*Gravestone*

Commander McAllister had the uncanny ability to make people fall in line with the sheer oppressive din of her voice. Just one sentence and I was following her like a baby chick.

She led me back to her office, a spacious room with every wall covered in military achievements and weapons of various sizes. In the center was a large mahogany desk, which she promptly sat, steepled together her fingers, and fixed me with a hard glare. “So,” she said. “Let’s talk about you, Mr. Gravestone.”

“Uh,” I started. “Where do you wish to begin?”

“Oh you know, some basic stuff,” she said, casually waving a hand while another dropped below the desk. “Where you come from, what brought you to Wat…” in a flash, her hand came back out from under her desk, throwing a knife at my head. I shift in the heat of the moment and catch the knife in my teeth. “And why a shifter is working in the castle. Hm, seems activated purely by adrenaline and self-defense. Good to know.”

“What the f*ck is wrong with you?!” I snarl.

“Just checking a hunch, no need to worry. I’ll have my knife back please.” she held out her hand, I bent the knife in half and then handed it back. “Fair play.”

“What if I wasn’t a shifter?”

“Then the princess would eventually get over it.” Okay, I needed to watch myself around this one. Fortunately the clothes I was wearing at the time were tailored to handle my shifting. Which might have been what gave me away. A conundrum I was not a fan of at all. “Let me lay down some ground rules for you, shifter. Considering we have not heard from any of the four Watian packs since taking you on, I am assuming you’re a lone wolf type?”

“That is…accurate, yes.”

“Then I’m also assuming any questions I would have about your placement in a pack were you a part of one would go unanswered?”

“That…is also accurate.”

McAllister rubbed her temples in frustration. “Brilliant, anyway, onto my ground rules. I have no choice but to act under the assumption that, were you a part of a pack, you would be what’s known as an Alpha. I do not have the time, energy, or frankly the desire to teach you everything about what an Alpha is, but suffice it to say: lay a hand on the Princess that we do not like, and your head goes right on the chopping block. Understand?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Further, there will be absolutely no communication between you and the other packs of this country. I know that sounds harsh, but communicating with one pack will show favor, given your closeness to the Princess. This could end up worsening our already tenuous relationship with the other packs. It’s just a risk we cannot take.”

“I…understand.”

“Finally there will be no revealing of this secret of yours to the Princess. Her constitution is delicate, and seeing a shifter up close could shock her.”

I do my best to say, “I understand.” without laughing. Two days and I’d already broken one of their hard rules. New record.

***

*Princess Belasarius*

I stared at the door to Royal Advisor Price’s office like it was the door to eternal damnation. Advisor Price was a decent man, all things considered, but god above the man was BORING. Imagine, dear reader, the most boring, stuffy killjoy of a man in your life, then multiply that by ten. The human equivalent to a bowl of oatmeal. I’m sure he has wisdom to share, he wouldn’t be the head of the ten advisors my father had on hand if he didn’t. But he could at least get like, one hobby.

When my stalling ceases to work, I let out a deep, exasperated sigh and open the door. There I found him, sitting quietly behind his desk, a portrait of a ship in a bottle behind him. Not even an ACTUAL ship in a bottle like a normal boring person, no that’s far too exciting, gotta have a static portrait of a ship in a bottle. That’s more the speed of Windsor Price. “Ah, Princess, come in come in,” he said in that nasally voice of his. “I wanted to talk to you about your bodyguard.” Oh. That’s what this was about.

“I assure you, Lord Price,” I said. “Despite my earlier apprehensions, I am more than assured that he has what it takes to be my bodyguard.”

We stared at each other for a moment before he said. ‘Oh. Okay then.”

“That’s it?”

“Well, I do have something else for you.” gods above free me from this torment. “In a month’s time, we will be having envoys from the neighboring countries to discuss the latest skirmishes that have been happening along our borders between their forces. You do not have to attend if you do not wish to.”

“Yes, I believe I will use the day to bone up on my studies on both nations, I fear I would be a distraction were I to be present.” Don’t look at me like that. If they don’t care enough to make me show up, why should I care enough to make myself show up?

“Alright, just felt like letting you know,” he said, looking slightly disappointed.

‘If that is all, I will return to my studies.”

“Yes, good day, my lady.” And with that, I leave.

I find Gravestone halfway to the library, looking as troubled as I had grown on the way there. As I learned upon regaining the privacy of the library, we both had gotten the same thought. “One of them is in on it,” I said. “Those assassins would need either his or the Commander’s help to get up to my room, they both have control over the guards’ scheduling. As long as they did it at the last moment before the other could notice, they could’ve ensured the guards would not be there to stop the assassins from killing me.”

‘Which means,” Gravestone chimed in. “Either one or both of us just spoke with the culprit.”