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Tenet 17
Stay in control of the children.
Tenet 18:
Stay in control of yourself.
- Dr. H. VynFleet, 132 Tenets of Childcare & Maintenance
Emilia
Emilia felt incredibly awkward as Ra’as moved to meet the woman. Suddenly she didn’t know what to do with her hands, and as little as she meant to stare, her eyes kept darting to Ra’as.
“Faline,” he called out. “What are you doing here?”
“You weren’t answering your comms,” she replied breezily, tossing her cascade of golden hair behind her back. “I thought you were dead.”
“So, you decided you were going to pull me from the jaws of death?” he joked.
“I thought I would try,” she said archly. “But instead, I find you out here playing in the dirt. Is your bracelet not juiced?”
“We just found the solution to our window problem,” Ra’as replied proudly.
“No,” she breathed.
Emilia waited to be introduced, glad that at least she had something to contribute to the conversation.
Instead, Ra’as led Faline over to the trellis and showed her the snap-dragon beans himself, rattling on about various facades of the palace and how they would incorporate natural screening.
Faline’s eyes went wide, and she nodded and smiled, placing her hand on Ra’as’s arms at points, as if in excited agreement.
Emilia tried to suppress her jealousy. After all, this was his work colleague, of course they were friends. And she hadn’t asked for any credit for her idea, after all.
The kids were starting to get antsy though.
“Mr. Drayven, the children and I are going to go work on dinner,” Emilia called to him, taking Mimi by the hand.
“Great,” Ra’as said distractedly. “Oh, hey, Faline, you should stay for dinner. Our new nanny is a great cook.”
Our new nanny.
Wow, it was one thing not to get a shout out for her idea, it was another to be nothing but the new nanny.
For all his surprises that day, maybe Ra’as Drayven wasn’t really that unpredictable after all.
“Oh, so you’re the new nanny,” Faline said, turning her eyes on Emilia and looking delighted and maybe a little bit relieved.
Emilia tried not to grind her teeth. Her instincts had been right after all. This woman had her sights set on being more than Ra’as’s colleague.
“Emilia,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”
“I guess you’ve got your hands full, huh?” Faline said, glancing over at Dyrk and rolling her eyes. “Ra’as said you’ve got them under control though.”
Dyrk was literally right there. He had heard every word and seen the expression on the idiotic woman’s face.
“The children are wonderful,” Emilia said, fighting back the rage she felt. “I feel very lucky to spend time with them. Dyrk is a gifted gardener and Mimi has enough energy to inspire us all. I’m sure Mr. Drayven is very proud of them both.”
Faline’s eyebrows went up and her mouth narrowed in displeasure. But she didn’t argue.
