A Royal Summons

[Gagadug.]

Waiting really wasn't something the Admiral was good at, the permanent time shortage of a command job didn't help at all in making him more patient but at this time and in this place he wouldn't dare asking how long they had to wait.
All his life, the least ever since he could remember, he had dreamed of beeing invited by the royal family. Not a very usual dream nor very likely for a commoner to come true, but nonetheless an important one to him.
Yet, he wished it didn't have to come to this. The timing of this meeting made him guess there was just one possible reason for it, overshadowing the delight he felt.

To pass the time he took a closer look at his surroundings, an entry hall bigger than the apartment he had on New London, probably even bigger than some houses in the more rural parts of Cambridge. It's scale alone could teach visitors humbleness of the power and might of the ones who called this mansion their home.

Taking a glance at the other guests, he couldn't help but wish the prince had chosen Victor to accompany them, he didn't see the retired Lieutenant Commander in some time and even though they weren't best friends he would have had someone to talk to. Instead the prince called for a man in a grey suit and without humor, most likely an excellent administrator and a horrible field agent, along with chief constable Hutchinson, a respectable man and officer he didn't know personally either.

And so the time went by.