“We move,” Nunzio sez, “… And fast, if we’re gonna score before she makes her try. With this crowd, though … tell you what. You try easin’ up on the left there and I’ll go up this side.”
“Got it!” I sez, and put a gentle elbow into the kidney of the guy ahead of me, thereby openin’ up a route to the other side of the throne room.
Sayin’ we’ll get close to the throne, however, proves to be considerably easier than actually gettin’ there. At first I am worried about movin’ too fast and catchin’ the guards’ eyes as someone tryin’ too hard to get close to where the queen will be. After a few minutes of fightin’ with the crowd, though, I am more concerned with bein’ able to move at all. It seems like the closer to the front of the room I gets, the more determined the people are to not give up their place.
By the time I am halfway to the throne, I am startin’ to get desperate over how long it’s takin’ and look around to see where Nunzio is. As it turns out, he is havin’ even more trouble than me, havin’ progressed a mere six steps before gettin’ boxed in behind a gaggle of old biddies. They are not about to give ground for anyone, and it appears that short of punchin’ his way through them, he isn’t gonna make it to the front at all.
Of course, this leaves it to me to beat the others to the queen … which suits me just fine. Redoublin’ my efforts, I sneak a peek upward to check Tananda’s progress, only to find I can no longer see her at all.
Just then, someone lets loose with a blast of brass horns … and the queen appears.