Becky
Meanwhile, back at the manor…
Gideon Sage was staring at her.
Becky narrowed her eyes before squinting back down at the payroll sheets she was signing. It was meticulous work, mindless—her preferred kind.
At least when she wasn’t being scrutinized so closely by the knight off in the corner.
Keeley and Min had led a contingent of the guard into the woods as extra security against anyone who might stumble upon the manor by accident—in addition to the front door, two errant windows were now visible high up in the trees. This was growing more concerning by the day. As was the fact that Becky was now this knight’s babysitter.
“Can I help you with something, Mr. Sage?” She folded her arms, looking directly at him. It would only make the man more suspicious if she hid herself away, and she couldn’t have suspicion aimed in her direction. It was far too dangerous.
“No, I apologize. You just resemble someone I saw once in my time with the Valiant.” Gideon shook his head, brown hair falling forward toward his dimpled chin. His eyes were boyish—exactly as she remembered them. “When the king traveled south for a diplomacy meeting with a powerful family.”
She buried her anxiety under a veneer of indifference. “I don’t associate with the Valiant Guard, and I’ve no experience with powerful families.”
Lyssa interrupted, charging in with a tray of cookies in hand, powdered sugar dusting her cheeks. “I helped Edwin make another batch of sweets! But we used caramel pieces and pixie sparkle! He says I’m a natural baker.” Her chocolate-covered lips pulled into a wide grin. “Would you like one, Ms. Erring?”
Becky shrugged at the little girl, though her mouth watered at the smell of
baked sugar and butter. “Would you like a cavity? Stop eating desserts at all hours of the day.”
Lyssa Sage did not take her prickly attitude to heart. In fact, the girl seemed fueled by the censure as she took another big bite.
“I’ll have one, Lyssa, if there’s extra,” Gideon said. Lyssa tentatively picked one up from her small tray and handed it to her older brother.
Gideon took a bite and made a show of almost falling over, holding tight to Becky’s desk for balance. “Holy gods! This is the best cookie I’ve ever had.”
Lyssa looked shy, but her smile was enormous. Well played, sir knight. “Really?”
Gideon nodded and winked at Becky just as Blade rounded the corner of the courtyard entrance, shirtless, covered in sweat and dirt, his tanned, muscled stomach glistening—and her mouth watered again for different, much more embarrassing reasons. He should’ve disgusted her, but he didn’t. He never really had, if she was honest.
But of course, she could never admit this. She didn’t believe in office fraternization, office friendships, or anything outside of professional distance. “You look vile, Mr. Gushiken—go bathe immediately.”
Another voice screeched through the office. “Ms. Erring, the interns are going to kill each other!”
She groaned. And this is why. “What is it this time, Marvin?” she asked as the front-gate guard rushed in, pointing toward the ascending staircase.
“They’re fighting in the mess hall! One of them found a way to repair the barrier, and they’re fighting over who gets to present it to you and the boss!”
She gritted her teeth. “And no one is trying to break it up?” Becky stood, rounding her desk and listening at the base of the stairs. She heard nothing but raucous screams. “Are they…cheering?”
Marvin winced. “There have been bets placed on who will win.”
The intern pool was made up almost entirely of disgraced noblemen’s children. All spoiled, all insufferable. In a different time, she’d let them tear one another apart. But if there was one thing she took incredibly seriously, it was her role as the head of Human Resources. She was here to be a resource to all humans and magical creatures alike, no matter how irritating.
She pulled out her desk drawer, grabbed her gold letter opener, then headed for the stairs.
“Ms. Erring? Shall I send for the Malevolent Guard?”
“No need, Marvin,” she said, walking past a skeptical Blade. “I’ll handle it myself.”
A warm hand closed over her arm; she turned and saw Blade’s whiskey eyes, his brown hair pulled back in a half bun. “Stop, lovely Rebecka. I’ll go. What are you going to do? Alphabetize them?”
She smirked, pulling her arm from his grip and starting up the stairs. “Something like that.”
