Warning: shallowness

 

Fandom: The Palace (2008)

 

Characters/Pairing: Abigail, Ian. Abigail/Richard

 

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, and I make no profit from this fan-written fiction.

 

Rating: Universal

 

Summary: Post-series 1 vignette. 209 words.

 

Warning: shallowness

 

Ian must have made it in record time from the King’s chambers to Abi’s office. She knows how to read most of his faces and rises from her chair as he barks out,

 

“A word, Abigail.”

 

He closes the door behind him, and then says nothing, just looks at her, turning her into one of the Household Cavalry on display. She was expecting a torrent of ‘How could you…?’, ‘How long…?’, but she can wait.

 

“Are you sure about this?” he asks eventually.

 

“I love him,” she says, and Ian reacts like she’s shown him a patch of cat sick.

 

“That’s not what I asked. Are you sure about this?”

 

She hasn’t broken eye contact yet.

 

“He’s human too. This isn’t the past. He’s under immense pressure and scrutiny. He’s being asked to do so much, maybe too much. You can’t arrange every part of his life and expect him to grin and bear it all alone. He needs someone…”

 

“All right,” her boss for now holds up a hand. “He said he’d fight for you, and-“

 

She can’t quite guard her pleasure from flooding her face.

 

“-I can see it’s mutual. But I will tell you what I didn’t tell him, Abby—be careful.”

 

Too late, she thinks.

 

 

Fin.

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E-mail: profoundly_shallow @ yahoo.co.uk

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