approval. “You sure you need me to teach you anything?”
I laughed. “You sure you need to ask that question?”
He stood from his lean and wandered over to the whiteboard—stuffed neatly into a crevice behind a desk—and lifted it onto its stand. “Right, before we learn anything about the law or the ins and outs of queenly duties, let’s start with where you’re going wrong and why you may have the respect of your people but not of your peers.”
I looked into my lap for a second, digesting that. “Straight to the nitty-gritty, huh?”
“ I see no need to waste time on small talk, My Queen.”
“ Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s get started then.”
“ Sit.” He pointed to the chair.
I sat down.
“ Now, first of all—” He paced the floor, his hands closed around a whiteboard marker behind his back, that English accent of his more prominent in Teacher Mode, “—most unlikeable thing you do: tantrums.”
“ Tantrums?”
“ Yes.” He grinned, making an overly dramatic point of stomping his foot.
“ Oh. That.”
“ Yes, that . A queen does not need to stomp her foot to get her own way. You’re on the right track, Ara—” He stuffed the marker in his back pocket, “—standing up for what you believe, making decisions and seeing that people follow them. It’s what you need to do. But you don’t need to stomp your foot to do it.”
“ I never even realised I was.”
“ I know.” He squatted in front of me and delicately took my hand until I looked at him. “And, this isn’t a pick-on-Ara session, either. I just want to point out a few things that need to change if you’re to earn the respect you actually deserve.”
“ Okay.” I drew my hand back. “So, no foot-stomping.”
“ Right. And every time I see you do it, I’m going to throw something at you, or maybe pinch you,” he said, probably imagining it.
“ Okay. I give you official permission to pinch me if I do.”
“ Excellent. Now—” He joined his hands and stood up again. “One of the other annoying things you do—”
I sat forward, listening eagerly.
“ I’ve watched you with Arthur, with Mike, even with David, and one thing I can say that’s consistent about you, girl, is you tend to believe whatever whoever you’re talking to at the time says.”
“ What’d you mean?”
“ There’s a lot of mystery and history surrounding our past and possibly shaping our future as a nation, and you seem to believe too easily what you’re told you need to do—or even to believe.”
“ Like what?”
“ Take this prophecy for example. What do you actually believe about it?”
“ I…” I considered all Arthur’s points, the things Jason taught me in the library the day he translated the scrolls, and all the things Morgaine had told me in the beginning—things I took as fact, that now turned out to be so far from the truth they weren’t even worth remembering. “I’m leaning more toward it being a contract, not a prophecy.”
“ And what about the power of your foretold child?”
“ The power to free the Damned?”
He nodded once.
“ I . . . I think I can free them.” I waved my fingertips in the air.
“ And what about Drake coming for your child. What do you believe about that?”
“ I believe there’s a reason he wants her dead. Maybe she turns out to be the devil. I don’t know, but we can’t just rule him as the bad guy because he seeks to kill her. I think we should have a heavily guarded sit-down meet, and talk about it all.”
Blade smiled. “And why hasn’t this been done?”
“ Because no one else agrees with me.”
“ And . . . who has all the power in this monarchy?”
I sat straighter. “The queen.”
“ Precisely. So, I reiterate—” He knelt before me, his elbow on his knee. “Why hasn’t it been done?”
“ You’re right.” I stood up, forcing him to shift backward quickly. “I need a plan. I need to think about what to ask Drake, and I need to organise
I laughed. “You sure you need to ask that question?”
He stood from his lean and wandered over to the whiteboard—stuffed neatly into a crevice behind a desk—and lifted it onto its stand. “Right, before we learn anything about the law or the ins and outs of queenly duties, let’s start with where you’re going wrong and why you may have the respect of your people but not of your peers.”
I looked into my lap for a second, digesting that. “Straight to the nitty-gritty, huh?”
“ I see no need to waste time on small talk, My Queen.”
“ Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s get started then.”
“ Sit.” He pointed to the chair.
I sat down.
“ Now, first of all—” He paced the floor, his hands closed around a whiteboard marker behind his back, that English accent of his more prominent in Teacher Mode, “—most unlikeable thing you do: tantrums.”
“ Tantrums?”
“ Yes.” He grinned, making an overly dramatic point of stomping his foot.
“ Oh. That.”
“ Yes, that . A queen does not need to stomp her foot to get her own way. You’re on the right track, Ara—” He stuffed the marker in his back pocket, “—standing up for what you believe, making decisions and seeing that people follow them. It’s what you need to do. But you don’t need to stomp your foot to do it.”
“ I never even realised I was.”
“ I know.” He squatted in front of me and delicately took my hand until I looked at him. “And, this isn’t a pick-on-Ara session, either. I just want to point out a few things that need to change if you’re to earn the respect you actually deserve.”
“ Okay.” I drew my hand back. “So, no foot-stomping.”
“ Right. And every time I see you do it, I’m going to throw something at you, or maybe pinch you,” he said, probably imagining it.
“ Okay. I give you official permission to pinch me if I do.”
“ Excellent. Now—” He joined his hands and stood up again. “One of the other annoying things you do—”
I sat forward, listening eagerly.
“ I’ve watched you with Arthur, with Mike, even with David, and one thing I can say that’s consistent about you, girl, is you tend to believe whatever whoever you’re talking to at the time says.”
“ What’d you mean?”
“ There’s a lot of mystery and history surrounding our past and possibly shaping our future as a nation, and you seem to believe too easily what you’re told you need to do—or even to believe.”
“ Like what?”
“ Take this prophecy for example. What do you actually believe about it?”
“ I…” I considered all Arthur’s points, the things Jason taught me in the library the day he translated the scrolls, and all the things Morgaine had told me in the beginning—things I took as fact, that now turned out to be so far from the truth they weren’t even worth remembering. “I’m leaning more toward it being a contract, not a prophecy.”
“ And what about the power of your foretold child?”
“ The power to free the Damned?”
He nodded once.
“ I . . . I think I can free them.” I waved my fingertips in the air.
“ And what about Drake coming for your child. What do you believe about that?”
“ I believe there’s a reason he wants her dead. Maybe she turns out to be the devil. I don’t know, but we can’t just rule him as the bad guy because he seeks to kill her. I think we should have a heavily guarded sit-down meet, and talk about it all.”
Blade smiled. “And why hasn’t this been done?”
“ Because no one else agrees with me.”
“ And . . . who has all the power in this monarchy?”
I sat straighter. “The queen.”
“ Precisely. So, I reiterate—” He knelt before me, his elbow on his knee. “Why hasn’t it been done?”
“ You’re right.” I stood up, forcing him to shift backward quickly. “I need a plan. I need to think about what to ask Drake, and I need to organise
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