I sat in a chair to the left of the Queen who sat behind her desk in her office. On her right was Benjamin and beside him Von Bartham and opposite us, seated on the other side of the Queen’s desk, was the Ambassador. Lord Langdon Beaumonde, Earl of Villiard and Merveille’s Ambassador to France fidgeted in his chair. Alyssa had offered for Priscilla to be present, but she declined and then the Queen had asked me. I was shocked by the invitation, but I wanted to be here, for Priscilla. I wanted to be her representative and hear for myself what her father had to say for himself. I also had my own role to play in this impromptu kangaroo court.

“You are a very lucky man,” the Queen began. The young girl who had arrived at the Palace a year ago, the girl who had just lost her father and brother and had been thrust into the spotlight that she had run from all her life, that girl was gone. Queen Alyssabeth had grown and matured in the last twelve months and now the mantle of sovereign rested comfortably on her shoulders. She spoke with authority and assuredness and despite the disparity in their ages, Queen Alyssa was quite obviously the one in charge; the other man quaked in her presence.

“Yes, your Majesty,” he said humble and remorseful.

“If it was left up to me, Ambassador, you would be warming a cell in the local jail. I sit here, completely agog at what you did to your own daughter. In what realm of consciousness did you ever think that using your daughter as a way to settle your debts was acceptable?”

“I—ah—”

“That was a rhetorical question, Ambassador,” she interrupted, “Nothing you can say to me will ever justify your actions and if I was able to have you prosecuted without harming Priscilla further, know that I would.” She stopped and took a breath. Her anger was apparent and I could only surmise that she was holding onto her control with the barest of fingertips. “However,” she went on, “Because this situation could very well have far-reaching implications for Priscilla and indeed her sister, I have decided to leave your fate up to your daughter.”

The Ambassador gasped, his face paled and a look of abject horror came over him. I couldn’t help the small smirk that lifted the corner of my lips. Seeing the Ambassador faced with the consequences of his actions went a long way to making me feel a little better about the situation. I knew what Priscilla’s verdict had been and, although I disagreed with her, I would stand beside her in her decision, but seeing him quake in fear of retribution lightened the ordeal somewhat.

“Against my counsel, your daughter has pleaded for leniency,” the Queen said and I saw a change come over the Ambassador. “She does not want her or her sister’s names dragged through the mud, so she will not be pressing charges against you.” The Ambassador gasped again, but the Queen held up her hand to silence him. “That does not, however, mean that you will not be punished. You will resign as Ambassador sighting retirement as your reason. You have been the Ambassador to France for many years, so this will not come as a surprise to anyone. Although I wish to strip you of your title and lands, on Priscilla’s request, I won’t. I will, however, suggest strongly that you not take up your seat in the House of Lords, it won’t go well for you if you do. It is also strongly recommended that you retire to your country home and live out the rest of your days in relative obscurity. If you wish to sell your lands and move to France, we will help you in anyway you require. If I could exile you, I would, but again, I am being lenient at Priscilla’s request. Her only stipulation is that you never contact her again. If, and only if, she wishes to reconnect with you, it will be in her time and in her way.”

“And Bianca?” he asked, his voice raspy and forced.

“That will be up to her. At present she is not aware of all the details and it will be at Priscilla’s prerogative whether she tells Bianca or not. I will take this opportunity to advise you that should the details of the marriage contract become public by your hands, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is Priscilla’s wish that it never see the light of day and I intend to uphold my promise to her on this. Therefore, if you cause me to break my promise to her, know that I will make you pay for it.”

The Ambassador gulped and his obvious discomfort eased something in me. I saw the Queen in a new light. She was magnificent as an avenging angel and that she was defending the woman I loved only endeared her to me all the more. I was witnessing just a glimpse of what she would one day become and it was humbling. Her brother had inspired the same loyalty in me as I had watched him apprentice under his father, but his sister, Alyssa, hadn’t had the benefit of that apprenticeship and here she was filling his shoes admirably. I had no doubt that she would be a wonderful Queen and that Merveille would prosper under her sovereignty.

“Do you have any questions before I hand you over to the Lord Chancellor who will inform you of your obligations and the protocols of your continued freedom while in Merveille?”

