The Kaiseress paced

[Kaiseress Anandja I]

T'was a late summer evening. The rhododendron were in full bloom around Raynor's Keep. The Kaiseress paced in her study. It was one of the few rooms in the Keep she could go to now, with the guards from Dolor outside the doors. She thought about Baron Mortis, and his misguided attempt at treason against the throne. She knelt down in front of one of the large windows and gave a silent prayer to the Goddess Anandja for strength and guidance. The fire crackled. Somewhere in the grounds birds sang as the sun made its way down, sparkling over the River Elwynn.

There was a gentle knock on the door. Anandja arose, went over to the large chair by the fireplace and sat down.

"Enter", she said in as regal a voice as she could muster.

One of the maids of the Keep entered, curtsied and started dusting the large bookshelf. Anandja studied the maid, and had an epiphany.

"Girl, you look about my size, isn't that true", Anandja said.

"Oh, I guess I do, ma'am", the maid replied, blushing.

"I need you to do me a small favor", Anandja replied with a large grin.

-----

Bob Bobson was on guard outside the study of the Kaiseress. He had felt rather conflicted when his marching orders came from the Baron of Dolor, but he wasn't hired to think. At least, not much. Unfortunately, he had got one of the boring jobs guarding a door in the Keep.

One of the maids of the Keep, a rather pretty one Bob thought to himself, hurried down the corridor in front of him. She shot him a glance, smiled, and knocked on the door. He heard a faint command from inside, and the girl went into the study, shutting the door behind her. This was all standard procedure. After all, he was supposed to keep the Kaiseress from leaving, not to keep people from going in to her. If he knew one thing, it was how to follow orders.

The minutes snailed along. Bob Bobson yawned. Bob Bobson counted lamps in the corridor. He shuffled his feet. He heard a faint knock from the door he guarded.

"Who is it", he replied, trying to sound stern.

"It is I, Mary, the maid", he heard from the other side of the door.

Bob Bobson opened the door. Mary the maid hurried out, whispered a "thank you" and disappeared down the corridor. Bob Bobson looked inside the study. He could see the Kaiseress in her big chair in front of the fireplace, appearing to read a book, but by the sound of it, she was into a pretty exciting dream. Bob Bobson closed the door, and resumed his post guarding the door.

-----

Mary the maid skidded to a halt on the gravel outside Raynor's Keep. She looked around, saw a group of guards over by a low service building, and walked in the opposite direction to a rather large shrubbery. She fiddled around in her dress and produced what looked like a mini-walkietalkie.

"Come in, come in, this is 'Ladybug' speaking, does anybody read me, over?", she whispered into the thing.

The walkietalkie crackled.

"Yes, 'Ladybug', this is Captain Snagglebottom of the Life-Guard Division. How may we assist you, over."

"Yes, jolly good. I need an airlift extraction from east of the Keep, ASAP, over."

"Certainly. Await us within a minute. Over and out."

The walkietalkie went silent. The maid peered out from beind the shrubbery. The guards were still standing in the exact same spot, talking to each other and smoking. She made a mental note to never hire any Dolorians for the Life-Guard. Then suddenly, almost silent, a helicopter rose over the wall behind her and touched down on the lawn next to the Keep, out of sight from the guards in front of the Keep. Mary waited until the guards faced away from her, and made her way to the helicopter. The door in the side opened, she was offered the hand of one of the airmen inside, and she got in the helicopter. It rose quickly and disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared.

"Welcome aboard, Your Niftiness. I am under orders to escort you to an undisclosed MoMA facility not far from here, if that is okay with you", the pilot said.

"Yes please, do that. And get me Ardy on the phone, will you", Anandja replied.

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Command Centre, Fort Foley

"Great Zurvan be merciful you mean she is not dead... or in a position where she is liable to wind up dead at an inopportune moment?"

The adjutant nodded.

"This is a good thing right?"

The adjutant nodded.

"Hmm. Best have her call put through then."

The adjutant was tired of nodding by this stage and simply patched the call through without any further unnecessary comment.

"Hallo? Khan speaking. Ah blessed Imperial Majesty! Words cannot describe the sense of wonderment and elation that washed over me as I heard the news of your well-nigh miraculous escape. Where's the Stewart? Oh. He's err... on the road somewhere. But it's okay, he's granted me full executive authority for whenever he was out of contact... No... Sorry... what was that... I'm sorry it's a terribly bad line...copper wires your Niftiness... no... we can't run Veritas on fibre optics for some reason...Who?...Pardon? Red hot poker... in where??... No there's really no need to threaten me with that... Simply communications problem, there the line seems to have cleared up already - maybe they have allocated more current. Anyway I joyfully acknowledge your restoration to liberty and resumption of full executive authority. I will have the requisite codes and the shiny black briefcase delivered to your location. I will send my best officer, Mr Dravot, with the briefcase - he will be a most useful bodyguard. No, no need to thank me... oh, you weren't..."