Chapter Four Hundred and Thirty-Five - Let's Not Jump to Conclusions

“Can the sylph embassy kidnap Caprica?” I asked. We were milling not too far down the street from the embassy itself. Hopefully we didn’t look too suspicious, but then again, we were on a street with several embassies. The Harpy Mountain and Mattergrove buildings weren’t too far away, which gave us an alibi for why Awen and Amaryllis might be out here.

There wasn’t a bun embassy, because as far as I knew, there wasn’t a bun nation out there, which was a little disappointing, actually.

“Legally? Probably not,” Amaryllis said. “But I imagine that a case could be made if they’re saving one of their own citizens. A noble, no less.”

“I don’t think Caprica would be happy about that,” I said.

“I can’t imagine she would be, no,” Amaryllis agreed.

“Awa, maybe we’re jumping to the wrong conclusion?” Awen suggested. She fidgeted as we all turned her way. “Caprica is... not shy,” she said. “If she was told that she wasn’t allowed to leave, or if someone tells her what to do, I think she wouldn’t go quietly. The embassy isn’t on fire, so ... she probably isn't being imprisoned inside.”

“That’s a good point,” I said.

“It is?” Booksie asked. “Your friends are rather intimidating, aren’t they?”

Amaryllis’ brows shot up. “Said the fiancée of a dragon?”

Booksie sniffed. “He’s a big softy once you get to know him.”

I clapped my hands, getting everyone’s attention back on track. “Awen might be right. Maybe she wasn’t kidnapped. Maybe they’re just handling her as if she’s a princess that went missing. So they’re making sure she’s okay, and has everything she wants. You know how the sylph are about their princesses.”

“I suppose that’s as possible as anything else,” Amaryllis said. “Which is why you should walk up to the embassy and ask nicely. Do you think you can do that without being arrested?”

“Yes?” I tried. “But I’d rather do it with you?”

Amaryllis sighed, and while it wasn’t quite as communicative as one of her huffs, I still heard the ‘of course she said yes’ in that sigh. “Alright, fine. But if we all end up in a cell, I’m blaming you.”

“We won’t end up in a cell!” I said.

With a skip in my step and an arm linked with Booksie’s and a surprised Awen’s, I led my friends over towards the Embassy. It wasn’t long before the guards noticed our approach. They tensed up a little, but didn’t set off any alarms.

“Hello,” I said as I came right up to the gate.

“Ma’am,” the guard behind it said. “I’m afraid that the embassy is closed today.”

“We’re not here for official stuff,” I said. “We wanted to see one of our friends.”

The guard frowned, then glanced at his companions as if checking for confirmation. “Which friend would that be, miss?”

“I’m Captain Bunch, of the Beaver Cleaver. I think some of my crew came here? One’s a cat person, with a nice hat? They’re a calico, I think. The other is a sylph.” I gestured tall for Calamity, then much shorter for Caprica. “About this high, a girl. She’s very princess-y.”

"Are you trying to dig for information?" he asked.

"No?"

He eyed me sharply. "Be advised that this embassy is sovereign sylph territory."

"Look, I just want to see if Calamity and Caprica are ok--” My words turned into a squeak as I was suddenly yanked forwards. I heard my friends protesting behind me as they were pulled in too.

By the time I registered what was happening, we were all on the paved ground in front of the embassy, hands linked at the small of our backs and sylph all around.

“Uh, I think there was a misunderstanding,” I said.

“Bring them inside,” one of the guards said. “To the cells.”

“Broccoli, I said I’d blame you, didn’t I?” Amaryllis said.

“You did,” I said as I was tugged up to my feet rather rudely.

“Well, I’m blaming you,” Amaryllis said with some finality. “And you, stop tugging so hard. You haven’t the faintest idea who we are, it’s idiotic to presume you can just bully as you want.”

The guards weren’t very talkative, or very friendly, as they marched us into the embassy with our hands held behind us.

“This is interesting,” Booksie said as one guard went around and started to manacle us. “I’ve never been arrested before.”

“I was, once,” I said.

“Broccoli, stop incriminating us,” Amaryllis said.

We were led into the embassy itself, which, in contrast to the building's stark exterior, was nice and opulent. Not that we got to see those nice parts because we were shoved down a side passage and down a staircase into what looked a lot like a dungeon.

“There aren’t enough cells for all of them,” one of the guards said.

“Put the human and that bun together in the large cell, the harpy and the ‘captain’ can go apart,” another guard said.

It wasn’t long before we were all shoved into the appropriate cages. They had floor-to-ceiling bars and metallic cage doors that were locked behind us after we were shoved in.

The guards filed out of the room, except for two that stayed by the entrance. The room was lit by a single magical lamp by the exit, and that was it.

“Well, that took a turn,” Amaryllis said.

“We’re going to have to work on our dinner plans,” Booksie said. “I hope it won’t interfere with my reading time tomorrow.”

“Do you always think about reading time first?” Amaryllis asked.

Bookie smiled. “It’s something Rhawr and I share. I can pinpoint the number of pages I’ve read by the rumbles of my stomach sometimes. It’s better than any clock!”

“I’m sure this’ll all work out in the end,” I said. “We do have other friends that haven’t been arrested, right?”

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be fine. Probably,” Booksie said. She looked up to the ceiling. “Assuming this doesn’t all collapse on our heads.”

“Um?” Awen asked.

