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At that, his eyes shifted to mine. “A friend?”
I nodded.
He looked me over, and for the first time, I felt heavy under his gaze. I did not want to meet it. “Do I know of this friend who requires you to leave your post and not give word?”
“Yes.”
“Iskandar, you are being cryptic, which is odd because you have never hesitated to answer my questions fully before,” he replied.
The Code of Honor required that we always be honest with our monarchs should they ask anything of us. Tell the whole truth, no matter the situation or the time, whether it costs you your position or offends anyone else. However, that was only when asked. Which was why I wished he had not asked. All I wanted was to see nothing and hear nothing of their lives, just protect them. Why was everyone making this difficult?
“You are silent, and now I am curious. What happened this afternoon, Iskandar?” he questioned, stepping off the box he stood on and walking over. His eyebrow raised.
I glanced over his shoulders at the room, which was still full of others.
“Seattle.” It was all I could answer.
His eyes widened, and he searched my face.
“I will have the room,” he ordered, and immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and walked out. Only when the doors closed on the speechwriter, and we were alone, did his shoulders drop and his tone change. “Odette?”
I nodded.
“She is here?”
I nodded again.
“When?” His whole demeanor changed, and his voice softened.
“She arrived at ten seventeen this morning.”
“And it is now six forty-five in the evening, Iskandar. Why did you not tell me? Where is she? How did you know she was here? Is she in the palace now? Will she be at the state dinner tonight? I did not see her name on the list. No, that is not possible. Obviously, she cannot be there; I would have been informed. Is she in the palace? Where?”
I could not read the expression on his face. He seemed torn for whatever reason, nor could he allow me to answer the series of questions he was still asking.
“Iskandar, you are not speaking.” He finally paused to listen.
“I sought to see you, but you have been in meetings till now. Ms. Odette is staying at the Lal-et-Loire Hotel. Wolfgang had someone at the EIM inform him should Ms. Odette enter the country. She is not in the palace, nor will she be at the dinner. However—” I stopped because I had answered his questions and did not want to speak beyond that.
“However?” he pressed. “Finish what you were about to say.”
“I had nothing more to say.”
“Iskandar, you may be older than me, but I have many more years of lying under my belt. So, I can personally tell you, as an expert, you are horrible at it. What were you about to say? It is unlike you to be whatever it is you are being right now.”
He was right about that.
“If it is so hard for you, should I simply call Wolfgang?” he demanded. “You and I know he will not leave out anything even if he wanted to.”
“He would hesitate worse than I am,” I replied, giving in, not wanting that man-child to be the one to tell him. Knowing Wolfgang, he might get emotional, seeing how his grand thought of true love did not bring Odette back.
“Is Odette all right?”
I could see the concern in his eyes now.
“From what I can tell, she is very well—”
“Good God. Then what the hell is wrong with you? What is going on? Why is she not here? I am getting sick and tired of asking you to speak, Iskandar.”
