With a slight thud, Liyzo landed the shuttle on its designated platform next to the entrance of the Star Palace. Of course, saying that he landed it was a bit much considering almost all was done by the assistant. Not that he was complaining. A couple of generations prior, him learning how to fly a shuttle would've been unthinkable. He was a mechanic, not a pilot, and no one had the lifetime to spare it would take to master two professions. Nowadays though, at least simple vehicles like shuttles were pretty much entirely controlled by the computer. As such, learning how to fly one was a matter of two to three days.

Still, even computers were never 100% perfect, so he still allowed himself a sigh of relief as he exited the vessel. After all the trouble he had gotten through to get this thing ready, the last thing he needed was something going wrong on the very day the ambassador was expected to arrive. At least while he was still in it. But now he had parked it, and some of the palace attendants had seen him do so and then leave. In other words, something happening now would neither be his fault nor his problem.

"Hey, aren't you... err... gimme a sec... Laso?" a voice called out from behind him. A soft, gentle voice he very much recognized.

"Almost, Milady," he answered as he turned around to Lady Nadine, "it is Liyzo."

The alien noblewoman seemed to have just exited the palace and was now coming down the stairs of the main entrance toward him, framed by two of the royal guards. She was also carrying a huge box on her back that was easily double her height. Why was she carrying it and not the guards?

"Can I be of your assistance?" he asked with a bow. He was not gonna repeat his mistake from last time, that much was for sure. The foreigner's expression changed for a moment - what it meant, he could not tell - before she started speaking again, pointing in the shuttle.

"You wouldn't happen to have another one of those lying around?"

Doesn't she have one already? he wondered. That was strange, considering it was common courtesy to give foreign guests a shuttle for their free use upon arrival.

"I am sorry, but I'm just a mechanic. I do not have the authority..." before he could finish, Nadine held up a document - a physical one at that - which stated that she could pick any free shuttle of her liking, signed by Her Highness herself.

"Very well. We have quite a few of them, but I'll have to check if there are free ones ready to use, please give me a Moment."

As he went down to the hangars, Liyzo wondered what he might have gotten himself into this time. Not that he had anything against Lady Nadine, but there were just so many strange things surrounding her. Why did she act so much like a commoner? Why did he never see her with her own attendants or guards? And now she was asking for something she should've gotten at her arrival, yet she didn't seem to be particularly bothered by it.

As he checked the console, there was indeed one that was marked as ready. While shuttles meant for guests usually received an extra inspection right before handing it over, this one hadn't been used since its last check-up and fueling, so it should be fine. Technically, it was a breach of protocol, but royal orders overrode that, so it wasn't his problem.

He quickly made his way to it and flew back up to the palace's entrance. As he landed, he realized the group had grown by one, and just a moment later, he recognized Prince Kiyrtin.

"Sure, I don't mind," Lady Nadine said, seemingly answering a question. "But how come... ah, wait, let me guess. Your sister asked you to not be here when the guests arrive."

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"She didn't exactly ask," the young prince retorted "but yeah. Also, she took my tools away and I couldn't get them back yet."

"Didn't those belong to the palace?"

"Which belongs to the royal family, so also to me."

"I'm not sure it works that way."

The prince merely shrugged.

"Your shuttle, Milady," Liyzo said with a bow after they were done while quietly hoping that this would be it. A hope that didn't last long.

"Thank you! Say, uh, I'd also need a pilot, are you free right now? O-only if you have nothing to do of course!" she hastily added. While he stayed quiet, Liyzo sighed in his mind. Many of the palace's servants were just as trained in piloting a shuttle as he was, why didn't she just ask any of them? Or did she possibly not know that and just asked him because she saw him fly it?

Actually, now that he thought about it, why was he so against it? Sure, there was still a lot of work to do, but nothing specifically required him to do it. As long as he was acting under orders, he had an excuse. Not to mention, wherever she wanted to go, she would probably stay for a while and then come back, meaning he himself would have paid free time in between.

"Nothing that can't be postponed, Milady. Where do you want me to bring you?"

"The... uh... umm... what was that forest called again?"

"The Suam Forest, Milady," one of the Guards reminded her.

"Right, thanks. Yeah, the Suam Forest."

Liyzo entered the cockpit and opened the navigation. The Suam Forest was actually quite a bit away, meaning this would probably take all day.

Welp, that's the payback for last time Hertin, he thought as he informed his coworker about the extra work he would have to do, that he was "sorry", but that he'd been "ordered" by a noble so there was "nothing he could do about it".

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A knock on her cabin door awoke Kykla from her sleep. "We are almost there", she could hear Qeylo's voice from the other side of the metallic gateway. The matriarch stood up from her mattress and donned her ceremonial garments before letting her assistant in. Since he would also be acting as her guard during her stay, he was now with full combat gear and weapon holstered.

"Well then," she said raising her arms upward. "May the Goddess watch over this meeting, and may she make Silgvani be reasonable."

Qeylo nodded. "Yes, indeed. Let us hope for the best."

"But also prepare for the worst," Kykla added. "She is, unfortunately, not her parents, so we might need our... insurance. Have your "friends" contacted you already?"

"They have, shortly after we got in range," he confirmed, pulling out a datapad. "They did have some interesting intel for me. A few days ago, when the princess returned from her visit to the planet Hsvegplia, she seemingly left the secure routes for reasons unknown. They were attacked, and while they were able to win the fight, pretty much all her guards died."

That was certainly interesting. It didn't directly connect to the situation at hand, but every piece of information was of value.

"Did your contact know who the attacker was?"

"Unfortunately, no. But there was no diplomatic fallout afterward, so the process of elimination would point toward the Kiroscha. I mean, you know how her parents are, if it was anyone in the alliance there would be one member less now."

That was certainly true. The alliance was mainly a pact of non-aggression, paired with some joint operations like guarding the hyperlane entrances. But pretty much all parties of the alliance had been at some point at war with each other, not to mention the large, fittingly named alliance war a couple of generations prior that had ultimately led to this pact. There was still a lot of distrust, which was also the reason why the negotiations of every new interplanetary trade agreement were each a war in and of themselves. Were it not for the threat of the Kiroscha, the alliance would've probably crumbled by now. And while the King and Queen of Hohmiy were overall pretty easy-going, they were VERY protective of their children. Had another alliance member attacked Silgvani, they would've sent out their armada without a second thought. And while news traveled slowly across space, Qeylo's contact would've definitely known that.

"But that is not the important part," Qeylo continued and showed her a photograph. "One of the dead guards had a wife called Kaiyla. She belongs to a former noble clan that fell from grace just two generations prior. Normally, she works as a maid at the Sun Palace, but she was amongst others sent to the Star Palace to help with the increased workload our visit brings. Judging by her gossip, she seems to be not very approving of the way the princess handles things. If we play our cards right, she might be convinced that the princess ascending to the throne could run... contrary to her interests."

"I play the cards, Qeylo," Kykla reminded him, "so you just focus on dealing them."

He bowed.

"Of course, Milady."