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“No. Because your people have been defeated by Tygerians and now live under our control. Our laws may be strict, but they must be obeyed in the interests of all concerned.”
“But don’t you think…”
“No, I don’t,” Davos replied. “Sit down, Mr. Cameron.”
Blake glared at him for just a moment and then quickly sat back down. But not before muttering a few words under his breath. They had barely left his lips when Davos’s loud voice cut through the other voices in the room.
“What did you say, Mr. Cameron? Speak up. I don’t believe I heard that last remark you made.”
“I-I didn’t say anything.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence. You make a habit of making inappropriate remarks. Repeat it, please.”
A habit? What was he talking about? Had he seen his news broadcasts and taken exception to some remark?
The crowd began murmuring and Blake gasped in surprise. “Damn it,” Blake breathed to himself, and the king responded immediately.
“Still defiant, Mr. Cameron? More to say? By all means, tell me what’s on your mind.”
Did the man have hearing like a bat? He wasn’t about to repeat what he’d just said under his breath to the king or anything else to get himself thrown in jail. Or worse. He could feel his face getting hotter and no doubt his cheeks were bright red. He tried to pretend he hadn’t heard the king’s request, but then the king said his name again. He was relentless.
“Blake Cameron? Answer me. Immediately.”
“I-I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what? You don’t know what you said, or you don’t know how to get out of this?”
Blake was surprised at being called out and still didn’t reply, because what could he say without making the king even angrier? Davos stood up, but Blake couldn’t look at him, and he had no intention of waiting around to see what happened next. He did the only thing he could think of to do. He ran like hell.
He bolted for the doors in a complete panic, hitting them hard with both hands and running past the guards stationed outside.
It’s a universal truth that if you start suddenly running wildly past a security guard or a policeman, they’ll run after you, and these guards were no exception. After the first startled moment, they fell in behind him with loud yelling at him to halt. They began chasing him down the corridor when he ignored their commands.
Being lighter and faster on his feet, he was a few steps ahead of them when he reached the stairs. As luck would have it, the adjacent elevator doors opened at that precise moment, and he was able to slip inside at the last possible second before they closed. He rode the elevator all the way down to the first floor, panting for breath, and as soon as the doors opened, he dashed out and headed for the exit. He would have made it too, except for a little old lady who happened to be walking in the door at the same time he was trying to get out. He ran into her, taking her to the floor, and she squawked loudly, pummeling him with her tiny fists and banging him over the head with her big handbag.
The guards literally rescued him when they scooped him off the floor and began marching him back toward the elevator. The old lady, who, come to think of it, wasn’t so little after all, was being helped to her feet by the avid onlookers, while she shook her fist at Blake’s retreating back and called him rude names. One of the guards began haranguing him in a loud, imperious tone, though he was speaking Tygerian, and Blake didn’t get a word of it. He kept it up though, all the way upstirs in the elevator and down the long corridor until he opened a door at the end of the hall and roughly shoved Blake inside.
Sprawling to the floor, Blake opened his eyes to see a pair of large black boots just inches from his face. His gaze followed them up, past a tight, black uniform that showed off every inch of a strong, muscular body. Blake scrambled to his feet and to his horror, he found himself facing King Davos himself, who was gazing down at him with an expression of calm curiosity.
“Oh my God.”
“No,” King Davos said, “try again.”
Blake swept him a low bow and just stayed down there. “Your Majesty.”
“Are you all right, Mr. Cameron? Not hurt, are you? My guards can be a bit…enthusiastic at times.”
Blake peered up at him. “I-I’m fine. Thank you for asking, Your Majesty.”
“I don’t think we got to finish our conversation, Mr. Cameron, before you left the conference room so precipitously. Why did you run?”
“I-I’m sorry. I thought of something very important I had to do.”
King Davos gazed at him, as a smile twitched up the corners of his mouth. “Oh, I see. Do you still need to do it? The very important thing?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do, sire,” Blake said, easing backward a step toward the door. “So, if you’ll excuse me, Your Majesty?” He turned and was almost to the door when Davos spoke.
“No, I don’t think I will.” Blake froze in his tracks and turned slowly back to face him.