“Cholondee was just bragging about how safe Port Royal has become ever since she took over ‘additional security duties.’ She might want to make an example of things. Honestly, we might want to use that as our ticket out of here, because the collateral might not be pleasant, especially if we’re the collateral. I’ve had a book or two fall on my head before and I came out of it entirely unharmed, but I’m not sure about a building.”

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I leaned forwards against the bars and looked towards the guards. “Do we get a phone call?” I asked.

They didn’t answer, not even to ask what a phone was.

“Well,” Amaryllis said, pulling herself to a standing position by gripping the bars, “that didn’t work out the way you’d planned, Broccoli. Any other bright ideas?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” I said, looking forlornly at the guards who refused to acknowledge our existence.

Booksie, who was in the same cell as Awen, looked contemplatively at the magical lamp. “Do you think they’ll bring us some books to read while we’re here? At the very least, it would be courteous, right?”

I blinked as I noticed Awen patting Booksie on the back, then I tugged at my hands, which were still firmly manacled together. How’d she get those off?

A commotion erupted somewhere upstairs, voices carrying down through the corridors in swift echoes. The voices grew louder, a cacophony of urgent whispers and stern rebuttals. The guards at the entrance seemed a little worried, but they didn’t move away from their position.

The door to the basement blew open, nearly knocking over one of the guards, and a well-dressed Caprica came stomping in. The guards stepped up to stop her, saw who it was, then snapped back to attention next to the walls as if their armour was magnetised.

She stomped over to the middle of the cells, looking at each of us in turn. Her attention stopped on Booksie. “Oh, you must be Broccoli’s bun friend, Booksie?”

“Hello,” Booksie said.

“A pleasure, I’m Caprica,” Caprica said with a gentle smile while more guards poured into the room. They really had a lot of those here.

Accompanying them was an older, distinguished-looking sylph man who was evidently struggling to maintain his composure. “Princess Caprica, I insist that we follow the proper diplomatic protocols. Detaining them was an unfortunate misunderstanding, yes, but we cannot simply--”

“Unfortunate misunderstanding? The embassy has kidnapped the airship captain that saved the king’s life, the niece of a world-renowned hero who is herself a genius, a dragon’s fiancée, and an emissary from Harpy Mountain. This isn’t a misunderstanding, it’s a diplomatic nightmare,” Caprica cut him off.

The diplomat sighed. “Very well, we will release them immediately. We can smooth this over. The dignity of the sylph nation cannot be compromised.”

“Hah! You should have thought about that before you had my friends arrested,” she shot back, glancing back at us with an eye-roll. “Now, open the cells.”

“Oh,” Awen said as she pushed her door open. “I, um, unlocked mine already. Sorry.”

“Can you do mine?” I asked as I turned to show my manacles.

There was a clunk from Amaryllis’ cell as she moved her arms around to her front and rubbed at her wrists. Her manacles were half melted on the ground behind her, the loops smoking. “What?” she asked. “They didn’t even search us.”

Caprica looked at the older sylph gentleman, who stuttered in reply. “We don’t strip prisoners here, not until we’re done with basic interrogations. In case they’re people of import.”

“I can’t decide if I should be disappointed, or who I should be disappointed with,” Caprica muttered.

“You should be disappointed in Broccoli, this is all her fault,” Amaryllis said.

“Hey,” I whined. It wasn’t my fault at all! That was just mean.

“Broccoli’s fault or no, we are being released, right?” Booksie asked. “I’ve always wondered what prison was like for the characters in books I read, but I was never this keen on experiencing it myself.”

“Yes, of course,” the diplomat said. “I must apologise for the inconvenience. These are uncommon times, and our guards are currently at their highest state of alert. It’s only natural that they acted as they did.”

I didn’t think it was all that natural, actually. Being nice and helpful might have been much more natural, but then again, I wasn’t a sylph.

A guard unlocked my cell, and I turned around for my manacles to be removed. “Thank you,” I said before turning to Caprica. “So, did you get stuck in here? Is Calamity with you?”

“He’s upstairs gorging himself on our hospitality,” Caprica said. “I swear, you give that man one plate of imported fish and he turns rabid.”

I held back a giggle. Amaryllis’ cell was unlocked before she could get too annoyed and melt through the lock, and then Booksie’s cuffs were removed too.

Caprica led the way out of the dungeon, her heels clicking on the stone floor with a mix of authority and irritation. Maybe because she was wearing heels to begin with. In all the time I'd known her, I couldn’t recall her ever wearing such things. And she was in a dress that was very much unlike the more military uniform she usually wore. It seemed like it fit, but wasn’t something I saw her wearing before.

Caprica brought us past a reception room above, with little treasures on plinths along the sides, then into a small library with a few plush couches set so that people could have a comfortable discussion. A hearth was to one side, a few crackling logs burning within even though it was hardly cold enough to warrant a fire.

Calamity was lounging on a plush divan, a plate of stripped fish bones balancing on his belly and a goblet of wine set on the floor next to him. When he saw us, he bounced to his feet, catching the plate before it flew off. “Captain! You’re free!” he cheered. “And Awen, oh, and another bun!”

“What am I, a footnote?” Amaryllis grumbled.

"You wouldn't believe the food they have here. It's like a culinary tour of the world. But, um, I was worried about you all, of course. I was planning a break out once I was done with dessert!"

***