Alan continued to scan the grounds looking for weakness in the walls, anything that might look like a hidden door, and located security cameras. They were spaced evenly, hidden subtly in the ceiling from what he could see they looked top of the line. However he'd have to talk to Sarah before he knew for sure. Gods he wished his team could have been there. But since Alan had stayed at his parentsâ€™ house the night before he had been separated from the rest of his team and they would be arriving within a few hours. They'd have to stay off the grounds, keep in the city and find out if they could find anyone who would want to attack the princess. How quickly they found something would dictate how long he was there.<span style="font-style: italic">Ren, Sarah, Aku...</span>He thought, almost longing for them, it was rare he took missions where they weren't with him from the start. It was like he was missing a part of his body, a limb, or a vital organ.<br/><br/>For a moment he allowed emotions to surface and his fingers grazed the raised skin on the left side of his ribs. The scars that marked him there weren't accidental, they were intentional signs of loyalty. Each scar represented a member of his team. There were never names, if he was ever captured, or gods forbid killed, he wouldn't give away the names of his team with his body. The only time an assassin marked his or her body with a name was when someone was dead. They were symbols, a five pointed, thick banded star for Aku, the protection rune Algiz for Sarah, and crosshairs for Ren. It had taken a lot of trust to stand defenseless and let even one of his closest friends come at him with a knife.<br/><br/>Alan shook his head subtly. He had more important things to do then long for the people he trusted. He needed to make their job as easy as possible. The only way he could do that was to stay focused and make sure he found out as much as possible about what was going on.<span style="font-style: italic"> Focus. Burry your emotions. The others are fine. Youâ€™ll contact them once your recon is complete.</span>He thought just as the princess began to speak in response to his demands.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"I can get you the threats, the ones I have in my possession. As for how most of them were delivered, I wouldn't know. They all ended up in my hands through the servants, laid to rest in a book, blew in on a breeze...The person or persons pulling this prank has thought of it all. We've gone over the security logs repeatedly to try and pinpoint who it was, but we came up with no leads at the time. My father has hold of some, and security has the rest. The specs for security, layout of the grounds, etc, remain in each of the security offices."</span><br/><br/>Alan suppressed a growl at how easy it was for them to get to her. How the hell were they surpassing every form of security that surrounded the princess? Either the security was that shoddy or they were just that smart.  Since none of the royals had been killed previouslyâ€¦ Alan was starting to bet on the second one. He was going to have his work cut out for him on this mission.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Easy mission my ass. Thanks so much dadâ€¦</span>he thought. His brain spun with the different possibilities that could be at play here. This was probably an organization, there was no way one person could pull this off, and they probably had an inside man or men. The entire staff would need to be background checked. Sarah could do thatâ€¦ his tech wiz could get info on anyone she wanted. But she wouldnâ€™t be happy with the huge workload that he gave her as soon as she touched down.  While she did that Ren and Aku would prowl the city for anyone who they could get information from. Someone out there knew who was doing this. All they had to do was find them. In a Kingdom of 20,570. Easy.<br/><br/>Her voice came again and he focused on it again.<span style="font-style: italic">  "Now, have you been apprised of the schedule of events this week?"</span>He blinked twice and shook his head. No one had told him anything. Go figure.<br/><br/>â€œNo oneâ€™s told me anything.â€ He was dumbfounded, heâ€™d stupidly assumed that he would have some time to get the place under his thumb. Though it appeared he was going to be action tested sooner then he thought. He figured there would be an event tomorrow which would mean a sleepless night for him while he made sure the place was secure.<br/><br/>Gods, could his team get here any slower?