Fiona
Nina dropped me off outside the palace gates. I felt lighter in my step after spending time with my best friend and my grandfather. I hadn’t been seeing enough of my loved ones. Time with them had sanded the edges off the pain I had been letting tear me up inside for days.
Alexander wasn’t in our room when I got in, but I saw the door to his office was ajar and a light was on inside. My shoulders relaxed. I’d been tense, bracing myself to find him waiting for me expectantly.
I heard a desk drawer sliding closed, then Alexander’s distinctive footsteps before he appeared in the doorway. “Hey. Welcome back.” He came inside and closed the office door behind him.
“Thanks. How are you?”
He rubbed his hands together and looked away. “I’m alright.”
“I think I’m ready to talk now,
