Page 28 of The Exile's Curse

"The king is getting married," Honore said as they reached Imogene's office. "Illvya needs a presence at the celebrations." She opened the door without knocking.

Chloe followed her into the room, mind racing. Andalyssia didn't have a permanent ambassador. Elenia, the country which lay at the base of the Eissgora—the vast northern mountain range that constituted most of Andalyssia—did. But Andalyssia, one of the last countries to join the empire, had negotiated not to have one.

Imogene stood to greet them, moving out from behind her desk, not all surprised to see them. How long had she known about this? "Colonel. Lieutenant. Good morning." Her mouth quirked briefly in Chloe's direction.

"Major, thank you for seeing us. I appreciate your assistance."

Assistance? Was Imogene coming, too?

"I'm happy to help, Colonel. Why don't we sit and talk about what needs to happen?"

The three of them arrayed themselves around the small table tucked in one corner of the office.

"So, Andalyssia?" Imogene said. "It's true?"

"The king is getting married," Honore replied. "That's no secret. The emperor needs to be represented."

"The Elenian ambassador can't attend?" Chloe asked.

"The Elenian ambassador will attend the wedding itself. But he is needed in Elenia, and the celebrations go on for over a month. Besides which, this is a wedding of a king. Illvya wishes to indicate its respect."

Meaning, Chloe thought, that there wasn't a chance that Aristides would travel to a country that had tried to assassinate his wife, so instead he would send a herd of diplomats to make the king feel important.

"Is it more than just the wedding?" she asked.

Colonel Brodier raised an eyebrow.

Imogene laughed. "You're getting the hang of this. Illvyan and Andalyssia have mining treaties to renegotiate. Always a touchy business."

If anyone knew about the touchiness of Andalyssia, it was Imogene.

"The wedding means there will be a number of rites and ceremonies and parties where someone with your experience at court will be valuable, Lieutenant," Colonel Brodier said. "We don't have any other junior lieutenants available right now who hold a title."

"Mine is barely a title. A courtesy honorific. If you want a title, Imogene should go."

Imogene shook her head. "Oh no. They need me for the navire project. I can't head off into the wilds just at the moment."

"Whereas you were married to an aristo and are familiar with royal protocols,” Honore cut in. “We can, presumably, rely on you not to fumble the social events where we will be out of uniform. The Andalyssians take protocol quite seriously."

Chloe wanted to protest that she knew nothing of the Andalyssian court, but she clamped her mouth shut. Qualified or not, she wasn't going to ruin this chance for herself before she even began.

"Which is where I come in," Imogene said. "You’ll need a wardrobe. There isn't time to have it all made, so Helene is going to alter some of my dresses for you."

That implied there was going to be either an inordinate number of gowns or that they were leaving soon. Or maybe both. "How long until we leave?” Goddess. Her mother was going to have a fit.

"In four days," Colonel Brodier said. "Short notice, I know, but that is the nature of the job sometimes. The major tells me you're a quick study, and you clearly have a talent for adapting to countries where things may be more...old-fashioned. So, you have what we need. Quite the opportunity to show us what you can do."

"I—"

Honore held up a hand. "I realize you have barely begun your training. We can continue while we travel, but you're going to be thrown in somewhat under prepared. Which is also the nature of the job. There will be a number of background briefings over the next few days, but as Major du Laq says you will need to be present for these wardrobe shenanigans, she has kindly offered to teach you about Andalyssia herself. That way your time won't be wasted. I'll have the other briefing papers sent to your home—you haven’t moved into quarters, if I recall?"

"No, sir." It wasn't compulsory for officers to live at the barracks, and the Matins’ house in Haut Charmant was a quick enough journey via portal. Chloe had decided that staying at home for at least a few more months might make it easier for Ana. So much for that plan.

"Good. So we'll send those, but you can report to Major du Laq in the morning. Tomorrow afternoon, you'll have to come back here for the reveille, but otherwise, you’re under the major's command temporarily."

Chloe nodded, still slightly stunned.

"You don't have a problem with a reveille, do you?" the colonel continued.

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