Three months after our argument we were walking to a car in silence which had become the norm. We were wearing form fitting cider pants and shirts. He looked over at me as I got into the car. Some days he would try apologizing and others he would give me my space.
His parents had called him about the escort who I tried to keep from calling outside her name. She was trying her damndest to get a story out. My mother called every time her office of publicity caught wind. Her calls also came with criticisms I ignored. Ever since the blow out we had kept the balance.
I decided that silence kept the relationship from becoming violent. I would go about my day and come home without having to argue or pretend that everything was okay, and he got to do the same. Bernardo wanted to see how far he could push me to see if I still cared when I first started my vow of silence, but he realized that I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. We barely knew each other, I expected to know more about him than what I could glean from his outburst after spending months together.
I wish things were different.
"To reiterate, we are doing this outing so that everyone can see that you two are doing well, so we need you two to at least smile," Mileta said from the front seat as she pulled off. The smell of Bernardo's cologne diffused inside the vehicle, sending my heart aflutter. I wished my body would fall in line with my brain.
"Can we pretend to be happy together or do we need to cancel this outing?" He looked over at me, and I turned my head. I would have kept quiet, but we needed to put on a front for everyone. This was about more than my feeling, it was about showing the region we were making things work and that they should too.
"This is for work so I can pretend," I replied.
"Okay."
Mileta drove us to downtown Panama City. Before we could even step out of the car a dozen guards were surrounding the car. There were people all around trying to catch a glance at us. Alejandro opened my door with a smile before he turned to look at the crows with lethal intent. He always protected us with a fierceness I couldn't fathom. Knowing that he had a family made me wonder how nervous they must have been for him.
Stepping out of the car, I plastered a smile on my face and waved at the crowd. Average people were using their bio-companions to take videos and pictures along with professionals. I could smell salt water close by as I walked to the sidewalk. The scent mixed well with the food cooking on carts along the street. Bernardo walked over his hand out which took me away from my examination. I tried not to hesitate, grasping his hand, but I faltered. The last time we touched, he was holding me against my will. I grasped his bigger hands in mine with a wider smile.
Not just about you.
"Let's move," Mileta said. She walked, and we followed behind her. We kept a slow pace, allowing me to take in the glass architecture that made up the city. There were pepperings of stone buildings that had stood for hundreds of years. The old world might not have had magic, but they were smart enough to carve a path from ocean to ocean and build things that could last for thousands of years with their bare hands.
Our guards were moving their heads around like oscillating fans. Every movement a citizen made they categorized and logged in their heads. The people did not seem worried by them. They kept waving and smiling at us. I tried to look them all in the eye and smile, but it was impossible. I wanted them to know I was serious about seeing them as important. It would be impossible to convince them all that I was looking out for them, but if I could get a handful, that would be a job well done.
We walked around for a couple hours. We saw shops that sold varying types of merchandise and looked out over the canal. The sun hitting the clear turquoise water was something out of a painting. Though the views and people were nice, my body was calling for food and it was not discreet.
"Are you hungry," Bernardo asked while Mileta helped us navigate the streets. "I am too, also the guards could use a break," he said. I looked up at him, trying to not seem hostile. He was keeping things professional. A normal spouse would make sure that their partner was comfortable.
"I could eat."
"Alejandro what's around here that's not Panamanian food? No offense, but I am tired of eating the same things?" Alejandro chuckled at his statement. "There's a barbeque place not too far from here."
"That will work," I spoke up. Alejandro took the lead and Mileta fell back so he could show us to the restaurant. It was not a far walk, maybe five minutes, and when we arrived the sweet smell of smoke and molasses hit me. My mouth watered immediately upon smelling that delicious scent. The moment we stepped inside, everyone bowed. An overzealous waitress ran over, causing the guards to raise their guns. I lifted my free hands and got them to lower their weapons.
"I'm sorry. I would love the opportunity to serve our royalty," she said in Spanish. I could see patrons smiling and capturing the moment. I flashed them a smile and gave the room a greeting. "Hello, hope you all are enjoying your meals."
"It would delight us to be served by you," I said, turning to the waitress. She smiled before motioning for us to follow her to the back of the restaurant. She waited for us to sit at a large wooden table. For the first time my hand parted from Bernardo's as we took positions in the center next to one another. When we sat, the guards found places and waited for us to move.
"We will take everything on the menu platter style along with four pitchers of water," Bernardo said. The waitress nodded before she ran off to the kitchen.
"You guys are doing well. I've been scanning the media and people are calling you humble for speaking to everyone and going into even the less posh stores," Mileta whispered.
"That's good," I said before scrolling through social media myself. I needed to see the other side of what people were saying as much as I needed the positive. As I scrolled, it surprised me to see that there wasn't much being said against us. There were some skeptics who thought the marriage was a sham. That wasn't a lie, so it didn't bother me too much. Also, there were the anti-monarchy groups who were calling our entire existence an abomination.
Not long after I started scrolling the delicious aroma of sweet barbeque sauce and the sound of sizzling meat entered the room. I powered my device down and looked over as the full staff carried over our food on silver platters. Before they could walk over a female guard with a buzzed head walked over and waved her hands over the food stopping the staff in their tracks.
"Why is this food poisoning? The attempted murder of a monarch is punishable by death," she spoke in a burly voice.
"Excuse me?" Bernard stood along with the other guards. There was a lengthy pause until Bernardo began burning. It felt like gravity had increased in the room.
