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“You said yesterday you wanted to get married by the end of the week.”
“Yes. I’ll arrange for the ceremony to take place on Saturday.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to type something. “We’ll prepare a small statement to be released after we’ve departed for a monthlong honeymoon. I don’t want to detract from my sister’s wedding.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. It had been nice to see Alaric finally grow close to someone, especially someone like Briony, who had taken on her duties as princess with incredible aplomb despite having grown up across the ocean in a small town in Kansas.
“She’ll appreciate the thought.”
“It will also keep the spotlight on her and off the timeline of recent events.”
Her smile disappeared. She should have thought of that, would have thought of it if her mind had been in the right place.
“A wise approach.”
“The new public relations officer will handle the details of the press release.”
“New officer?”
“I promoted your assistant, Meira, this morning.”
The walls of her invisible prison shuddered, pressed in on her as her mouth dropped open.
“Meira?”
“Yes.”
“But... I don’t understand.”
Alaric looked up from his phone and frowned. “What is there to understand? I will need to hire a new executive assistant. I offered Meira both your role and that of public relations officer. She chose the latter.”
“Without talking to me first?”
The frown deepened. “I make decisions about palace staffing, Clara. I have for years.”
The reprimand brought back the sharp sting in her cheeks from Miles’s slap all those years ago.
“I should have been consulted.”
“A minor change in staffing hardly seemed worth bothering you over.”
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again.
“What if I had said no?”
He glanced up at her again with his eyes narrowed. “I told you yesterday, no wasn’t an option. I made my decisions based on what the best choice was for everyone. Given your history, I knew you’d come to the same conclusion.”
She pressed her lips together so he couldn’t see her gnashing her teeth. She didn’t know what ticked her off more, that he knew what decision she would make before she had or that he’d started making plans before she’d told him yes.
He must have sensed her consternation because he folded his arms across his chest.
“You told me yourself Meira wanted to eventually move into a public relations role. I listened and I offered her that opportunity.” His phone pinged, drawing his attention off her. “Meira is working on the press release now. I’ll send the details regarding the actual ceremony to you this evening along with the paperwork.”
She tried to keep her tone calm as she voiced the fear slowly unfurling in her belly. “Am I to have all my responsibilities stripped from me then?”
Alaric blinked in surprise before a frown crinkled his brow. “No. I would hope you’d think better of me than that, Clara, after all our years together. You’ve seen how much of a role Briony has taken on as princess. Once we’ve navigated these first few weeks, we’ll sit down to discuss what duties you’ll have as queen.” The frown deepened. “I have no interest in having a queen who is nothing more than an ornament. But we’re to be married. You can’t continue as my assistant.”
She wanted to stay and argue. But what was the point? Meira had told her multiple times how much she wanted to work in the public relations office. She had become a dear friend, the first true friend Clara had had in years. She couldn’t torpedo something Meira had been working toward just because she didn’t like how it had come about. And Alaric’s explanation for reassigning her duties made sense. She hadn’t really thought about how her role in the palace would change, but it would need to change. She’d seen all the things Briony had taken on since she’d come to Linnaea. The to-do list for the future queen of the country would most likely be even longer and more intense.
Rational reasons for why he’d done what he’d done. None of it assuaged her growing annoyance with Alaric’s princely manner. Had she thought his firm decision-making attractive before?
