to happen."

"Now now," King Leopold interjected. "we cannot be too hasty to jump to that conclusion or the fragile peace we do have will crumble. Currently, there have only been a few small accidents near the border. That would usually be insignificant, but I have received a report that suggests that Kokaror might be involved. The concern is rather trivial at this point, but we would like to crush any possibility before it can grow and become a full-on conflict."

"I understand, Your Majesty," Elias bowed in gratitude. "Thank you."

As he stepped back into the shadows, a knock resounded through the door.

***

Knock Knock

Alexandra heard a muffled "You may enter" from behind the door and stepped into the room. The men were all wearing somber faces; even Elias was frowning. This was concerning, but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind to be deliberated upon at a later date. 

"Your Majesty," she curtsied. "Father, Elias," she nodded to each of them in turn. 

"Please rise, Lady Alexandra," the king bade. "Have you found Nicholas?"

She shook her head. "No, Your Majesty," she murmured. "I have not. I had wished to speak to him about the accident and my past behavior, but I have been unable to find him."

The King seemed surprised that she wasn't throwing more of a fit over the matter, but he moved on quickly.

"What brings you here?" he asked. 

"I was hoping that I might speak to my brother and seek his counsel on a more personal matter."

The Duke opened his mouth to object, but King Leopold spoke first.

"You may both step out for a moment. I too have some things I would like to discuss with your father privately." 

"Thank you, Your Majesty," the siblings spoke in unison and politely fled the office. 

Once they were outside, Elias turned to Alexandra and hissed under his breath, "Have you found them?"

"They were together, as expected," she whispered back. "Nicholas and Lady What's-Her-Name are in the gardens next to the courtyard. The one with all the rose hedges."

"Alright," he grinned. "So they're in the Noble Garden. What should I tell the King and Duke?"

Her answering smile was equally as vicious. "We need to lure them to the garden. It is around time for afternoon tea. Why don't we take our tea in the garden?"

"Excellent, I'll go suggest it." they exchanged discreet high-fives.

***

After they reentered the office, Alexandra curtsied to the king.

"Thank you for allowing me to speak with my brother," she murmured. "I am certain now that I will be able to produce a suitable apology gift for His Highness Prince Nicholas."

King Leopold looked pleased by her statement. "So that was the personal matter!" he chuckled, surprising her. "It is most excellent for you to be thinking of my son."

She smiled demurely. "It is my duty as his fianceé to be at least this thoughtful."

"Good, good!" the king nodded. "I have also wrapped up the delicate matters with your father, so you may stay here for the rest of your visit today."

"Thank you," she curtsied once more and stepped back to allow Eli the spotlight. 

"My king," he bowed. "I apologize for the interruption to the conversation. Please allow me and my sister to remedy this. She has recently become adept at brewing and serving unique teas, and we would be happy to share that with you during tea time today."

"I don't see why not!" King Leopold replied a bit jovially. "In fact, it is around tea time right now! It is inappropriate to have tea with my guests in this office, let us go somewhere else."

"If Your Majesty agrees," Elias began cautiously, "I have heard that the Noble Garden is beautiful at this time of day."

The King looked out the window. "So it is. Let us go there, then."

As he called for a maid to bring the necessary items, he missed the way Elias and Alexandra exchanged triumphant looks. 

***

"...the piers have been doing exceptionally well as of late..."

"...Count Brotham has been quite arrogant..."

"...the Council is trying..."

"...we'll have to increase the number of guards..."

Elias and Alexandra hung back to walk together as the two older men continued to talk business on the way to the garden. Alex was getting more and more excited, but she quickly stamped it down and plastered on a neutral expression. They were so close! So close to annulling the marriage and avoiding the game's main doom flag!

As the group approached the garden, Alex could just faintly hear the voices of Prince Nicholas and Extra #1. Time to put the plan in action.

"Oh, Elias!" she turned to her brother, making sure her voice was loud enough to be heard by the king and their father. The two older men turned to look at her, but she pretended not to see.

"I think I can hear Prince Nicholas!' she grasped Eli's arm with an overly excited expression on her face. She inwardly laughed as she saw his face change from surprise to realization, and then to the gentle smile that showed he understood and was playing along.

"Oh really? Perhaps we could invite him to tea as well!" he responded, letting his words be carried to the ears of the two men walking ahead of them. 

With that, the two siblings caught up with the king and duke.

"Your Highness," Alexandra smiled up at him. "I believe my fiancé might also be visiting the garden today. May I go ahead to invite him to tea?"

"Of course," King Leopold smiled back. "It will be nice to have tea with my son and future family at the same time."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed cheerfully, exuding as much happiness and innocence as she could. 

She hurried towards the garden and entered. On a different day, she might have stopped to admire the myriad of different colored roses, but today, she was on a mission. Now where were they?

Aha.

There they were, sitting on a bench together next to the white gazebo in the center of the garden. Alex quickly hid behind a bush. It appeared that they did not notice her. Good. She took a couple breaths to calm herself and prepare to enact her plan. This was it.

She stepped out from behind the bush, gasped loudly, and let out a bloodcurdling shriek.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"