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“It is not that serious.” How could he be stoic and a drama queen?
“Under federal statute EM 332, disclosing or receiving private information on members of the public is a—”
“Sometimes, there are gray areas in law and protocol, Iskandar.” Now I was annoyed. Not only did he know all the palace rules and ethics, but he also kept up with federal statutes? Give me a break. What did they do to him as a child, hook him to a supercomputer?
“Not for us. We do not work in the gray. You should know this as your family—”
“Please do not bring up my family, the code, or the order or whatever. Some things go beyond the book. I may not be part of the guard, as the rest of my family is, but I take my duty and service just as seriously as you do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to—”
He stepped in my path. “You are not going to tell the Adelaar about this.”
“You cannot stop me.”
“Yes, actually, I can. Because you are staff, I am his guard. No one enters without my permission, not even you. That is my duty.”
“Why are you doing this?” I hissed under my breath. “You know what state he is in. I may not be as smart as you, and I may not take the rules to heart as strongly as you, but I’m not a fool. I knew she would eventually come because she cares about him. And he cares about her. Having her here will help him.”
“This is the reason why you could not become a guard. It is not our place to assume the emotions or desires of the crown. We serve. We protect. That is it,” he snapped, shaking.
“That is it for you! For me, I must anticipate the needs of the royal family and make sure they are met!”
“No, you must anticipate the needs of Princess Eliza. Not the king, not the Adelaar or the queen. You have been given a place—stay there. Everyone seems to have forgotten the order of things. The Adelaar did not call for her. Nor did he ask you to do anything in regards to her. It does not matter what you believe, what you know, what you want or feel. You have orders, and you have a duty, so stick to it. That is what it means.”
“He’s needs—”
“That is not your call!”
“Will it be mine?”
We both turned to see Princess Eliza holding the royal dog, Persephone, in her hands. Her blue eyes shifting between us.
“Your Highness.” We both bowed our heads.
“Iskandar, why are you berating my secretary?” she asked him softly.
Iskandar stood straighter if that were possible. “I merely thought he was neglecting his duties, Your Highness.”
“That is my call, isn’t it, Persephone?” she asked, scratching the dog’s ear before she looked at me. “Wolfgang, why does Iskandar think you are neglecting your duties? If it were anyone else, I would just say it was nitpicking because you have never let me down. But that isn’t Iskandar’s personality, so what is going on? Why are you two, of all people, having hushed arguments in foyers?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the corner of his lips turn downward. He did not want me to tell her. But he had made it clear that was not my place, nor did I have the power to interfere. But she did.
I stepped forward. “Your Highness, it has recently come to my attention that Miss Odette Wyntor has arrived here, in Ersovia, this morning.”
“In the capital?”
I nodded.
A grin slowly spread across her lips as she looked back down at the dog in her hands. “What did I tell you, Persephone? Spring would come eventually.”