He shook his head before looking at me.

“Very well then, our interview is finished. Benjamin will escort you to the Lord Chancellor’s office where you will be required to sign papers declaring that you understand what has happened here today and that you agree to abide by the conditions set down in said contract.”

We all stood and Benjamin led the Ambassador from the room with me following close behind.

“Oh my God! Priscilla!” Bianca raced into the room, her high-pitched cry of concern stabbing at my already abused head and making me wince. But Bianca didn’t notice as she practically dived onto the bed, jostling me about in her attempt to hug me. “Look at your poor face and,” here she paused to gasp, “Your neck. Oh no, oh God.”

“Bianca,” I said a little more harshly than I intended, but her attempts at comfort were not comforting in the least and were actually causing me more pain. “Leave off, for goodness sake, I’m fine.”

“But look at you,” she whined, her face pulled downward in misery.

“I can’t,” I said, “Nobody will give me a mirror. Surely the damage can’t be that bad.” I was trying to sound positive, but the unnaturally raspy note in my voice was proof of the damage I had received. My jaw ached and had that numb, bloated feeling you get after having visited the dentist. My eye was almost swollen shut and no doubt I sported a rather impressive bruise. My ribs ached from the life-saving chest compressions performed by one of my heroic rescuers and my head pounded with each pulse of my blood through my veins.

“Oh, well,” Bianca moved off the bed and took a seat in the chair beside me. “That’s probably for the best.”

I watched her curiously as she tried not to stare at my injuries, but she couldn’t help it. Her eyes flicked over me before she wrenched them away only for them to flick back as if of their own accord. I must look a dreadful sight, like a train wreck where you can’t help but ogle the devastation.

“Are you at least feeling better?” she asked, finally making eye contact…with my good eye.

“A little,” I said, “But I tire easily and I have a headache that just won’t quit. What about you? I see you are sporting a rather impressive bump yourself.”

“Oh,” she fidgeted with her hair so as to cover the offending lump on her forehead, “It doesn’t hurt too much, only when I touch it.”

I reached over and took her hand. “Are you truly okay? Dom said Piérre locked you in a closet?”

She nodded slowly. “I was so scared,” she said, sniffing so as not to cry, but her eyes filled with tears until one slipped down her cheek. “I felt like I was running out of oxygen and that I was going to suffocate.”

“You know that that was just panic, right?” I assured her, “You wouldn’t have suffocated, closets aren’t airtight.”

Her eyes widened as she took in that bit of information. “It felt so real…”

“I know, honey, but that was just a panic attack, which is completely understandable with the situation you were in.”

“But what about you? You very nearly did die…if not for Dom.”

I felt my chest tighten at the thought of what could have happened, what did happen. I hadn’t been breathing when Dom pulled me from the water. I was as good as dead and then he’d brought me back. I had so much to be thankful to him for.

“I know,” I acknowledged quietly.

“So what happens now?” she asked and her lower lip trembled.

“What do you mean?”

“Louis said that the Queen was coming to talk to you. Did you get fired?”

“Fired? No, of course not. Whatever made you think that the Queen would fire me?” I said it even though I had had the very same thoughts before the Queen came to see me.

“They have Papa locked up in his room and won’t let him out. I was…worried that the same thing had happened to you. Do you know there are two guards outside your door - two of the Queen’s personal security detail?” This last bit she said in a whisper as if it were a secret.

“I know,” I said, “But they are there for my protection, not to keep me in.” I sighed and bit my lip before speaking again.

I knew I had to tell Bianca why our father was being held under guard, but I wasn’t quite sure how she would take it. Bianca adored our father, she had no reason not to. He had doted on her and spoiled her, granting her every wish and whim. How would she take the news I had to tell her? How would she take finding out that the man she thought hung the moon was just as fallible as every other person on earth and maybe even a bit worse than most?

“There is a very good reason why Papa has been under guard,” I said.

“He’s not in danger too is he?” she asked, her eyes wide with fright.

“No,” I said, my teeth clenched. He may very well be in danger, but not the type that she meant.

