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“What if I can’t, and I’m forced to pick a side? Is there a loophole?”
She shook her head. “Not that I’ve yet found.”
This didn’t help me at all. Now I knew why all those men were banging their heads against the wall with Gale. I didn’t know what to say. So I just listened and sipped ginger tea as she explained all the politics to me.
By the very end, I realized…it would take years before I could truly help Gale with this sort of thing, and I was being silly if I thought I could just hire one person and magically wave a wand to get an idea and assist in any way.
But Dr. Banerjee did give me hope. If she could come here and learn to the point that she was qualified to teach, then I sure could, too, right?
“I wasn’t sure I’d see your face this week,” she said when I threw my body onto the bed. All of me ached, from my head to my toes. I was torn between staying in bed like this until the morning or finding enough energy to shower, to then stay in bed until morning. It really shouldn’t have taken this much effort to find a solution.
“I hate the prime minister,” I confessed. “I hate the man so much that I hope he slips and falls in the shower and breaks his—”
“Don’t say any more; it’s bad karma.” She laughed, and I closed my eyes when I felt her hands on my shins, moving to help me take off my shoes.
“I don’t know what to do, Odette.”
“Do you have to do anything?” she asked, taking off my socks. “I was speaking to someone today, trying to understand what all of this was about. And she advised that the monarchy stay clear of this issue.”
“Good advice! I’ve been told it by all my advisors also. The problem is we can’t!” I sighed, lifting my hands to my face. “Why can’t we? Because of the son of a bitch prime minister! He’s blackmailing us.”
“What? Blackmailing? How?”
“With any dirty means he can think of! I’ve been able to brush him off and avoid getting involved since my coronation. The man is adamant. And because I kept shutting him down, he’s now thought to use the whole Sabina conspiracy to his advantage.”
“Sabina conspiracy?”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying to alleviate the headache from my mind also. “I never realized one woman could cause me so much trouble. Even in death.”
“What is the Sabina conspiracy?”
“You must have heard the one where the royal family had her killed.” I scoffed, rising from the bed and pulling off my tie, tossing it to the side. “The prime minister came to me a few days ago and all but said he’d handfeed the rabid press. He threatened to push his government to launch an investigation against us, knowing full well that even if they came up with absolutely nothing, it would not matter because the monarchy would be torn to shreds by the media. He used some stupid excuse like wanting to show we weren’t above the law.
“It was clearly a threat: either you do as I ask, or I make your life hell. He thinks he is so much smarter! After discussing with everyone, the best course of action we came up with is to let him go through with the damn investigation. Yes, it will look bad. But in the end, it will hurt him more. Not only would he have forced an investigation with no real evidence, only for us to be found innocent, but his stupid law is also being protested, and no one is going to get the identification. We won’t be forced to do as he says! If we give in, the monarchy can be blackmailed anytime with any threat of an investigation. We might as well let it happen now and fight it.”
Dammit, I was rambling. We had barely seen each other, and I was still talking about work. Turning back to her, I meant to apologize, but she stared back at me with her eyes wide, filled with tears she wouldn’t let fall.
“Odette?”
“We have to do what he says,” she whispers.
“What? Who? Bevilën, are you all right?” I asked, coming closer to her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
She just looked at me, petrified. “The prime minister, Gale. You can’t let him do that investigation.”
This cold feeling came over me, but I ignored it…I didn’t want to believe in it. But still, I had to ask her. “Why the hell would I do that?”
She didn’t answer, which made my hands drop from her shoulders, the dread seeping into me. There was no way. No way.
“Odette, I asked you a question. Why in the hell would we give in to the prime minister? We did nothing wrong…right?”
She just stared at me, and tears slipped from her eyes.
“Odette!” I hollered, stepping back, shaking. This was not possible. “Tell me we did nothing wrong! Say it!”
She shook her head, her mouth opening, and closing.
“Say it!” I yelled at her again. Please.
