This time Isaac’s laugh is louder. “Shouldn’t there be a meeting with her and her council? She’s shopping?”
“Yep. The whole day was scheduled for the talks with Goldsmith, even though they knew it was likely they wouldn’t last too long.”
“Longer than I thought. Can you get both of them to the Blackfriars in an hour?”
“Can Ivy know what you’re going to say?”
There’s silence before he speaks, a longer break than normal. “Ben, I trust Ivy more than I trust myself some days.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
* * *
I’d swapped my balls for shopping bags. The car that was ferrying Blair around had a boot full of shoes and other things and my hands were entrusted with the bags that she didn’t want to be left in the car.
“If this is your answer to stress, then you may need to think about national debt.”
Blair laughed and slipped her hand through my arm. “It’s a one off. That was a first.”
“It was. And it went exactly as you thought.”
“Almost to the word.”
We enter the door in Blackfriars. There’s no name above it, no suggestion that it’s anything more than a door to offices or even storage. But through it is a place kept hidden.
Ivy doesn’t look phased as she drops down the immediate steps, but Blair’s wide eyes are a tell.
“Where is this?”
“Somewhere we won’t be disturbed.”
“Exactly the sort of place you’d find my brother.” Ivy scans the large empty room, dominated by a bar and a few stools. Off it are several doors, each an opening to a soundproofed room that can be hired with no paperwork.
I’ve been here too many times.
Isaac materialises from thin air. Grey suit, black shirt, no tie. He greets his sister with a hug and then the same for Blair, but this lasts a little longer. If Ivy notices, she doesn’t react.
Even when he hugs me, she doesn’t react. Only Blair stares.
“In here.” He leads us into a simple, windowless room with a table and several chairs. “It’s clean.”
“You okay, ‘Zac?” Ivy sits next to him.
He raises his brows. “Any pirates come sailing down the loch yet?”
“He’s in Australia. Back next week. Then I believe he’s spending some time in Scotland.” There’s no doubt she’s pleased about this.
“You can’t go back to Cornwall. Not yet.”
“I know. It’s fine. I’ll live.”
“We’re making sure of that.” He mumbles and gives an eye roll. “Okay. I was at the meeting held with Goldsmith, his father and various other politicians after you left and everyone stopped yelling. I had warned them it was unlikely that Lennox’s proposal would be continued.” He sighs and looks at Blair. “To be honest, I don’t think it would ever have been passed until Lennox became king.”
“I’m assuming we were never aware of the details?”
“Like the English parliament took control of Scotland again and the Scottish monarchy became powerless with only the king or queen having a vote in certain matters?”
Blair looks at the table. “Lennox was power hungry. I can’t see him having agreed to that.”
