Page 177 of Night's Fall
TheMidnightMasque, which happened at midnight on the first full moon of autumn, a night that was only a few weeks away, was a huge deal at thePalace.Everyoneof consequence was invited, and they didn’t miss it.
This included all the royals, not only of theFourRealms, but of the realms across the seas.
Which meantAnnawould be there.
And this year,Iwould too.
“It’s goodNataaccepted the position as your aide,”Alekseiremarked while studying my face. “Allainwill have her up to speed soon, andIwon’t have to watch you freeze in shock at something someone will be attending to for you.”
Latest news: when offered the choice,Natasurprised bothAlekseiand me by choosing me.
Her reasons were that she had given theCataloguessix years of her life, her work had been exemplary, and her director had rolled right over and demoted her projects, if he didn’t demote her role.Worse, he was prepared to let her go when a transfer position was offered to her, rather than fighting for her.
“It’ll be nice to have a boss who right away demonstrates she believes in me and is willing to fight for me,” she’d said.
AlthoughIstill worried that she’d miss it,Icould see her reasoning.
Even if he done her wrong, the director had spluttered mild outrage that she left without notice.
He stopped doing that whenAlekseihimself swung by theCataloguesto explain how things were going to be.
In other words, theTrueHeirhad accepted his destiny not only “in chambers” but also at theCatalogues, whichIassumed (and asked, andAlekseiconfirmed) meant that “in chambers” consisted not only that he was the patriarch of the royal family, but that he was the big dragon of everything that had anything to do with thePalace.
“You’ll need to get her on that,”Alekseiwarned. “It’smy understanding it takes so long to create gowns, females decide on designers in the spring.”
Dang it.
“I’ll comm her tomorrow,”Imuttered.
He gave me another squeeze that was more akin to a reassuring shake.
“You needn’t worry, love.IfAnnais the instigator of this,Dagsbrunwill be embarrassed, and therefore, he’ll puff and prance.Hisambassador will scurry and make demands and do her best to pick apart our evidence.Butwe won’t go to them unless it’s ironclad.Soin the end, to avoid a massivePRdisaster that might mean tensions between our realms, they’ll have no choice but to privately apologize forAnna’sactions.”
I made a face, got another smile fromAleksei, and he carried on talking.
“That’s not all.Night’sFallwill leave the situation holding a very big marker fromDawn’sBreak.AndAnnawill be brought to heel, undoubtedly by marrying her off to a lesser aristocrat who will nevertheless be strong enough to keep her controlled.Andthis will be the height of punishment forAnna,Iassure you.Hecould have masses of power and credit, and he still wouldn’t be good enough forPrincessAnnaofDawn’sBreak, according to her.Butonward from this,I’llcontinue to have to put up with her in those rare times we’re at the same events, which will not be easy, butIcould do it.However, you’ll have to do the same, and that will prove most difficult, butIhave no choice but to best the endeavor.”
“So this is a massive headache for you, but mostly, you’re upset the female you knew and cared about might turn out to be one serious asshole, and you can’t tell her to go fuck herself and be done with her.”
That brought me a glamorous white grin. “Exactly.”
I was not smiling whenIsaid, “I’msorry, honey.”
He shook his head, took a sip of his drink, and replied, “Don’tbe.We’regetting closer to the threat being neutralized, if, indeed, they intend to carry it through now that we’ve found each other.Yourbeast will emerge very soon.I’vedone that bloody interview, and both of our approval ratings are up, something neither of us care about, but it’s makingMomandGermainestay off our backs.We’llget through the engagement photo op and interview, we’ll deal with your bloody parents, and then we can fucking relax for a while.Atleast until theMasque.”
He might be able to.
I was way behind on work.
I didn’t mention that.
I said, “Doyou want to finish that?”Itipped my head to his drink. “Ordo you want to go to bed?”
He leaned forward and set his glass on the table in front of the couch.Hethen took mine and did the same.
But he replied, “Idon’t want to go to bed.”
I fought pouting.
