“Move aside.” one of the guards said, the leader it seemed. He shoved her aside and charged into her room with the other guards.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded attempting to sound as diplomatic as possible. She hadn’t learned how to think or talk like a diplomat during training. If they had come with guns pointed at her head, it would’ve been easy but Ailtih knew she had to get out of this using her head. Trying to keep them from tearing apart her room, she constantly reminded herself to stay calm. It was too early to expose herself. Luckily, Alex was in the room with her.

Alex had bolted upright from the couch as soon as he had seen the guards at her door. He secured the weapons at his sides and put on a calm but eery facade as he made his way towards them.

Ailith watched him from the corner of her eye. Of course, he had done this hundreds of times, even deceiving her. If anyone could convince them to leave her room, it was him.

“May I ask what your reason for sudden intrusion is?” he asked the supposed leader.

The leader didn’t answer Alex and after throwing him a disdainful glance, continued shuffling through her bed sheets, searching for something.

‘At this rate, all the weapons will be found and we’ll be caught.’ Ailith thought to herself. She moved to include herself in the conversation but stopped when Alex placed a tight grip on the leader’s shoulder.

He whirled him around and glared into his eyes. “Don’t make me ask again. What is your reason for barging into the ambassador’s room?”

“The ambassador?...” a look of confusion passed over him.

Ailith’s heart skipped a beat. She could practically feel the tension radiating off of Alex.

The guard could probably sense it too as he opened his mouth in an attempt to reply before shutting it again.

It wasn’t the first time people had underestimated Alex and he took their lack of words in stride. From their reactions he could tell they weren't any of the higher up guards. In any case, they would be easy to deal with. “Do I have to repeat myself?”

Ailith was willing to bet that they had never seen their cocky leader speechless in the state he was in now.

“I-The princess reported a stolen tiara and we were ordered to search all rooms in the palace through whatever means to find it.”

Ailith scrunched up her face. ‘Princess?’ She had never heard word of another royal in Orbournth other than the ones she had just met, and no less, a princess.

“Is this how the royal family treats their guests?” Alex fired back in anger, although by now, Ailith could tell it was all fake. She herself had lied and acted many times.

“Well, if this is what’s to be expected of the kingdom, we’ll have to reconsider Aharea’s future alliance with the kingdom of Orbournth.”

The guard’s face contorted from confusion to horror within a second’s time frame. “You’re the ambassador from Aharea…” he trailed off realizing the grave mistake he had made.

“Yes, she is and tell your king that we’re done with this bullshit. I’m starting to notice how corrupt your guard system is. Just the other day, one of your guards denied me access to the palace after I went out on a stroll. Do they not know who and who not to let in and out of the palace? This is abominable and the ambassador has told me that she is sick of dealing with it. Our temper was on a tight leash to begin with. Tell your king that we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning.” Alex turned to her and his face turned sympathetic. “Miss, would you mind packing alone this time? I’ll do it after I deal with these brutes.”

Ailith was flustered. She knew it was an act but he was so convincing that she was starting to doubt her ‘lie catching’ capabilities.

Alex’s facade broke for a split second as he gave her a brief nod. No-one but her noticed and as soon as she did, Ailith scurried to her wardrobe. He meant for her to hide all the weapons. Of course Alex would have taken note of where all the weapons were hidden. After all, he wasn’t Clarice’s top agent for nothing.