Chapter 106
Such promptness was refreshing. I had expected to be left waiting for like an hour, or at least long enough for us to know who was in charge. Before we’d even gotten out of earshot of the front desk, the secretary greeted somebody else.
“Good afternoon, Minister Grey. Yes, yes, they’ve arrived, and they’re just there down the hall.”
Back in the lobby, I could see a man in his early middle age. He strode up the hall toward us, his gaze taking in the four of us. He had a very important aire to him, and we all stepped off to the side to let him pass.
So this was the palace administrator Theo and David mentioned. I braced myself for his disdain, but he stopped at the door to conference room two and held it open for us.
“You must be Ms. Laurentia and Mr. Rafe. It’s nice to meet you. I’m the palace administrator, Dale Grey. I’ll be sitting in on this meeting if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Charles replied.
He took the offer of the open door and entered the conference room, and I followed him, still a little unsettled by the way things were unfolding. The door had barely closed behind David and Theo when it opened again, and another man came in, followed by a youth who looked barely out of college.
The older of the two men who entered smiled at all of us. “Dale, it’s good to see you.” He turned to us. “You must be Mr. Rafe and Ms. Laurentia.”
He held out his hand for us to shake. Charles took it first, and then I followed. Meanwhile, Theo and David took polite spots near the back wall, sitting in chairs that weren’t at the table where they could keep an eye on everything.
Minister Grey looked at Governor Allen. “Are you sure you want your aide and the bodyguards in here for this?”
The governor shrugged. “I don’t think we’re heading into territory that can’t be heard by anyone else.”
He smiled at Charles and then at me.” I am Governor Allen. It’s nice to finally meet you. I hope your travels here weren’t unpleasant.”
Charles cleared his throat. “After getting off the plane here in Parkhaven, everything has been excellent,” he said diplomatically, implying that everything before that was less than pleasant but without speaking ill of any of the other ranking government officials.
The governor just nodded and gestured to seats. “Please make yourselves comfortable. If you’d like, my aide can get you coffee or tea or some such.”
We both shook our heads and took our seats.
“Well then, let’s dive right in,” Governor Allen said, having a seat. “First, let me welcome you to the city of Packhaven. Despite being the capital of Orlune, we don’t get celebrities of your magnitude outside palace events very often—at least not political celebrities. We’re pleased to have you here.”
He stared directly at me. “Ms. Laurentia, the truth that you uncovered, while uncomfortable for the government at large and particularly the alpha king, has been most valuable. And we are pleased to have you here so that you might continue the good work that you’ve begun.”
He cocked his head, fixed on me. “Did Governor Kruck inform you that you will be offered a position at the Palace Press?”
“He did, but he didn’t have any particulars on it,” I said.
Governor Allen gave a knowing nod of his head. “Governor Kruck has little patience outside his usual sphere,” Governor Allen agreed. “I, on the other hand, like to have a finger on the pulse of everything that’s going on in my city.”
He waved a hand at Minister Grey. “Minister Grey will be taking you up to the Palace Press offices as soon as our meeting here is done so that you can get acquainted with your new co-workers and begin your initiation period.”
“There’s an initiation?” I asked.
“Yes,” Minister Grey said, joining the conversation. “The Palace Press is essentially the elite press of Orlune. So rather than turning you loose to write on your own pieces, you’ll be co-writing several articles as you get adjusted to the policies and procedures pertinent to publishing with the Palace Press.”
He grinned. “That’s a lot of alliteration in that sentence. As a writer, I’m sure you could have put it much more eloquently, but there it is.”
“And what am I supposed to do with myself?” Charles cut in with his demand in a somewhat softer manner than he’d used with Governor Kruck. Probably because these men weren’t treating him in a hostile manner, but he was still heated.
Governor Allen gave Charles a sympathetic look. “I understand you’ve been asked to step back from your involvement in Rafe Media. And I am sorry for that. But we felt it was a necessary step—”
“Who’s we?” Charles interrupted.
The governor held up his hands. “If you’ll just hear me out. It was decided your separation from your company was a necessary step in order to keep you both safe. Since Rafe Media is the news entity that broke the story of the corruption, it is, of course, natural that it would be the focus of all animosity.”
Governor Allen continued in a soothing voice. “So if the two of you are still involved within the media company, how are we supposed to keep you safe?”
Charles clamped his mouth shut, jaw twitching, but he didn’t object. I could kind of see where the governor’s point made sense, at least a little bit.
Governor Allen smiled. “We really only have your best interests at heart. We don’t expect you to be idle while you are in Packhaven, Mr. Rafe. In fact, knowing that you’re an ambitious young man, we’ve decided to bring you onboard in my office.”
Charles was visibly startled at this. “As what?” he demanded.
“Well, you see, just because you won’t be in the public eye doesn’t mean that I expect that the two of you would give up your investigations into the corruption. So, we thought it best to give you a way to do this both in a productive manner and one that would keep you out of the spotlight. As such, being on the front lines of a news agency hardly fits that description.”
Governor Allen folded his hands on the top of the table, expression earnest. “However, since you broke the story, we’ve been looking into possible corruption in Packhaven. And while we don’t think that it’s an issue here, it could definitely be an issue in other cities.”
He gave the administrator a look, and Minister Grey nodded. “Go ahead,” the administrator said. “They’re going to have to learn sooner or later.”
“Learn what?” Charles and I both asked.
“That our preliminary investigation suggests only one or two of the governors or other city officials might be involved. That’s not to say that we expect all of them to have their hands clean. Or, at the very least, do not be complacent. However, our initial investigation suggests that the bulk of the corruption is stemming from…”
Here, he looked apologetically at Charles. “The alphas. But you’re not included, sir. Clearly, if you were involved in such a corruption, you wouldn’t have allowed your star reporter to break the story in the first place.”
Charles met the wan smile the governor gave him with stony silence and a glare to set fire to Hades.
