Nadine Book 7

23. Fix The Windows

We eat breakfast on the ship, and then go to Dipak's office. I am wearing my sexy baby-making queen outfit. The little black top and short skirt with long gloves and tall high-heeled boots. I put 2 swords on for effect and put my hair in straight black and red.

Frode stands up. "We got through the paperwork. Nikolas did keep records of the money the castle received. We know every single castle they have attacked."

"His mom's letters read like an instruction manual for how to stay alive. They aren't what you would expect. I think she actually loved the boys. She wanted them to grow up safe. She says things like 'do what he says.' 'Keep your head down.' She told them where some hidden tunnels were if they needed to hide. We compared them to what the brains had. There were 3 extra on her list. We guess that's how he was able to get out without us knowing."

"I went over and got all the medical records for the 3 boys. It was as you expected. All 3 of them had many unexplained accidents starting about the time their mom died. Some are worse than others. Nikolas had it the worst."

"King and Queen Blayze are here to see the table."

"Is it only Corbin and his mate?"

"Yes."

"Go ahead and send them in. We'll see what they want. Some of you can leave."

I smile. "I don't think you were quite ready to come back, love."

"I don't think so either. But it's only the 2 of them. We don't need many for that."

"I'll stay. I'm curious as to what they want."

Daddy stands up. "I already know what they want. This is their 2nd time here. I told them to go starve the first time."

Tre puts his eyebrows up. "Yea I'm going to go too."

I move to Draculs seat. Elek sits beside me.

Frode and Marcus sit across from us.

"King and Queen Blayze."

Frode gets out a paper. Elek gets out a paper, I think, because Frode did.

I cross my legs. "Welcome, how can we help you?"

Corbin glances at me and then at Dipak. "Thank you. We're having a problem, and we don't know what to do."

"What's that?"

"We have a lot of broken windows."

"Your broken windows are not my problem. Go have them fixed."

"We don't have the money for it."

"Go make some."

I try to mind link Camilla. It might work. It might not. She connects it. Interesting.

"What?"

-Don't speak. Only think. I can hear your thoughts. Tell me what Corbin won't say. I can tell there is something.-

-There is no money. We can't eat. Nikolas is selling everything he can out of the castle. But it's not enough. The servants are hungry. There's so much broken. We don't know what to do.-

-And.-

-Victor wants to attack another castle. He says just 1, so we can get a little money. Nikolas and Corbin refuse to even hear it. They say they would rather starve. Even Victor doesn't want to, but he can't see any other way to get us food. He said he's not going to let his mate starve. We need something to start with.-

-Well I won't...-

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Mary's holding my pink outfit.

"We were on a planet that was very cold, Mary. We had to wear that."

"I'm sending it to your house... I can not picture you wearing this many clothes. I don't think you'll be needing it anytime soon."

Dipak laughs. "It was different."

Asshole.

Camilla cracks up laughing.

-Sometimes I forget people are in my head and I cuss at my mates.-

-Understandable. Nikolas misses you. He doesn't want us to ask for money. But last time we came back all he wanted to know was if we had seen you.-

-I was on a very cold planet. Much like his heart.-

-He loves you.-

-Yes, sorry. You get my thoughts as they pop in my head. Tell me more about what's going on over there.-

-The boys are arguing with Victor more and more. Victor is only worried about his mate and everyone else. He says 1 castle won't hurt. They can be fast. The older 2 are against it. They say they're in therapy for what they already did. They will never do it again. It's a mess.-

-Thank you. I'm going to pay attention to these idiots for a minute.-

She cracks up laughing. -Yea, they can be.-

Corbin looks at her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine sorry. I was just thinking about something else."

I smile. "I do that too. Don't worry about it."

I get another connection incoming. I connect and it's Dipak.

-Were you connected to her?-

-yes.-

-She said?

-No money. Everyone is going to starve. They can't fix anything. Nikolas is trying to sell the castle stuff, but it's not fast enough. Servants are hungry.- Dipak is writing fast as hell.

-I can hear it when you think I'm writing fast as hell woman.-

I crack up laughing. "Sorry I did it too."

Then Camilla laughs again.

"Anyway."

-Victor wants to steal from another castle, so his mate doesn't starve. Nik and Corbin are 100% against it. It's causing them to fight. They don't know what to do. I don't think they know how to make money. We should teach them to be pirates. Let's do that. I want to be a pirate.-

-Woman focus.-

-Boobs.-

-I swear.-

-That's it. Victor will do anything, so his mate doesn't starve. Everyone is hungry. They can't afford food. Lots of fighting against Victor.-

"Tobias to see the table."

Dipak waves him off and finishes writing.

