The next few hours were not pleasant for any of the trio.
Katarina had protested, telling her handmaidens, and later the military security, that they were to take no action -- that Nika must have been brainwashed, that moving against Prince Alex now would let whoever was behind everything escape, that no news of her kidnapping was to be released. Nika's rather public confession had taken that power out of her hands, however, and into the hands of the military. With her father in the building, there was nothing Katarina could do to slow down or stop anything. With no other choice left to her, Katarina had been led to her room and given a sedative; she slept fitfully.
Nika had been taken away, roughly thrown into a jail cell and left to wait before several members of the military arrived, firing questions at her. Without Katarina to protect her, she was told, her fate was in the hands of the King; she was to be held here until His Royal Majesty got around to hearing her case. Considering the severity of the crime and the personal nature of it, she was told to not exactly expect things to move along quickly. The looks she received from the other guards, especially when she couldn't (or wouldn't) give a reason for her deception, were withering.
Perhaps to her surprise, Jez had been led
inside the palace, rather than removed entirely. One of the stewards had brought her a glass of water, but for the most part, she had been left alone inside a Symkarian palace for the second time that day -- the chaos of Katarina's arrival had caused many things to get lost in the shuffle. This particular entrance wasn't as played up as the ones they had driven through to get to Prince Alex's -- the difference, one would assume, being that this was a private entrance for the Karkovs, more secure in their status and not needing to show off as much. That being said, what passed as understated for royalty was slightly different than elsewhere -- lush red carpet, gilded scrollwork along the walls that one suspected may well be actual gold, intricate carvings on the walls hundreds of years old. A far cry from the blank walls and lack of personal effects from Katarina's dorm room. As she wandered from
room to room, she'd find many of the walls adorned with portraits and statuary, depicting Symkaria's history and the various royal families. Over one of the major fireplaces, a relatively modern portrait of a large man in traditional dress stood, looking out over the room with a somewhat superior expression. Flanking it was a portrait of a younger Katarina, nearly drowning in layers of dress and finery. The other side had an older woman, but it wouldn't take an art expert to see the family resemblance. Unlike most of the other portraits, this one was framed in black, with a carefully arranged strip of black velvet running across the bottom corner.
"Jezebelle?" a voice came from behind her -- the same handmaiden who she had spoken to outside (Lenka?) stood behind her, in a practiced and reserved stance.