Princess Helena Fairmont's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The note arrived before Helena finished her draft. The advisor wanted a meeting. Now. She set down her pen and stared at the folded paper. He had felt the ground shift. He wanted to measure how much she knew. Helena chose her props with care. She slid a thin stack of bound papers into her lap, their covers neat and harmless looking. On top, she placed a heavy book with a red leather cover and gold trim. It held nothing important. It only needed to look like it did. She wheeled into the meeting room and set both items on the table between them. The advisor's eyes dropped to the book. His jaw tightened. He asked what brought her in today. Helena smiled and said she only wanted to discuss next quarter's budget. She tapped the cover once. He swallowed. He talked for ten minutes and said nothing. Helena let him. When he asked, careful, whether any old records needed revisiting, she answered that she kept everything in order. Then she gathered her items and left. She had shown him a shape, not a number. By morning, he would be searching his own files for what she might hold. The fear would do her work for her now.