Determined footsteps were on its way towards the throne room.
It stopped in front of the floor to ceiling door.
"Your grace, please don't do this." A guard lifted his hand to stop him from entering.
"I have to talk to the Queen." Duke Emil deflected the guard's arm. "This is important." He opened the door and walked towards the throne room--- uninvited.
"He says that every day," One of the guards fixed his uniform. "This is important." He imitated.
"We should not have let him in." The other guard said. "We're doomed."
The massive door closed, leaving the guards outside.
Duke Emil marched his way towards the throne. "My Queen," He bowed curtly.
"What is it this time?" Queen Kathy asked, exasperated. "I told you to address your concern to the royal council…a letter will do."
A frequent visit by Duke Emil was not new.
"No," Duke Emil tipped his chin upwards. "this needs to be addressed directly to you."
"Okay," Queen Kathy pressed a hand on her forehead, her elbow resting on the armchair. "What is your concern?" She took a deep breath.
"The royal attendants, the royal housekeepers, the royal guards…" Duke Emil stood straight, determined. "Give them a proper contract."
"Thank you for your suggestion." Queen Kathy waved a hand in the air. "Give me time to think about it."
"We cannot dismiss them whenever we want, proper clauses should be determined, and only if those clauses are breached that they can be terminated."
Queen Kathy closed her eyes, her head perched on her hand. "We already have rules for them to follow." She opened her eyes, looking at Duke Emil. "Are you implying that the rules you yourself co-authored, are wrong?"
"No, simply outdated. Our law is not written in stones." Duke Emil shifted his weight. "It's time for our rules to change."
"It is for me to decide." Queen Kathy glared at Duke Emil.
"My Queen, the Kingdom will fall if we don't do something about it."
"For eighteen years, I've ruled this Kingdom. We flourished following the law, the constitution both you and I created… and I will continue to do so for years to come."
"Amendment is necessary for the changing time, if not for our people, then do it for the royals." Duke Emil's voice echoed in the room. "Your daughter, the princess, let her know the truth of our kind, before her ceremony."
Queen Kathy laughed. "You who agreed to let her drink the water of the gods before her eighteenth birthday…Is against her ceremony?" She shook her head. "Do not contradict yourself, Emil."
"I'm not. She had the right to the water of the gods, it is within our law." Duke Emil cannot deny the Princess of her right. "She also has the right to her ceremony, as long as everything is disclosed to her."
"Still, playing like a lawyer, aren't you? Can't help but to meddle in the lives of the young and poor." Queen Kathy shifted to her seat. "Enjoy your life as a royal, that's all you need to do. It's the law you created, follow it."
"But my Queen…"
"No buts! I can tolerate you with other things, but not if it involves my daughter."
"She will find out the truth, and if she did not hear it from you, you will lose your daughter."
"Let me handle my family, Emil… now go and give me some peace."
Duke Emil walked away with more determination than when he entered.
'I warned you.' Duke Emil opened the door, freeing himself of the throne room.
***
Emil closed the door behind him.
He walked into his living room with a toothbrush in his mouth.
His apartment was small, but comfortable--- enough for a bachelor.
It was the time before, where Emil would never have thought that he would eat human brains.
The television was open, an anchor announcing the morning news.
"A man was arrested for attacking a stranger on the street. The male victim, on his late twenties, was on his way home when the suspect attacked, not with a knife nor gun," A CCTV footage was shown on the screen, the victim was pinned on the floor as the suspect was atop of him. "but with his own bare teeth, leaving the victim punctured with tooth marks all over his arms and face."
Emil stopped brushing his teeth, his attention on the news.
"The incident was reported by a witness a few meters away from the scene,"
An old man appeared on the screen, his face was smeared with grease, he was wearing a red and blue striped head wrap on his graying shoulder length hair. "I'm telling y'all the truth," A missing front teeth was revealed as he spoke. "The zombies are here." He stole the microphone from the field reporter's hand." The apocalypse is near! "
'An unreliable witness, but strong digital evidence.' Emil observed.
The anchor reappeared on the screen. "The victim is currently at the hospital, with no fatal wounds. The police are still investigating if the suspect's behavior is caused by an illegal substance intake or a mental condition." The suspect was shown on the screen, with his eyes blurred, in prison, baring his teeth to the camera man.
