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:Josephine Carbonnel,: Daire said.

:Thank you.: Out loud, I said, “Your orders are the same. Would you like company, Josephine? Or are you comfortable going alone?”

She replied in French, which Gina translated for me. “Morgana’s staff was incredibly rude to her in the past, so she says it’s a pleasure to be able to dismiss them and, I quote, ‘kick their miserable arses out of their own pretentious home.’”

My lips quirked. “I’m glad to be of service. Leonie, do you mind going with her so she’s not alone?”

“Of course, my queen,” Leonie replied.

“Dîner à neuf heures?”

“Assuming neuf means nine, yes. Oui.”

Smirking, Gina nodded. “It does, my queen.”

We repeated the process for Dupont, A L’Espée, and Lyons. Then I shifted the fountain to point back to Palais de Valois. Rik sent several Blood through to secure the area as quickly as possible and to support the human security team, along with the Isador birds. Then my humans.

Carys heaved a wordless sigh, making me suppress a smirk. “You don’t have to come too. I don’t expect to be at House Valois for very long.”

“Are you sure, my queen? There might be some strategizing involved. I don’t want to miss anything particularly juicy, though I am… tired.” From the hobbled way she shifted her weight from foot to foot, I knew exactly what was causing her “exhaustion.”

“If I need you to strategize, I’ll ping your bond and you can join me. Otherwise, we’ll talk over dinner.”

She gave me a rare smile. “That sounds perfect, my queen. I’ll retire to my room for a brief rest and then do some exploring. I suspect your mothers may have accumulated an interesting collection of rare books in the library.”

A smug, gloating chuckle came through Mehen’s bond. :She’s too late to find the copy of The Deeds of Sir Gillion de Trazegnies in the Middle East that I already smuggled into G’s weapon’s bag.:

Guillaume let out a sour grunt. :Why don’t you start carrying your own damned bag, dragon?:

:Why should I when I can get you and Nevarre to carry my books for me?:

:Wait, what?: Nevarre growled out. :I’m not carrying books for you.:

Mehen let out another plume of smug smoke. :Definitely don’t look at that copy of Northumberland Bestiary then.:

:Ah, that’s wonderful. Thank you for giving me something to hold hostage if you ever try to steal my kilt.:

:Why do you think I was looking in your bag in the first place,: Mehen grumbled. :But you were still wearing it.:

Rik swept me up into his arms and stepped through the fountain with Guillaume at our backs.

For once, Sekh hesitated to follow me. Because he had two sphinxes standing on either side of him.

My general was a very proud man, as he should be. He commanded three thousand sphinxes created by She Who Dances in Blood. He was loath to ever ask for help or advice from anyone, especially me. He didn’t exactly need my help. He could send Ini and Isesi back.

In pieces.

Because they absolutely did not want to go back to standing guard as silent stone statues. Who could blame them? Certainly not me.

:We may have more cleanup to do,: I said in the bond. :I think the sphinxes should come along. They’ve proven themselves to be very useful, and they’re still hungry.:

His jaw tightened though I felt a surge of relief in the bond. :As you wish, Your Majesty. Though I should warn you they’ll always be ravenous. Controlling their hunger will need our constant attention.:

The same as me. The same as him. The same as all of us, to be honest. Even now, carrying me in his arms, Rik would have his fangs in me in a heartbeat, if he wasn’t worried about my safety or being alpha or keeping up appearances among other Aima.

:I don’t give a fuck about appearances for myself,: Rik said. :But I never want any of us to embarrass you.:

:Nothing any of you do could embarrass me.: