Page 61 of Retrograde

“Announce that we’re having issues with the station and you’re willing to talk to other stations about the weekly interviews as long as they don’t think they control the Queen of Thovudin. Also, June is part of the deal since she doesn’t have a non-compete in her contract. They will jump just for that.”

“And when the station caves?” she purred.

I smirked at her. “That they also are going to schedule a sit-down with me about raising wages. I’ll also talk with their board if they like, but corporate greed needs to be a little less greedy, so they’ll want to work with me on this or they won’t like my desire to review certain tax codes—how much shareholders can collect off one stock per quarter.”

Because that was the root of the problem. Companies were so focused on paying out their shareholders and how much their stocks were worth, they didn’t see how often they wasted money. Every time an employee left and a new one came in, that cost the companymoney.

In training.

In downtime to learn the role.

Paying people to handle the exit of one employee and hiring the next. The interviewing process alone cost money.

So they needed to start looking at the bigger picture and how they were part of an ecosystem… Or I would put them in zoos instead of letting them roam wild.

They caved about thirty seconds after the announcement, making it clear that we misunderstood the whole thing and blew up over nothing. It annoyed me so badly that I ended up grabbing the phone from Toni.

“People died today, and you’re now talking about the Queen of Thovudin and my people like we’re morons. If you are unable to focus on your job and handling things ethically—because demanding that I release information on a now-ongoing investigation or lose my chance to speak to my nation could be considered coercion and worse.

“I’m sorryyouwere not able to communicate what you actually meant—if you’re going to try lying to us that it wasn’t what you meant—but I can read. Toni is an experienced media consultant and knows exactly what it was. I suggest you find some humility going forward and never speak to her like this again. Or we will still take one of the offers pouring in. Glad you understand.”

I handed back the phone and she was gobsmacked which was always fun.

June was extra amused when she came for the interview… With different camera people. I knew immediately what had happened when I saw the two female crew.

“Well done,” I praised.

She tried to hide her smirk. “Yes, well, they’ve been interns and other nonsense for years while teaching men how to operate the cameras. So I made it clear that they were promoted and assigned to me so there’s no more male egos for them to handle or I would make sure to bring this to your attention.”

“Congratulations,” I told the crew and winked at June’s female producer. I was pleased because this was the way things should be.

Women fighting for women instead of against them.

I wouldn’t say much about what happened until the police investigated it all, but I did confirm it was the elder and his family.

“Someone overheard you say that they went for your head of security, Benson. People are criticizing that it wasn’t an assassination attempt, but a vendetta against him only.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Let me guess—friends of that elder? Other elders? I’m sorry that they can’t see past their biases, but it was actually a smart tactical assessment from them to take out Bensonbeforethey focused on me. Well, it was before we’ve changed things now that Benson isn’t rejected on updating security at every turn like my father did.”

Everyone froze, and I was amused for a moment but knew I had to walk it back.

“No one is perfect, my father included. There was a lot of corruption under his nose and he was well known for being dismissive. He also gets forgiven for how much was on his shoulders, but Ilearnedfrom his mistakes and laid out a comprehensive plan to tighten security. Not allow corruption in myhomeanymore.

“So the elder was working on outdated information. While it would have broken my heart and been a loss for our country—killing Benson would have done nothing. We’re smarter than that. Plus, there’s no reason to kill him unless to have a better chance at killing me. People know how amazing and strong he is.”

“And there are much easier times to try for him than with squads of guards while protecting the queen,” Davian said from where he stood next to Treena. “If Benson was the true or only target, it was the stupidest plan. Ever.”

I tapped my nose and pointed at him.

“Especially when your queen is more lethal than anyone. She is too bold and caring of her people to ever have fled. They were dead the moment they tried for one of her people.”

I tried not to flush at what he’d added, but I was glad when June clearly agreed and we could move on.

“Are you okay from having to kill people?” June asked, sounding genuinely worried.

I glanced at Myriam who nodded, already having discussed this with her father… And the King of Protesia so he wasn’t blindsided.

“It’s not my first time, though every time someone takes a life it affects them.” I sighed when it was clear June couldn’t let it go. “When I was in college, I came upon someone fighting off several attackers. She is a fierce fighter and I was impressed, but there were too many and they were skilled.”