kitchen_maid | (no subject)

(no subject)

Amy sits at her desk with her eyes closed, and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Stefan waits, respectfully, for her to be ready to turn her attention back to the myriad of problems facing them.

"No word from Maximilian yet?" she asks, eyes still closed.

"No. I expect him later today. He's not an early riser."

Amy opens her eyes and moves her hand to her forehead. "No word from Lord Riddle and the others?"

"It's too soon for that, Amy. You know that."

"And Logan and Meghan?"

"No sign. We've searched--"

"Search it all again."

"As you wish." He pauses. "Amy, you may have to accept--"

"No, Stefan, I don't. Whatever it is, I don't have to accept it. Not yet."

Stefan looks like he's about to argue, but before he can, there's a commotion in the hallway.

"Stefan, please," says Amy, with a nod towards the door.

Stefan quietly turns the key, and then, dagger drawn and ready, opens the door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Logan takes a step back, holds his hands up. "Whoa, dude, hang on. We're on your side here."

"Logan, thank God," Amy says, coming around the desk. Stefan steps put of the queen's way. "And Meghan."

Logan gets a hug.

"Wherever have the two of you been?"

Logan looks at Meg, who nods. He takes that as an invitation to proceed with the explanation.

"Lord Julius is your inside man. He had a page - James Archibald's his name - working with him to keep tabs on you and on Perry. Julius fed information to Max."

Nodding at Meghan, he says, "Julius locked us in a secret room, where we found a letter that proves his guilt. We only just now got out of there."

And, somewhat apropos of nothing (though he assumes Perry will want to know about it when he returns), he adds, "The passageway to the secret chamber goes to the War Room."

Meg pulls out the letter they found in the desk in the secret room.

"And we found this. Your Majesty."

It's slightly awkward. Meg is a little less used to talking to royalty than Logan seems to be.

"Amy," she corrects, absently, already reading the letter Meghan has handed her.

And then reading it over again.

"Dear God."

She holds it out to Lord Stefan, who is waiting with badly concealed impatience to read it.

Stefan takes the letter.

“Why would anyone keep this? The details this spells out? All the meetings, so that you would be the one going to oversee work on the field, everything.”

Stefan puts the letter down on the desk and looks up at Amy.

“Committing treason is bad enough, but to commit it so . . . stupidly, it’s almost insulting.”

Amy arches an eyebrow.

“I’m rather more than insulted right now, Stefan. And I want to see Lord Julius.

"Immediately.”

Stefan bows. “I’ll fetch him myself, Majesty.”

He starts for the door, but Amy stops him. “Stefan? Be discreet, for the moment.”

Stefan nods and goes.

Amy waits until the door closes behind him, and then turns her attention back to Logan and Meghan.

"I'm very glad you're all right. Both of you," Amy says.

And then turns to Logan. "But the next time you ignore safequards I set up for you, and do something like wandering the palace under circumstances like these? It will be the last time you visit."

Logan opens his mouth to protest again, then closes it again. He's not used to Amy's Majesty being turned on him.

"Yes, of course," he says, as meekly as he can manage. "I'm sorry about that. Our guard seemed to have sort of. Um. disappeared."

"Still."

Amy has been very, very worried.

And then she hugs him again.

"Are you two all right?"

Logan again looks at Meg, who nods again. "Fine. Stiff, after a not-so-comfy night on the floor, but fine. And really, really glad to have been able to help."

Edited 2009-04-06 02:50 (UTC)

Amy nods.

"Good."

There's a noise from the hall, and she glances over at the door.

"Well, this shouldn't take terribly long, and then we'll see about getting you two something to eat and a place to rest. For the moment, perhaps you had best wait over there."

She indicates a place slightly away from the door, even as she goes back to her desk.

The door opens, and Lord Stefan escorts Lord Julius into the room. Two guards follow, taking position on either side of the door.

Lord Julius bows. “Your Majesty. I was told you wished to speak . . .” he trails off, nervously, as he catches sight of Logan and Meg, over by the wall. “. . . to, ah, to speak with me.”

“Lord Julius. You seem surprised. Were you not expecting to see them here?” Amy asks.

“No,” Lord Julius says, promptly, and then reconsiders. “Well, yes. I am, of course, greatly relieved that they have been safely—”

Amy cuts him off.

“You will stop treating us as if we were foolish, Lord Julius. Baron von Echolls and Lady Meghan found a most interesting document in the room you locked them in."

