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“I beg your pardon?” He couldn’t have heard that correctly.
“You know my daughter’s involvement with the UN’s High Commission on Refugees has been a central part of her life these past few years.” Matteo nodded, unsure why they were talking about this now when there was so much else to do. “She has convinced me we should be a more active presence there, and frankly, Hugo has been nothing more than a warm body.”
Hugo Egli had been Eldovia’s ambassador to the United Nations for going on twenty years, and it was true that he wasn’t known for his intellect or dynamism. All right. Matteo had misheard there. The king was asking for his thoughts on who should replace Egli. Matteo, being as well-connected as he was, was often asked to consult on these sorts of things. “I can draw up a listof names for you. But off the top of my head, I think an excellent, if slightly unconventional, choice would be—”
“I don’t want a list of names, Benz. I wantyouto do it.”
“What?”
“I need someone there who can make things happen. A statesman.”
“You... think I’m a statesman?” He was dumbstruck.
“Of course you are. You’ve kept this place running nearly single-handedly for years. And not just the palace. Witten. Hell, the whole damn country in some ways.”
“But...”
“And if you accept, we’ll have the advantage of having you there to advance Morneau’s interests, too. I am in receipt of Ms. Delaney’s two reports, and—”
“I beg your pardon,tworeports?” This was all too much confusing information being tossed at him.
The king looked like he was trying not to smile as he picked up a stack of papers stapled neatly in one corner and handed it to Matteo. “Yes. As for Morneau, you know we had a board meeting yesterday—without Hauser, of course, whom we still need to deal with—but we had a quorum. We decided we’re going to go ahead and make a blasted smart watch. And trim back the traditional line. Therearegoing to be layoffs.” He held a hand up as if to forestall a protest he knew was coming, but Matteo was too mixed up to register an objection. The king pressed on. “But last night, Ms. Delaney sent methatreport, in which she proposes the creation of a Christmas industry. A new company, and a nonprofit tourism board.” He nodded at the document. “It’s all in there. In broadstrokes, mind you. It will require a great deal of work, and a lot of fine-tuning, but she’s convinced me that Eldovia has a great deal of unexploited potential in this area. If we can build that up while retooling Morneau . . .” He held out his hands. “Well, it’s worth a try, don’t you think?”
“I... don’t know what to say.” Matteo flipped through the pages. They were full of numbers his eyes scanned but his mind didn’t register. What did register was that perhaps this was why he hadn’t heard from Cara. Could she have been busy working on this utterly unexpected report? It probably was not wise to hold out hope on that front, but as he had so recently learned, hope was not subject to logic.
“Say yes.”
Right. The UN appointment. TheUN appointment! So much astonishing information was coming at Matteo so fast it was starting to make his head spin. “You should consider some other candidates, not merely make a rash decision. The person I was thinking of—”
“It isn’t rash. It’s the least rash such appointment I’ve ever made. I’ve been working with you daily for five years. Can I say that about any of the other ambassadorships we’ve filled?” He smirked. “Of course, parliament will have to approve you, which is rather amusing, isn’t it? Generally when I need to make sure something will go smoothly in parliament, I turn to you.” The king had a chuckle while Matteo continued to gape at him. “So I’m sure you can see that when I consider the question of who is best suited to advancing Eldovia’s interests on the world stage, and when I think about who might be open to an appointment that will meana great deal of time in New York, well . . .” He spread his arms as if making a proclamation from on high.
“New York,” Matteo echoed dumbly. Of course, the UN appointment would mean splitting his time between New York and Eldovia.
He reminded himself once again that hope was not logical.
“Yes. You love so many American things, so it works out perfectly. American jazz, those ridiculous movies...” He trailed off with a smirk that suggested he was purposefully leaving something off his list of American things Matteo loved.
A terrible thought occurred to Matteo. “Did Cara Delaney say something to you...” Ah, this was mortifying. “...about me?”
The king looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “She did not.”
“But—”
“Do not be so astonished. You have been meddling in my affairs for years. Now it’s time for me to do some meddling of my own. And I learned from the best.”
Chapter Eighteen
Matteo had trouble focusing his attention on the ball. Which didn’t bode well for his second shift this evening. He had a literal night of work ahead of him. He pulled out his pocket watch. It was—finally—approaching ten o’clock, which was when Torkel was set to make his quiet proposal to Sebastien. After that, Matteo would slip out and make his way to Kai’s workshop, where they would spend a few hours finalizing the baskets. Then they’d head out in the wee hours to deliver them.
And then Star Wars at home.
And then what?
Normally, the relief of sinking onto his sofa and cueing up a Star Wars movie marked the end of the holiday season for him. It was a bookend. After Christmas Star Wars viewing, life returned to normal.
But this year?
Matteo had asked the king for a day to think about the UN appointment, and the king had told him to take a week off and do exactly that. Matteo had protested. He didn’t want a week off;he truly didn’t. He didn’t need a week to make the decision. He merely needed to call his family and talk through it, to make sure they saw the offer the way he did: as an incredible opportunity he’d been blessed with.
