‘You can’t make it better by falling apart.’
‘I’m not falling apart!’
‘She’s adjusting.’Lachlan heads for the door.‘You have to do the same.’
‘Next time, just hit me,’ Jules says so quietly, Lachlan can almost pretend he didn’t hear it, but he doesn’t have his little girl’s talent for make-believe.
?
Penhalyx spends a month correcting the Estate to his satisfaction before finally turning his attention to his most prized possession: his son.
Lachlan knew it would be bad.
Alistair increases his study hours from five a day to eight, allowing only two short breaks in between.He forbids Jules from going outside until his work is complete, and weekends, once reliably observed, disappear entirely.
He implements a brutal regime for Jules, one that extends far beyond schooling.Every hour of the boy’s life becomes structured around improvement.Posture training.Gesture control.Vocal coaching.His diet is micromanaged down to the smallest detail while an unforgiving skincare routine is introduced alongside it.Even his wardrobe is erased completely, every piece stripped away and replaced.Threads are sewn into every third piece of new clothing.Jules isn’t allowed any choice in what he wears anymore.Even his pyjamas are selected for him.Protein disappears from his meals.Sugar is banned outright.Electronic devices are completely forbidden, even television.Alistair removes every one of Jules’ books and replaces them with his own curated selection, dense historical tomes so painfully dry Lachlan’s eyes itch just skimming the pages.
Alistair Penhalyx doesn’t stop there.
Jules is now forbidden from spending time with Mimi, even at meals.
He eats alone or with a tutor.
He’s confined to the house, too.
Forbidden from going outside in any capacity.
Alistair finds all the things Jules tried to hide in his bedroom when the East Wing was dismantled and he not only gets rid of all of it, but he assigns Jules a new bedroomoutsidethe Cove, on the outer rings of the East Wing.
It marks the first time Lachlan has to object.
‘Sir, I formally request that you reconsider moving Julian so far from the core of the East Wing,’ he says respectfully when Penhalyx is done taking tea with several people who Lachlan didn’t have time to thoroughly vet, they landed hours ago without warning.
Lachlan waited until they were gone before he asked, of course.
He’s notthatstupid.
Penhalyx leans back and cocks his head.‘Why?’
‘It puts him in danger.’
‘This Estate is the safest place on earth to the point of ridicule.My son is secure no matter where he is, and you will make it so.’
‘Sir, if I may—’
‘You may not.’
And that’s that.
Lachlan trains harder each day, relishes the pain.
The first party of several is looming.
?
He and Fenwick plan for it in the Control Room.
This won’t be like the last party.They’ll have to adapt, do what they can.
