“A bit.” I looked at him.
“Well, please don’t be nervous. There’s a bit of cloak-and-dagger around here because my life and the lives of the people close to me, are always in jeopardy. I apologize for that, but it’s essentially what I’d like to talk to you about.”
There was a glimmer of understanding beginning to form.
Safety.
Protection.
Bodyguards.
Dax.
Was this Dax’s secret? Was he planning to work for King Erik?
“I see the wheels beginning to turn,” King Erik said. “And yes, Dax has expressed interest in becoming a Royal Protector. If it hasn’t been explained to you, that’s my exclusive group of personal bodyguards. They take an oath to serve me, my family and my country. First and foremost. In the old days, before the last king took over, it was something most men pledged to do as teenagers. They would join the military immediately after high school, and after two years—sometimes more—they began extensive training. That’s what Sandor did. And all the years I was in exile, he protected my older son, Luke. The world thought I was dead, so his duty shifted to my child. Even in death. So the vows taken by the Royal Protectors are serious.”
“I see.” What else could I say?
“While I don’t know all the details, I do know that Dax is retiring from hockey and is in the vetting process to join them. Because of your personal relationship, that included you.”
“M-me?”
“To be a Protector, especially as a foreigner, we do the kind of background check that would be done to, say, work for the Queen of England. We probably dig even deeper, because this is personal, and a lifelong commitment. So while I apologize for the invasion of your privacy, if you’re going to be with Dax, and he’s going to be a Royal Protector, we had to include you. He said you would probably be angry, and I understand if you are, but I hope it’s fleeting. I’ve only been the king a year and there have already been multiple attempts on my life. Just a few weeks ago, someone tried to kidnap Luke at the local Christmas market. Someone tried to get to my stepdaughter during a charity ball last fall. It’s constant. There isn’t a single day where I don’t get death threats. I hope you understand that there was nothing malicious about this background check—it’s about the lives and safety of my family and those closest to me. Which will include Dax should he take the job. And you, should you get back together.” He paused. “Which I understand is a possibility.”
I made a face, but I wasn’t angry. Not really. “Yes. He wouldn’t tell me what he’d been considering, only gave me some loose parameters about what our future might look like and asked me to think about them.”
“And have you?”
“I have.” I met his gaze. “That part of it is personal, but yes, I love Dax enough to make a short-term sacrifice. However, now that I know where we’ll be living, I’m a bit concerned. I don’t know if I’d be employable in a country where I don’t speak the language.”
He nodded. “Understandable. However, let’s break this down one step at a time. First, can you forgive us for doing a fairly intrusive background check?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Under almost any other circumstance, I would be furious, but this…” My voice trailed off. “Well, like you said, you get death threats every day and I suppose if it was me, my family, I wouldn’t allow a stranger to get close to us until they were vetted either. And since I don’t have any huge secrets… I’m not as angry as I would have been otherwise.”
“Thank you. It means a lot that you understand the danger I live with. So, the next issue. The language. All Limaji children learn rudimentary English in school. By the time they get to high school, and it’s not everywhere but we’re trying to find more teachers so that it is, they can take classes like math and science in English to help them become fluent. And two semesters are mandatory if you attend university here, so you’ll find a lot more English than you think, both in everyday life and in the academic community.”
“Okay.”
“Which brings me to your career. Dax told us how important it is to you and that you’re a scientist. I don’t know that black holes are on my radar, but there is a small physics department at the University of Hiskale. I can offer you a department head position today, if you want it.”
I started to respond but he held up his hand. “I would also be happy to build you a research lab for whatever it is you do with black holes. Please forgive my ignorance, but I truly don’t know how it works. What I do know, is that I want Dax to be one of my Royal Protectors, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help convince him. He said he could only do it if you were on board.”
I stared at him in shock. Dax had said that it depended on me? Even while we’d been broken up? I was on the verge of tears and wasn’t sure why.
“And if those options don’t suit you, we’re opening an international baccalaureate school here this fall. If you wanted to get certified, you could teach AP Physics. It wouldn’t be anything like what you’re doing now because our current projections show the entire school, grades K through twelve, will only be about one hundred students. You’d be able to work with students like my older son, doing projects that you normally couldn’t pull off in a class of twenty or thirty students. You’d have free rein in the science department. There are four or five other options as well, and
