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He nodded once and slouched off to whatever he’d been doing before.
Yasmine sent a quick comm to Jax to tell him to bring Pia out to the meadow just past the big fountain.
She was walking off the space they would need and making sure there were no holes or animal droppings in the Tai Chi space when someone cleared their throat.
For heaven’s sake, is he going to hang around watching me?
She spun around and came face to face with Madge Slaite.
“Hello, Mrs. Slaite,” she said politely, inwardly praying for strength.
“What are you doing here?” Slaite asked.
“I’m sorry for everything,” Yasmine replied, wondering how many times she was going to hear that question tonight. “I called my agency, and they’re sending a replacement as soon as possible. I’m only staying until the replacement arrives, to keep the kids on their routine.”
“I don’t know about that,” Mrs. Slaite said. “Where am I supposed to find another nanny with your qualifications?”
“But the Ruler—” Yasmine began.
“He’ll come around,” Mrs. Slaite said dismissively. “We all know the children are better off with someone with your skillset. Especially in light of the threats.”
Yasmine was about to correct her about the Ruler’s wishes, but the mention of threats sent ice water into her veins. Just the idea that someone might harm those sweet children…
Breathe. Find your center. Bring order to your thoughts.
“What kind of threats?” she asked as calmly as she could.
“Nothing I can share with an employee who doesn’t have top level clearances,” Slaite replied. “But I think it’s legitimate. The kids need protection, whether their father is willing to take this seriously or not.”
Yasmine felt her stomach twisting into knots.
“So again, what are you doing out here?” Slaite asked.
“I was going to teach the kids some Tai Chi,” Yasmine said. “I just need to walk off the space and make sure it’s level.”
“What are you teaching them?” Slaite asked.
“It’s an ancient Terran martial art,” Yasmine explained. “It will help them handle themselves better.”
At least she hoped it would bring them some inner calm and confidence, like it did for her. She’d been relying on it pretty heavily since she set foot on Ulfgard.
“Excellent,” Slaite said, her eyes lighting up. “I scheduled an interview for you tomorrow, to do some damage control. We’ll set it up for after school, so we can get some footage of the kids learning…”
“Tai Chi?” Yasmine offered.
“Exactly,” Slaite said, tapping the side of her nose.
Slaite seemed pretty worked up about the idea of the kids doing stretches and meditation, but Yasmine wasn’t going to argue.
“About the interview,” she started carefully, uncertain how to broach the idea that she was pretty sure she could as easily make things worse with her ignorance as she could undo the damage that was already done.
“Yasmine,” Pia yelled as she ran across the lawn with Jax at her heels.
“They like you,” Slaite remarked, as if she were making a scientific observation.
“They’re great kids,” Yasmine said fondly.
“See you tomorrow,” Slaite said, nodding to Yasmine and walking briskly back toward the house.
Yasmine wasn’t thrilled about the idea of doing an interview. But she was sure that having Mrs. Slaite in her corner was a very good thing.
