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Neither Captain Zale nor Lieutenant Mateja were with them, and though Angelina hadn’t mentioned it to him, it didn’t take much to figure out they would arrive with the royal family. Which meant Angelina was highly thought of by her superiors.
As if he were inside the cathedral with them, Alec knew the security teams were taking up their assigned positions, fanning out throughout the cathedral, making sure security was tight. Everything that could be done to ensure the safety of the royals would be done, but none of the members of the various security details would breathe easy until the christening was safely over. Been there, done that.
More cars arrived at ten, but Alec noted all these arrivals were moving in through a side door. His eagle eyes spotted the photo-ID badges that were being flashed to the security team monitoring the entrance and the portable metal detector set up there. Not guests, he figured. Must be participants in the ceremony— musicians, choir members, people like that.
As he walked around the square for the umpteenth time, Alec still couldn’t get over how vast the crowd was—there had to be close to a quarter-million people here—and they remained orderly. Many had been there for hours, but the overall celebratory atmosphere engendered good-natured camaraderie.
Whoever had organized this event had thought of just about everything that might be needed by those in attendance, including portable latrines set up discreetly just out of view. And—surprising to Alec—when someone had to step out of line to use the facilities, no one moved up. That person’s place in line was there when he or she returned.
Just after eleven, the personally invited guests started arriving, limousines pulling up at the foot of the shallow stairway leading to the cathedral’s main doorway.
Internationally famous movie star Dirk DeWinter received one of the loudest and longest ovations when he arrived alone. Alec, as well as the crowd, knew him as the actor who’d portrayed King Andre Alexei the First—the king’s illustrious ancestor and the founder of the House of Marianescu—in the movie King’s Ransom, opposite the actress who was now queen. Dirk smiled briefly for the crowd and acknowledged their cheers with a wave of his hand before he, too, disappeared through the cathedral’s main entrance.
DeWinter was followed by the US secretary of state, who Alec had known would be in attendance representing the president, accompanied by his DSS bodyguards; the prime ministers of England and several European countries, who Alec also immediately recognized; and a world-renowned duke and duchess of England, the birth of whose children had created a media frenzy in their own country and around the globe, much like the one accompanying the birth of Zakhar’s Crown Prince Raoul.
The invited guests had all arrived and been seated by the time the clock tower in the square chimed the noon hour, and the lines to enter the cathedral perked up. Everyone who could would be squeezed into the cathedral, even if it meant standing room only.
Alec saw that what was going on inside the cathedral was already being broadcast outside on the giant screens. And by the expressions on the faces of those near the end of the lines, he figured they were consoling themselves they’d probably have a better view of the christening out here than those who managed to find space inside.
At twelve-thirty, the lines of people were politely turned away, and the remaining crowd quickly moved to find seats in the square. At a quarter to one, the extended members of the royal family arrived—distant cousins, maternal aunts and uncles. Alec knew that was his cue. He politely made his way through the shifting crowd to the foot of the cathedral stairs, waiting for the McKinnons’ limousine.
Prince Xavier, the king’s first cousin on his father’s side, arrived alone to a mixed reception from the crowd. No one wanted to believe the prince been part of his younger brother’s attempts on the life of the king and queen, but a shadow of a doubt remained in the minds of many, despite the king’s vehement assertions to the contrary.
Alec was convinced of the prince’s innocence, and had been almost from the moment he’d met him. But a gut feeling wasn’t evidence, and he didn’t really blame the crowd for its ambivalence.
Princess Mara and her husband arrived last of all, and as the huge sea of people in the square raised a cheer for them, Alec moved forward. By way of greeting, he said sotto voce to McKinnon, “This is a security nightmare.”
“Don’t I know it.” McKinnon smiled coldly. “I hope you’re strapped.” He tapped his right hand lightly over the breast of his formal suit. “I am.”
“Since you told me to come prepared, you shouldn’t even have to ask.” Alec moved to the princess’s left side, knowing McKinnon wouldn’t yield the right side to anyone, king or commoner. Alec was right-handed, too, and his shoulder holster was rigged for a right-handed draw, same as McKinnon’s. But the princess was McKinnon’s wife—that was the bottom line. Anyone trying to hurt her would have to go through McKinnon first.
