Echoes & Silence Part 1 by Angela M Hudson

Author:Angela M Hudson [Hudson, Angela M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648328063
Publisher: Oakland Press
Published: 2014-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

The last page fluttered in the light wind, sitting restfully on top of the ‘finished’ pile. I sat back in the chair and crossed my hands on the desk, propping my feet up on the small wedge under it to enjoy the bright morning light—the way it made the shelves look almost yellow and the books kind-of white. An old portrait of either Eve or Lilith as a child kept me company in these long hours of queenly duties, and I’d looked at it many times, seen it from many angles, but found myself staring a little harder today.

The child stood facing the viewer, with hair of gold in long waves over her shoulders, a pair of black boots over black-and-white striped stockings, only just visible from under the folds of her deep blue dress. Her eyes shone out unnaturally like gemstones, as it seems all the eyes in this bloodline do, and it was those eyes that always distracted me. A strange feeling came over me every time I searched this painting, and that same sense of déjà vu lingered again today, except that it seemed like her eyes had changed—as if she was trying to tell me something. Warn me of something.

“My Queen.”

I jumped out of my skin and sat up straight, composing myself as I politely acknowledged the man at my desk. “Roger. Hello. What brings you here? I thought we were done for today.”

“We are, Majesty.” He slid a cluster of papers toward me. “But this adoption contract needed your signature.”

“Contract?” I picked it up and turned it the right way. “But Walt usually handles these. Why has it come to my desk?”

“The Master of the House thought it best if you oversaw this one.” He bowed again and walked away, leaving me with the sour taste of confusion and a mild sting of concern in my mouth.

With unsteady hands I opened the contract to the first page, and when the words Max, Josh and Michael Christopher White jumped out at me, I jumped straight out of my seat. The ever-dutiful Mike was up early this morning for work, despite having a rather tiresome day with Pepper yesterday, and I knew exactly where to find him.

A thick storm cloud whirled overhead as I marched down to the Training Hall, contract in hand. What was he thinking? He’d submitted this application weeks ago, and his closest most bestest friend was only just finding out now! From a third party. A third party that was a piece of paper, nonetheless.

As I burst through the doors of the Training Hall and held the contract up, a room full of stunned faces turned on me.

“Ara?” Mike looked up, a marker poised by an unfinished word on the whiteboard in front of him. “I mean, Queen Amara. What brings you here?”

The room of men rose then from their classroom seats, and dropped down simultaneously to one knee, rapping a fist to their chests.

“Um—” I put a hand up as a proverbial white flag.

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