It took me time to put it together. Murphy had said that Imperatore Humbert's mother, the Dowager Queen, was living in Egypt as companion to the Malik's consort. Ariella, Lady Antonia, was living in this palace with Elena. Alpha had said the peace-bound Scipio was not his, but only in his keeping. Ariella claimed it had been hers, and that she had lent it to her son. 

Alpha was the Malik's son.

My captain and tutor was the Prince of Egypt.

And I'd been photographed using his mother's sword to resist the Fashion Police. "It's my fault," I said, "Athené wish me to learn the Scipio. He told me that sword was only in his keeping. I was supposed to use it for training."

"Your fault? That your commanding officer showed such poor judgement as to trust a distinctive sword to a child." Ariella could sling words like her son could arrows. "But that you attempt to accept blame for him shows, at least, he knows how to inspire loyalty in his men." Maybe I misheard the inflection, but that seemed going too far.

"In all of us, My Lady." Emphasis on the term of respect I did not mean at the moment. "Alpha is a beautiful example of humanity, but we all follow him because he is brave, and intelligent, compassionate, good humor--"

"And I never let him finish his sentences." The doors opened.

Ariella stood. "Athené."

"Mother." He was wearing the fisherman's cap and not too much leather.

I stood. "Your Highness"

Alpha rolled his eyes at me. "None of that from you." He strode towards me and took me by the shoulders.  "Are you well?"

"Fine."

"And Sina?"

"Promised to stay at Murphy's side."

Alpha kissed me. It was not on the mouth-- I would have been undone if it had been --but close enough and at such an angle that it probably appeared so from his mother's perspective. "We will go see him soon," he whispered. Then louder Alpha said, "sit back down."

He and Ariella took seats also, beside each other on a settee. Alpha reached to the wooden rack where copies of The Review hung.  "Tell me, Madre, is this why you've kept Julien from breakfast?" He gestured to the paper. I could see it showed that same photo from the hotel in Venèxia.

"He's accepted responsibility," Ariella said.

"Then Julien deserves due credit," Alpha said, "Without Murphy or I there, Julien was forced to make judgements. He could have surrendered. He could have quietly made an escape. But, instead he became something fabulous!" Alpha grinned, "And he distracted the Gendarmerie enough for many others to make an escape."

"The choice to use the Scipio was mine," I admitted, "but I had a lot of help that night. Miranda, Captain Ken, Erik and Hedone, and not least nor expectedly Jean-Daniel." I waved my hand toward the photograph depicting the two masked figures.

"Mother is just upset about what it may confirm about her allegiance, but this!" Again he indicated the photo, "Is nothing I would have imagined. It doesn't matter what these-- Emma Orczy and Hillary Kurzmann write. The photo shows people there are those who defy the code, and boldly so."

"You cannot mean to set the boy against them again?"

"I am not a child...My Lady." I meant it with slightly more respect that time.

Ariella looked down her nose at me, "Under Egyptian law you are above neither the age of consent nor majority. Do you understand that?"

"But--"

Alpha bowed his head and raised his eyes to me, apologetically I thought. "That is true."

"It may not seem to impact your life, but one who holds political power must always be mindful of appearances so the personal habits or mistakes do not tarnish one's message or authority. Athené knows this. It can be scandal enough if an unmarried man and woman seem too close--"

"None of that is Julien's--" Alpha leaned forward and looked me in the eyes, "your concern."

"Sina said there would have been too many question if I went with Murphy."

Alpha pressed his lips together and nodded. "All social interaction comes with cultural sensitivities, and there are times where discretion is a wise choice, but we cannot be expected to choose our companions based on who may get offended. Do not worry about it." Alpha sat back, then reached for Ariela's hand. "My mother is speaking from a place of concern." He kissed her hand, "but you are forgetting our chain of command. Complaints against Julien should be addressed to me."

"I tried to get him to give witness against you, but he only assigned himself blame."

"Julien," Alpha said, looking again to me, "I promise I will not put you in that position again too soon. I am proud of you, but it was a lot to ask of anyone in your position."

"I-- Alpha, I don't think your choices were flawed. No one could have expected Murphy to fall. Even when he did, I wasn't alone. I was troubled because I felt powerless to help Murphy, yet everyone showed their willingness to help and to complete the mission. Sina gave me good advice. Miranda and Ken-- who would not be there if we hadn't tried to help the weavers --saved Murphy's life! Mr. Tesla helped us from the start; Murphy might not have survived without him! Valentine's crew supported us, especially Hedone and Raphael. Valentine took his promise to you so seriously. You need to--"

"I will speak with Erik. I wish to hear all about what happened, but now, I expect my mother needs to say something to you."

Ariella lifted the Scipio. "Tell me: who taught you to spin the blade?"

"I-- I just did it."

Finally, Ariella smiled. "Master Dangerous, I present you with this Scipio. Keep it, but do not use it in public again, not unless you know there is no choice but for that masked man to return."

---------------

Happy Black Friday to US readers. Here's an update.

So, I cast Wentworth Miller as Alpha based on his appearance and background being similar enough to the character, and his giving an inspirational speech which I saw on Youtube. Then, around the time I wrote the previous chapter, I binge-watched Season1 of The Flash. Then I was like:  (｡♥‿♥｡)

I want to explain about Emma Orczy, but it's like when you try to link something in a caption on a wiki and someone in Talk tells you "Don't explain the jokes!"

The media is a video of Secrets by One Republic, which shows scenes from the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Somewhere there's a fan theory about the length of Nicholas Cage's hair determining how successful one of his movies can be, but I don't know. I actually liked the movie. I picked the media for the secret-revealing themes.