ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 41-50
By Painter
Episode 46
I only had enough time between my many engagements to read my latest letter. I’ll have to set aside more time before I go to bed so that he gets my reply in time.
“Are you ready?” Pedro asks from across the room. I nod to him linking our arms together as he leads me into Gordo’s old suite where we hold our meetings. “How is he?”
I squeezed his arm. “The same it sounds like.” I said sadly. “He says the fighting is getting worse and he seems a little down about it all. He did say he was impressed with me yesterday, though.” I added.
“As I told you he would.” He smiled as we entered the study.
Two men and two women were already waiting for us. The each stood from their seats and bowed to me. “Hello.” I greeted them warmly as Pedro pulled out the chair behind the desk for me, then took his place standing at my side. Everyone else took the seats again and got right to the point.
Apparently although Calvin said many men volunteered to join him, our forces were still dwindling. I held up my hand as Master Xander suggested a draft. “A draft?” I repeated him. “Correct me if I am wrong, and I mean that honestly, but in everything I’ve studied about wars, don’t most men tend to really resent being drafted?” I asked. “I mean, what man is really going to give his all and be willing to die for a king who forces his hand into it?” I said shaking my head. “What about our army? Or even our guards? Aren’t they already all sworn to protect the king?”
Xander’s face seemed a little surprised, but he nodded his head thoughtfully. “I suppose that could be true, but don’t you think we need our warriors here?” He asked, stroking his long black beard.
I bit my lip and thought about it. “Well,” I finally said. “We are on a lockdown, so there are no new people coming in and none of our people leaving, so I don’t think we need as much force here as Calvin needs there.” I said. “We could send a portion from the royal army, and then ask for more volunteers from the guards.” I suggested, then turned to look up at Pedro. “What do you think?”
He smiled down at me. “I think that is a good plan for now.” He said. “We need to keep a reserve here, but we also need to make sure that the king is covered, so that sounds like a good fix for now. If it comes to it, we will revisit the drafting idea then.”
“Very good.” Xander smiled then wrote something out on his clipboard.
Next the smaller woman with the electric blue hair smiled up at me. “Your highness, I also think we need to discuss the humans here.” She said softly.
“Ok?” I said.
“Well, I know a handful are your friends, but then there are also some humans who are stuck here since we are in lockdown…and also, since we are locked down, no…food, is coming down.” She said gently.
“Meaning?” I asked her to clarify.
Pedro tapped my shoulder and I looked over at him again. “I think what Miss. Francine is getting at is that our supply is tight right now, and that something needs to be done about the humans who are here. Vampires won’t lose their minds being a little low on food, but it does become more likely that there could be an incident when there are humans just walking around while we are trying to ration our blood supply.”
“Oh.” I nodded once. “Well…what about a protection order or something?” I asked starting to feel a touch in over my head. “I mean, like we could clear level 4, because no one is ever there anyway, and we could move all of the humans to that floor until the fighting is over and keep our most trusted guards posted there to make sure they are protected.”
Everyone nodded. “That’s not a bad idea.” Pedro smiled. “You want Tessa and Greer there too?”
I thought for a moment. “Actually, I want them with me. With all of the publicity they’ve gotten, it would probably better to keep them under even tighter protection.” I paused for a moment, fighting with myself on whether or not I really wanted to do this, and then I sighed. “Lexton, too.” I added.
“Ok.” Pedro nodded.
I turned back to our guests and waited for the next issue, but they glanced around at each other strangely. “Isn’t there anything else?” I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Everyone shook their heads. “Oh, no.” Xander smiled. “I’m sure you’ve got other things to tend to anyway.” He said.
I stood up slowly, walking around the desk. I turned back when I got to the door. “You’re sure you all don’t need me for anything else?” I asked. “I really don’t mind giving a hand in any way I can.” I smiled.
The strange looks continued as Pedro took my seat. “No, your highness.” Miss Angela grinned. “We’ve got the rest under control, thank you so much though.”
I may have only been a queen for a week and some days, but being dismissed like this felt a little off.
I lingered in the doorway another minute before finally walking away.
I don’t know about the rest of them, but I trust Pedro implicitly so I decided not to push it.
ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 41-50
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