Page 217 of Night's Fall
The first was at a school’s theater department in the city, the second to theRoyalVulnerablePerson’sBureauto meet their overworked staff and bring attention on the vital work they did.
We hadn’t moved toSpikebackyet.
It was even more historical than thePalace, so any modernization that could be done (like electricity and plumbing) had been done.
But it required a full staff, andAllainandNatawere going to take offices there.Thismeant they were busy hiring, and settling in themselves, then, again after theMasque,AlekseiandIwere moving.
The plans for the engagement party were in full swing, a much smaller affair (seven hundred and fifty people attended theMasque,QueenCalisawas thinking two-fifty for the party, butI’dbeen warned the wedding would be a thousand, so obviously,Iwasn’t thinking about that now,I’dfret about it later), and we’d even made inroads into planning the wedding.
If that wasn’t enough (and it was, but the idea was so good, we just couldn’t sit on it),NataandIwere also working on a project we wanted to present to the king and queen.
This included offering the history of royal wedding garments to theMuséedeVêtementsfor a limited-time exhibition and working with the other museums around the realm to display items of historical significance from theCatalogues.
This wasNata’sidea, andIloved it.
So much was going on, but she was on top of it all at the same time taking the initiative.
I’dsomade the right decision with her.
Totally.
I wasn’t sure how the king and queen would take to that idea, butIdid knowAlekseithought it was an excellent one, because he told me.
The only downside was that my father had indeed been hiding money from theHMRD.He’dbeen charged and was awaiting trial.AndIwas perplexed by the consolationIfelt that his trial was scheduled months from now, so he was free and living at home, andAlekseitold me he’d retained very good representation.
It had been a big news story for a few days, andIwas further confused at the complicated emotionsIfelt wheneverIsaw him on the newsfeeds, scurrying to avoid the cams.
My mother didn’t appear, but then again,Aleksei’ssources shared either she’d left him, or he’d kicked her out.
As far asIwas concerned, this happened twenty-nine years too late (Icouldn’t say thirty, because, obviously, that would meanIwouldn’t exist).
One could sayIunderstood the depths of his grief at the loss of his mate.AndIcouldn’t deny that his remorse and hope for some kind of reconciliation had seemed genuine, and not about me being the next queen.
But one could not sayIcondoned how my father treated me all my life.I’dhad to wait thirty years for him to show even an iota of care for me, and in the time he had me, what he’d shown was habitual inattention, punctuated by bouts of fury with instances of physical abuse.
See?
Complicated emotions.
His arrest, albeit very public, had not had any effect on me, except to put a fine point on whatI’dshared during our engagement interview.
My approval rating remained steady at ninety-four (I’dbeen very right about being so open about my childhood, and not only my rating proved it, the outpouring of mailIwas getting at thePalacedid).Aleksei’shad climbed to ninety-one.Andeven the king, queen,Aleece, and both princes had seen upticks in their ratings.
Add to all of this, the very not insignificant factIwas in love with the finest male on the planet.
Not to mention,Iwas getting great sex on the regular.
AndIwas right then wearing the most beautiful gown ever created.
In other words, life was good.
“You’ve knownAlekseia long time,”Isaid toAnthemeto explain requesting her opinion about the gown.
“You could wear a potato sack and he’d like you in it,”Anthemereplied.
That was sweet (and true, and again,Iwas in love with the finest male on the planet).
But she wasn’t getting it.
