Evangeline turned her head slightly, a dark, sharp smile cutting across her features. "Of course you won't, White. Unless, of course, you wish to risk having your head permanently mounted on the palace gates instead of a wooden deer. Now, move."
With a swift, careless pull, she unhooked his collar from the antlers, letting him drop unceremoniously to the floor. White didn't waste a single second; he scrambled to his feet, gathered his scattered papers, and fled the study in a panicked blur.
Left in the sudden quiet of her office, Evangeline walked back to her massive desk. She picked up the thick stack of parchments—resignation after resignation, desperate pleas, and abrupt notices from the palace staff filling her space.
