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Chapter Ten
“Where?” I demanded, trying to mask the fear clenching my gut as I presided over the council meeting. They couldn’t see my knee bouncing under the table, and I hoped to the gods they didn’t detect the wobble in my voice.
“About sixteen miles from here.” Gasps broke from the others. Bors was supposed to be dead, and now, not only was he not dead, but he and those who had pledged allegiance to him were closing in by the day despite all my scouts and security. “Although, the account came from a woman who is known by the locals to be insane.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, well, gossip is sometimes wrong. And it doesn’t take sanity to know that a dangerous man is lurking around. She was sure it was Bors.”
The captain of the guard turned toward me. “Your Majesty, I spoke to her myself. Though the rumors are that she is insane, she gave a detailed account of what he looked like. She was precise and looked me in the eyes the entire time. I don’t think her account comes out of lunacy. I believed her as much as it pains me to know that he is so close.”
I realized the pure loyalty of this man by the way he spoke, by the way he was getting emotional over Bors, and the chance that he might get through. “Daniel, we know you and the guard are doing the best you can. We will keep the palace gates sealed and everyone on high alert.”
Daniel hung his head. “He won’t stop until we kill him or…I’m not willing to entertain the thought of not getting to him before he gets to you. I won’t stand for it.”
I held up my hand. The guy was hurting, clearly. What I really wanted to do was give him a hug and raise or something. “I think you’re right. Let’s not even entertain the thought of Bors breaching the barrier. Instead, let’s focus on what we can do. Are there any other resources we can offer you?”
Daniel tapped his finger on the grand table. “No, Your Majesty. We have everything we need. It’s just a matter of catching that bastard.”
Gunnar bowed up at hearing Daniel use that word, but my ears were far from virgin, and the use of the word only pressed in the notion of how serious Daniel was about catching my uncle. The passion behind his duty.
“Thank you for your tenacity, Daniel. I’m sure it will pay off. With you in charge, I doubt Bors will be free another day. Anything else on the agenda? I believe Ms. Dover is waiting for me in the office. I have some things to sign and go over with her.”
No one said anything and I dismissed myself to go into the office.
“What did you decide on the solar, Janis?” Arne asked me.
I put my hand on his arm and leaned into his strength. “Honestly, I haven’t set anything in stone. Will you come with me and give advice on the options?”
I knew I had shut him out before, but punishing my mates for any longer just wasn’t in me. They only wanted me safe, and who could blame them for that? And he was the expert among us.
“I would be honored. I did review the options Ms. Dover gave you and had some questions of my own. May I ask her to clarify some things?”
They were my advisors, after all, and Arne knew more about all of this technology than I did, by far. “Of course. Let’s get all of the pertinent information to make the right choice for the kingdom.”
Arne squared his shoulders and kissed my temple before we entered the office. Once Eleanor and he started speaking, it was as though they had their own language. They threw out terms and words I’d never heard of. Arne lovingly wrote out or pointed to the hard words to make sure I knew what they were talking about. Even if he handed me a dictionary on solar energy, I wouldn’t be able to decipher their conversation. Still, I knew that Eleanor, even though she was a consultant, had created a plan for us and understood my passion for bringing my kingdom into the future with confidence. If she was a shifter, I’d have made a move to get her here permanently. There was plenty to be done.
“Your Majesty, I understand that you’ve given me a budget to work with, and these options would work well within those constraints, but I do have one more plan up my sleeve. It will cost more, but your entire kingdom would have access to any and all electricity they want or need for centuries with this one. It would pay for itself in under five years, I guarantee.”
She laid the plans out and, and even with my limited knowledge, I grasped the genius in what she’d come up with. Our kingdom would be completely self-sufficient. If the outside grid went down, my people probably wouldn’t even know.
It was that complete—that all-encompassing. And green.
“Arne?” I asked, mostly to be polite. I’d already made up my mind.
“Your Majesty, this would…this would…well, we would no longer have to rely on anyone for power, that much is certain.”
I looked into his deep-brown eyes. “And worth the money?”
He nodded but still stared at the plans. I was beginning to get a little jealous of them. My mate was practically drooling. “A worthy investment in your kingdom if there ever was one.”
I took a long, deep breath. “Then let’s bring this kingdom into the future.”
