“Mmhmm.”
I shifted up to my seat, ostensibly looking at my day planner and all the tasks scheduled for today, but my mind lingered on the man sitting at my feet. Valentina must be even worse of a nightmare than I’d thought, and I’d not been imagining anythinggood. What had she done to him, that he’d hide from even the possibility of seeing her? Just imagining various scenarios made my blood boil.
What could I do to put his mind more at ease? What precautions could I take to give him the time to find his footing again? I had no doubt with a full night of sleep and a day or three to clear his head, James would bounce back and have a plan to handle the situation, but he just didn’t have it in him right now. Which was fine. I could manage until he did.
I got up again and stuck my head out into the hall. “Sir Collins, a moment.”
Sir Collins immediately turned and gave me his full attention. “Of course. How, uh, is Prince James?”
“Rattled.” I quickly put together a half-true plausible story to explain James’s reaction. “James, you see, knows of Princess Valentina, and she is in many ways a female Victor.”
Sir Collins groaned, tilting sideways like he wanted to throw in the towel on this day already.
“Worse, there’s rumors among the staff of our monarchs wanting to shift the engagement over to James, make him crown prince, and have her become our new queen.”
“Shidteus’s balls.” Sir Collins abruptly straightened, eyes wide. “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy! They can’t really be considering it.”
“I think they are. It’s partially why he’s stressed and hiding under my desk. He wants no part of this girl. I certainly don’t want them meeting, even by chance.”
Sir Collins gave me a nod of sympathy. “Certainly, I can see why. I’ll get everyone stationed so she can’t come within eyesight of him at any point. We’ll give him time, don’t worry.”
“Thank you. I’ll leave it up to you.”
I retreated back inside and reflected, not for the first time, that all our knights were worth their weight in gold. They’d always been the loyal type, but James brought it out even more.
All right, back to what I could manage. I resumed my seat at my desk and felt the soft pet and squeeze around my ankle—a heartfelt thank-you from James.
I ducked a bit to see his face. “Anything else I can do?”
“I can’t think of anything, and trust me, I’ve been trying.”
“You’re also so stressed and sleep-deprived your eyes are crossing, dearest. I don’t think you’re capable of rational thought just now.”
He hummed a noise in what could’ve been assent, could’ve been disagreement. I’d dearly love to coax him into a nap, but I sensed now was not the moment.
My other colleagues arrived in spurts, some early, some later. James wasn’t a stickler about a starting time as long as the work got done, and truly, that was the healthiest perspective for office work.
McCoy, who sat next to me, immediately noticed James under my desk and looked perplexed.
I put a finger to my lips, shushing him, before scribbling a quick note.
He’s beyond stressed and hiding from Princess Valentina, leave him be.
I passed the note over. McCoy read it through and frowned, then scribbled a reply underneath mine.
Engagement really going to be transferred to Prince James, then?
A shudder went through me, but I grimaced and replied.
Suspected, not confirmed.
McCoy made another sour face and nodded before putting the note into the burn pile. Some documents were so sensitive that a knight and secretary burned them at the end of the day. I was glad he had the sense to drop it into the right basket.
We all worked silently. The second lunchtime approached, I wrote out a sign and held it up at an angle so James couldn’t see the message: TAKE A DOUBLE LUNCH.
People glanced at each other and then rose.
“I’m starved,” Phila remarked to Jo Ann. “Let’s go into town and eat for once. I want a hearty sandwich.”
