Chapter 16: Bernardo

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His spine peaked, bulged from his honey colored skin. The sun caught the peaks and cast shadows over the valleys. His hair was a sea of black contained between two ears red from the heat of the room.

Myles, on his second day of recuperation, rested a lot. He needed the time to build his energy up since the fight. He had not exerted himself in that way before, so he was told to lie down till he felt sound enough to resume his duties. I was told to monitor his progress, which I did. I watched his state like a hawk. I was scared that I almost lost him.

During those two days they made me wait to have a meeting with the heads of the military, intelligence, and security. They seemed to think things I asked for were requests instead of orders. They were on some annual vacation which they did not earn. Their excuses for not returning were the nails in the coffins.

"Myles we have to go," I said. He turned over and looked at me before his almond-shaped eyes focused on the ceiling. With a huff, he got up, making his way to the bathroom. He went to bed without a shirt for the first time in our marriage and wore silk pants. I waited for him to finish before getting ready and then we rushed to the secret meeting room just off the palace grounds.

When we made it to the bare room, we took our seats among some department heads. I noticed that there were no military leaders there yet. My blood boiled as I sat looking at the door. There were no windows to the room, just white walls and a metal table with a few screens on the wall. A male guard who kept most of his face obscured by a large hood kept the room secure. Next to him was the official transcriber who would record everything that might happen.

Myles tapped my shoulder with a look, pleading for peace. He gave his head of the table to the head of intelligence, deciding to sit next to me showing that there would be no divide in our judgement on the matter. Our relationship had improved a little, but it also hadn't gotten worse. We spoke more than we had been in the last few months, but it wasn't about anything substantive. We acted more than messengers who relayed information from one family to another.

After thirty minutes passed, I knew everyone in the room could feel the rage burning inside of me. There was no excuse for keeping a future king waiting. Then they with this jovial spirit that I wanted nothing more than to crush.

"Sorry, your highness. Sorry I didn't see we had guests, your other highness. WE got held up earlier but we're here now," General Gomez said, her breath smelling of alcohol.

"I am not a guest. This is my land to rule, I handle the things you don't consider. Have you been drinking?" Myles said, with venom I had not heard since that day I grabbed him. He placed his hands over his mouth, "Sorry."

"You need not apologize, they work for you. Also, answer my husband's question," I demanded, while sitting rigid.

They chuckled before Almirante Cero stepped forward with a smile I wanted nothing more than to smack off his face. "Sir, we had a few drinks in Little Mykonos on our way here, it's no enormous deal."

"Little Mykonos is on the California coast," Aquila Montalbán, our head of intelligence interjected. Her gray hair shook as she moved her head to watch them all as she spoke. She was the former head of the Marines and being almost a hundred and fifty years old meant that she was the most experienced person in the room. She was more than capable of handling the situation.

"Yeah, we went on a long vacation." The male Army general spoke up for the first time. They all smelled of alcohol and cooked meat.

"I'm sorry to cut in, but they left the kingdom leaving no one in charge while our leader was in danger," Aquila said. The other men and women shook their heads. She was intimidating, so intimidating that she reminded me of my mother.

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