Chapter 12 - The King

Day 2

The next morning Kat was greeted by Beeves and Boris in the Princesses apartments. Kat had done the night shift and they were to watch the Princess during the day while Kat got some sleep. The Princess was going to visit her Father this morning and all three of them would go as her protection. News had finally come in late last night that her father was out of surgery, but wasn’t out of the woods yet. His recovery would take months if he were to pull through. It had already been arranged that the Princess would go and see her Father at 9.20 this morning. Shimel had greeted Kat with a coffee and she had just finished it when the boys arrived.

Boris greeted Kat with “Oh gosh Kat, you look like . .”

“I don’t want to hear it” Kat cut in, just to let the boys know she was still sharp, despite how she must look. 

“Morning” the women both welcomed. The boys now just a bit wary of them, blushed a bit.

“Would you like Coffee” Lacy offered.

“Yes, please” They both answered.

“Good morning” the Princess Rota said, as she entered the room.

Shimel placed a Coffee in her hand “Thank you, just what I needed”

“Ok” said Kat, “while we are all here, Princess, this morning you want to visit your Father”

“Yes Please” Rota replied

“Good, then we should try and leave in 15mins. I also want the boys to start teaching you some evasive mauves, self-defence tricks, it might save your life one day. I actually think you women will enjoy it.” Kat said with a smile.

“Is there anything else anyone would like to add, or discuss?” . . . There was a pause, “I’m available anytime if anything comes up. Princess Rota, Lacy, Shimel seriously. You’re not captives and we will work with you to keep your life as normal as possible.”

“Ok, Thanks, Kat.” replied Rota “Oh and would you all please just call me Rota, the whole Princess thing is getting too much to bear.” She smiled “maybe in public, use princess”

They all agreed.

Shimel put her hand out to Lacy, palm up, Lacy shook her head and pulled a note from out of the front of her dress and put it in Shimel’s palm, Shimel then put in down the front of her dress. The boys watched with attentive fascination, Kat was amused, Rota just rolled her eyes, like this was a daily occurrence.  

Kat then told the girls what to look for or hand signals they might use when they were on the move, also what to do if indeed they were under attack. She also checked they were wearing their vests they were given last night for today’s outing.

Princess Rota

We finally got on the way. I was so worried about what condition I would find my Father in. The whole thing was just so surreal, part of me still didn’t believed it. We entered my father’s hospital room, it was probably a waiting room they had converted so there was enough room for all the doctors and a couple of specialists that were flown in. They however cleared the room for me and I was able to sit with him for a while, holding his hand. He was so pale, and his breathing was really shallow. There were cords and leads running over him everywhere. I sat there trying not to think, I really didn’t want to cry, not here so I blinked the tears away and decided to talk to him instead. About nothing important, if there were bugs in my apartments, I had to suspect there were bugs in here too. After half an hour I ran out of things to talk about. So I stood said my goodbyes and kissed my Dad on his forehead, like he had done for me each night he tucked me into bed, a tear slid down my cheek then. I took another moment to collect myself. When I exited his room, I asked to speak to the head doctor.

“Hi Doctor. . . ” I quickly glanced at his name tag “. . .Toms, I know you can’t tell me if he will survive this but could you tell me exactly what happened.”

“Yes Princess Rota” The Doctor said with a short bow. “You father was shot with a laser gun, it has pieced just above his heart.” He used his pen to show a trajectory from above into a spot between his shoulder and heart. “During the surgery, we had to reconstruct some of his arteries a protective barrier to keep his heart together while allowing it to continue to beat. As well as clean out a lot of charred flesh. A surgery like this has never been done before and so we really are at a loss to know exactly how this will go. We do know that if he does pull through he will not be fit to rule for some time, his heart will be weak and won’t take the busy schedule expected of him. He will need to spend a lot of time resting, and the use of his arm is unknown.

“Thank you, Doctor, do you know who collected my fathers personal affects, I would like to retrieve a gold ring that is the set for this necklace.” Said Princess Rota. “Oh yes they are over here. You should just take the whole bag and keep them safe for him.

“Thank you Doctor Toms, we shall not bother you further”

Kat being privy to the new information of the angle of trajectory pulled out her comm and made a note for the core team to access. Once the Princess had thanked everyone for the care they were taking of her Farther they headed back for the apartments. Beeves and Boris in the lead.

They got back without any problems.

“Here” Said Rota, “here is your ring, I didn’t want your technology to get into the wrong hands.”

“Thanks for that Rota” Said Kat and she put it back in the case.

“Ok Kat said, Beeves, Boris I have all the surveillance and security feeds set up on the bench. Is there anything further. If not, I’m going to find my bed. I have my comm on though. Get on to me if I’m needed.”

The boys gave her a nod and she left closing and locking the door behind her.

“Alright,” said Beeves “Where in charge of the ladies”

The women all rolled their eyes. “I think we should fix some lunch” suggested Lacy.

“Refreshments anyone?” Offered Shimel.

“Oh yes Please” the boys said.