Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Her gaze shifted back to Aleksei. “We need to plan her introduction.”
“We have other things going on at the moment, Maine,” Aleksei drawled sardonically.
“A week,” she haggled.
“A month,” he stated.
“That is not going to fly either, my prince. If you make them wait, you both will be hounded, even if you escaped to the Clan Caves,” she returned.
“We’re going to be hounded anyway,” Aleksei pointed out.
This was sucky too.
But indisputably accurate.
Germaine suddenly disappeared from the display and Queen Calisa filled it. “Two weeks. That’s all you have, son. Two. And she’s getting the purple topaz ring. There’s a matching coronet that will work perfectly for the wedding, and she can make it her signature.”
At what the queen was referring to, I stopped breathing.
“Perhaps you’d allow me to select my own engagement ring for my mate?” It was sheer sarcasm from Aleksei that time.
And yep.
That was what I knew the queen was referring to.
“Like males can pick jewelry,” she muttered.
And seriously.
The queen really had a thing about males.
“Fine,” Aleksei grunted. “Two weeks.”
“We’ll chat,” Germaine’s voice was heard.
“And we’ll have tea, dear,” Queen Calisa said to me.
Fabulous.
Eek!
“Au revoir, you two,” Queen Calisa finished it, and the display turned blank.
I looked up at Aleksei. “Did I just have a vid comm with the queen of our realm, also the king of our realm, and a master PR guru?”
Aleksei didn’t bother confirming I did since he didn’t have to.
He asked, “How are you doing?”
“About what?” I asked in return. “The assassination attempt? The knowledge all those I hold most dear are right now sweating under the heat of a lamp aimed two inches from their faces as royal agents fire questions at them? Or about the fact someone out there wants to torture me, and not only that, they succeeded, and they’re very good at it?”
What I did not add was how I was not real thrilled to learn, when he got angry, Aleksei was more than a little bit of an ass.
“Any of that,” he answered quietly. “All of it.”
My answer was planting my face in his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me.
In the top of my hair, he murmured, “The doctor is on his way. Allain and Muriel are dealing with Nova, Comet and Jupiter, bringing them, along with other things you’ll need, here, so we can settle in and start to process all that’s going on.”
“Right.” My word was muffled by his chest.
“Before my parents commed me, I made the decision the RS will interrogate the male in custody about the plot tonight, because it happened on their watch. However, the RIC and RMI will collaborate, cooperate and communicate fully, because I’ve tasked the RMI with taking over the investigation of your earlier attack and what happened subsequent to that. Obviously, they overlap.”
“Obviously,” I mumbled.
By the by, the RS was the Royal Service. They were responsible for the security of the royal family, royal lands and properties, and sacred relics, artifacts and other things of historical significance and value, including the Catalogues and jewels.
They were known as the best of the best of the best.
The RIC was the Royal Intelligence Commission.
They were spies.
The RMI was the Royal Ministry of Investigations.
They were cops who operated on a realm-wide level and held higher authority than local constabularies.
Aleksei kept speaking.
“I want that investigation closed with no delay.”
It was safe to say, I did too.
I just nodded.
“Allain has checked the brief, and he has a comm into the investigators who compiled it. There’s no mention of your assault, the police report or the stay at the hospital. He’s going to get down to the reason why there wasn’t.”
That was interesting.
And scary as all heck.
I didn’t have the energy to think about it.
I tipped my head back. “You got a lot done while I was swiping at my makeup.”
His lips curved up. “It’s important to know how to multitask and communicate succinctly.”
Mm.
Moving on.
“Is your mom sort of…” How to put it? “Anti-male?”
“She gets like that when my brothers are up to something, and when she and my father are arguing. When they’re not, all that disappears. They’re not overtly affectionate. Their marriage, it probably won’t surprise you, was strategized by someone like Germaine. But they did grow to love one another. And just to say, my father is a decent male, but he can be spoiled, thoughtless and obtuse. My mother is none of those things. She worked hard to get where she was before their marriage, and she considers her role as the of Queen of Night’s Fall being the second most important occupation in this realm, and as such, Dad’s position as king is the first. So when Dad acts like an idiot, it gets on her nerves, and I don’t blame her.”
Hmm.
Moving on again.
“Jupiter is not going to be happy in a new space,” I told him.