Chapter 10

One day, as he happened to pass the junior officers’ lounge of the Royal Guard, he’d overheard Chloe and several other officers badmouthing him while playing cards for money. …Should I go in and silence them? Noel had fidgeted, asking Curtis if he should intervene against the indiscriminate slander pouring through the door—of a superior, and a close friend, no less. But Curtis had simply waved a dismissive hand. “Am I not just as busy badmouthing the King to you when no one else is around?” he’d mused.