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Justin gave him a look, though not nearly as strong as the one Benjamin gave him. Josiah purposely avoided looking at Thor. “Of course it does,” Justin answered. “We’re trying to figure that out. The most obvious answer is that we don’t keep an overly close eye on Øyanordian separatists unless they’re entering Eyjania. These people were deep undercover with impeccable credentials. It seems probable that heads will roll in Øyanord. They should have been keeping a better eye on the separatists who would likely try to find the princess, even if no one officially knew where she was.”

“I thought that was the whole point of the Vogels taking her somewhere far away, that no one would know where she was.” Josiah clearly didn’t understand security measures.

“It was,” Thor confirmed. “They had no idea where the princess was being raised. Theyshouldhave kept a better watch on known subversive organizations that could reasonably be expected to look for her at some point. But they didn’t, so that’s where we are now.”

“What does that have to do with not wanting us to leave Athmetis if they knew the accident was just that?” That part didn’t make sense to Josiah.

“They wanted to make sure you weren’t in cahoots with him.” Benjamin answered that question. “There are allegations he was also conducting corporate espionage while in Athmetis. They wanted to make sure you and Bekah weren’t a part of it.”

Josiah’s eyes narrowed. “They really thought aQuatremainewould stoop to something like that? I thought we had a better reputation than that.”

“Most of you do,” Thor answered quietly. “No one’s forgotten Isaiah.” That the former head of security didn’t use Josiah’s uncle’s title spoke volumes more than the words themselves.

Josiah looked between the three men. “But Isaiah is dead.”

Something about the way the three of them didn’t look at each other but kept focused on Josiah made him suspicious. “What? What is it you’re not telling me?”

With a sigh, Benjamin leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk. “As far as we know, Isaiah was severely wounded when he went off that boat and most likely eaten by sharks or otherwise weighted down in some fashion so his remains were never found.”

“But...?” Josiah could hear an incomplete thought in his brother’s voice.

Thor took over. “But since his remains were never found, there is a chance, however slight, that he somehow managed to survive. We’ve found no evidence he had access to a... submarine or other conveyance that would have taken him from the scene without the WLRSs noticing in person or on radar or any of the recordings of multiple kinds looked at later.”

“So because my evil uncle may or may not be dead, another country thinks I’m capable of espionage? What have I ever done to give them that impression?” Josiah looked from one man to another waiting for an answer. “Well?”

Thor answered again. “You were on vacation with a known criminal element. What were they supposed to think? I would have done the same thing.”

* * *

With a yawn,Bekah contemplated a nap. She hadn’t slept well the night before wondering what the tabloids would say. She shouldn’t worry about them, but knowing she shouldn’t and actually not worrying were two entirely different things. At least the pamphlet thing had blown over quickly.

Were princesses allowed to nap in the middle of the afternoon? Surely pregnant ones could.

The door to the apartment flung open and then closed as Josiah stormed in.

She’d never seen the look on his face before and didn’t quite know what to make of it - and wasn’t about to ask him what happened. If he already looked that mad, she didn’t want to make it worse.

“I can’t believe it!” He began pacing around the room in big squares through the open spaces. “I absolutely cannot believe it.”

Bekah wanted to ask what he couldn’t believe but didn’t dare.

“They think...” He growled rather than continue. His pacing went on for several more minutes with angry mutterings punctuating the air - including a bit of language she’d never heard from him before.

Whatever it was, it had to be big.

Eventually, the pacing slowed to a less angry walk and the mutterings were punctuated by more sighs and quieter growls. Finally, he flopped onto one of the chairs.

“I can’t believe it,” he said a bit louder than his last mutterings and let his head flop back to look at the ceiling.

Bekah finally dared to speak, certain most of his anger had been spent and shouldn’t spill over onto her. “Believe what?”

“Steve was an Øyanordian spy from one of their separatist groups. He was spying on your sister, infiltrating her friend group as far as he could. He’s also suspected of espionage in Athmetis. That’s why they didn’t want to let us leave.”

“Because Steve was committing espionage?” Bekah tried to assimilate the information. “What does that have to do with us?”

“They seem to think we might have been part of it. Because everyone remembers how evil my uncle was, the Quatremaine name has been dragged through the mud and isn’t enough to get the benefit of the doubt anymore.”

“Your uncle, Isaiah?”