Chapter 182

I awoke the next morning with my convictions restored. I had to get to Crescentshire and interview the Luna Queen. I didn’t even have the time to luxuriate in the fact that I had slept in a palace last night—like a palace for real.

Nobody said that I couldn’t leave to go about my job, and after everything that I had talked about yesterday with both the king and the Dowager Queen, I had full confidence that if they knew I was going out for another interview, they would let me. I just wasn’t positive that they would be thrilled I was interviewing the Luna Queen.

Surely, if she were guilty of the wrongdoing, she would simply deny it, and that’s exactly what they would claim. So, if I was going to work off the theory that it was truly the king and his mother who were the problem, I would have to be more discreet than just saying I was going through an interview with Queen Yarrow.

I had barely gotten up and moving when the phone rang, an old-fashioned corded one sitting on one of the nightstands. I went ahead and picked it up since I was staying in the room. It seemed like the right thing to do.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Good morning, Miss Laurentia.”

I recognized the voice of the mousy man from the day before.

“You are up and about your day?” he asked.

“I am,” I confirmed.

The line went dead, and a moment later, someone knocked on the door. I grabbed a silky robe that had been draped over the chair of the dressing table and threw that on before I answered the door.

Sure enough, the mousey man waited just outside. He inclined his head to me.

“Good morning,” he greeted me again. “I’m here to make sure that you have everything you need for your day.”

“I’m going home this morning,” I said with a challenge in my voice, daring him to tell me that I wasn’t allowed.

He hesitated, shuffling around on his feet. “I believe His Majesty wishes you to remain here for a while.”

“Then I’m a prisoner?” I challenged.

He held up his hands, his expression strained. “No. Not at all,” he rushed to reassure me. “It’s just I was under the understanding you had agreed to stay and talk to people and consider the best way to write your next article.”

I tried not to snort at the ridiculousness of this. What a blatant way to say that I was stuck here until I published some work that recanted my original story.

“Well, if that’s what the king is hoping I’m doing, I’m actually on my way out to do some interviews.”

“Oh, well, if that’s what you’re doing,” he said, drawing back on propriety, “then I suppose it won’t be an issue. When may I tell His Majesty you expect to return tonight?”

“You may tell His Majesty that I don’t expect to return tonight.”

“He’s going to want to know who you’re going to interview.”

I gave the mousey man a hard stare. “If he wants to dictate who I interview for this story, then it isn’t really me publishing the truth, is it?”

The man fussed but didn’t say anything.

“If the king really wants me to prove his innocence in this, then he needs to respect the process. You have all said since I arrived at the palace that you trust my ability to research. You all admitted that’s what has provided such insight into the corruption within Orlune. This is how the process works.”

I kept staring him down. “I go out. I do interviews. I double-check them to see if the interviews corroborate one another. And then, when I feel that I have all of the facts necessary, I publish my work. And I cannot do that for him from here in the palace. So if I’m stuck and a prisoner, then just say it. Otherwise, I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

The man pulled himself up, trying to look important. “I’ll still need to tell His Majesty who you’re going to interview,” he said self-importantly.

“If he has to have something, then tell him I’ve tracked down several previous palace employees. Some of whom were here during his father’s reign. But all of them have retired and spread out across Orlune. I intend to interview them.”

“I’m going to be taking a couple of flights, and I don’t know how long it will take to adequately conduct all of these interviews. Which is why I said His Majesty is just going to have to be patient. I can’t give you an exact time for when I will return.”

I folded my arms across my chest and looked at him sternly. “I have no doubts, and I’m sure you don’t either, that if His Majesty wanted to track me down and bring me back, that there wouldn’t really be a good way for me to escape. If, for some reason, you don’t trust my word that I’ll be coming back, at least you’re now aware, and you can make His Majesty aware that I know I can’t run. I’ll just be brought back against my will.”

The man spluttered for a moment more and then drooped. “I suppose that will have to work,” he conceded. “Now then, may I get the names of the former employees that you’re going to interview?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. How am I supposed to reassure my sources that if they wish to remain confidential, they have that option if I’ve already given the list to His Majesty? Once again, you either trust me and the process, or you do not. But I need to know before I get started. Because I’m not making promises to other people that I will then be forced to break.”

The man sighed. “Why don’t you wait here while I go double-check with His Majesty? In the meantime, shall I have your breakfast sent up?”

“Yes, please,” I said.

The mousy man left, and just a few minutes later, my breakfast arrived. Breakfast had my mouth watering, full of all of the protein that we werewolves so cherish. My breakfast consisted of eggs and little potato dumplings stuffed with sausage, delicate rolls and, delectable jams and honey butter.

The spread made me feel like I was being spoiled, and I might have gotten lost in that feeling if it hadn’t been for the knowledge that I couldn’t just walk out of this room and go as I pleased. I was still subject to the whims of the king and awaiting his approval to go about my job and my daily business.

Before I’d finished, the mousey man returned. This time, I just invited him in rather than opening the door because my hands were sticky with honey.

He entered the room wearing an expression that distinctly said he did not want to be there. “His Majesty has given approval for your trips. However, you are expected to report back as soon as you have completed the interviews. To ensure this happens, you are required to report in once a day.”

He handed me a cell phone. “This has been preprogrammed with the Direct Line to the palace. Most of the time, it will reach me. For reference, my name is Louis Pike. When I am off, one of the other king’s valets will answer. You can leave any messages you have with us, and we will report to the king.”

“You are required to tell us what interviews you have conducted. You may keep your sources anonymous for the time being. But you are also required to tell us how many more interviews you are attempting to do. And if you did not secure an interview that day, when did you expect that interview to happen?”

“Is that all?” I asked sarcastically, raising my eyebrow at him.

He ducked his head in a nod. “I have no doubt that His Majesty will impose further restrictions on you if you fail to comply with this. I know you haven’t dealt directly with the king before, so just understand that this level of freedom is quite generous on his part.”

“Well, then. Thank the king for his generosity,” I said, trying to keep the sarcasm from my voice. “And if there are no further impediments, I would like to be about my business.”

I glanced at the door. “I haven’t seen my bodyguard, Theo, since shortly after we arrived. Where is he so that he can escort me home?”

“He’s not here. He took Master Rafe home yesterday. You’ll be given a palace escort for the ride home. Don’t worry. The palace will see to your safety.”

I internalized an eye roll. That was like entrusting the safety of a nice, fat hen to the fox. I had no doubt the palace would see to my safety, at least until I had published an article retracting what I had said previously about the king. Once that was done, I was positive my life was in the balance. Even if I published the most glowing report of the king ever, I couldn’t see myself being anything except the King’s lap dog again. Which meant this was my one and only chance to set the truth free on the world.