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I groaned and threw myself backward on the bed. These dresses were beyond ugly and outdated. They were downright fugly.
“That one is the least ugly I guess, but that’s not really a shining recommendation.”
I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees. “Fine. I’ll wear it. Let’s go take a walk. I need to get out of this room.”
Candace held up her hand. “But you have that meeting in an hour.”
The duties of a queen were enough to make me want to bang my head against the wall repeatedly. “We can walk for a half hour. I want to see all of these whiteboards. Let me have a little fun.” I thrust my bottom lip out in a pout
She rolled her eyes. Candace was the best. “Yes, Your Majesty. Let’s go.” As I got up, she giggled. “You sure are loving those jeans. I’m going to find you some more and some of those T-shirts like your sister.”
“Good. If I don’t have to be in a dress, I don’t want to be.”
We strolled around the castle and nearby buildings. It was like an Easter egg hunt, looking for all the places she and the others had stashed the whiteboards. They were hung in some places, and in others they lay on tables or windowsills. We passed maids and servants along our way, each one doing the bow thing or the baring of the neck. One in particular took the time to stop and make a show of using the whiteboard to wish me good morning.
“Thank you. I really appreciate you using that. What is your name?” I asked.
The woman beamed and scribbled something else. Diana was her name. Blonde ringlets hung around her heart-shaped face.
“Diana. What a beautiful name. What is your position here?”
She wrote that she was tasked to make sure the guest rooms were clean and ready at all times and that the fires were lit and stoked should we have a visitor. She was taking care of Leif and the others.
“You have an important job. I know you are busy, but maybe you would be willing to assist Candace as needed in the future?”
Diana stumbled back a few steps, and I barely caught her.
“Are you okay?”
Her eyes were wide and her cheeks had bloomed in redness. She wrote down that she was honored and grateful to help in any way she was needed. I probably could have heard her at least since there was no background noise in particular here, but I liked people using the boards. It would help more in future.
“Thank you. Candace?”
Candace took the board from her and wiped it then wrote,I actually need some help with things today. While the queen is in her meeting, I will find you and we can discuss it. Is that okay, or will it get in the way of your tasks.It was a lot to fit on the board, but Candace’s writing was so small and precise it fit. I was glad that unlike the many ways our kingdom slipped into medieval times, education had remained a priority for all children. Not advanced education, but they could all read and write and had basics of other subjects. And I planned to improve that
Diana bowed, and we walked away, waving at her.
Candace laid a hand on my arm, and I turned to her. “I think you broke her. She only started here a few weeks ago.”
I looked back down the stone-walled hallway. “She took initiative and used the board. That ought to be noticed and recognized.”
Candace bumped my shoulder with hers. “I knew you were going to make an excellent leader.”
Chapter Seven
Until the other advisors arrived, Leif insisted on staying by my side nearly all the time. Not that his company was unwelcome, but sometimes I felt as if the high council had placed him there because they felt I wasn’t up to the job as queen. Also have such an attractive man so close every minute of the day was distracting.
I’d spoken with so many people around the palace as well as in the village, the farms, and anywhere my subjects could be found. There were too many empty abandoned homes, but I hoped that if I could restore the faith of those who remained in my rule, perhaps others would return. But it would take work. When you take almost everything people produce whether in terms of crops or animals or profits, they either get angry or lose heart, and I was seeing and, in wolf form, hearing a lot of both of these emotions.
I couldn’t blame them, so I listened to them as much as possible or read the words they scrawled on the whiteboards. Getting them to everyone would take time, but they were the one thing I was willing to spend as much as it took on. The first seventy-three covered the palace and its outbuildings, and we carried some with us in our saddlebags if we rode horseback or, if we drove the Mule, the utility vehicle, a stack lay in the back next to the gifts we brought with us to hand out. The kitchens baked overtime so we could hand out baskets of cookies and breads, and I’d discovered the extensive wine cellar Bors had put by during his regency. Many of my subjects were startled to receive rare vintages to enjoy with their Sunday dinners. But when I saw how little they had in their homes, how threadbare their clothing, empty their barns, I decided to sell most of the rest of the wine. I’d keep a modest amount for important dinners and things, but the funds I’d raise would add to what I could use to improve everyone’s lot in life.
I’d also hold back some more ordinary wines for a party I’d begun to plan in my mind. A run to bring all the wolves together followed by an al fresco meal on the lawns once things started to come together a bit better.
But that was not today, tomorrow, or this month. It wouldn’t even look good if I did. The time to celebrate was when we’d achieved something for our people. For now, I had a goal to visit each home in the kingdom and determine what that family needed for their well-being. What this queen needed was a secretary to keep records for me. I’d initially thought I could do it but it would take up too much time. I’d been scribbling on my tablet—another innovation from Jillian—but it distracted me from the very people who needed me to pay attention to them. Also many had more to say than the whiteboard would hold.
As we left a home with at least six children where the householder had insisted on serving us tea and cookies, I voiced this need. “We need to hire a secretary to help us keep track of all of this. I would hate to miss something important after all they’ve been through. That poor woman had lost her whole flock to Bors ‘round-up’ last year.”
Leif held up his whiteboard.An estate agent.
