Palazzo Malzo
Many tourists would often complain that the Government Palace was easy to miss, hidden as it was behind rows of luxury shops, ancient statues and sites of interest. This was true, but Mekselians liked it that way. While the Royal Palace was a staple of the city, hard to ignore even if one wanted to, the Privy Council worked from a building that could only be found once one walked through a number of the aforementioned stores and historical sites, as if implying that the government owed itself to those who had build the economy and the national history. In a way, that was how it had been. Influenced by its omniprescent neighbour Selene, the smaller Principality of Sartoria had inherited not only its aristocratic lifestyle, but also its monarchical form of government. As the centuries passed, the Prince ruled fairly, but without input from many, and that had eventually annoyed the growing middle classes. A little less than three centuries ago, Prince Matteo saw it fit to appoint a wealthy merchant to his Privy Council. What he could not have foreseen was that Giuseppe Malzo would amass a huge amoung of political power, hence why most historians now consider him the first Council President of Sartoria.
As to why Palazzo Malzo was located in that particular place, rather than out in the open, that is truly one of those stories that might be fit for another occasion. It suffices to say that its location was an open secret nowadays, and locals always had a good laugh watching tourists try to find their way to the Palace. It was an unspoken rule that nobody should be more assistance than that which a map might offer, when attempting to locate the Palace for the first time. It was in honour of this tradition that every Council President would walk from the Royal Palace to the Palazzo Malzo in silence, surrounded by the people, the day they were named to the position. As many said each time this happened, as long as the Council President respected the tradition, the people would make the walk with them. It was a social contract of sorts, one that worked to keep the nation united.
Valerio had done this twice. Once when his parents had taken him to visit Mekselia, as a child, and the second one when Prince Giuliano had invited him to lead the Privy Council. He would occasionally wonder if he would have the opportunity to make the walk a third time, but not now. Instead, he was currently concerned by the intelligence report he had just received. His conversation with Malene had alleviated his concerns, but all that had been thrown out the window when his latest brief had arrived, the following afternoon. It appered that a small party had managed to enter Sartoria and was now in the outskirts of Mekselia, though their exact location was presently unknown. There was no consensus on where the party was from, but Valerio somehow knew that they had to be from Procellia.
Via Grande
Alessando Cavallaro was walking alongside the Via Grande, watching the luxury cards drive fast out of the city, or back from the countryside. A young man, he longed for a future in which he would be the one driving one of those cars, instead of watching them drive past him, the driver inside completely oblivious to the fact that he existed. Alas, his line of work made it difficult that he could afford such an expensive item. He would have to made do with his standard-issue vehicle, the one given to all patrols from the Mekselia Police. As a junior recruit, he had been assigned to check the Via Grande, one of the major highways in Mekselia, and either process traffic violations, or report to dispatch any incidents that required additional assistance. It was his third month in that assignment, and by now he could conclusively state that nothing of interest could ever happen in the highway.
Just as he thought that for the nth time, he spotted four people walking along the road. Their oddly colourful clothing made him chuckle, thinking they must surely come from the highlands in the western border, even though he had no idea how highlanders looked like. But their build, their manner of walking, their overall look. They felt wrong. Alessandro kept his eyes on them as he contacted dispatch.
"Sede, ho quattro persone portando vestiti strani."
"Repete?"
"Ci sono quattro persone portanto vestiti strani. Credo che sono dalle montagne, ma non sono sicuro. So che suona ridicolo, ma c'รจ qualcosa su loro che non mi piace; non posso spiegarlo. Voglio richiedere supporto."
"Capito. Il supporto sta arrivando."
Once he heard confirmation that backup was on its way, he walked towards the group, though keeping a safe distance, and speaking out loud, asked them:
"Signori? Posso aiutarvi?