Page 144 of Night's Fall
He tucked me close to him. “I’llcommAllain.Gethim to source a unit to test the solution.”
“Thanks,drahko,”Iwhispered.
“As you know,Ihave meetings today, and you’re going to your studio and toMadamGarwah’sthis evening, but you need to carve some time in the next couple of days to interview aides.Allainis sorting through resumes.He’llhave a shortlist for you by the end of today.Andhe’ll sit on the interviews with you, for another ear and an informed opinion.”
I scrunched my face. “DoIactually need an aide?”
“So far, you’ve had one hundred and eighty-nine invitations to everything from coffee mornings, dinner parties, and the opening of plays to visits to pediatric units, with an abundance of schools across the realm wanting you to come to their art and theater departments to give speeches.”
I blinked.
One hundred and eight-nine invitations?
Aleksei kept going.
“You have your own detail now, and someone will have to have intimate knowledge of your schedule, so they can share it with your team in order that they can scout locations, send agents ahead of time to assess safety, decide personnel numbers, arrange travel and coordinate arrival and departure.Andthey’ll need to know these things with as much notice as possible.I’dlike to say you could go to the local patisserie to buy a treat on a whim, and if you did, they would scramble to arrange for you to do that.Butit’s a hassle for them, adds stress to their jobs, and hobbles them in being able to do it well.”
“In other words,Ineed an aide.”
“Yes, darling,” he murmured, pulling us both up and arranging the pillow so he was resting his back on them, and arranging me soIwas resting on him.
He slid his fingers through my hair tenderly, andIshould have taken that for the warning it was, when he asked, “Isense you’ll wish to remain working after we become officially engaged.”
Oh gods.
I was supposed to start royal duties upon our engagement?
That was less than two weeks away!
AndIwas in the middle of a job.
“Yes,”Isaid. “Isthat a problem?”
“If you ask my mother, yes.Ifyou ask me, we’ll make it work.”
“Aleksei—”
“The only raised-voice rowIever got into with my mother, and my father was right at her side when it was happening, was after years of hoarding chunks of my allowance, andIbought my first company.”
I tried to imagineQueenCalisayelling.
I couldn’t do it.
“Raised voices?Youmean shouting?”Iqueried.
“Yes, them to me and me to them.Theywere incensed thatInot only wished, but fully intended to have a life and my own pursuits away from thePalace.Mybrothers and sister still live there.Thatwas another row, without shouting, whenImoved here.”
“Will they expect us to move back there when we get married?”
“No.They’llexpect us to move intoSpikebackCastleinCrimsonParkin midtown.That’swhere the heir apparent lives when he marries and starts his family.”
Occasionally,I’dtake a walk inCrimsonPark.Orthe gals andIwould go there and have a picnic and beings watch.I’dbeen born and raised inNocturn, and whenIwas younger, we’d sometimes have school trips to the park.
I’d seenSpikebackCastleprobably hundreds of times in person.
It was a gothic fantasy in purple-tinged stone with a cerulean tile roof.Itwas compact, but tall (four stories), sporting an abundance of narrow, arched windows, dormers between turrets, and chimneys.Itsfamous features were the three turrets that adorned the front, one in the middle, the other two on the sides, and the eerily, always calm reflecting pool (not a fountain) in front of it.
The architect who built it had done it with an eye to intimidation and instilling fear.