-Thank you sweetheart.-

-You know we have to give them money, right?-

-Why is that?-

-We took theirs and the only way they know to make money is what we don't want them to do. They know no other ways. We're sentencing them to either starve or steal. Nikolas was trying to learn, he wasn't good at it.-

"Prince Tobias Black." I think we're all confused for a second.

"Do you all know each other by chance?"

They all say, "No."

"I was wondering. Tobias, you can sit with us."

He sits by Marcus. Elek glares at him. I glance at them. They do not appear to be happy with either other.

Camilla's trying not to laugh. I connect to her again.

-What do you see that I don't?-

-Those boys want you.-

-I would not have guessed that. Elek yes. Not Tobias. He doesn't pay any attention to me.-

-Lean into Elek and touch his hand or something. Then watch Tobias. He does not like you sitting by Elek and Elek knows it.-

-Alright.- I lean into Elek and move his left hand, so I can see his note paper. Then I watch Tobias instead of reading it. He slams himself back in his chair and gives Corbin a dirty look. -There I saw it. Why is he giving Corbin the dirty look though?-

-I have no idea. Now Elek is rubbing it in. His body language is like, yep, she's mine. f**k off.-

Elek sits back and moves his hand. Then he rubs my back while I pretend to read the paper. Tobias rubs his eyes.

Dipak clears his throat and everyone jumps. "What the hell?"

"Sorry."

Elek moves his hand off me. Tobias sits up. Marcus looks back and forth between the 2 of them.

-Is Elek your mate? Corbin was telling me who they are, but it's hard to remember names. Dipak, Marcus, Tye, Tre, Nikolas. He told me 1 more. Was it Elek?-

-No, it's Johen. Elek's not my mate.-

-Oh. You 2 seem like you're sitting together. Sorry that popped into my head. I don't mean to cause problems.-

-It's fine me and Elek have a history. Dipak caught us in bed together a week ago.-

"WHAT?" She jumps up.

I jump up. "Sorry, my fault. Again."

Dipak rubs his eyes. "Sit down."

"Ok."

-I should have said more. It was during the attack on the castle. We were in bed together to stay warm, and so I could sleep. I was having a hard time. We did not have s*x. It just popped in my head like that.-

-I understand. You shocked me with that 1.-

-Did you know Tobias?-

-No, I've never seen him. But I've been in the dungeon almost a year.-

-How are you coping with that?-

-Surprisingly good. I mean Corbin isn't the 1 who put me there. His dad's mate did. I was trying to get closer to him at a ball over a year ago. He was the sexiest person I had ever seen and I could smell his scent. I was in love, I swear. But she grabbed my arm and asked where I was going? I pointed to him. She threw me in the dungeon. He never saw me. He says that she told him about me 7 months or so ago. But they were on a mission. When he got back, he was supposed to kill me. He couldn't. He put some money in a house for me... I forgot about that. I never got it. Maybe there is enough there to feed us.-

-I doubt it. You and 1 other, maybe. But I doubt he could hide enough to feed over 100 servants.-

-True. But he put some money in there for me. He opened the door and told me to go. I know he was serious. It broke my heart. I was so happy to finally have him, and he was sending me away. He said he was about to die. He was trying to save me. I eventually ran. Then a big scary man grabbed me and Opal in the village and took us back to the castle. That's when Dipak and them came. Suddenly, I was the queen. It's weird. Prisoner to queen in 2 seconds.-

-Funny how that happens. But that's how the best queens are made.- I wink at her. Then disconnect the mind link.

I stand up. "That was enough of a meeting. We'll send you home with 100 bars of gold. Will that be enough to..." I steal Frodes paper. "Fix the windows?"

"Yea." Corbin stares at me weirdly.

"Good. But figure out how to make your own money. If you need help, ask."

"Really?"

Dipak nods. "Yes, figure out how to make your own money without killing everyone at a castle. We are not doing this again."

"Thank you."

Marcus sits back. "You know he did have a bunch of businesses. He was trying to learn."

"I'm not giving back the winery's Marcus. He can have the salt mine. I'm not even sure what I would do with that."

Dipak stands up. "Let's get the gold before my office implodes, as the woman says."

Marcus laughs. "Yea, we'll be right back."

Tobias is glaring at Elek hard. Damn near has red eyes. Elek is glaring back. I glance between the 2 of them and neither of them seem to notice me. Camilla and Corbin have their eyebrows up staring at the boys. I look to Frode for assistance, but he writes something down.

I lean onto Elek, and he smiles at me. Then he puts his arm around me and kisses my head. Tobias's eyes go red. Then he stares at the ground.

I lay my head on Elek's shoulder and scoot closer to him.

Dipak and Marcus come back. "You want to go over and check their fields? We can fill them or grow them if needed."

I jump up. "Yea, that sounds like a good idea."

"Frode, you're in command. We'll try not to be gone long. Elek and Tobias, you can come with us if you want."

They jump up. "Yea."

"Great."