The anchor was organizing his papers, he shook his head and snickered - - - not believing the news he just said was allowed to be aired nationwide.
The scene was cut, and a bathroom was shown.
"On to our next news, a snake slithered into the public toilet…."
The news turned into a background murmur.
Emil walked back into his bathroom and finished brushing his teeth. He took a leak on his toilet, instinctively checking if there was a snake hiding in there--- there was none.
After brushing his teeth, he went back into his living room, and finished watching the morning news.
Not interested with the morning soap opera, he closed the TV.
He was sitting on the sofa---his body, tense.
It was a Saturday, his day off, but he was stuck in his apartment--- uncomfortable in doing nothing.
He just won his previous case, which was apparently a problem for he had nothing else to do--- he was itching for his next case.
He checked his phone hoping for any message or call--- none.
He opened his laptop to check if there was any email from the office--- there was none.
He gave up and snapped his laptop shut.
But then, his cellphone suddenly rang. His head jerked from the sound and snatched it on the table. "Hello?"
"Emil?" It was his boss.
"Yes?"
"Look, are you free today? The others are busy, can't think of anybody else."
"Yes, I'm free." Emil stood up and paced on his small living room.
"Great." Emil's boss already expected that answer. "There's this man being held up in a precinct. The police cannot have a word out of him, probably afraid to say something that would convict him. Can you go and do a background check?"
"Sure, okay. Hold on for a second." Emil cradled the phone against his shoulder, he skipped and grabbed a pen and paper on the table. "Where is he being held at?"
***
Emil was wearing his casual suit, smiling in front of the suspect freshly assigned to him.
"Grrrrrrahhh! " The man was inside the prison, baring his teeth at Emil, his hands and feet were handcuffed to the pole, his mouth wrapped with a bandanna.
Emil's smile faded. "This is against his rights." He observed the man's poor condition. "Even a dog is not treated this way."
"Trust me," A police revealed his hand, bruised with a bite mark. "that is as humanitarian as we can get."
"Can I talk to him like a normal person?"
"Sure, but good luck with that." The police proceeded to opened the prison "We did not even get a word out of him, just gibberish."
Two other police officers followed inside.
One opened the cuffs, freeing the suspect, while the other two officers held him on the floor.
The man had gone wild, forcing his way towards the police, salivating.
More police gathered to grab and subdue him, it was a team effort to carry him into the interrogation room---there was a table and two chairs adjacent to each other. The suspect took all his effort to break free, but failed.
Emil sat on one of the empty seat, he cannot believe what he witnessed--- they cuffed both of the suspect's hands on the legs of the table. "Can you please… uncuff him so we can talk comfortably?"
The suspect bowed his head, his hair covering his face--- maybe from exaustion.
"Trust me," The police removed the bandanna on the suspect's mouth." you do not want that."
The police left them two in the room.
"What's your name?" Emil asked the suspect.
There was silence.
"It's okay you can talk to me. " Emil placed his hand on the table. "I'm your assigned lawyer," he took out a file of paper on his bag. "You are being accused of assaulting a young man, and I'm here to represent you."
The suspect did not say anything, he was just---still.
"It's fine…whatever you say to me will just be between the two of us."
Silence.
"I cannot bail you out, because there's an evidence against you, a CCTV… would you like to explain that?" Emil inched closer to the suspect. "or can I at least have your name?"
The suspect suddenly barged onto Emil, baring his teeth.
"Calm down, I'm here to help you!" Emil lifted his hand in surrender.
The suspect did not hear him, the suspect had gone berserk and the table fell sideways with a thud.
"Calm down."
Three officers barged into the room to subdue the suspect down. "Stand back!" A police officer ordered Emil.
Emil stood in the corner as they carried the suspect back into the prison.
An officer came in to fix the table. "I told you it's impossible to talk to that guy."
Emil picked up his bag and files. "It turns out you're right." Emil sighted. "I believe you can agree that he needs a hospital rather than a prison."
"Whatever," The officer helped Emil to collect his papers, revealing the bite mark on his hand. "just get him the hell out of here, he creeps the hell out of me."
In just within the day, Emil managed to fix the suspect's papers to transfer him to a mental hospital.
All charges were lifted.
Emil was successful on his case again.
He returned to his apartment--- having nothing else to do but rest.