His spine peaked, bulged from his honey colored skin. The sun caught the peaks and cast shadows over the valleys. His hair was a sea of black contained between two ears red from the heat of the room.
Myles, on his second day of recuperation, rested a lot. He needed the time to build his energy up since the fight. He had not exerted himself in that way before, so he was told to lie down till he felt sound enough to resume his duties. I was told to monitor his progress, which I did. I watched his state like a hawk. I was scared that I almost lost him.
During those two days they made me wait to have a meeting with the heads of the military, intelligence, and security. They seemed to think things I asked for were requests instead of orders. They were on some annual vacation which they did not earn. Their excuses for not returning were the nails in the coffins.
"Myles we have to go," I said. He turned over and looked at me before his almond-shaped eyes focused on the ceiling. With a huff, he got up, making his way to the bathroom. He went to bed without a shirt for the first time in our marriage and wore silk pants. I waited for him to finish before getting ready and then we rushed to the secret meeting room just off the palace grounds.
When we made it to the bare room, we took our seats among some department heads. I noticed that there were no military leaders there yet. My blood boiled as I sat looking at the door. There were no windows to the room, just white walls and a metal table with a few screens on the wall. A male guard who kept most of his face obscured by a large hood kept the room secure. Next to him was the official transcriber who would record everything that might happen.
Myles tapped my shoulder with a look, pleading for peace. He gave his head of the table to the head of intelligence, deciding to sit next to me showing that there would be no divide in our judgement on the matter. Our relationship had improved a little, but it also hadn't gotten worse. We spoke more than we had been in the last few months, but it wasn't about anything substantive. We acted more than messengers who relayed information from one family to another.
After thirty minutes passed, I knew everyone in the room could feel the rage burning inside of me. There was no excuse for keeping a future king waiting. Then they with this jovial spirit that I wanted nothing more than to crush.
"Sorry, your highness. Sorry I didn't see we had guests, your other highness. WE got held up earlier but we're here now," General Gomez said, her breath smelling of alcohol.
"I am not a guest. This is my land to rule, I handle the things you don't consider. Have you been drinking?" Myles said, with venom I had not heard since that day I grabbed him. He placed his hands over his mouth, "Sorry."
"You need not apologize, they work for you. Also, answer my husband's question," I demanded, while sitting rigid.
They chuckled before Almirante Cero stepped forward with a smile I wanted nothing more than to smack off his face. "Sir, we had a few drinks in Little Mykonos on our way here, it's no enormous deal."
"Little Mykonos is on the California coast," Aquila Montalbán, our head of intelligence interjected. Her gray hair shook as she moved her head to watch them all as she spoke. She was the former head of the Marines and being almost a hundred and fifty years old meant that she was the most experienced person in the room. She was more than capable of handling the situation.
"Yeah, we went on a long vacation." The male Army general spoke up for the first time. They all smelled of alcohol and cooked meat.
"I'm sorry to cut in, but they left the kingdom leaving no one in charge while our leader was in danger," Aquila said. The other men and women shook their heads. She was intimidating, so intimidating that she reminded me of my mother.
"That's fine ma'am because the same underlings who scrambled to take on your responsibilities will now do that permanently. You five are under arrest for fraud, money laundering, lying to a royal, selling secrets, and a host of other charges that the lawyers will go over with you. They will also explain that you will not be getting the death penalty but will spend your lives in solitary confinement and working off your debts to this kingdom." before they could get a word out a squad of burly guards walked over and placed them under a sleep spell. The squad carried them off like sacks of potatoes.
"Well," Myles said to clear the air.
"Madame Aquila, please fill us in on who attacked us," I said moving the conversation along.
"Initially, I was surprised they didn't speak to you about this earlier, but after seeing that display I'm surprised they could tell you their names. Panama had had an issue with fugitives from around the world coming through the canal and causing anarchy. The problem escalated when they formed a larger group and called themselves Muerte de la Corona."
"Who were the two at the restaurant? How high are they on the totem pole," I asked.
