She’d exchanged a few messages with her colleagues at the university, enough to learn that the majority of the populace had been living in fear for the last few weeks and were more relieved than upset that her father might soon be able to act without input—or interference—from the Senate.
More and more, she wondered if he’d set this all up, somehow causing the poor response of the Fleet to the invaders to ensure everything was scarier to the general populace than it should have been. Not just scary. Deadly. Many people had died in the bombings.
Oku didn’t want to believe that her father would have set up such a scenario—maybe he’d only taken advantage of it after the fact—but with Boehm’s mysterious death from “natural causes,” she didn’t know what to think.
Chasca, who’d been napping after her morning romp in the Citadel’s garden, sat up and woofed. A few seconds later, a knock sounded at her door. Maddie was standing guard from inside Oku’s room, and she opened it. A murmured discussion occurred in the doorway, and Oku couldn’t see past her to tell who was out there. Maddie pointed at something in a covered tray and requested to see under the lid. Whatever it was must not have ruffled Maddie’s honed bodyguard senses.
“Irena and Aleksy Dabrowski here to see you, Your Highness,” she said.
Chasca hopped off the bed, wagging her tail, and slipped around Maddie to perform her own investigation of the tray.
“Come in, please.” Oku got up from the desk, pulled Chasca back by the collar, and waved them in. “Stay,” she told Chasca after waving her into a sit.
Her dog obeyed, but her tail swished back and forth on the old flagstone floor, and her gaze was focused on the tray.
“Princess Oku.” Aleksy bowed as his wife came in after him. “We’ve been instructed to leave and go back to our home—we’re relieved to do so—now that it’s been a few days since any bombing ships have made it through to the surface and since…” He looked uncertainly at his wife.
“King Jager is all but assured to be issued King’s Authority,” she said, her face more irked than uncertain, but she glanced at the ceiling—suspecting monitoring cameras?—and didn’t share her opinion on the matter.
“It’s believed that he’ll step forward now with the authority and power to finally defeat the blockaders and clean up the system.” Aleksy spread his hands. “That’s what they’re telling the populace.”
“I’m sure,” Oku murmured, wishing she dared confess to them, but she was already taking a risk by sharing everything with Casmir. She hoped nobody could monitor the messages she sent and received on her new chip.
“But we wanted to thank you very much for coming to get us,” Aleksy went on, “and our friends and family.”
“I made rugelach for you.” Irena came forward with the tray and set it on the desk. “Ingredients are understandably hard to come by right now, and the kitchen staff was skeptical about sharing their space with me, but they had the makings for these.”
“Oh, thank you. Uhm, what are they?” Oku had never heard the term.
“Cookies.” Irena pulled off the lid to reveal small rolled pastries. “Casmir likes them.”
“Casmir likes all cookies,” Aleksy said. “More apposite would be to find and share his favorite vegetable.”
“He doesn’t have a favorite vegetable.”
“Exactly.”
Irena elbowed him, and he grinned.
“There’s also something here for Chasca.” Irena picked up a blue paper bag with a curly paper ribbon tied around it. “It’s a similar recipe to what I use in treats for our cat, all animal-friendly ingredients. I replaced the catnip with anise. I’ve read that dogs enjoy it.”
“Thank you. That’s very considerate.” Oku was even more touched that she’d made something for Chasca than for her, though she wasn’t sure whether it was the dog treats or cookies that had Chasca’s attention.
“You’re welcome,” Irena said. “We thank you again for coming and offering us safety. I’ve heard from the neighbors that our building suffered a near miss and took some damage, but it could have been much worse, so we’ll tidy up the best we can and move on with our lives and hope… our son comes home soon.” Her smile turned sad and she offered her arms. “Is it permissible to hug princesses?”
“Of course.”
Aleksy also came forward to give her a fatherly embrace.
“Be careful in the city,” Oku told them. “Just in case…” She didn’t finish the thought, that her father being given absolute power wouldn’t necessarily mean all would