"Morning, boys!" comes a familiar voice from the far side of the patio. "Care for a bit of breakfast?"
Big Julie is sprawled on a recliner, soakin' up the morning sun as he picks at the food laid out on the table next to him.
"Shhh! Could you keep it down?" Nunzio hisses, puttin' a finger to his lips as he hurries over to our host.
"What for?" Big Julie sez, still speakin' in that loud, projectin' voice of his.
"Well ... ummm ..." I sez, shootin' a glance at Nunzio who just shrugs. "To tell you the truth, Big Julie, we are takin' it on ourselves to bring yesterday's argument to a close by goin' after the queen before there is any further discussion. This effort will, of course, go to waste if the others hear you and emerge before we have made our departure."
"Oh ... it's too late to worry about that," he sez, casual-like.
"Excuse me?"
"They've already gone ... one at a time, of course."
"They did? When?"
"Well, let's see ... Tananda was the first . , . she left last night ... then Chumley took off when he woke up and realized she was gone. Massha ... well, she lit out about an hour ago when she found out the others had gone ... you know, that woman moves pretty fast considering the weight she's carrying."
"So they're all ahead of us," Nunzio sez, disgusted-like. "And here we thought we were being clever getting an early start."
"Well, there is one detail I notice your teammates neglected to mention yesterday," Big Julie sez. "You see, today is the day the queen holds her public court and hears cases and complaints from anybody ... first come first served. That makes it perfect for the kind of questionable deed you were discussing ... but the lines form early, both for those seeking an audience and those who simply want to be in the audience."
"Oh that's just swell!" I sez. "Tell me, Big Julie, if you don't mind my askin', why didn't you try to stop them?"
"Me?" he blinks, innocent-like. "I had my say yesterday ... and as I recall was unanimously told to butt out. That makes it none of my business ... though I'll admit I'd be no more eager to try stopping any of the others than I'd be to try to stop you two. Know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I guess I see your point," Nunzio sez quick-like, lookin' grimmer than I've seen him in a long time. "Well, come on, Guido! We've gotta hurry if we're gonna be in this game at all!"
Just as Big Julie predicted, the palace throne room was packed to the walls with even more folks waiting outside to get in if anyone left early. As I have mentioned before, however, Nunzio and me is of sufficient size that most folks give ground when we crowd them, so we are able to eventually elbow our way in to where we can at least see.
The crowd what has shown up just to watch is linin' the walls about twenty deep or jammed into the balconies, leavin' the center of the room open for those havin' business with the queen. Seein' as how that pack is standin' in a line which stretches back out the door, we have little choice but to join the audience ... which hides our presence to a certain extent, but greatly reduces our chances of a quick withdrawal after we finishes workin'.
"There's Massha," I sez, though it's kinda needless, as she is standin' in the line waitin' to go before the queen and is very noticeable in that company. "Can you see the others?"
Nunzio just shakes his head and keeps scannin' the audience on our right, so I start doin' the same for the crowd on the left.
Of course, I realize it is unlikely I will be able to spot Tananda, since with that disguise mirror of hers she can look like anyone she wants. I suspect though, knowin' her to be more than a little vain, that even disguised she will be both female and attractive.
Chumley, however, is another matter entirely. All I gotta do is look for a good sized figure in an outfit that hides its face, and ...
Nunzio gives me a quick elbow in the ribs to get my attention, then jerks his head up toward the ceilin'. It takes me a minute to figure out what he's tryin' to point out to me, but then somethin' moves in the shadows of the rafters and I see her. It's Tananda, and she's flat on one of the heavy timbers easin' her way closer to the throne. At first, I'm afraid she'll fall, but then I realize that she's ...
"Quit looking at her." Nunzio hisses in my ear. "Do you want the guards to spot her?"
I realize I have been starin' up at her like some kind of a tourist, and that if I keep doin' it, other people ... like the guards ... are gonna start wondering what I'm lookin' at and start checkin' the rafters themselves.
"So what do we do now?" I whispers back, tearin' my eyes away from Tananda's progress.
"We move," Nunzio sez, "... And fast, if we're gonna score before she makes her try. With this crowd, though ... tell you what. You try easin' up on the left there and I'll go up this side."
"Got it!" I sez, and put a gentle elbow into the kidney of the guy ahead of me, thereby openin' up a route to the other side of the throne room.
Sayin' we'll get close to the throne, however, proves to be considerably easier than actually gettin' there. At first I am worried about movin' too fast and catchin' the guards' eyes as someone tryin' too hard to get close to where the queen will be. After a few minutes of fightin' with the crowd, though, I am more concerned with bein' able to move at all. It seems like the closer to the front of the room I gets, the more determined the people are to not give up their place.
By the time I am halfway to the throne, I am startin' to get desperate over how long it's takin' and look around to see where Nunzio is. As it turns out, he is havin' even more trouble than me, havin' progressed a mere six steps before gettin' boxed in behind a gaggle of old biddies. They are not about to give ground for anyone, and it appears that short of punchin' his way through them, he isn't gonna make it to the front at all.
Of course, this leaves it to me to beat the others to the queen ... which suits me just fine. Redoublin' my efforts, I sneak a peek upward to check Tananda's progress, only to find I can no longer see her at all.
Just then, someone lets loose with a blast of brass horns ... and the queen appears.
For a moment, I am too stunned to keep pushin' forward ... in fact, I lose a couple steps.
You see, I met Queen Hemlock back at the same time I met the Boss, and more recently had a chance to refresh my memory while gazin' at a propaganda leaflet. While she is not what you would call a knockout, neither is she exactly plain. The woman easin' herself onto the throne, however, looks so much different than those images that if they hadn't hollered out her name as she walked in, I probably wouldn't have recognized her. Of course, even just passin' her on the street, the crown would have been a pretty strong clue.
She looks like she hasn't been sleepin' very well, as there are big dark circles under her eyes, and it looks like she's been off her feed ... well, more so than normal as she's always been a bit on the scrawny side. Then the first guy in line starts yammerin' about how he thinks his business is payin' too much taxes, and for a minute I think she's gonna burst into tears.
It occurs to me that however successful her expansion may look from the outside, it doesn't look like it's makin' Queen Hemlock any too happy. Just then I spot Chumley ... or at least a big figure in a hooded cloak ... edgin' along the wall behind the guards not ten feet from where the queen is sittin', and know I have run out of time. Slidin' one of the throwin' knives down my sleeve, I start eyeballin' the distance between me and Hemlock. It's gonna be one heck of a throw, but it won't get any easier by my starin' at it, so I step back for balance and ...
... And all hell breaks loose at the back of the room!
At first I think the guards have jumped Nunzio, but when I look his way he is standin' clear of the action, lookin' right back at me and pointin' desperately out the door, mouthin' somethin' I can't make out over the hubbub. I crane my neck tryin' to figure out what he's pointin' at, but all I can see is the crowd outside the throne room is partin' . , . makin' way for something or somebody.