*Author's note: this chapter portrays a fictional, alternate-world British monarchy, political conflict and acts of violence. The characters, events and political decisions are invented and do not represent the real governments or monarchs of the United Kingdom or Ireland. In reality, the UK monarch does not independently exercise political or executive authority.*
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James did not move.
The man on the screen let the greeting sit, as though he had all the time in the world, and looked out at them from the dark. Beside James, Nyra had sat forward on the sofa with the remote still pointed at the television, as if pressing the button one more time might do something. In James's hand the phone showed exactly the same face at exactly the same moment. The sound came out of both of them, a fraction apart, so that the man's voice had a faint echo in the front room.
Neither of them said anything.
The camera settled. James could see him properly now.