"Please forgive us... these... these men in the back told us to bring it to you like this," the waitress that had greeted us screamed. Tears were running down her pale face and her brown hair was dishevelled like she was pulling at it before coming from the kitchen. She dropped her platter of grilled chicken wings and took off running for the door, only for a gunshot to follow her. It took only a few seconds for her lifeless body to drop and blood to pull around her.
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't stand or speak. "Everyone out," Mileta said before jumping in front of me.
"Guns up, fire to kill," Alejandro ordered as the civilians cleared out, shielding themselves as best as they could. As soon as the last civilian was out men in identity concealing garments ran out of the kitchen with either guns or spell activated.
"Die bitches," one of them shouted in an accent I couldn't place. I knew it wasn't Latin or Caribbean. He went to shoot, but a guard shot him down. His body fell hard against the terracotta colored tiles. With the dropping of the first guy, all hell broke loose. Gunshots flooded the medium-sized building, and spells went flying. I watched a man who was brave or stupid attempt to rush Mileta who I had never seen in action.
The masculine figure ran up to her and caught a palm to the chest followed by a fist that sent him flying into a wall with a crunch so loud the gunshots sounded like whispers in comparison. She told me during one of our workouts that velocity magic could augment strength. I never guessed how much it could augment her physicality.
To my left Alejandro was pushing bullets away from his subordinates and Bernardo. Bernardo was looking at the carnage with a weird mix of excitement and rage. More men rushed into the dining hall, which could change the status of us having no strategies. He looked over at me and motioned for me to get down with a balled fist. I slid out of the chair and hunched over under the table. He stared until I was safely covered from whatever he was about to do.
"Ah," he shouted as a grey light emanated around him. The sound of metal grating against other pieces of metal pierced my ears. In the gym the sound was a warning, now it was a war cry. I watched in fear as spiked iron chains manifested in the air. He calmed himself, and I knew what was coming. I had seen his brother do the same thing on footage from the battlefield. The historians called it The Plague of Iron.
"Nobody calls me or my husband a bitch." I watched in amazement as an insignificant speck of iron rose and rushed towards the faces of our enemies like a blanket before he changed the metal into a shiny liquid metal that had the men writhing in pain as they slowly suffocated.
The number of terrorists diminished, but it seemed like more was coming despite how quickly they were dropping against expertly trained guards. Something was wrong, and the sensor was busy fighting so I would have to take her place. Focusing mana on my eyes and around me I activated my God's Eye. I looked around and found a man wearing a white formless mask and black clothing near the back door, duplicating himself in identity concealing clothing. Duplication wasn't a top level magic, but it was proving to be a utility.
"Guys, there is a duplicator at the door near the kitchen door. He will not stop until he's burnt out or taken down," I shouted over the noise. The gun shots became sparse as the guards ran out of bullets. They began surging for the kitchen as I pushed my mana into others. It was an enhancers duty to strengthen their team's magic and physical state. There were two guards who were already enhancing one or two other guards, but I had the power to do it for everyone.
I took in the formation. The enhancers and healers remained behind those who could attack and defend. The other sensor; the lady with a buzz cut looked to see what I had to say. It was both fun and uncomfortable to be the one to relay information, but it was what my father trained me for.
"Advance forward, he's getting tired," I shouted. Melta was in front, punching her way through the duplicates. She hit one so hard that he went flying into the wall. I did not like violence, but I enjoyed being useful. Focusing on everywhere my eyes could see, I looked for conspirators while ignoring the rancid smell of blood. There was little chance that he was acting alone.
Behind me exactly ten feet away something was being concealed well. If I was just sensing what was around me I would have missed it, but with my God's Eye the area looked distorted. I pushed through the concealment and revealed a muscular woman with copper skin. She dropped the act as I turned to face her. She snarled before dropping to the floor and releasing a cylindrical beam of wood from the ground towards me.
I rolled to the side and saw the table shatter into pieces. The other guards moved to help me but I held a hand up. I didn't want them to get hurt. Standing, I took in a deep gulp of air while pulling mana and water vapor around my arms. With the water vapor under my clothes, I formed snakes out of water that slithered to my palms, opened their mouths and revealed blades of pressurized water. This spell was something I learned to impress my father but had not used in years.
I could see everyone turn to look at me as the snakes released a stream of water just as the woman shot out another wood beam in my direction. The water cut into the wood like a hot knife to butter. She kept producing more even as I brought my hands together forming a single stream of water. With my eyes I could see her moving a finger and the opening of the wood. I could see the splinters pointing my way and the way she smiled as they directed bullets her way. She waved her hands towards me, and the wood exploded.
"Myles," Bernardo said as he jumped in front of me. I could see the specks of his metal leaving the bodies of the clones and forming a liquid metal wall in front of me. With the roar of a lion, he turned the wall into a wave that covered where the woman was standing. In the back of the kitchen, Mileta caught the duplicator before he could run and broke his neck. I fell to the ground scared and tired.
"Is that everyone," Alejandro asked. I gave everything one last look before releasing the spell.
"Yes, that's everyone," I responded.
"You fought," Bernardo said as he crouched down next to me. Placing his hands on my shoulder, he squeezed my shoulder and put the other over my heart. "I thought you didn't fight?" He looked at me with care. He never did that. It also looked like he was scared when he jumped in front of me.
"I don't fight, but I defend myself. I wouldn't have killed her, I'm not capable of doing something like that," I said. I could feel myself heading toward fatigue as I looked around at the destroyed furniture and walls. I knew I was in shock. I could have died, and I never felt that fear before.
People wanted me dead as a royal all the time, but I was never in a position that enemies could act on. I did not understand how to process that, so I just sat on the ground and let Bernardo check me over for injuries.