“I need more silver ones!” Matilda announced, breaking the spell. “This side isn’t balanced.”
“Queen of Symmetry,” Julia murmured under her breath, amused.
Alex slid off the sofa and kissed the top of Matilda’s head, then handed the box of ornaments to Hyzenthlay witha murmured, “You have excellent taste, darling. Help your cousins, please?”
Hyzzie nodded solemnly, already reorganising baubles by colour and weight.
Julia watched Alex straighten and subtly angle herself toward the side of the room, toward the corridor that led to the smaller sitting rooms. Erin moved at the same time, as if drawn on a string.
They met near one of the pillars, half-hidden by a garland.
“Report?” Alex asked softly.
“Perimeter’s holding,” Erin said. “Snow’s still coming down. Roads are… difficult. Backup generators behaving now. No new crises that require your personal intervention.”
“I like it when you say ‘no new crises,’” Alex said. “Makes a nice change.”
Her hand brushed Erin’s wrist. It was a tiny gesture, easily missed by anyone not looking for it.
Julia, unfortunately, was looking for it.
Her chest squeezed.
They were both trying so hard.
She’d been there for so much of their relationship so far. She’d seen them build something fragile and fierce and improbable.
Now, five years of marriage and three children later, they still had that tether. But it was frayed around the edges, pulled thin by duty and nappies and protests and late-night emergency calls.
If anyone deserved five minutes alone in a castle full of people, it was these two.
Alex leaned in, voice dropping even lower. Julia couldn’t hear the words, but she could read the intent in her bodylanguage: shoulders softening, head tilting toward the corridor.
Erin’s eyes tracked the movement. She glanced at the kids, at the staff, then at Alex again.
Say yes, Julia thought at her. For once in your life, just say yes.
Alex caught Julia’s gaze over Erin’s shoulder.
Julia raised one eyebrow the tiniest fraction. Go, she mouthed.
She saw understanding flicker in Alex’s eyes. Then, with the confidence of someone who’d spent their life slipping in and out of rooms full of people without technically lying to anyone, the Queen straightened and clapped her hands lightly.
“Matilda, darling,” she said, projecting warmth. “You’re in charge of the silver baubles. Florence, you and Frank are on tinsel rotation. Hyzzie…”
Hyzenthlay looked up, alert.
“You’re the structural engineer,” Alex said. “Make sure it doesn’t topple over when Frank starts climbing it.”
“On it,” Hyz said gravely.
“Excellent,” Alex said. “I just need to speak with Auntie Erin about… security protocols for the reindeer. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She glanced at Julia.
Julia nodded once. “I’ll supervise the tree team,” she said. “Go.”
Erin’s mouth quirked. “Yes Ma’am,” she murmured.
