back of a fancy car and having everyone treat you as if you're the greatest thing since sliced bread?'
They continued along the wide street until they found themselves at the gates of the castle that dominated the town. Thick oak doors strapped with steel swung inward to admit them, revealing a courtyard with beautiful gardens.
'What do we do now?' Leif heard Megan ask Graf von Esbach.
'I think a visit to the king is on the order of business, first and foremost,' the prime minister replied. 'And then, perhaps to the throne room. All the nobles of the land will have gathered to welcome their princess back.'
Leif brought the Mercedes to a stop, and Megan got out, removing her rather dusty motoring coat. She'd already taken off her hat and scarf while waving to the Latvinian people on the boulevard. Servants came rushing to take care of any needs the 'princess' might have. Von Esbach waved them off.
'This way,' he said in a low voice, circling around the inner walls of the palace. They entered through a smaller, inconspicuous door. A pair of guards in crimson and gold stood at attention.
Trailing along behind the prime minister and Megan, Leif, David, and P. J. marched through a maze of corridors. Leif wondered if the royal architect had been drinking when he designed the castle, or if the wandering halls were a security measure to confuse attackers. They certainly confused him. Here and there portraits and tapestries brought bits of color to ancient graystone walls.
'I keep expecting to see Dracula's brother-in-law come popping out of the shadows,' P. J. whispered.
'Let's concentrate on the real-life dangers,' Leif whispered back.
'Odds are that the conspirators know that Megan has arrived by now,' David said, taking on the situation logically. 'We'll probably have a short breathing period while they decide what they're going to do.'
Provided nobody loses it and tries to take out this new Princess Gwenda before she's really in play, a suspicious voice muttered in the back of Leif's head.
They seemed to zigzag back and forth for a bit, then climbed a circular staircase into one of the castle towers. This part of the castle had been modernized, and the hallways began to show a few creature comforts-thick carpets on the stone floors and even more tapestries.
Looks like someone might actually live here, Leif thought. They arrived at a guarded door. Only Megan and von Esbach went through.
The boys stood around for a bit.
Some minutes later, the Graf and Megan returned. Leif noticed that Megan looked very serious. 'The king doesn't actually look like your father, does he?' he asked in a low voice as they proceeded down the corridor.
'No.' Megan shook her head. 'That would be way too weird. The king is in a coma, so the Graf used our visiting time to prepare me for the people I'll meet in the throne room.'
A different-and equally confusing-route brought them down to ground level. This was obviously the public part of the palace. Everything was done up in grand style, from the paintings on the wall to the furniture to the guards standing stiffly at attention.
At last they reached a huge pair of double doors that not only had guards but a pair of uniformed flunkies in knee-breeches and powdered wigs. They'd have looked more at home as doormen for George Washington than for a twentieth-century kingdom. At the first sight of von Esbach and Megan, they leaped into action, opening the doors.
Megan took a deep breath. 'Wish me luck,' she whispered.
Leif didn't say anything-not out loud. But a voice in his head jeered, You'll need it
Megan swept through the door on the Graf von Esbach's arm, doing her best not to gawk at Latvinia's throne room. It wasn't as large as the virtual space used to house Net Force Explorer meetings-not quite. But the crowd of waiting nobles made up in color what they lacked in numbers.
/ always thought the turn of the century was a pretty conservative time, Megan thought as she took in the assembled throng. Guess I was wrong.
The wild fashions of the Fin de Siecle SIG should have warned her. Here, in veeyar, the costumes were even more extreme. Most of the males were in some sort of uniform, with an apparent contest going on to see who could wear the most gold braid. The glitter on the men was only outdone by the gleam of the women's jewels and the clashing colors of their court gowns.
Even without her motoring coat and scarf, Megan felt downright dowdy in her plum-colored velvet traveling suit. But apparently it didn't matter what a princess wore. The peacock-hued lords and ladies all bowed and curtsied as she made her way into the center of the room.
Where was the infamous Gray Piotr?
Over the bobbing heads Megan noticed an out-of- place group. It looked as if a shadow had been cast over part of the colorful mob. Instead of gorgeous uniforms, the men in the group wore darker colors. Their faces had a harder edge than those of the surrounding nobles-and the swords they wore didn't look like decorations. They seemed to bow to her grudgingly, and one figure in their midst didn't bow at all. He was in uniform, but his jacket and trousers were in shades of gray instead of the garish ensembles worn by most of the men. Light glinted off a monocle in his right eye as he gave her a long, thoughtful look. By now, Megan was close enough to recognize Alan Slaney. But like so many people in this room, he was transformed, and it wasn't just the uniform. His brilliantined hair was parted in the middle, and besides the monocle, he boasted a magnificent handlebar mustache that even now he twirled between his thumb and forefinger.
A villain's mustache, Megan thought. Which was only appropriate, since Alan had cast himself as the villain of the piece-Gray Piotr!
Alan moved from the spot where he'd been standing- right beside the throne, Megan suddenly realized. He advanced through the crowd until he'd almost reached Megan, then gave her a courtly bow.
'Glad to see me home, cousin?' Megan asked coolly.
Alan gave her another bow, clearly hiding a delighted grin. He placed a kiss about an inch above her extended hand. 'Let us rather say that I'm relieved. Traveling in foreign lands is always an adventure-not to mention the risks of riding the royal railroad.'
'Yes, I've heard my share of odd tales,' Meg replied.
His eyes were ironic as his gaze met hers. 'I only regret the reason that brings you back from your studies in Wurttemburg. Let us hope for a result that will spare you the rigors of rulership.'
A low murmur broke from the onlookers at Gray Piotr's words. Megan pitched her voice to carry over it as she replied. 'I am not eager to seize up the crown- but if the time comes, I can only hope to fulfill my royal duties as well as Gregor the king!'
Megan smiled at Alan as the nobles all around them broke into applause. His bow said that she'd won this round-but there was more fighting yet to come.
Court etiquette demanded that she graciously nod and accept greetings from the local aristocrats, so she stood on the dais with the prime minister at one elbow and Gray Piotr at the other. Von Esbach cleverly arranged things so that the bigwigs were first introduced to Megan's traveling companions. That way she had a chance to catch their names. Between those exchanges and the briefing she'd received, she got through the reception line without any obvious problems.
'You must be fatigued after all this unfamiliar effort,' Alan Slaney purred as the last noble couple moved away. 'Surely you would prefer to go to your own apartments and rest?'
'Only after my friends have been seen to,' Megan said firmly. She wasn't about to demonstrate that her unfamiliarity with her new role began with the floor plan of the palace. She turned to von Esbach. 'I trust suitable arrangements have been made?'
'I shall show you immediately, my princess,' the prime minister replied.
'Then I'll leave you to your… domestic affairs,' Gray Piotr said. One more bow, and he moved to join his hard- looking henchmen.
'Off to plot more mischief, no doubt,' von Esbach muttered, watching them go.
'We'll be better able to counter it if we all get some rest,' Megan replied in a low voice. 'Lead on.'
The prime minister led Megan and her friends through yet another set of corridors. 'I took the liberty of lodging these gentlemen in the Princess's Tower,' von Esbach said. In a lower voice, he added, 'Anyone attempting to reach the royal apartments will have to come through here.'
Leif nodded. 'So then they'll have to get through us.'
