The Last Suitor. A J McMahon
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himself laughing merrily at very little at all. He could not remember when he had last had such a good time or been in such excellent company.
In the midst of his merriment, a warning suddenly came to his mind, some advice given to him by his grandfather, never drink too much in the company of people you don’t know. So it was that Nicholas woke up to himself and refused all offers of more drink. He declared that he would take a walk. Tagalong thought this was an excellent idea, so leaving Tagalong’s “friends” behind them, they strolled down to the river. It was now about five-thirty, Nicholas thought, judging from where the sun was in the sky. As if asking himself the same question, Tagalong looked at his watch and declared that it was twenty past five. They would need to make their way to the party soon, Tagalong suggested. So they started to make their way across town.
Now came the time that Tagalong had been gearing himself up for ever since Nicholas had accepted his invitation to the party. He used the time spent walking to the party to reinforce the impression that attending a party such as this was a regular occurrence for him. Nicholas was sobering up, but he was still too much under the influence of everything he had drunk, and perhaps also eaten, such as those earthy tasting cakes, to be aware that the words Tagalong were speaking were forming nets through his mind that dragged his beliefs where Tagalong wanted them to go. By the time they were halfway to the Regana Palace, Nicholas had no doubt whatsoever that his newfound acquaintance had been handed his invitation to this party personally by a close friend of the fiancé Lady Lachance. Furthermore that Tagalong’s attendance at the party was crucial for this close friend to speak to Tagalong about a matter of personal concern to them both. Tagalong made it clear that a gentleman could not speak of matters that were personal and private, but given his affection for Nicholas, he could at least hint that his personal happiness was at stake, and he was sure that Nicholas would understand what he was saying without the necessity of saying anything more. Nicholas’s critical faculties were too dulled by drink, let alone those cakes, for him to doubt anything Tagalong was saying. By the time they had reached the Regana Palace, Nicholas understood that Tagalong had to attend this party as a now or never moment in his life concerning his future happiness. It was round about six-thirty and the warm evening was still golden with sunlight.
Tagalong paused and reached into his robe. He hunted about inside his robe, a growing look of consternation spreading across his face. He was looking desperately through all his pockets, turning them inside out, frantically going through pockets he had already gone through. Tagalong groaned and sank to the ground with his head in his shaking hands. It was a performance Angela Ashton would have approved of, and Nicholas was completely taken in.
‘What’s the matter?’ Nicholas asked.
‘My party invitation, it’s gone,’ Tagalong said, his voice muffled. He stood up, a wild look in his eyes. ‘It’s gone! Leggit took it. I remember now. He made me empty my pockets. Then you came along and I forgot about it because of our duel. Oh God! What am I going to do?’
‘Where’s Leggit now?’
‘He could be anywhere. I’m never going to find him now.’
‘Leggit can’t come here using your invitation, can he?’
Tagalong shook his head again. ‘No, it’s by invitation with a spoken code word to go along with it. But what am I going to do?’
‘Tell the doorkeeper your name, he’ll check the list and let you in.’
Tagalong shook his head yet again. ‘This party doesn’t work that way. You show your invitation and speak your code word and only then do you go in. You have to have your invitation.’
‘Try your code word.’
‘No, the code word has to match the invitation. Otherwise, someone could just steal your invitation and make up a code word and try their luck.’
‘Bad luck,’ Nicholas said sympathetically. He was disappointed himself that he wasn’t going to attend this party, but he accepted that this was now his fate without complaint. That was just how life worked out sometimes. What could you do?
‘It’s more than bad luck, Mr Raspero,’ Tagalong said with a desperate look on his face. ‘It is a crushing blow of fate, that’s what it is.’ Tagalong looked towards the Regana Palace. ‘Once I’m in I’ll be fine. Lady Lachance herself could vouch for me, she knows that this lady and I have an understanding. But no-one could get in. There’s no way past that security. No-one could get through. No-one at all.’
Nicholas was young enough to take this as a challenge. He took out his wand and contemplated the Regana Palace thoughtfully, making movements through the air with his wand. ‘I could get us in,’ he said calmly.
Seeing that his bait had been taken, Tagalong made sure the fish bit harder on it. ‘There’s no-one who could get past that security, Mr Raspero. No-one at all. I appreciate your offer but to tell the truth I can’t deny that I am a little bit upset by your behaviour. To make a false claim such as this when this is all so important to me is, well, it’s cruel, Mr Raspero. I must say, well, I won’t, you helped me today but you’re making boasts that you can’t fulfill if you will excuse me speaking so frankly. I am only speaking this frankly because this is all so important to me. I would ask you out of consideration for my feelings, not to make any more boasts of this nature.’
Nicholas turned and looked at him. ‘I’ll get us in, but on two conditions. The first is that you ask me no questions, the second is that you tell no-one about what I have done. I require you to give me your word that you accept these conditions.’
‘I accept these conditions, Mr Raspero,’ Tagalong agreed promptly. ‘You have my word.’ He’d stopped paying attention to any sense of honour years ago, so he had no hesitation in falsely swearing.
‘Let’s go,’ Nicholas said. ‘Stick close to me and do what I say.’
It was getting on toward seven o’clock, and still light, although the light was starting to fade. Nicholas led Tagalong down a side street to the palace. There was a side door that was so heavy with wand protection it had only two Force Nine guards standing before it, and even they were merely excessive given the wand protection involved. This entrance was reserved for the Royal Family itself, so no-one else was using it. The Royal Family had already arrived, at which time there had been close to a whole company standing around. The Force Nine guards were the elite, so despite knowing that their roles were merely decorative, they stood alert and at attention. Once out of their sight Nicholas waved Tagalong to a stop.
Knowing that Jolly would want a full report on everything that happened, Tagalong tried to pay close attention to what Nicholas was up to, but the following sequence of events happened so fast that only the outcome found a clear place in Tagalong’s memory. Nicholas was waving his wand through the air with an absorbed look on his face, clearly making a series of calculations, then Tagalong found himself being thrown through the air closely behind the figure of Nicholas, who was moving through the air equally fast. The two Force Nine guards were also moving through the air, but upside down and into the neighbouring shrubbery; before they had hit the ground Nicholas and Tagalong were at the side door they had been guarding. Nicholas had the door open and was through it, pulling Tagalong after him and closing the door behind him, all without setting off the alarm, before the two guards had even finished rolling back to their feet.
The highly trained guards, their wands held in combat readiness, angrily looked around them for the source of their downfall. It seemed to have been some kind of prank, but there was no-one to be seen anywhere around. They were too well-trained to leave their post to go looking around so they resumed their guard duty, still angry, but also uncertain. After some time, they both agreed to let the matter go and not report it, given that whatever it had all been about, the security of the palace had not been compromised.
Nicholas and Tagalong were in a hallway with doors to the sides. The hallway led to an open door beyond which could be seen a marble-floored reception area. Nicholas opened the door to his right and led Tagalong in.
An awe-struck Tagalong understood just what Nicholas had done. That side door had been