Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Last, a convo with Dad and Mom, also letting them know what was going on, and I was okay.
I was surprised Dad didn’t say he was packing Mom in their craft and heading up right away.
But he didn’t.
Zyra was out of the case, in her bed, and with Manny having had some time to come to terms, they were no longer bickering. Instead, I left her napping and him in a chair beside her bed, watching some screen.
Hurley was hanging with me.
I’d lunched at the desk while working, it was coming on time when Tanyn was going to head to Gehenn, and I wanted to catch him before he left so I could say goodbye, when there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I called.
A member of staff walked in and announced grandly, “Ms. Mira Loreling to speak to you, milady.”
Belatedly, I realized none of the members of staff had introduced themselves, like they were full beings with lives outside their jobs, and instead they behaved like they were just bots scurrying around doing someone’s bidding.
And I felt guilty because I hadn’t asked.
I did not request her name (for now), nor did I share I was not (yet) aristocracy or royalty, so she didn’t have to refer to me as “milady.”
“Thank you, she can come in,” I said, rising from the desk.
Mira came in, appearing rushed but not distracted.
“Hello, Mira,” I greeted when the staff member closed the door behind her.
“Ms. Truelock.”
I went to the couch, Hurley following me, and gestured to it while saying, “Catla, please. I believe we’re going to have a relationship where we needn’t stand on ceremony.”
She gave me a quizzical look before we both sat on the couch, Hurley settling on his belly beside my feet.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
“The king has shared you’re going to be here for an extended period of time.”
I nodded my confirmation of this fact.
“Well then,” she continued, “as that’s the case, I feel it necessary to inform you that His Majesty has also told me you intend to approach Barret and Camaryn about the staffing levels of the castle, which you consider too high.”
Which you consider too high.
You.
Hmm.
Before I could also confirm this, she went on.
“I’ll need to ask you not to do that.”
I hadn’t planned on doing it now, or anytime in the foreseeable future. I wanted to request a conversation with whoever did this kind of thing for Queen Calisa at the Celestial Palace so I knew what I was talking about before I did it.
However, I was curious as to why she would ask me not to.
“Can you explain why?” I requested.
“You are to be our queen,” she said. “And, before even being coronated, as a demon from the Fall, a member of one of the traitor families, one of your first acts being firing Edgian demons from their jobs and robbing them of their livelihoods is not a good first look.”
I sat very still.
Oddly, Hurley let out a low growl.
Regrettably, Mira noticed neither of these and kept talking.
“We need to gauge how our citizens react to King Tanyn’s decision about you. We need to do some spin to give them your best face. You’re a female of style and substance, we need to drive that home. Perhaps some charity work—”
“Stop speaking,” I demanded.
She clamped her mouth shut even as her body gave a slight, surprised jerk.
“I had not intended to sack anyone, though, you didn’t ask. That being said, I’ll still point out the obvious. There are other, far more pressing matters at hand, I’m sure you know,” I stated.
“Yes,” she agreed cautiously.
“And as queen, I believe it will be a matter of course where I would have the running of this castle. Maybe not on a day-to-day basis, but I’d work closely with this Barret and Camaryn, who I’m assuming are the butler and the head housekeeper.”
“Camaryn is our steward. But yes, Barret is the head housekeeper,” Mira informed me. “Though, I think you know that King Tanyn gave the direct order that you are to be regarded as their queen, their superior, and bottom line, their employer, so I don’t think it’s outlandish that they, and I, who has received this same edict from His Majesty, would have some concerns about an unknown suddenly having your position.”
“Well, if I have nothing better to do, which, at this current juncture is not the case, I would ask for a meeting with Camaryn and Barret, but it would solely be so I could request they arrange it so I actually meet the staff, learn their names in order that I can address them as the beings they are. Also to request that they tone down the servility. Protocol is one thing, but I believe the female who came before me had very different ideas about how she expected to be treated. I do not expect that. This is royal house. This is a historical building. This is a place where important things happen. But it’s still a home.”