Thud! – Not so much a sound as a sensation.
Saigo opened his eyes and saw a ceiling, a different ceiling. Not the low stone vault of a cell, but a high one, with moldings and paintings some pastoral scene with nymphs.
He sharply pushed himself up on his elbows, scanning the room: spacious, bright, with velvet curtains. Expensive dark wood furniture stood everywhere, and at his feet lay a carpet so deep one could seemingly drown in it.
He had been moved, and he hadn't even stirred a disgrace, in a word. His jaw tightened with anger. The theory about a soporific component in that kiss or in the blue goo itself seemed increasingly likely. Such tricks were standard arsenal for seductresses and poisoners. Saigo pondered, worried that due to recent events he was starting to lose his edge.
"To hell with it!" he spat through his teeth and, with one sharp movement, jumped off the enormous bed. His body responded with a dull ache in his ribs and shoulder, but it was obedient.
On a nearby chair, a stack of clothes lay neatly. 'Well, at least they considered my style this time,' a sarcastic thought flashed. Black trekking trousers made of dense fabric, a similarly simple-cut shirt, without frills practical, durable.
On top of them, as an ironic accent, lay a small silver bell on a dark cord. By the bed stood sturdy, inconspicuous boots "just his taste," if not for one "but."
'And yet, dressed like this, I'll attract too much attention on the street,' he noted to himself. Black was the color of shadows, but in the sunlight, amidst a colorful crowd, it practically screamed, "Look, a suspicious character is here!"
'Clever, Katarina. Very clever.'
Footsteps sounded from outside. Many footsteps: some crisp and fast, others slow and relaxed... guards or servants. Deciding things couldn't get worse, Saigo picked up the bell and shook it sharply. The ring was surprisingly pure and loud in the room's silence.
The door swung open almost instantly. A girl in a strict black-and-white maid's dress, with the imperial crest a stylized Phoenix bird embroidered on her apron, literally flew into the room.
A long, dark braid lay on her back, but the most striking feature was her eyes large, almond-shaped, piercingly green, like young leaves. They looked at him without a trace of fear or obsequiousness, accentuating her stern and elegant face.
"What does the master require?" she asked. Her voice was even, deliberately polite, polished to a shine, perhaps even too flawless.
"Where is Katarina?" Saigo snapped.
"Her Majesty is away from the city on important state business," the maid replied without hesitation.
"When will she be back?"
"I cannot say precisely, master. But probably by evening, perhaps by nightfall."
"I see..." At that moment, Saigo's stomach betrayed him with a loud, rumbling growl. Hunger, suppressed until now, decided to remind him of itself after all the ordeals he'd endured.
The maid's gaze flickered downward almost imperceptibly. "Would the master like breakfast served?"
Saigo nodded, stepping closer. He was slightly taller than her, but even so, her posture remained impeccably straight. "Just see to it," his voice grew quieter and harder, "no foolishness, poisons, sleeping draughts, or other... kitchen magic. Understood?"
She nodded; a faint hint of confusion flashed in her green eyes for a moment, immediately smoothed over by her professional mask. "Of course, master." As she turned to leave, she heard his voice:
"By the way, what's your name?"
"Mona, master." She turned her head slightly, and the corners of her lips twitched into a smile not a warm one, more predatory. The kind a wolf gives when it spots a rabbit trapped in a dead end. The hint was as transparent as a mountain stream.
"I'll manage," Saigo said dryly, catching that look.
"As you wish, master," Mona slipped out the door.
Saigo wouldn't have had time to count to a hundred before the door swung open again. Three serving carts rolled into the room simultaneously.
The first was laden with meat dishes, eggs, hot flatbreads. The second sparkled with colorful jellies, pastries, fruits in caramel. On the third, teapots and a coffee pot steamed, and next to them stood a tall carafe of something clear, fizzing, and bubbling with effervescence like a miniature geyser.
"I did not know the master's preferences and decided to offer a wider selection," Mona explained, appearing as if from thin air.
Saigo nodded silently and attacked the food.
He ate quickly, efficiently, but not forgetting to sniff each morsel, analyzing the scents for any foreign additives. 'Could have made her taste it first,' a thought flashed. But that was excessive, and besides... unreliable. She could have been given an antidote beforehand. Despite all this, the food was simply excellent.
And that strange fizzy drink... He poured a little into a glass. The bubbles tickled his tongue; the taste was refreshing, slightly sweet, with a barely perceptible hint of something exotic.
