All in all, an action-packed day in the Nest. And there’s still the party at Three Dragons School celebrating Ms. Allende’s victory to come.
Watch this space (maybe not with special equipment).
—Crow’s Caw
Deryn thoughtshe’d sprain something while reading the special edition of theCawthat evening. Victoria sat opposite her at Ceridwen’s kitchen table and nursed her third mug of tea. A plate of fresh-baked brownies was almost entirely decimated.
“Worked up an appetite there, Aunty?”
Seren laughed at her own joke and reached for another brownie. Victoria swatted her hand away and took one for herself, splitting it in half, then into quarters. Then, begrudgingly handed Seren the smallest piece.
“What I worked up is none of your business, Seren Gwen. But seeing as how you clearly have no business of your own, let me tell you… Renee is a good woman. She didn’t deserve this. The publication aside, she didn’t deserve Marsha snooping and calling Moss, especially for him to come charging into something he was better off not seeing anyway.”
“There must be something in the water, because I could swear we just said the same thing about Deryn and her being quite a public person these days on Dragons. So, on to the déjàvu. Aunty, your business is now all over the newspaper pages. As for Mrs. Moss… I dunno what she was thinking. Not about you, about marrying that prick.” Seren stuffed the piece of brownie into her mouth and made a satisfied noise. “Goddess, Der, will you bake another batch?”
Deryn sighed. There really was no time. She got up anyway.
“We have to get going, you know. I don’t want to be late to the party. Not fashionably late, not any kind of late.”
Seren gave her a long look.
“She’s not your girlfriend. You don’t have to pretend with us, you know.”
Victoria smacked Seren again.
“What the hell was that for?” Seren cradled her hand and pouted.
“For fucking swearing!” Victoria carefully dunked her brownie into the tea. Deryn made a face at this way of eating the dessert.
“I swore after you hit me!” Seren’s voice was indignant.
“And you shouldn’t have.” Victoria took a small bite and sighed. “Heaven, Deryn. This is heaven.”
“Are you this nice to me because I got my head bashed in?” Deryn, who was already literally wrist-deep in a new batch of batter, blew the fringe out of her eyes.
“No,” Victoria said between bites. “You make very good brownies, so I can go easy on you. Also, I need your help.”
Deryn did not turn around to look at her aunt, but she figured Victoria would hear the sarcasm in her voice anyway. “I knew it. I knew there was a catch. What do you need?”
“Reem is helping with the catering, but I promised to assist with a few things, apps and such. They’re at the Tavern.”
Deryn nodded and eyed the portions, tried to make calculations in her head, gave up—since she’d absolutely mess up the math yet again—and then poured the mix into the smallpan. She smiled when she saw that there was roughly the same amount left for the second one. Ceridwen’s kitchen was very pretty but very sparsely equipped. Who only had two tiny baking pans? For a woman who could do anything and everything, Ceridwen was weirdly inept in the kitchen. It made for some very funny childhood memories.
“If by ‘help’ you mean carry things, you do know that Seren is objectively stronger, no matter how I might protest under different circumstances?” Deryn slid the pans into the preheated oven and finally turned back around to see her twin stuff the last brownie into her mouth, looking at her guiltily.
“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to lift heavy things. And no, I don’t believe she’s stronger. All that kneading gave you some really nice muscle definition. You should show them off more often. I hear ladies like that. Older, sophisticated ladies, even,” Victoria quipped and took a gulp of her tea. She made a face before holding the mug to Deryn, who lifted her eyes heavenward but touched a fingertip to it anyway.
“I think you all just love me for the tricks. Also, I bet the British would curse you all out for using me as your instant water heater. I am basically your microwave right now.”
Deryn smirked, but Seren was giving Victoria a very strange look.
“You’re awfully involved in Deryn’s affairs there, Aunty. Her skills, her muscles. Older ladies? What gives?”
“Nothing, nothing. As I said, First Twin, you should get yourself some business to mind. And you, Second Twin”—Victoria pointed at Deryn—“should get dressed, because you are not attending a party in honor of your fake girlfriend, who just got elected mayor, in jeans that have this many holes in them.”
Deryn looked down at her turtleneck and black skinny jeans. They only had one hole at the knee. Yes, it was a large hole, butit was just one. Under Victoria’s death glare, however, she ran up to her bedroom to change.
Her phone was on the bedside table, a bad habit of leaving it behind and always forgetting where rearing its ugly head yet again. She sat down and picked it up, noticing that the battery was almost entirely spent.
