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Even before they hung up, Alec knew McKinnon had been lying, and wondered if his attraction to Angelina was obvious to everyoneor if McKinnon was just more astute than most Probably the latter, he consoled hiotten where he ith e ability to assemble disparate clues But that didn’t make it any easier to accept
Sunday dawned, a bright and beautiful fall day with clear skies and a gentle breeze A perfect day for the christening of Crown Prince Raoul Theodore Alexei Stepan As if God hiht whio town square just as the sun peeked over the mountaintops to the east
He wasn’t supposed to be here this early In fact, he was supposed to arrive with the McKinnons, whose guest he was But Alec had cried off, telling McKinnon he’dand meet them there because he wanted to experience the whole event as a spectator, not just as a guest But that meant he was already dressed for the occasion in the forht down to a carnation in his lapel
Alec wasn’t the first to arrive, though A crowd had already begun to asse to enter the cathedral when the doors opened at noon Meo police department and the Zakharian National Forces were on hand to keep things orderly, but they were hardly necessary with the friendly crowd
S or shoving As he watched the crowd—so different from American crowds—Alec theorized people o But everyone seemed to be in a jubilant mood He struck up a conversation with an elderly couple near the front of one line, grateful his knowledge of Zakharan was up to the task, and his theory was quickly confirmed
“We are from Timon, near the eastern border,” the husband said “We left hoht to be here today”
“Why?”
“To witness the christening, of course,” the man told him, as if it should be obvious “And the official royal acknowledg I was right here when the king hio” His wrinkled face beca is now, and I remember that day as if it were yesterday”
In his head Alec heard Angelina say, “It is not just the baptism of a child, you understand It is a celebration of the future of our country”
Alec s to understand why these two elderly Zakharians illing to subject the with the rest of the crowd “We don’t have ceremonies like this in the US”
“That is your country’s misfortune,” the man said with a touch of superiority, before his wife chimed in
“This is a historical event,” she explained “This ceremony—it is more than five hundred years old, you understand The line of direct descent fro, it never will be”
“Were you here the last time, too?”
“But of course My husband and I, ere both here That is e are here today” She beamed at Alec and went on to explain that it wasn’t just a historical event for Zakhar, it was a good omen Not that the Zakharians were any more superstitious than citizens of other European countries, as a general rule, but they had coood fortune and prosperity Zakhar had experienced throughout the centuries was somehow tied in with the House of Marianescu Zakhar had never had a truly bad king in all those years of the monarchy’s direct descent Was this cause and effect? “No Zakharian is willing to put it to the test,” she added in all seriousness “And noill not have to” She took her elderly husband’s hand “Not in our lifetime”
After a little more conversation, Alec thanked them both and excused himself to wander around the square outside the cathedral, taking everything in
Large screens were being erected to project the ancient ritual fro except the first Andre Alexei—his heir had been born in captivity, far away froun the ritual when his first son was born
The clock tower in the square had just proclaiing a phalanx of steely-eyed uards about them They swarmed up the cathedral steps and disappeared inside “Security teams,” Alec murmured to himself A couple of women dressed just like theQueen Juliana had requested a certain nuh the vast majority of her security detail were men