It was partly that he cares about his people, seeing to their welfare even though he could have been an international playboy, fucking women all across the Continent. But instead, I’d heard Tina and Kristian talking about the Roma, what they could do to help these impoverished peoples of St. Venetia, and the dude had some reasonable ideas. At least to our ears, he seemed willing to get his hands dirty, actually put stuff on the line to get the wheels rolling.
And it seems the feeling is mutual, Kristian sees my twin and I as reasonable guys, stellar warriors, handy with our hands, even better with weapons and good to our girl. So when the prince asked Kato and me to be part of his honor guard, we were torn, really unsure. This guy was supposedly our nemesis, and now we were going to be in his inner circle?
“What the fuck?” said Kato to me in private. “Are we really considering this?”
I shrugged my shoulders. Life was turning out complicated and weird. After all, Kristian was supposed to be our sworn enemy, Darth Vader to our Luke Skywalker, and yet here we were joining his personal body service.
“Listen,” I grunted, “it’s going to be fine. We’ll have unquestioned access to the palace as members of the Legionnaires, we’ll be in close proximity to the King, and that’s what we’re really shooting for.”
Kato nodded thoughtfully then.
“That’s true, I want that motherfucker to pay,” he ground out.
And so we accepted, taking the oaths, swearing allegiance to a man we were supposed to hate.
“Do you, Karl Smith, pledge your allegiance to the Venetian Crown Prince, to all he represents as the honor and glory of the country?” intoned the bishop.
“I do,” I replied in turn, bent down on one knee, my head bowed, one hand crossed over my chest.
And with that, Kristian bestowed me with a heavy gold signet ring, symbolic of the oath I’d taken.
“I, too, accept the burden, the sacrifice, the honor that you bring to this position, Legionnaire,” he intoned from above, completing the ceremonial ritual. And just like that, Kato and I become the newest body guards to the Prince, complete with stiff white uniforms and packing some serious heat.
But we hadn’t forgotten our plans either. King Georg was foremost on our minds, our long-lost father, the dude who couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge his own sons. So I called up Violet – she was a part of the plan whether or not she knew it.
“Mom,” I growled into the phone, “you’re still coming to St. Venetia for the ball right?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Violet replied faintly, her voice tinny from the long-distance call. I could almost hear her wringing her hands, agonizing about the decision. “I haven’t bought a ticket yet, maybe I don’t have enough vacation days …” she said, her voice trailing off.
But I cut in.
“We already bought you a ticket, Violet, no worries,” I reminded her smoothly. “Leaves Tuesday, we’ll see you here Wednesday.”
But Violet still wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly, “there’s so much going on, everything’s so complicated,” her voice trailed.
And I understood the hesitation. Violet knew that we were Legionnaires now, that we worked for our half-brother, that we probably saw our father on a regular basis.
“Do Kristian and Georg know who you are?” she asked slowly, quietly.
And I’d shook my head even though she couldn’t see.
“No,” I ground out, “they have no idea.”
And the sigh from across the ocean was loud enough to tear my heart, make it crumple and fold a bit.
“Well I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said slowly. “It sounds like playing with fire, taking this job.”
And I grunted then.
“I know Ma, but trust me, it’s fine. Kato and I are fine as Legionnaires, we make a good living, we’re well-suited to the position. So come to the gala okay? It’s doubling as our induction ceremony, they’re going to honor us, make it formal, pin us with badges, all that kind of stuff.”
And my mom sighed.
“Okay, I’ll do it for the two of you,” she said slowly. I knew she was thinking about Prince Georg, how she could avoid him among the masses of crowds sure to be there. But Violet, ever the trooper, sighed and put it out of her mind for the time being, focusing instead on mom stuff.
“How are you and Kato?” she asked gently. “Have you been settling in well? Making new friends? Have you met anyone special?”