"The male was Siluck Keodara, am Asian fugitive known for making small battalions for many terrorist groups in the Empire after being a contract killer under the Empire's employment. He was not a prime priority target on our list. They used him for a manpower list. We sent out a death confirmation not to the Empire but haven't received a response." I nodded at the information. To my side, Myles was using his companion to type out notes we couldn't see.
"The woman was Shriya Volavola of Oceania. She was a hired assassin with decent espionage skills. Oceania accused her of selling secrets from her father, who worked in their energy department. Neither of them were high on the international police fugitive list, but it is good to have them off the street. I'm just sorry a woman died while we did it."
"How is the public being protected? I don't wasn't another person killed by these barbarians." Myles stopped typing and waited for the answer. His voice cracked as he spoke, which was honestly adorable.
"Well, they haven't attacked people outside of that isolated incident. We don't want to poke the bear, as you Northerners say," The head of security spoke. He was a short man with ebony skin and wore a brown suit which contrasted with all the black everyone else wore.
"Haven't doesn't always equate to wouldn't. Not having a plan for when things turn pear shaped doesn't work for me," he replied.
"This is true. We can set up patrols along the coast and in the city. They enter through the canal and beaches. If we increase patrols in those areas we can capture potential members from sneaking into our lands. I don't know how we will capture or return powerful members to their host nations, but I can work with well-trained trappers and interrogators to tie in loose ends," the man replied. Unlike the others in the room, he looked Myles in the eye when he spoke.
"What about the slums on the outskirts and farming regions far from the canal? There are many disenfranchised citizens who would be susceptible to coercion," Myles shot back. He was the biggest defender of the favelas.
"Well, we can set up perimeter scans."
"Or, you can have an integrated service which should be easy since most of the military members," he suggested. It was an order which was still rare for him to give. Most things he said came out as a question.
"I will get on that, sir." Myles nodded at him. "Thank you."
"Who is the leader?" I looked back to Aquila.
"They don't have an official leader, which is an outstanding thing. Without a centralized head we can pick them off easier. It also makes it easier to spread thoughts of division. The highest-valued target is Kimberly Armor, a North American fugitive." Myles raised his hand to speak.
"That woman took down a school in Montana. She bombed an elementary school and killed nine hundred children," Myles said, his hands balled in front of him.
"Yes, we believe she is hiding here, but we don't have visuals or sensing to confirm her presence. Even when we find her she possesses a rare form of magic that allows her to spontaneously combust and keeps a barrier around herself," the head of security spoke again.
"She needs to be apprehended sooner rather than later. She could bomb another school or somewhere congested," he said with concern.
"WE can have a draft strategy in your inbox within the next three days. What we find works best is dynamic action," he responded.
"That works."
"That's my job," the man said with a smirk. His eyes lingered on Myles longer than needed. Shaking my head, I pulled away from swan diving into my feelings and wondered why it bothered me. It was disrespectful to flirt with my husband in my face. Yet, I hurt him and he had every right to find someone who made him happy. I wasn't even attracted to him, so there was no need to be jealous.
"Let's convene at a later time with plans to move forward. I will reach out tomorrow with a date, but expect to be back here soon." I concluded the meeting by standing up. Everyone shot up to their feet, except for Myles, and bowed. Everyone left, leaving us to wait for Alejandro and Mileta.
"They need to get her, she killed off a generation for a town for no reason," Myles said. I wanted to smile that he started a conversation with me but kept it in since the topic was terrible. He rarely showed rage and I found it to be the cutest side of him. It was an emotion that didn't match well with him, almost like a child.
"They will get here and the rest of them. We have the power of the North and South on our side," I told him while placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezed to reassure him.
"I need to rest when we get home," he admitted as he stood. He gave me a soft smile as he turned to the entrance as soon as our guards opened the door. I wanted things to be better between the both of us. I was tired of the animosity and needed us to be friendly. I wanted to say something at the moment, but my apology needed workshopping before I said anything. I just hoped when I had the script he would listen.