Page 35 of Queens Will Play

“Plans? What plans?” Trillian asked, entering the room. Morio was behind him.

“We’re meeting Marion at her house this afternoon. And Roz arrived, so we thought we’d go over to Delilah’s for dinner,” I said. “Any conflicts with that?”

Trillian shook his head. “Not that I know of. Are we taking Maggie?”

“Best to leave her home. We won’t be back until late and I want her sleep schedule to remain on track. I’m going to change clothes,” I said, excusing myself and heading for my bedroom. I texted Delilah back.

we’ll be there for dinner. i’ll let you know what happens with marion. but ask shade if he can come along if we need him when we go to destroy the shandigoes.

let me talk to him, but i’m pretty sure iris or hanna can babysit. bruce and iris are back in their house now. but you can tell they’re still shell-shocked. tonight will be good for them, too.

okay. we’ll talk about how to help them this evening. love you.

i left a message for menolly to join us tonight, too. love you. see you later.

As I put my phone away, Cadance joined me.

“What would you like to wear, Your Majesty?”

I glanced in my closet. Half my wardrobe was too fancy to wear out of the court. “The black taffeta skirt, my purple peasant shirt, and the silver underbust corset.”

She got them out as I stripped. “I’m taking a quick shower,” I said. “I’ll be out in ten minutes.” I slipped a shower cap over my hair and stepped into the shower and, using my vanilla caramel shower wash, lathered up. After I rinsed off, dried myself and dressed, I sat down and let Cadance brush my hair and replace my tiara. I pulled on my stockings and my witchy boots, and she laced them up.

“Do you know how long you’ll be needing my service, Your Majesty?” she asked.

“Until Vine is able to return. Why? Do you have another job you need to be at?”

“No, no—I was wondering,” she said, and I could tell she thought she’d made a faux pas. “I love working here. I just…”

“Spill it,” I said.

“I really like working here, and when I’m not, I end up working in the kitchen. It’s fine, but it’s not the same as helping you and your consorts.” She shrugged, giving me a sheepish look. “I wouldn’t wish trouble on Vine at all, but I was hoping to have several weeks working for you here.”

I frowned. A lot of people didn’t like their jobs, but I wanted to know why, when it was someone who ultimately was working for me. “What’s wrong with the kitchens? You can be honest.”

Cadance sat down, sighing. “The cook doesn’t like me, and it seems I can never do anything right. I’m all thumbs when it comes to cooking and anything related to it. And I always seem to make a mistake when she’s around. I get why she’s unhappy with me, but I doubt if I’m going to be able to rise to her expectations.”

I glanced at my phone. “I have to go, but we’ll talk about this later. I can probably find you a place here in my quarters. It might not be as my maid, but I can get you out of the kitchen.” I stood. Employing people when you were nobility was like playing chess. If you didn’t care about your servants—and I used that term loosely—it didn’t matter. But I wanted people working for me to be happy, because happy employees made for hardworking employees.

“Thank you,” she said, then stammered out, “Your Majesty.”

“No sweat,” I said, heading toward the door. “We’ll talk later.”

Before we headed to Marion’s, I asked Trillian to drive us out to our old house. I wanted to talk to someone else—and I didn’t call ahead because he’d probably find a way to vanish before I got there.

“What are you thinking?” Trillian asked. “Delilah’s not driving over with us, is she?”

“No, but I know somebody who might fancy helping us catch the shandigoes,” I said.

“You’re being terribly cryptic,” Morio said.

“I know, but I’m not letting the three of you talk me out of this.” I pointed at the front of the driveway. “Park there.”

Smoky groaned. “No. You are not.”

I opened the door and hopped out. “Yes, I am.”

As I headed across the street, all three of my men jumped out, following. Trillian caught up to me and, rolling his eyes, said, “Lead on.”