“Not at all, Your Majesty,” he replied as he and Regina cleared the unused plates. “It’s always fun to drag the special pieces out. I don’t know if you realized it, but this set came from the London house.”
The London house? “So my mother and aunt would’ve used them?”
“I believe so, yes, though that was before my time.”
I traced my finger around the edge of the blue and white plate. I hadn’t really looked at it at all. Ornately decorated possessions weren’t really to my taste.
But now that I looked at the design printed in blue ink, I recognized the Isador house in London. I hadn’t been to visit it yet, but I’d seen a painting of it in the Park Avenue house. I picked up the heavy, obviously very old and well-made plate and turned it over. Beneath the “Spode” mark, the House Isador ankh inside of a triangle was impressed into the china.
“It’s gorgeous,” I whispered, gently setting it back down. “Almost too pretty to eat on.”
“Nonsense, Your Majesty. This china is meant to be used. It’s more durable than it looks.” My dapper butler winked at me as he passed. “Though if you’d like to move to the smaller table, it’s no trouble at all.”
“No, I’d like to go ahead and eat here. Let’s find a reason to use this china more often.”
“Absolutely, Your Majesty.”
Gina and Gwen had returned to their seats too. It took a few minutes to refresh everyone’s drinks and bring hot dishes back from the kitchen. Crusty bread, another pasta dish with small partially opened shells and other seafood, and planks of some kind of grilled white fish with slices of lemon on top. Lancelot and Rik stayed at our chairs as before, Sekh and Guillaume at either door, each with one of Gwen’s Blood. I didn’t see Merlinus immediately, only the knights.
“Sorry for the sudden request to head this way,” I said to Gwen. “When Karmen dropped in so unexpectedly, I was a little worried about a possible attack. Or I feared she might need healing before Mala could reach us.”
“Not at all, my queen. We’re always ready to come to you at a moment’s notice.”
We waited a moment as Winston and Regina finished delivering dishes. The younger human cast a longing look back over her shoulder, but Gina shook her head. Without complaint, Regina left us to talk. Maybe once she proved herself she could take part in our war talks, but I sure didn’t want her too deeply into House Isador business until I trusted her.
Picking up on the vibe, Gwen dropped her voice. “I can put up an anti-listening spell if you’d like, my queen.”
A little disgruntled that I didn’t know we could do such things, I nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. I’ve been calling her Ms. Curiosity in my head.”
Gwen picked up the pendant she wore around her neck and lightly punctured her thumb. I watched her thicken the airaround the room, creating an invisible barrier. “There. No sound should pass through as long as the shield’s up.”
“Does it keep people out too? Or just mute the sound?”
She lifted her hand up to Lancelot and he licked the pad of her thumb. “Only sound. It’s possible to make a physical shield as well but it takes more effort.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. I’ve done a shield to protect the nest before but didn’t think about using something for privacy.”
“Frank hasn’t found anything in her background check,” Gina said. “As far as we can tell, she’s exactly what she appears to be. He confirmed a maternal great-grandmother named Marion Barclay lived in, get this, Queensferry, Scotland, who passed property to her granddaughter, Janet March, who still lives there.”
“That’s great. I trust your judgement on how much work to give her and how long of a trial she needs before we offer anything more permanent.”
I glanced over at Gwen. “We also offered temporary employment to Julie Summers.” From the furrowing of Gwen’s brow, the name didn’t ring a bell. “She served as consiliarius for House Shalott. If you have any concerns about her presence, we will happily send her packing with a politely worded recommendation for another house.”
Gwen’s forehead smoothed out, though I noted she reached back up and laid her fingers over Lancelot’s on her shoulder. “I have no concerns, my queen. According to Merlinus, we won’t be seeing any more ofheron the mortal plane for quite some time.”
“We also have an assistant to send to Kevin,” Gina added. “If he’s up to training another person.”
“I’m sure he’ll be delighted for additional help, as long as the person is open to working with a younger boss. He hasn’t had any issues inside of House Isador, but evidently he’s received backlash in the past because of his youth.”
“The man was creating a database for vampires when he was barely eighteen.” Chuckling, Gina shook her head. “Though I guess anyone who would have a problem working with him wouldn’t like serving our queen anyway. He’s the same age as you, my queen. Which is to say, barely legal.”
“Oh geez. Way to make me feel like a snot-nosed kid. I feel positively ancient compared to Regina, and she’s only a year younger.”
Gina’s lips quirked. “You’ve seen a thing or two in your very young life.”
No shit. I heaved out a sigh and changed the subject. “Do we want to talk about Basilia now, or would you rather talk about your item, Gwen?”
“Mine, if now’s a good time?”
