I was buried in paperwork the next day, having shirked those duties the day before. Mountains of reports and documents awaited my approval.
“How is the transfer of some of my authority to the ministries coming along?” I asked Gilbert.
“We’ve just received a report from the Ministry of Justice,” he replied. “They’ve set things up on their end. You will have to relinquish decision-making to the various ministries, but you’ll have the final say in their approval. The finer details will be sent in another report to you tomorrow, my queen.”
I chatted with Gilbert as I signed document after document. Eventually, I finished signing them all.
“I hear Lord Slade has already run back to his region,” Gilbert said. “Awfully quick of him, for once.”
Memories of the meeting I had with him came back to me. It was tradition among the Great Five to return to their own lands after greeting the royal family.
“Indeed. Perhaps he was homesick? Or does he simply wish to scurry back to his territory to keep his wrongdoings under wraps? It must be the latter.” I pulled out one specific document from the stack in front of me. “The Radfords’ region yielded more crops this year, yet Beckford’s region has produced less. Should we be investigating the difference?”
“We should. The problem seems to stem from the Beckfords’ tax rate. It’s high enough that some farmers were probably forced to sell their land just to survive.”
“Right, the regions all have different tax rates set by the Great Five…”
“Correct. As it stands, the marquesses hold absolute authority over their regions. The royal palace currently lacks the means to override decisions regarding the governance of their lands.”
“We’ll need to fix that.”
“It will be easily resolved once we have direct control over the other regions like we do with House Radford.”
“All the more reason to finalize this situation as soon as possible.”
“I do have something to report regarding regional governance,” Gilbert told me, changing tack. “It would appear that most of the farmers who sold their land have left the Beckford region for Radford’s. The more modest taxation rate must have played a part in their decision.”
“The greater culprit is still the negligence of the Great Five,” I said. “House Beckford will likely feel the need to increase taxes further if enough people leave their region.”
“But were the Beckfords to do so, then more citizens would flee his region, and he’d have to increase the taxes again. It would spiral out of control.”
“If Tommy’s report on him is accurate, Lord Beckford couldn’t possibly care about the citizens of his land less than he currently does.”
“I’ve heard he has quite the talented assistant in Karl,” Gilbert noted.
The mention of Karl’s name caused Anita, who was stationed at my side, to flinch.
“Surely he’d leave a sinking ship at a moment’s notice,” he continued. “Someone as crafty as him likely has money set aside for that very purpose. Your Majesty’s concern is quite justified.”
“We can’t let him get away! He needs to be behind bars, now!” Anita shouted, no longer able to hold herself back.
“Anita, your anger is completely understandable,” I said, “but I need you to calm down.” She could not hide her frustration even after I told her to steel herself. “Answer me this, then: What is most important to you right now?”
“Rescuing the children,” Anita replied.
“Precisely. And we must eliminate the cause of this evil so that it may never repeat.”
“And that’s why we need to catch Karl!”
“Karl is merely a pawn in a greater scheme. Behind him are the shadows of Houses Beckford, Slade, and Weston. We’ll put ourselves in a dangerous position if we focus too much on Karl. While we are distracted dealing with him, the marquesses could strike all at once.”
“Oh…”
“Trust me, I want nothing more than to save the children right away,” I said. “The ones responsible for this must pay. But the method we choose is of the utmost importance. We need a plan that ensures the culprits won’t escape—one that incurs as few casualties as possible, especially among the children. In order to do that, I need everyone to do what they can to gather proof of their sins.”
“I-I see,” Anita relented. “I get it now.”
Anita’s assignment was a rather complicated one. Officially, she served under Gilbert. In reality, she was meant to be Tommy’s assistant. I’d intended for her to focus entirely on the serial kidnappings with Tommy, but his duties often sent him outside the kingdom’s borders. Were Anita to accompany him, she would no longer be able to assist me directly.
To compromise, Anita stayed with me to act as Gilbert’s messenger and aide during the day, then helped me sort reports from Tommy at night. I had no ulterior motive for assigning so much work to her—it simply worked out that way.
“I shall take my leave, Your Majesty,” Gilbert said.
Once he was gone, I went back to my own work.
Anita spoke up shortly after. “Um, Queen Luxeria?” she ventured, arranging documents in the corner of the room.
“Yes?”
“How long will I be working for?”
“For today? That will be all. But if there’s more you’d like to accomplish, you may stay here.”
“So, uh, I can stay if there are other things I want to do?”
“Correct. Right now, I’m writing instruction manuals for everyone.”
“What’s an instruction manual?” she asked.
Pen in hand, I kept writing as I spoke. “They are books detailing tasks that can be done when I am absent.”
Anita sighed. “Do you need to finish those today? Shouldn’t you get some rest?”
“Oh, I suppose this is the only part of the day when you’d have free time. You may sleep if you wish.”
“But then I won’t be able to keep watch over you…”
“You say that, but didn’t you take a nap yesterday?” I remarked.
“Well…yes, but…”
“Then don’t worry. I won’t force you to watch me every waking moment.”
“Are you always like this, Queen Luxeria?”
“Always like what?”
“You just work, work, work. Every day, you toil into the late hours of the night. Just how hard are you pushing yourself?”
“I don’t have time.”
“You don’t have what?”
Oh. I said something I shouldn’t have.
I stumbled for an explanation. “I have to worry about the kidnapped children on top of all my other duties, yes? So I have no time.”
“O-oh. All right.”
My words came across harsher than intended, but all was well if I was able to fool her.
Anita yawned. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay awake any longer. I’m going to bed.”
“Very well. See you tomorrow.”
“Mm-hmm.”
I took Godfrey’s medicine after she left.
“Just a little more time…”
And so, alone in the quiet of my office, I went back to work.