“Is everyone here already?” I asked while handing over my hat to the guard waiting for me.

“Almost, sir. The meeting will start in a few minute, sir.” He reminded me politely.

I hurried my steps to the meeting room. Though my kingdom intelligence department officer badge helped me go through a few police checkpoints pretty fast on my way here, I still got delayed. It was very unusual to encounter so many police checkpoints on a peaceful weekend night in the capitol. The war had ended five years ago so the atmosphere was normally quiet and peaceful, our department had made sure of that. I wondered what had happened to cause this urgent early morning meeting, and if the sudden increase in security had anything to do with this.

Sipping on the black coffee, I sat down in the conference room and started exchanging small talk with some sleepy eyed co-workers who also had been woken up at two o’clock in the morning. Apparently none of us had any clue to the nature of this urgent meeting.

It did not take long until our director showed up, even more serious and stressed than usual. Surprisingly, the chief of the capitol police department and the captain of the Royal Guard came in with him, their faces clouded over. It did not take a genius to realize something critical and serious had just happened.

“Gentlemen,” the director announced, “I’m sorry to wake up all of you at this unusual hour. However, something of extreme importance and urgency has just occurred, and I need all your help with this top priority issue. Now I will let the captain of the Royal Guard brief you on what has happened.”

The captain is a tall strong guy in his 40s, wounded four times during the war, and earned his position for his loyalty and bravery. But now his face was dark as a storm cloud.

“About 11pm last night, we had a security breach in the royal palace. The suspect snuck into the palace without proper ID and security background check. We only found this out when the suspect made a high-profile appearance and raised our attention.”

The murmur from the crowd filled in the hall. We were all aware how tight security in the royal palace was. The security system was formed during the war time, composed by Royal Guard, capitol police and kingdom intelligence department personnel. At least three assassination and breach attempts during wartime had been thwarted, so it was a quite a shock to know someone could actually penetrate this system.

With a stern look the director silenced the noise before the captain continued.

“During this breach, the suspect made verbal and body contact with the king, the queen, and had a long conversation with our prince. Though the prince declared that he did not leak any confidential information during their conversation when we questioned him, we’re not sure about that yet.”

With an understanding smile we all nodded our heads in unison. Though our prince was a handsome, kind young man, he has never been famous for his wise decisions. It was an unspoken fact that the royal family was looking for a smart intelligent girl to be our future queen, to make sure our kingdom still kept on the right track when our only prince become the king.

”When the Royal Guards noticed this unusual fact, we made arrangements right away trying to detain the suspect without drawing too much attention. However, just before we made our move, the suspect must had been warned because she rushed out a door and disappeared. It happened exactly at midnight when the bell rang, and the loud noise caused communication difficulties and hindering the Royal Guards to act in time. The capitol police were informed immediately. Security perimeter and check points were setup on all the streets in the capitol almost immediately, but so far we haven’t heard any positive reports yet. The suspect seems to have just disappeared into thin air.”

We could clearly see how red the Royal Guard captain was when he said those words. The poor guys must have felt deeply shamed about this, and if my guess was not wrong, he would most likely submit a resignation letter after we caught the suspect.

“At this point, we’re still trying to estimate the damage.” Our director stood up and took over. “The doctors have made a full medical exam on the king, queen and prince, and apparently there is no sign of poison or other harm. All the confidential documents in the palace are untouched, and we did not find any suspicious devices in the palace after a detailed search.”

“However, we could not let our guard down. The way she appeared in such a high profile manner must be on deliberate in order to draw our attention, and to create a distraction for her probable allies in the palace. We don’t know their motivations and objectives yet, but we’re pretty sure such a complex and bold action must have an extremely dangerous goal, one jeopardizing our kingdom’s safety and peace.”

He stopped to look around the conference room, making sure to draw everyone’s attention before he continued.

“The way the suspect showed up, the way she got warned and suddenly disappeared, and the way she escaped our search…all these signs warn us that there is an efficient and dangerous organization working right under our noses.”

“I have to admit it’s a shame for us, the kingdom’s intelligence department to be unaware of such a network. Now, gentleman, it’s our task and duty to find out who they are, who they work for, and the purpose of their action tonight was. Here is the information on the suspect, and let’s work together to dig them out.”

A pile of documents marked with “Top Secret” was passed along; I took one and began reading, I had to admit my curiosity was totally aroused up.

Suspect information as provided by witness

Sex: Female

Age: 18-30.

Appearance: Dark brown hair, green eyes, height around 5’1” to 5’3”, weight approximately 110 to 120 pounds. However, those features could be adjusted and changed by magic power, as confirmed by the royal magician, so they cannot be used accurately as search criteria.

Evidence: One glass slipper, extremely rare. Note: She dropped it during the escape.