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“Hey, if I have to call you Francis, you have to call me Ellie.”
The King shakes his head slowly. “That’s fair. You run a tight ship, just like your mother.”
“My mother bossed you around?”
The King thinks. “Mathilde didn’t boss me around, so much as she always commanded respect. Like you. But your mom pushed herself so hard. I’m sure you do, too. You deserve a real life, my dear.”
“Well, the thing I really like, actually, is working on my garden.” I fold my hands. “Any garden, really. Just watching things grow, making things beautiful.”
King Francis stands and motions for me to follow him to an enormous window. I gasp at the riot of color outside..
Ribbons of dark green hedges march around lilacs, then wind through the lilies, and finally snake toward a fountain with a statue of the King in the middle.
“That’s incredible. Thank you for showing me.”
“Oh, you’ve barely seen anything. We have so many gardens.” He gets an odd look on his face, which looks healthier than I expected considering I heard of his stroke last year. “But don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you very soon.”
I try to keep my face unmoving, so he doesn’t see my uneasiness at the proposition. He’s expecting me to withstand this again? Getting poked and prodded at the clinic sounds preferable to this. I still don’t know why I’m here today, much less why I’d need another aimless meeting with the King.
“You’ll come again, won’t you? Make an old man happy?”
I nod, bewildered. I have no idea what he means. All I know is if I have to do this again, I might exile myself and move to the spot in the world that’s the farthest away from Solvaria.
3
CEDRICK
“And there have been three cases of cholera, Dr. Vanecourt. We’ve put the patients in quarantine. But the bigger issue is stopping it at its source, in the water supply.”
I look out the window at my home office in my manor in Solvaria and sigh, not because of the stress of work. It’s the stress of being here rather than somewhere that actually needs me.
I should be in Mali helping Riva, not here. I start buying my ticket while I’m talking.
“Have you contacted the public health arm of the organization? They can start the process of testing the water for contamination. If they haven’t already.”
“I haven’t, no. They’re my second call, and the civil authorities are third.”
I can hear the exhaustion in Riva’s voice. As the country head for Mali, she’s used to everyday pathogens and hunger, but a cholera outbreak is a different beast altogether.
“I know you’ve got it under control. But I’ll try to make it out there in the next twelve hours. I’ll call as soon as I’m in country.”
“Sounds good, boss. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Riva. See you soon. I’m glad I have you doing the work.”
Riva only has two staff members helping her, and I’m sure she’s gotten no sleep. If this isn’t contained immediately, it could affect the entire country.
“Aaaand… booked.” It’s in my phone wallet, and my assistants are now aware of my travel itinerary. “King Francis International, here we come.”
It’s moments like these that justify my even maintaining a house here, considering my real home is in the field.
The question is whether I should go back to the palace to say goodbye or whether I should just bypass the guilt trip by leaving the country now and then letting Dad know later. His minions at the airport probably have a flag on the passport of anyone even adjacent to the royals. I might invoke even more wrath for going around him.
Even so, it's better than guaranteeing his wrath by showing up. The less I see of him, the better.
I spot Ingrid, my house manager, as I collect my backpack and small suitcase. “I’ll be heading out of town again, but I wanted to thank you for taking care of the place.”
“Wonderful to see you, Your Highness. When can we expect you back?”
