Loreen's POV
The king looked at him.
"I mean that," Loreen said.
"I know you do," the king said. "Which is exactly why the answer is no." He looked at the constable. "She is to be held securely and treated according to the law. Nothing more and nothing less."
The constable nodded and withdrew.
The room settled back into its previous quiet.
The king slid a stack of papers across the desk toward Loreen. "Make yourself useful," he said.
Loreen looked at the papers. He picked up the pen that was sitting beside them.
They worked.
It was not comfortable work and it was not easy to concentrate and Loreen read several documents twice before the contents went in properly.
But it was something. It was forward motion and his hands were occupied and there were words in front of him that required responses and the requiring of responses meant his mind had somewhere to be that was not the infirmary down the hall.
