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)
I didn’t like candidate number three, so even if Allain did, right now, Nata was the only one who might have a shot before we had to go back to the drawing board.
“Comm his highness,” Allain said.
I turned to him and saw his eyes on me.
“Me?” I asked.
“You,” Allain replied. “Comm him and share this with him.”
This was between a king and a prince.
A son and his father.
I felt strongly about what I was doing with Nata, but I wasn’t sure I felt strongly enough, I was willing to cause (more) family discord for my mate.
“I don’t think—”
“Trust me, Mistress Laura.”
I studied his face, and even though I didn’t think Aleksei would want to be disturbed with something like this, and what I read in Allain’s expression didn’t make me all fired up to do it, it still made me do it.
I reached in my bag, nabbed my Palm, got up and walked to the long windows behind the desk in Allain’s office.
I pulled up his name and hit audio only.
I stared unseeing at the massive, formal courtyard garden situated in the middle of the Palace square and put the Palm to my ear.
Germaine might not be able to get through, but the tone sounded once before I heard, “Hello, love.”
“Uh, hi. We have a little bit of a situation here,” I told him.
The warmth had swept out of his tone, replaced with wary, when he asked, “What’s that?”
“News got around about Nata. Germaine is here, and we’ll talk about the response to Naylyn’s ritual later.”
“Bloody hell,” he murmured.
“But…the king has forbidden me to interview Nata.”
Silence from Aleksei.
No.
Such utter silence, I worried I’d never hear sound again.
Then he growled, “Interview her.”
“Honey—”
“And if you like her, hire her.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m leaving shortly to meet you. I’ll see you soon.”
With that, he disconnected.
Oh boy.
I turned to Allain and Germaine. “He says to interview her.”
Germaine started to say something, but Allain spoke first.
“Excellent. On your way out, will you tell Nata we’re ready for her?”
Red hit her cheeks. “The king was staunch in his demand.”
“Then he can take it up with the prince. The prince is always staunch in his decisions. They can battle it out. You have a royal statement to release. You do your job and allow us to carry on with our afternoon’s business,” Allain retorted.
After she shot Allain a venomous look, I worried my lip as she flounced out.
Then I went to sit down beside Allain.
“I don’t feel good about this,” I told him.
“Never you mind, Mistress Laura,” he replied.
I was minding very much as the door opened and Nata came in.
She was very pretty.
But now, there was no attitude. She seemed nervous and guarded.
“Come and have a seat, Nata,” I invited. She did that, and I asked, “Would you like some water or coffee or tea?”
“I’m good,” she said.
“Excellent,” I mumbled, and turned to Allain because he’d started each interview.
He raised his brows.
Okay then, I guessed it was me who was going to start this one.
I also knew why it was me.
Nothing for it, I got into it.
I turned to her. “Perhaps we should first dispense with the elephant in the room.”
“You know,” she whispered.
“It’s of no consequence,” I stated. “However, I have some say in what’s happening in this room and the being I’ll select to work with Aleksei, Allain and me. What I have no say in is what happens at the Catalogues.”
She lowered her gaze. “Right.”
Yes, she’d seen the writing on the wall.
“I’ve looked at your résumé, and your role evaluations, which are all stellar,” I said.
Her chin lifted. “I like what I do.”
“You can tell. You don’t really have the, erm…well…experience we’re searching for in regard to this position, but it’s my understanding detail is essential to the work you do,” I guided her to fighting for it, if she wanted it.
“As an intern, I was second assistant to the head curator at the Musée Histoire de Guerre for six term breaks during uni. That means this work spanned two years. Yes, I was second, and it was only for what amounted to six months. But the curator has a staff of nearly thirty, and she was working on an exhibit that had items from thirteen different realms the first year I was there, and another huge one on Pre-Unification weapons the second. It was busy. A lot was expected of me. I had important responsibilities. She wrote me a stellar reference, and I’m certain would do so again.”
“I’m sure,” I replied.
“She wanted to hire me after I graduated. I got the offer from the Catalogues, the enchanted moonstone of working in my field, so I took that instead.”
Well, it was good to know, if she decided to move on, she might have somewhere to move on to.
But it sucked that it wouldn’t be her first choice.