'Very tasty, almost too much so.' He wanted more, but he suppressed the desire with iron will, well aware that one could be bound by more than just chains.
"Mona!" he called out, pushing the plate away.
She materialized in the doorway. "Yes, master?"
"Answer a couple of questions." Her pristinely flawless demeanor was starting to grate on his nerves, but Saigo's face remained stony.
"Listening, master."
"Am I permitted to leave the mansion?"
"No. Her Majesty Katarina has forbidden you to leave the estate grounds," she replied quickly and without doubt.
"What about within the grounds? Without going through the gates?"
"With an escort of guards and... me." The green eyes gleamed again with that same predatory light.
"Clear," Saigo grated. 'She still thinks I'll run... Ugh, I wish I could. But it's not an option, at least not yet.'
"Understood. Let's go."
"Where?" Surprise flickered in her voice for a moment.
"You'll show me this place." 'Information about potential... exits,' he subtly emphasized the word in his head, 'might prove useful.'
Mona looked at him for a second, as if weighing him up. "Yes, master. This way."
In the corridor, two guards were already waiting. Halberds, gilded armor, scarlet cloaks everything befitting the imperial guard. But something was off about them.
Outwardly flawless, but Saigo, whose senses were honed by years of survival, detected a dissonance. Their movements were too synchronized. Their gaze too empty, fixed on a single point ahead. A complete lack of the slightest curiosity towards him, the prisoner.
'Homunculi or enchanted soldiers. Interesting...'
The tour proceeded at a leisurely pace. The smell of fresh paint and varnish hung in the air the mansion had been transformed in a day. Everything breathed the expensive luxury Katarina loved: burgundy silk wallpaper, lacquered parquet with intricate carvings, heavy carved oak doors, shelves with porcelain.
And paintings, of course. On every second one her: Katarina in battle armor, Katarina on the throne, Katarina vanquishing a dragon... Saigo was sorely tempted to make a sarcastic comment, but he clenched his teeth.
'Not worth it. Unnecessary right now.'
The mansion was enormous. A labyrinth of corridors, doors, staircases. Two dining rooms (large and small), a huge kitchen, several lounges with fireplaces, a couple of studies (one, judging by the maps on the table, was clearly hers), a luxurious bathhouse with marble, and finally, an open-air swimming pool right in the center of the inner courtyard-atrium.
On the third floor, Mona led him out onto a spacious veranda. The view was magnificent: the estate stood on a hill, and the entire city lay spread out below a sea of tiled roofs, towers, plumes of smoke from chimneys, the winding river.
The Imperial Palace in the distance resembled a blackened tooth repairs there had only just begun.
After surveying everything, Saigo lay down on a long lounger in the shade of an umbrella. Outwardly complete relaxation: hands behind his head, face turned to the sun. For the sake of the act, he even sent Mona to fetch that same fizzy drink "soda," as she called it.
While she was gone, he discreetly examined the glass thick glass, a good refractive material.
When Mona brought the drink and withdrew (remaining at a distance, as did the mannequin-like guards), Saigo began to act. He sipped the fizz slowly, feigning nonchalance.
From time to time, he would "casually" raise the glass, catching a ray of sunlight. The glass acted as a lens. A small, bright dot of light danced across the veranda walls, the foliage of the trees below... Saigo drank, "dozed," drank again.
An hour. Two. He finished the second glass, carefully set it on the table, then picked it up again, as if considering pouring more. The sun was setting, the angle of the rays changing.
And then, "accidentally" turning the glass, Saigo caught the beam so that the dot shot towards the dense cypress trees lining the estate's boundary. He slightly jiggled the glass, tracing two quick crosses in the air with the dot the old Cotto signal: «Under observation, ready for contact.»
The reply came almost instantly. From the other end of the street, from behind the high stone wall, a responding dot flashed. It darted, described an arc, and... hit Saigo right in the eye!
"Ow!" He blinked from the surprise and mild pain. But inside, everything rejoiced. A smile he couldn't suppress touched his lips.
'They're ready, watching, and will come tonight.'
Satisfied, Saigo stood up and stretched. His mood had noticeably improved. Even the sight of Mona, appearing as if summoned, didn't spoil it.
"Serve dinner, Mona," he ordered, looking over her head at the darkening city.
Somewhere out there were his people, and soon they would shed some light on this game he had, through his own lack of agility, stumbled into.