Page 21 of Lies That Bind
“Now that your father’s rule is over, it’s customary to switch out any staff you no longer feel would serve your best interests, and assign new staff in their place.”
Oh. Wow. Fire people?
Okay, I hadn’t been expecting that.
“First on the chopping block is Lucinda Lark,” she said, keeping her face calm and unbiased, which was an incredible feat since I knew for a fact we both couldn’t stand her.
“Oh my stars, can we fire her? I genuinely hate her,” I said, and Elaine’s lips curled into a smile.
“Done. Who would you put in her place? Someone who can be good at public speaking and note-taking, and all of the things an assistant to an important figure will be required to do.”
I chewed my lip. “Would it offend you if I offered you the position? Not because I want you to be my assistant, but Lucinda and my father spent a lot of time together, and I want you by my side as much as possible.”
“I will work in whatever position you ask of me,” she said with a small smile.
“Then I would like for you to replace Lucinda, but instead of assistant, let’s call you senior advisor because that’s what I really need.”
That brought a smile to her lips, and she jotted it down. “Done.”
She rattled off a dozen other staff members, and I chose to retain them all. Lucinda was the only one who bugged me. Her shrill voice and fake smile were grating, but the way she would stroke my father’s arm and bat her eyelashes at him made me want to vomit in my mouth.
This conversation about hiring and firing people caused something to suddenly dawn on me. I turned to Elaine.
“Hey, remember Charline Wells? The one who let Tetra use her pack?”
She nodded and peered up at me. Vespa cocked his head to the side as well. It seemed they were both curious why I was asking about Charline.
“I gave her my word that one day, when I was empress, I’d make her a member of my personal guard. I hadn’t expected to be empress so soon, but she’s smart and a fast learner.”
Elaine nodded. “If you gave her your word, you should honor it. I’ll make sure her training is fast-tracked, and she’s offered a nice position with a salary and benefits.”
I relaxed at that. It was important to me to be a woman of my word, and Charline deserved the job. After Fleet training, even without a creature, she would be valuable to me. I valued loyalty. Verik took a turn out of Tetra’s neighborhood and into a bit of a nicer area.
“Speaking of salaries, do you know how much we pay brand-new cadets like Anika and Tetra?” I asked.
“I can find the pay schedule somewhere for you. It’s decent, but nothing that will have them looking ahead to retirement anytime soon.”
“And they get paid the day they get back from the Wilds?” I asked her, slightly embarrassed I didn’t know this myself.
She nodded. “So that they can get properly outfitted for boot camp.”
I chewed my lip. I knew that allowing new candidates to get a chunk of ember in the Wilds was something we did to take the financial strain off, but what about those who couldn’t? Like Kohen.
“Could we offer a small sign-on bonus to new candidates when they graduate boot camp and head to their new posting?”
Elaine raised an eyebrow. “Your first big financial decision as empress. It will be in all of the papers by morning. Are you sure you want to do that?”
My stomach tightened at her assessment. Why was she saying it like that? I squirmed.
“What do you think?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I want to know whatyouthink.”
I sighed. “Why can’t you just tell me what to do?”
That got a smile out of her. “Because then you wouldn’t learn. Come on, you’ve trained for this. Do you think it’s a good idea on your first day in office to give hard-earned tax money to soldiers?”
I scoffed. “Soldiers that fight for the safety and lives of this country! Yes!”
