The next day, Jack and Maya returned to the palace once more. Jack would have preferred to start his search in the city immediately, but the prince had insisted on brunch with some of his friends.
Back at the palace, Maya was immediately picked up by the same maid who had looked after her yesterday. Jack watched the two of them for a moment. Something about the maid bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
While he was still pondering, the butler arrived to pick him up. The man was travelling in a kind of electric carriage. This method of transport had proven itself, as running could take a long time due to the size of the castle.
Even with the carriage, it took them almost forty minutes to reach the courtyard where the brunch was to be held. A huge table and a host of servants filled the courtyard as Jack entered.
He immediately retreated to one of the corners and watched the hustle and bustle in silence.
One by one, the other guests began to arrive. First, those with the lower ranks, then the higher ones, until finally, the prince arrived. To Jack's surprise, he was accompanied by one of the princesses, who happened to be the older sister of his secret cargo.
Some of them Jack already knew, the rest the prince introduced to him one by one. The purpose of the whole action was to allow Jack to get more assignments and at the same time to bind him more to the faction.
Most of the conversations were just idle chatter and Jack thought he was past the worst part when all of a sudden the princess stood in front of him. Neither butlers nor guests were in hearing distance and nobody seemed to pay attention to them.
The woman looked urgently at Jack, who in turn did not know where to look.
"I know you had something to do with my sister's kidnapping."
The statement came out of nowhere and it immediately sent a chill down Jack's spine.
"Your Highness, I don't know how you would come up with such a thing. I'm afraid I don't even know your sister."
"Don't play dumb, Voidfarer. I know full well you're working with my dear half-brother. All to make sure the line of succession stays as it is."
"Voidfarers stay out of factional political activities, that has always been our credo."
"Bullshit."
Jack flinched involuntarily as the woman looked at him with unmasked animosity. Fortunately, the prince noticed Jack's predicament at that moment.
"Jack, have you tried these fried fruits? Come over here, they are delicious!"
Jack indicated a slight bow in the direction of the princess.
"With your permission, Your Highness."
With that, he simply left the woman and hurried over to his saviour.
The fruit was cold and sweet on the inside, but with the crunchy warm breading on the outside, it tasted quite good. There were other fruits, so the two men decided to try those as well.
A while later, they were sitting alone at a table with a huge plate of crumbed fruit in front of them.
"I hope my sister wasn't too pushy? I couldn't stop her from coming."
Jack shook his head, he could just about handle that.
"She accused me of being involved in the kidnapping."
The prince snorted.
"That may be so convenient for her. We're all worried about the little one, but Catherine more than the rest of us. After all, they both have the same mother. Still, I can't tolerate her just coming here and threatening my friends."
"She also talked about you ordering in the kidnapping."
"My father dotes on the little one. He's beside himself with worry and has ceded the reins of government to me indefinitely. Since then, Catherine has claimed that all this was my plan."
Jack nodded slowly. In the game, one would deliver the princess to the other side, which always led to war sooner or later. Janus' father invariably died in one of the first big battles, which made the young prince the ruler. The only problem was that Prince Janus was usually killed by a member of his family, after which the whole faction fell into a spiral of murder and civil war. As a player, this brought a myriad of possibilities and was seen as a good opportunity to build-up ahead of the big endgame crises. Now, however, with the man only one chair away and his own life on the line, Jack was not sure how to act.
"You shouldn't take them lightly. No one knows what she is prepared to do should you not find the girl."
Janus looked at Jack silently for a moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"She has begun to strengthen her faction. I think a little more careful consideration won't hurt."
For some time they just sat in silence, eating fruit. The other nobles could do nothing but watch enviously as a single outsider occupied first the princess and then the prince alone.
"So, have you thought about my offer?"
"Yes, but No. What about Miranda, I'm sure life on a ship would be good for advancing your Xeno research. All those planets and samples, what do you think?"
"Hah! No."
They both looked at each other and had to chuckle a little, some things never changed.
The brunch took another few hours and gradually changed into a tea party. Jack tried to escape a few times, but the Prince would always drag him into a new group of people he had to make conversation with and get to know.
It was already getting dark when Jack finally got back to the ship. Maya was already waiting and wanted to tell him about her day, but he went straight to his cabin, to stare into the void and thing. The game's progression was something he had not thought about until now. There were a few scenarios and so call crises, that could threaten or destroy all of the factions and even wipe out all life in the galaxy. Now that the game was his reality there was no way to predict which disaster would happen, but he thought it was pretty naive to just assume everything would be fine.