"Christopher."
The voice cut through the room like a blade through silk. Chris's head jerked up. Violet eyes fixed on him from across the table, irritated, sharp enough to slice the thin bubble of normality he'd built around the phone.
He blinked once, the device still in his hand. 'There it is,' he thought. 'The tone he uses right before people loose their jobs.' Aloud he managed, "Yes?" his voice steadier than he felt.
Dax's gaze didn't leave him. "Put the phone down." The words were quiet, but they carried the weight of a command used to being obeyed.
Chris laid the phone face-down beside his mug, heartbeat quickening. 'And there goes my lifeline,' he thought, fingers curling against his thigh. 'Back to being part of his schedule, not mine.'
"Is there anything that concerns my opinion? I thought Your Majesty and Killian had already decided everything."
