"Of course the board is terrifying. They try to be." Lara smiled fondly. "If you're trying to do something they don't expect and need to think about, Ella could be your best ally."

She frowned. "Now I think about it she might know some of the answers to how the board positions work if you don't mind me calling her? And she's going to want some more formal arrangement with all of you. She neither controls you nor knows quite where you stand."

And she returned Fliss' smile with one of her own. "And this place is so much better than it was when I was brought here, in all possible ways. It's amazing how much it's changed."