Amy picks the letter up off the desk and holds it up, so that he can see it, but not reach it.

“A letter, from Lord Maximilian to you. Detailing activities that we must consider treason and conspiracy against our royal person.”

Lord Julius shoots a somewhat murderous look over at Logan and Meg and then turns back to his Queen.

“Surely Your Majesty does not believe that I would ever—”

Amy holds up a hand to stop him. “We have no doubt your attempts to explain this away would be most entertaining in their creativity, we are not in the mood for amusement at the moment.”

She takes a step closer, looks Lord Julius in the eye for a moment, and then slaps him across the face, as hard as she can.

“If anything has happened to my husband, or to my friend, you will pay for it seven times over,” Amy says, quietly enough that everyone but Lord Julius has to strain to hear her.

And then she steps back. “Lord Stefan, if you please. We would have the traitor removed to the dungeons.”

Lord Stefan nods to the guards, who step forward and quickly secure Lord Julius.

“I arrest you of high treason, by the name of Julius, Count Fylderow,” Lord Stefan says. “In the name of His Majesty, King Algernon.” He nods again to the guards, and they begin to none-too-gently escort Lord Julius from the room.

The now-former Protocol Officer manages, however, to pause in the doorway. He looks back at Meg and Logan, contempt clear on his face. “I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids.”

And then he is unceremoniously removed from the Queen's presence.

Stefan waits until Julius has been removed, and then turns to Amy.

"Majesty? A moment, please?" he asks, with a slight gesture toward the hall.

"Yes, of course," Amy says.

She turns to Logan and Meg. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back as soon as I can.

"Stay here," she adds, with mock sterness, then smiles and follows Stefan out of the room.

Meg watches them depart, and then sinks down into the nearest chair.

"Well," she says to Logan, "that was . . . "

She has no idea what the word she wants here is.

"I think the word you want is, um." Logan lets the laughter he's been holding in out. "Hysterical. At least, for Lord Julius. 'You meddling kids.' God, I haven't thought that in years. I was totally waiting for him to pull of his mask or something."

For Amy, the word is more like 'imposing.' Or maybe 'terrifying.'

"I was probably going to go more with, um, surreal. Or bizarre. Possibly even insane," Meg says.

And then she smiles.

"Does this mean I have to start calling you 'Fred'?"

"Those adjectives are also applicable," Logan admits, grinning.

"Only if I get to call you Daphne. And maybe we could skip the ascot?"

It really isn't a good look for Logan. Or anyone born after...well. Ever, in the U.S.

"Just so long as you don't call me 'Velma,'" Meg says.

Because, okay, sure. Maybe she was the smart one. But that sweater.

"Your friend is, um . . . I mean, I know he locked us in a room and plotting the overthrow of a king and all, but I almost feel sorry for Lord Julius."

"Promise. You're smart, but you're also way too cute to be Velma." He's not flirting, just stating a fact.

Logan starts to make a glib remark, but stops himself.

Instead, he says, "You should be. Amy's -" He pauses again. "Tough."

He's not sure the word is quite right, but it's as close as he can get without throwing a lot of other adjectives after it.

Meg raises her eyebrows slightly, but, no, it isn't flirting, and she doesn't say anything.

"So I see.

"It's a good quality for a queen.

"I think this is the strangest experience of my life.

"And I really would not turn down a couple of hours' sleep on a surface that's meant to be slept on."

"It is. And she is a very good queen."

Logan claps her on the shoulder. "Should we go and see if we can grab a nap? I think our services are probably no longer required."

Because that floor was really, wildly uncomfortable. And he wouldn't say no to a few hours of sleep either.

Meg laughs.

"Honestly? I think we should wait for your friend," she says.

Just given the lecture he got last time.

"That's probably wise," Logan says, also remembering how Amy chewed him out. "Did you get any fairy gifts? Because you seem to be pretty good at wise."

"I . . . thank you. And I don't think so."

She settles more comfortably into the chair.

"Maybe while we wait, though, you can explain what that means. Fairy gifts?"

Logan grins. "Yeah, that sounds good. It's something you should know about Amy, anyway. Her backstory is pretty amazing."

So he starts to tell her about a beautiful baby princess with perfect blonde hair, who never cried, and the cantankerous fairy who gave her the greatest gift of all: Ordinariness. And how that Ordinary Princess came to lead an extraordinary life.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only