But regardless of my personal fortunes, in the larger scale, the attack had been a failure. To win the war, the Council needed to kill Richard, or force him to the negotiating table. They hadn’t done it in the three months between the Tiger’s Palace raid and the mansion attack, and they hadn’t done it in the nine months between the mansion attack and now.
“. . . farther away from London would be much cheaper, obviously,” Elizabeth was saying. “But I don’t know . . .”
“Yeah, that means you’d have to live with country people.”
“Yes, not really our sort of company.”
Anne reappeared, carrying a serving of the dessert, and set it down in front of Johnathan. “What temperature is it?” Johnathan asked.
“It’s fairly cold,” Anne said.
Johnathan tested it. “Ah, good.”
“Will that be all right?” the mother asked him.
“Well, we live in hope, as they say! But it does look delicious.”
“Oh, thank you,” the mother said to him with a smile. “Anne, while we’re finishing up, could you do the dishes from the main course? That way the sink will be clear for the dessert plates.”
I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Did you send your servants home for the evening?”
The conversation at the table stopped as everyone turned to look at me. “Excuse me?” the mother asked.
I could feel Anne’s eyes on me but I didn’t meet them. “Well, you know.” I kept my voice pleasant. “I was wondering who handles the domestic duties when you don’t have guests over to do it.”
The father looked back and forth and hesitated, obviously wondering if he should be intervening. The daughters and their boyfriends watched warily. “I really don’t appreciate your tone,” the mother said.
“I’m sorry, I must have misunderstood.” I rose to my feet. “Tell you what, since I’m not having dessert anyway, I’ll go help. I’m sure we won’t be too long.”
Without waiting for an answer, I turned and walked out into the hallway. The mother stared after us, but by the time she’d made up her mind about what to say, we were already gone.
Did you really have to do that? Anne asked.
We were in the kitchen washing up. The running of the tap made enough noise that it would have been hard to eavesdrop, but we weren’t talking out loud; we were using a dreamstone, a focus I own that allows for mind-to-mind conversation. It had other powers too, ones that were considerably more dangerous.
Anne and I had fallen into the habit of using the dreamstone whenever we were alone, and often when we weren’t. Anne’s my Council aide, and we’d spent most days over the past year in and out of the War Rooms or the other Council facilities around London. I have a lot of enemies in all of them, and when you work in a place like that, you learn to be careful about being overheard.
Have to, no, I said. Wanted to, yes.
Anne made a frustrated noise. Dreamstone communication is expressive; you get all the emotions that tone of voice can contain, along with a lot more. You didn’t have to insult them.
I took a plate from Anne to rinse. I didn’t insult them.
You were being rude.
Not half as rude as them. Seriously, chilled desserts? I have literally met Dark mages who treat their slaves more politely.
Anne gave a mental sigh. You know, after I’d been living in the Tiger’s Palace for a couple of weeks, I realised Jagadev was reminding me of her. I suppose that should have been a bad sign.
About Jagadev, or about her?
I’m not sure.
I finished with the plate, stacked it on the drying rack, and took another. What the hell is that woman’s issue? I mean, I know she’s not your mother, but you’re still related, right?
Not closely, Anne said. First cousin once removed . . . I did tell you it was complicated.
That’s one way to put it.
You sound like Vari, Anne said. He always hated her.
So was this how you spent most of your childhood? I asked. Being the live-in maid?
Well, I sort of acted as a nurse some of the time too.
You’re kidding.
Beth had allergies, and Grace had some problems with a skin condition, so they needed someone to stay home.
So you were the nanny to a pair of spoilt teenage girls. How the hell did you put up with this?
It was that or the foster system. I didn’t exactly have much choice.
We washed a few more plates in silence. I’m sorry, Anne said at last. I wanted you to have a good evening. Instead you’re spending it like this.
Trust me, I’d much rather be washing dishes with you than sitting at the table with them.
Anne smiled. I was just thinking about how the Council would react if they could see us.
They’d probably wonder what this strange new magical ritual is that involves plates and a sink full of water.
Anne laughed out loud at that one. We kept working in comfortable silence.
As we worked, I flipped idly through the futures, looking to see if anything caught my eye. It’s rare for me not to use my precognition these days: there are very few places where I feel safe enough to relax, and this wasn’t one of them. A shift drew my attention and I looked more closely. Huh.
What is it?
Your sixty percent chance just came in.
Anne glanced down at the plate in her hands; it was one of the last ones. Do you think we should finish up?
I think between the six of them they can probably survive.
We walked down the hall to the front door. We didn’t try to sneak, and as we passed the dining room the conversation stopped. “Hello?” someone called out.
“Apologies, all,” I called back as I put on my coat. “Something’s come up.”
There was a scrape of chairs from the dining room, and after a moment Johnathan appeared in the doorway. “You’re leaving?”
“Urgent call,” I said. “Sorry.”
The mother had appeared behind Johnathan, along with one or two of the others. “Oh,” she said. “Well, I’m sorry you have to go. Perhaps Anne could—”
I cut her off. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Anne’s my second-in-command. They need her and so do I.” I paused. “I expect she hasn’t told you, but she’s probably higher placed in the government than anyone you’ve ever met.”
Anne shot me a look, but the expressions on the women’s faces were more than worth it. I opened the door. “What’s so urgent anyway?” Johnathan asked.
I stepped out into the summer night. “Meetings.”
chapter 2
The countryside felt peaceful after the noise of London. We were in Devon, on a hillside in a part of the county that seemed to mostly contain fields, trees, and sheep. The sun had set and the sky was lit only by stars and by the fuzzy yellow glow of towns to the south and east. Up on the hillside was a farmhouse.
I like taking a little while to look over an area before an operation. I don’t mean planning or recon, though I do those too; I mean finding a place with a good vantage point, sitting there, and waiting. No matter how many maps I’ve studied, or how many projections I’ve seen, I never feel happy about going into a place until I’ve watched it for a while.