Mazra Maine

9 days before--A murder

Of all the places Andrew could be, none were more infuriating than where he currently was. He was so close to where he thought he ought to be, yet he wasn't there, so he felt much too far. If he could just switch jobs, then he could guard Lydia's door, instead of her father's--

"This again?" Rolston asked, rolling his eyes at his partner . "Please, tell me again how guarding her door would lead to her falling deeply in love with you."

"No no no, you really haven't been listening. After guarding her door at night, I'll be moved to the day shift. Then I'll actually get to spend time with her, and we'll fall madly in love. Well, she'll realize she's in love with me, anyways. I already know," Andrew bragged. "Me switching shifts is just the first step."

"What if she never falls in love with you, though? She doesn't even know your name."

"Oh, she'll have too! I'll save her from a crazy low-level, of something."

"Right," Rolston scoffed. "Like anything actually happens around here. I mean, we're practically more for decoration--"

Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding ding ding ding dingdindingding.

"Is that the alarm bell?" Rolston asked, looking around.

"Probably just a drill," Andrew replied nervously.

"No, they would have told us at least, so we wouldn't disturb the Chancellor," Rolston said, looking up and down the hall. "This is real." He turned and grabbed the door handle.

"Wait," Andrew said, stopping him. "What if you're wrong?"

"Better safe than sorry," Rolston replied, turning the doorknob.

He jiggled it back and forth for a second, then turned to Andrew in horror.

"It's locked," they chorused.

"What do we do?" Andrew yelped, looking around wildly, as though a key would spring up out of the carpeting.

"Sir!" Rolston yelled, pounding on the door. "Sir, please wake up!"

"Who has us guard a locked door and doesn't give us a key?" Andrew asked, sounding lost, and hardly concerned with solving the problem at hand.

"Chancellor Roi!" Rolston yelled, throwing his whole body against the door, again and again.

Without warning, a massive man came barreling down the hall. He was so large, he seemed to fill up with hall.

"Maine!" Andrew cried. "Do you know what's going on?"

Ignoring him, Maine picked Rolston up by the back of his uniform, and set him to the side of the door. Then he crashed his entire mass into the door, breaking the wood before the hinges.

"Safe room," he said clearly, to Rolston. Maine then sprinted off, faster than anything that size should be able to move. Andrew stood there, dumbfounded, watching him leave.

"Wake up, sir! Please, wake up!" the Rolston urged, shaking the Chancellor from his sleep. He was already in the room. Andrew heard him, and eventually followed him in. "There's an intruder!" The old man rolled over, and blinked wearily.

"Really?" he said, sounding more curious than concerned. "After all this time?"

"Yes," the guard said, exasperated that his royalty was in danger, and had no intent of moving. "Mr. Roi, please, hurry. We need to take you to the safe room."

"Oh, all right," Roi said, as though he was agreeing to have dinner with someone he didn't like. He lay there for another minute, oblivious to the tension the each of the other men in the room was drowning in. Finally, he sat up, sighed, and slowly swung his legs off the tall bed.