Chapter 7 #2
She grabbed my arm. “I agree. Full stop. You’re absolutely right. I just wanted you to know he felt bad, not just he didn’t care.”
I guess that made it better?
The tension was unreal when I walked into the meeting. I could about feel the headache I knew would start after they told me whatever was going on. “Spit it out.” I did a double take when I saw it wasn’t just Darren on the video call, but my father’s siblings. “That good, huh?”
“You’re going to want to sit for this,” my uncle Fraser confirmed.
I frowned when I saw Treena tense. “You know?”
“I just learned when your uncle did and—let him—I’m sorry, Sagan.”
What the fuck was going on?
I looked over the file given to me and then listened to the details. I nodded along and let out a slow breath when it was done. “Are we sure nothing was intentionally tampered with?”
“No, we can’t know that until we question them,” Fraser answered. “But there’s nothing so far that says that was what happened either. The elders said they had no knowledge of it and their objective was to hide the nepotism and neglect.”
I sat with that a moment and then glanced at Myriam. “How much more do you sense? More than Treena, yes?”
She shot Treena a quick glance and licked her lips. “Wolves are better at sensing what’s off in a room or danger. They are very in tune with their surroundings.”
“It’s true,” Treena confirmed. “Tigers are better one-on-one and most are prey to them, or even in these sorts of instances they are like laser missile locked on the person.”
“What are you thinking, Your Majesty?” Benson asked, his tone tense. “They were questioned by truth dragons as is procedure.”
“Yes, and too much has slipped past even with truth dragons,” I replied easily. “I’m not chastising or—we can always do better. Look how fast Myriam and Treena have been helping in the castle alone. I think for something this important we have extra help and layers.”
“Agreed,” Aunt Maple said firmly. “And even someone—there’s no reason you can’t have an aide that’s an investigator just reporting to you in these instances, Sagan.
It’s not against the Alphas, but that person is your eyes and ears inside when it’s about your parents.
Or trying to control you. You need more information from someone of your choosing. ”
“Agreed,” Fraser and Darren said together.
Good.
“Davian can go for now—” Treena started to say, but I cut her off.
“No.” I gave her a kind smile. “No, I promised your father that Davian would not leave your side. He only allowed this because all his faith was in Davian protecting you and watching your back. I won’t risk that or his worry.”
Davian, who was the second in command to the King of Bodach’s head of security, bowed deeply to me. “Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty. I can speak with the king directly and he will send someone out immediately to aid in this while you make other arrangements.”
“Thank you, yes. I’ll call the King of Protesia and make other arrangements.”
“He’s going to want too much for this,” Maple hedged.
“I have an idea actually,” I hedged. “I think it’s more trusting that he won’t send someone to spy, but it should also help by reminding him they’ll meet Myriam first and it could risk our new good faith.”
“Good, I’ll keep you updated,” Fraser said and then chuffed. “Shutting down any investigation because his nephew is in charge of the royal planes is beyond ridiculous and cannot be—it has to be punished harshly.”
I grunted my agreement, especially when the man had also embezzled millions of dollars that was supposed to be used for the upkeep of our planes. The neglect of maintenance and more—I had another huge fucking mess.
I glanced at Benson. “Take all of the flight teams and airport personnel into custody. Myriam can assist you on this and make sure everyone is rounded up. For now, the castle’s landing strip is closed and all flights grounded until we get someone in here to inspect and make sure everything is safe. Top to bottom.”
“Done,” he agreed, taking notes. “I’ll speak to the police chief and make sure he understands the situation. Also, we can pick up the other elder who knew.”
I snorted. “They all knew. They always are in it together.” I waved him off when he opened his mouth. “But yes, get the one who hired incompetent family for a cushy job with the royal family.”
“I’m going to send one of my best resource management specialists,” Darren said firmly. “It’s time the whole castle and anyone who works for the royal family is reinterviewed and—we’re not risking anyone else is a problem. It should happen even without this revelation.”
“Thank you. You’re absolutely right.” I felt some of the tension ease now that we had a plan at least. This was going to be a huge mess, and depending what else we learned from the reports from the crash, more charges could be added later.
But what I was looking at was damaging enough.
The King and Queen of Thovudin died in part because the plane wasn’t maintained as it should have been. The engine should have been able to withstand the direct lightning hit, but because of neglect and not updating some key components, it was catastrophic.
You wouldn’t think they could learn that from a damaged engine, but I wasn’t a specialist. And more than that, they learned a lot from the second engine that didn’t explode and could tell them enough after the crash.
I knew there was more to talk about, but I collected everything and ended the meeting. They were all shocked. I didn’t care. I just needed to… Breathe?
And try not to be upset at my parents. They were the victims, but this was also their fault. They let this all happen right under their noses and—it could have been a plane I rode on too!
Wow, way to be selfish and make it all about you, Sagan.
“No, you’re feeling neglected and unloved, and it’s understandable to be upset that your parents didn’t protect you better,” Iris said in my head.
Maybe.
Maybe there were no right answers when it came to these sorts of situations?
I sure as fuck didn’t have any at the moment. Just more to handle and added to my plate.