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TENET: 32
Don't make the family's business public.
- Dr. H.VynFleet, 132 Tenets of Childcare & Maintenance
YASMINE
Yasmine and Pia walked up the steps to the palace after riding home from play group.
It had been an odd day. The guards had stared at her in the car, but she figured the silly hat was doing its job.
When she stopped for hot drinks again at the café, she noticed people taking photos of her. The news drone on her first day of work had been weird enough, but working for the Ruler of Ulfgard was obviously going to be a more public position than she had anticipated.
It seemed almost ridiculous. After all, she was just a nanny. And at the end of the day, he was nothing more than a politician. A rich one, and wildly handsome - but still, only a man. His hired help hardly seemed worthy of this kind of attention.
And then the other caregivers at the play group, who had given her friendly smiles last time, wouldn’t even look at her. What kind of people would treat her that way just for humoring a child with a silly hat?
Or maybe Pia was right, and seeing her circlet was enough to make the adults keep their distance. That idea was so horrible she couldn’t even think about it in front of the little one.
In any case, she found herself relieved to be heading home quietly with her little charge. Unlike yesterday, she figured they would just play at home until it was time to go back out and retrieve Jax from school. A little quiet time would do them both some good.
But when they stepped into the entry hall, Ruler Kreed was standing there waiting for them, his eyes flashing with fury.
Mrs. Slaite stood beside him, looking like a viper ready to strike.
“How dare you?” Mrs. Slaite demanded, her voice breaking with fury.
“Madge,” Kreed said simply. “Please take Pia up to her room and allow me to speak with Miss Hall.”
The chief of affairs snapped her mouth shut, but she still looked wild with fury. She put a hand out to Pia, who reluctantly took it, and they marched toward the stairs together.
Yasmine looked to the Ruler desperately. Mrs. Slaite must have found out she had spent the night in his room. And now he was going to have to tell her how it had all been a mistake.
She felt sick to her stomach.
“Is Yasmine in trouble?” Pia squeaked anxiously as she reached the top of the stairs.
“Let’s keep moving,” Slaite replied gruffly.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Yasmine stammered, feeling terrible. “I would never want to cause any trouble for you, my Ruler.”
“You disgust me,” he said quietly.
Yasmine gasped. She hadn’t been expecting anything quite so harsh. It wasn’t like she’d forced him to do any of those things. And he seemed to be pretty into it himself.
“I brought you into my home,” he said. “I let you spend time with my children. And you were only here to try to weasel your way into my bed.”
The pain was like a knife in her heart, leaving her breathless and numb. His words were even more hurtful than Slaite’s, because he spoke them with such a calm intensity.
“And worse yet,” he growled, “you make a mockery of me and my family.”
That wasn’t fair. She had told no one. And she hadn’t gone into his room with any ulterior motives in mind.
Fresh anger of her own rose in her chest.
“I came to your room last night to resign,” she said as loudly and firmly as she could. “You held my hands, you touched me, you told me to go to sleep in your arms.”
His eyebrows shot up and then his face twisted with anger again.