I could just lie to her. I didn’t have to burst her bubble of naïveté, but that would make me no better than our father. He had kept her cosseted and it had been to her detriment. No. It was time for Bianca to grow up and that meant telling her the truth. It meant bursting her bubble and revealing to her the truth about the world we lived in, the world we grew up in.

“The marriage contract,” I tried again, “What he did, what Papa did was illegal.”

Her brow furrowed in consternation. “What do you mean, illegal?”

I sighed, there was no subtle way of telling her so I would just have to spit it out. “When he signed that contract, he was exchanging me for money to pay off his debts.”

Her mouth gaped as she tried to understand what I’d said. “He sold you?”

I took a deep breath. “He did. Which is illegal and comes with a jail term. I’m not quite sure if it comes under slavery or child exploitation, but either way, it was wrong and he knew better.”

“But…I don’t understand. You lived with us, he didn’t give you away—”

“Don’t try and justify his actions,” I said heatedly. How could she still be so naïve after hearing the truth of what that man had done? “I may have stayed in his house and grown up as his daughter, but from the moment he signed that contract, my life was no longer my own. Is it any better to be shackled with gold chains than with iron? I was still shackled either way, he still exchanged my life, my body, my future for his own gains. It was not only illegal it was just plain wrong.”

She sat up straighter and her face became a sombre mask. “So what happens to him now.”

“The Queen came to see me because she wanted to know what I wanted to do about the situation. Piérre was also at fault because he was accepting the goods, so to speak. There are enough charges against Piérre that he will be imprisoned for a good long while, but the Queen wanted to know how to proceed with Papa.” I paused to order my thoughts. I was still angry and hurt and a sense of betrayal wound through me like a thorny vine, but protecting myself from the shame of what my father had done won out over my need for vengeance. “He will lose his position as Ambassador, although it will be publicised as his retirement. He has been given the choice of retiring to his country estate in Merveille or selling the land and immigrating to France. He’s not to trade on his title and he is to retreat quietly from society. If he does all this, then he will not be prosecuted, but if just one word of the contract becomes public knowledge, the Queen will pursue a suit against him.”

“And what about me?”

“What about you?”

“Am I to be exiled as well? Or am I to be kept from him as punishment.”

I frowned and gently rubbed my forehead. Must everything revolve around her? “You are free to do whatever you wish,” I said, “My intention is not to keep you from him, only to open your eyes to the type of man he is. You have been sheltered from the worst of his faults and it’s time for you to see him as he is. I have no intention of ever speaking with him again, but you are your own person and it is your choice to make. As for where you will live, that is also your choice. You can go back and live with Papa or you can stay and finish your internship with me. The Queen has offered me a position as her Personal Assistant and if you want to continue to work with me, you can.”

“You don’t hate me?”

With an exasperated huff of breath, I barely contained my growl. “Of course not,” I said through a stiff jaw. I may not hate her, but she was damned frustrating at times.

She let out a breath and her body deflated like a balloon. “Oh thank goodness,” she said, “I was so worried you blamed me for everything.”

“Why would I blame you? None of this is your fault. You didn’t sell me like some piece of livestock. You didn’t nearly drown me in anger. Why would you think that I was angry at you?”

She shrugged. “Because I was Papa’s favourite. Because he always gave me everything and treated you so badly.”

I shook my head and regretted the movement as my headache worsened and my stomach became nauseated. “I don’t blame you for what Papa did. Sure, at times I was hurt by his actions, but I never blamed you for it.”

We stared at each other in silence. Maybe I had resented her, maybe part of me had blamed her for the unfair treatment I had received, but I knew that I was wrong for feeling that. What I had said was true, she wasn’t at fault. My father was the one that had driven this wedge between us, he was the one that had set me against her and I was done with his interference in my life. Bianca was my sister and I would be damned if I was going to let the actions of my father permanently damage my relationship with her. There were many bridges and fences to repair before I could confidently say that we were bosom buddies, but I was determined to make a fair attempt at it.

“So what will it be?” I asked, “You want to stay and work as the assistant to the Queen’s assistant?”

A grin lit her face and then her tears started in earnest. “More than anything,” she replied.