Chapter 406

• By teatime the next day, Xiao is in our private parlor, waiting for me. She’s sitting on one of the sofas, but she stands the moment I enter, and bows deeply. “Your Majesty.”
• “I’m so glad to see you!” It takes everything in me not to run at her and hug her; we don’t have that kind of relationship. But seeing her is a balm that soothes homesickness I didn’t realize I felt.
• “I’ve done a preliminary sweep of this wing, and some of the public areas I’ve been briefed on,” she begins. “The garden is a concern to me, considering its proximity to the park—”