In six years the Royal Alexandria Embassy District had changed beyond recognition. Kayla had not been here since the World Assembly Condemnation of Automagfreek in 2012.
Then it had been thirty or so chanceries clustered around the exclusive inner suburb next to the castle. Now, she saw as her plane flew above the Diplomatic Quarter across the sprawling city, there were four times as many consulates and embassies. She could identify them around the botanical gardens, surrounding the castle and marking the space between the Queen’s winter residence and the river. Several of the embassies looked large. In the vicinity of the botanical gardens were countless small black limousines, and the construction of new chanceries seemed to indicate that their number would only increase with time. There was a new international convention and exhibition centre, and the northern port had been expanded to accommodate new trade.
Looking down from above, Kayla was impressed. “The Embassy District has grown well,” she told Darryl, her personal assistant. “And I guess we’ll soon find out if the Embassy of Fecaw is really the majestic chancery that every Beltway apparatchik has been saying, after all,” she said eagerly, pointing to the largest white building down below, with its huge green, red and purple flag draping the facade and covering the roof of the newly constructed chancery.