“An honored guest.” Mr. Wynchester beamed at her. “Miss Kunigunde de Heusch of Balcovia, may I please have the honor of introducing my rude and disreputable but extremely kindhearted siblings?”
There was nothing to do but nod. Especially since he’d done an admirable job of pronouncing her name correctly. The word “Balcovia” seemed to garner as much interest as Kuni herself.
“You met Elizabeth first.” This was the deceptively soft-looking woman with the deadly rapier. “Next to enter was my sister Tommy…” He gestured at the brown-haired gentleman, who winked. “…Along with my sister-in-law, Philippa.” That was the polite puff of lace. “This is our brother Jacob.” The gentleman wearing an apron and a weasel. “And here comes Marjorie.”
The tiny blond woman from earlier skidded into the room. Kuni’s bonnet was now clutched in Marjorie’s fingers, each of which was flecked with varying pinks and purples.
“We’re the Wynchesters.”
8
Kuni stared at the Wynchester family in wonder. They gazed back at her with equally frank expressions of curiosity and friendliness.
“Oh!” The lace snowflake—Philippa—dipped an elegant curtsey. “Welkom, Juffrouw de Heusch.”
All the others turned to look at her.
“Did you just call her…Jeffrey?” Tommy whispered.
“I memorized Balcovian salutations after joining your family,” Philippa muttered back. Her eyes met Kuni’s. “I hope I didn’t butcher the dialecttoomuch.”
It had been intelligible—and correct usage.
“Whoareyou all?” Kuni said in awe.
Mr. Wynchester went through the names again, but that hadn’t been what Kuni had meant. This family was unlike any she had ever met.
She’d always felt being subjected to two siblings was rather a lot, and she and her brothers rarely spoke anymore. There weresixWynchesters, each of them intriguing and unusual and so physically different they could not have come from the same two parents.
In the quarter hour since she’d walked through the door, she’d had her bonnet stolen and her life threatened. She’d taken second place to a missing hedgehog, then been curtseyed to prettily and welcomed in near-perfect Balcovian.
“It’s lovely to meet you,” she told Philippa in Balcovian, and gave her a curtsey in return.
The others quickly echoed the welcome in English, then began talking over one another, making it impossible to keep up. Kuni tried to listen to one at a time.
“You really found her.” Jacob nuzzled his weasel beneath its chin. “I can’t believe it.”
“I am offended you should say so,” Mr. Wynchester replied. “I would have found her sooner—and indeed, I did so. But I didn’t realize she was the woman I was looking for until today. We had to outrun a pair of Balcovian Royal Guards—”
“Royal Guards!” Elizabeth’s eyes brightened. “Were they armed?”
“Very,” Kuni said. “They’re also my brothers. It is a long story.”
“Mrs. Halberstam kept our guest safe in that secret room we installed at the Puss & Goose after the time Chloe kidnapped Faircliffe—”
Kuni started. “What? Who?”
Tommy grinned. “Our sister mistakenly abducted a duke when she meant to steal a…never mind. We have long stories, too.”
“Another sister? How many Wynchester siblings are there?”
“Eight, counting Faircliffe,” Elizabeth answered. “He and Chloe will be at Parliament tonight, but I imagine you’ll meet them tomorrow. Youwillstay the night, won’t you?”
“She’s staying indefinitely,” said Mr. Wynchester.
“Not indefinitely,” Kuni corrected. “My ship returns to Balcovia in thirty days, and I have a mission to complete beforehand.”
“A mission!” Elizabeth clapped her hands. “May we help? Oh, please say that we can. I’ve been ever so bored.”
