Page 55 of Maid for the Alien Prince

“Not half as well as you! How’s the fishing going?”

“Great! I caught a dozen ghleeap, half a dozen squishitch, and two dozen morparks.”

“Sounds like a big haul!” I said. “When will I get to taste it?”

“As soon as I get back. It’s on ice at the moment. It’ll be nice and fresh by the time I get home.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“How’s the palace? Is everyone treating you well?”

I wasn’t sure if Dad knew just how many of his old workforce had been fired, but I smiled pleasantly and nodded. “Always.”

“Any job openings?” he said, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.

No doubt he wanted to return to the palace to resume his old position, but I imagined he would take just about anything he was offered if given half a chance.

This palace had been his home and his workplace for the past twenty years. You didn’t just stop being a part of it just because you lost your job.

“Maybe,” I said. “It depends how today turns out.”

His face brightened up even more than telling me about his massive fish haul. “Oh? Any drama?”

“You could say that. But it’s out of my hands. It’s up to those in charge.”

He nodded before his smile faded and his expression turned sad. “I’m sorry you have to be the one to work off the debt. I swear to you that as soon as I’m back home, I’ll find a position somewhere so that I can help repay it.”

I waved my hands. “There’s no need to apologize. I would do anything to be able to walk again. This is nothing compared to that.”

He smiled but it was distracted.

“Hey, Bill,” someone over his shoulder said. “Are you coming this round?”

I recognized the bouncy intonation of Dad’s buddy, Jeppax.

Dad turned back toward me and said, “Sorry, babe. I got to go.”

“No problem. I need to be getting on with work anyway—”

Down the hallway, someone screamed and yelled. It was loud but the individual words were inaudible.

“What in the Creator’s name is that?” my father asked.

There was one thing that could keep him from fishing, and that was any news at the palace, and by the sound of it, this was something big and juicy that he could really get his teeth into.

“Nothing major,” I said hastily before adding, “enjoy your fishing!”

I ended the call and my father’s expression froze, then melted.

I turned and ducked into a doorway, just in time as guards wrestled with Ges, dragging him through the hallway and, unless I missed my guess, towards the exit.

“You’ll regret this!” he bellowed. “I’ll make sure of it!”

The guards could barely keep him under control.

The staff stopped what they were doing and peered from around the doorways to watch him being dragged out. If there was a better way to show everyone that there was a new sheriff in town, I couldn’t think of one.

If Ges, a close friend of Prince Rayaw, could be fired for improperly carrying out his duties, then what chance did everyone else have?

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