A few seconds later, he appeared in the doorway, alarm written all over his face. “Edwin! What’s this I hear about my files in this office?”
“I’m afraid it’s true.” I shifted to stand sideways and gestured toward the stack beside me. “Here’s some of them, in fact.”
For a man with two bad knees, he could move quickly when of the mind to. He hustled over to the desk and flicked through each file, probably to verify they were indeed his. Then he scowled and glared at the other stack of files near Phila. “Those too?”
“I’m afraid so.” Phila shrugged haplessly, hands splayed.
She was very good at looking worried and innocent all at once. Well played, Phila.
Judge Galbraith’s brows snapped together in a dark scowl that heralded quite the incoming storm. “How did you even hear about this?”
Tabitha lifted a hand to draw his attention to her. “I reported it, sir. I came in here to dust and do some cleaning and saw the files on the desks. They didn’t look right to me, and I know Prince James spearheaded shutting Aurora down, so I reported this to his office, just in case.”
I picked up the story smoothly. “When she told me what she’d seen, I came running. And sent a runner to you, as I’ve no idea what to make of this. How are these files here?”
Judge Galbraith slammed his cane against the carpet. “Damn vipers, that’s how. You’re… I’m sorry, young lady, what’s your name?”
“Tabitha, sir.”
“Tabitha, you did good work here, reporting this. I thank you. Edwin, thank you for having the good sense to alert me. I’ll handle it all from here. Tabitha, stay and assist me.”
“Yes, sir.” Tabitha shot me a quick smile.
I owed her a massive favor. Maybe theater tickets. I knew she and her sister loved the theater. “Judge Galbraith, I must report this to Prince James.”
“Indeed you must, and I urge you to do so now. I’ll handle things here and report when I find the miscreant responsible for this carelessness.”
“Much obliged.” Who knew, maybe he’d find the actual culprit, if the man didn’t cover his tracks enough. Not many people had access to the judicial file room, so it shouldn’t be too hard. Hopefully?
I left the room with Phila, as requested. We were well out of earshot before either of us dared to speak.
“That was very close timing,” Phila murmured. “I’m so glad you’re friends with all the maids.”
“Me too. It pays off in moments like this. I’m worried how someone even got into the princess’s study to begin with.”
“Yes, that’s very much not good. I’m going to Commander Harland to report the break-in. How should I phrase it?”
I thought about that for a moment. What would be safe to say but still alarming? “Say her maid reported that things had obviously been shifted about on the princess’s desk and the door was left ajar.”
Knowing the knight commander as she did, Phila let out a cackle. “Oh, he’ll hate hearing that.”
“I know. Go forth, make good trouble.”
Cackling, she did as bid, taking the next staircase down. I watched her go, mentally picturing what would happen shortly.
Knight Commander Harland had to be the strictest hardass I’d ever met. He was incredibly rigid, with a black-and-white mentality—part of the reason he was so good at his job. He didn’t allow for any sort of slack and took the security of the royal family very, very seriously. He would listen to Phila’s account and metaphorically hit the roof.
Part of me regretted not being a fly on the wall, but I really had to report this to James. He was due for a morning council meeting in—I took out my pocket watch and grimaced. Actually, it had just started. It wasn’t really proper decorum to interrupt, but I had a feeling the timing of placing the files in Helena’s study was to undermine her during this very council meeting. It was best if I got there and nipped this situation in the bud.
With that in mind, I hurried once more, heading toward the council meeting room, which was something of a hike from my current location. It took me fifteen precious minutes to get over there, even moving at a jog, but I slowed the last few steps. Mostly to catch my breath.
I entered through the side door and slipped in closer to the dais, then around to James’s chair. He realized I was there as soon as I breeched the door and canted his head at me as if to askProblem?
I put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to whisper near his ear, completely ignoring the speaker, who was droning on about something or other.
“Someone planted judicial files in Princess Helena’s study,” I murmured, my tone low so no one nearby could hear me.
James went rigid under my hand, hissing out an angry breath.
