see me. “Is this an okay time?”
“Absolutely. How can I help you, Your Highness?”
“I just wanted to say, I saw some speculation about our relationship in the press the other day.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m sorry about that. You know how they can take a thing out of context.”
“I do,” I nearly exclaimed. “And really, I wanted to apologize to you. I know what an upheaval it can be when someone’s life is caught up in mine, and I’m sorry you’ve been going through that.”
“Eh, let ’em talk,” he replied with a laugh. “Really, no apology necessary. But while I’ve got you, I wanted to run an idea past you.”
“Sure.”
“I know you’ve been worried about the post-caste violence, and I thought it might be good for you to have something like a town hall session.”
“What do you mean?”
“You could choose a handful of people from various backgrounds to come to the palace and sit down with you personally. It would be a unique opportunity to hear from your people, and if you invited the press, it might also be a rather spectacular opportunity to show how well the palace listens to its people.”
I was stunned. “Actually, that’s a wonderful idea.”
“If you want, I can take care of most of the arrangements for you. I have a few links with some families that used to be Eights, as well as some that have had a hard time letting go of their Two status. Maybe we could plan on inviting a dozen or so people, so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed?”
“Marid, that sounds perfect. I’m going to have my lady-in-waiting call you. Her name is Neena Hallensway, and she’s as organized as you seem to be. She knows my schedule and would be the best person to talk to about a time and date.”
“Excellent. I’ll wait to hear from her.”
There was a long silence, and I wasn’t quite sure how to break away.
“Thank you,” I tried. “Now more than ever, I really need to prove how much I care about my people. I want them to know that, in a few years, I’ll be as able to lead them as my father.”
“How anyone could doubt that is a mystery to me.”
I smiled, thrilled to have added another ally to my arsenal. “Sorry to rush off, but I must be going.”
“Not at all. We’ll talk again soon.”
“Of course. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye.”
I hung up the phone and sighed in relief. That wasn’t as awkward as I’d been fearing it would be. Marid’s words rang in my ears. Let ’em talk. I knew they always would. Hopefully soon, they’d have something positive to say.
“WAIT, WHICH WAY DO THESE guys move again?” Hale asked before reaching over and picking up two petits fours and setting them on his plate.
“Bishops move diagonally. I wouldn’t do that if I was you, but it’s your funeral.”
He laughed. “Okay. What about the little castle ones?”
“Straight lines, either side to side or back and forth.”
He moved his rook, taking another one of my pawns. “Honestly, I never would have pegged you for a chess girl.”
“I’m not really. Ahren used to be obsessed, and he forced me to play with him every single day for months. But then he got serious about Camille, and all his chess time turned into letter-writing time.”
I moved my bishop and took his knight.
“Ugh, I didn’t even see that,” he lamented between bites. “I’ve been wanting to ask you about Ahren, but I wasn’t sure if you were up for it.”
I shrugged, prepared to dismiss the invitation, but instead I reminded myself that if I was going to have a shot at happiness at all, I had to let someone past my walls. Sighing, I told the truth.
“I miss him. It’s like I grew up with a built-in best friend, and now he’s gone. I have other people I’m close to, like my lady-in-waiting, Neena. I don’t think I realized how much I was relying on her until Ahren was gone and I could see it. But it makes me afraid. What if I get to the point I did with Ahren, where she’s the person I go to with everything, and then something happens and she leaves?”
Hale nodded as he listened, and I could see he was trying to suppress a smile.
“This isn’t funny!” I complained, chucking one of his lost pawns at him.
He laughed out loud, dodging the throw. “No, I’m not smiling because of that. It’s just … the last time we talked like this you ran. You’re not