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"Look at me, Camil e. Look me in the eye. I reassure you that Queen Asteria makes no such judgment. You are wel -respected in Elqaneve, and you are always welcome in our city. You are welcome in the Queen's chambers. And . . . you are welcome in my home."
"Thank you." She spoke so quietly I could barely hear her.
In a rush, he continued, "I feel like you girls have become my foster daughters. I've never had children, never been married. I'm truly wed to my duty to serve the Crown. But I've watched the three of you bravely face what would cow greater men. I've watched you push through fear and worry to complete your duties as best as you can. I honor that. So I'm offering you my guest rooms, if you ever need a place to stay in Otherworld. And my hospitality and gratitude for what you are doing to save both of these worlds."
And in that moment, the wisdom in his eyes fel away to show compassion, concern, and love. I truly believed he meant everything he said.
Apparently, so did Menol y. "You're al right, Trenyth." She kicked the cupboard, but I could tel her heart wasn't in it. She didn't leave a gaping hole in the wood. "We should al just quit. Tel them to fuck themselves. I knew Father wouldn't fol ow through with his supposedly new tolerant attitude. And if he lied about tolerating Tril ian, then he's lying when he says he accepts me now. If he disowns one of us, he disowns al of us."
Camil e dashed aside the tears. She was stil shaking, and I knew her heart was broken, but she forced herself to straighten her shoulders. "Wil you take a message to Ambassador Sephreh ob Tanu for me, and to the Queen of Y'Elestrial?"
Trenyth nodded. "Of course. Do you wish to write it down?"
Trenyth nodded. "Of course. Do you wish to write it down?"
"No, you can just tel them to their faces. I trust your memory. Tel Queen Tanaquar I wil fulfil my duties as asked. I wil report to my sisters. And tel Her Majesty she needn't bother to pay me if I'm such a disappointment. I'l fight against the demons for free if I have to; I care that much about this war."
"And to your father?"
I held my breath, waiting. Menol y's gaze was glued on her.
"Tel him . . . tel the ambassador that I'm sorry he's lost a daughter. Tel him that Camil e D'Artigo said: The cal ing of the Moon Mother is stronger than the power of his approval. And that . . ." her voice broke, but she caught herself. "And that . . . that my duty is to my Goddess, first and foremost. I wish him a long and happy life. Apparently, I shal not be there to share it with him."
And then she turned and walked down the hal toward the bathroom.
Menol y and I looked at each other.
After a pause, I said, "I guess that's it. Tel Father that Menol y and I are pissed as hel and he'd better not contact us in anything but an official capacity for a while. I'd tel him myself through the Whispering Mirror, but I'm too angry and I'd probably shift if I tried to confront him."
"I, myself, have nothing to say to him," Menol y added. "Other than this: I don't need him. I don't want him in my life. But Trenyth, we aren't mad at you. You just got stuck with a crappy job tonight."
He ducked his head, his cheeks burning. "I wish I hadn't been the one assigned. I was dreading this. And yet, better me than some officious ass."
Gathering his robes, he added, "I'd better return now. Please, take care of her. I can't imagine what she must be feeling."
"We wil ." I saw him out the back door and watched as he crossed the yard. Oh yeah, this was shaping up to be a lovely autumn, al right.
As Menol y went to help Camil e, I cal ed everybody back in the kitchen and gestured for them to keep quiet. "I'l tel you about it later, but right now, I think we need to just let sleeping dogs lie." And give my sister a chance to lick her wounds, I thought but didn't say.
Menol y and Camil e returned. It was obvious that Camil e had been crying, but Menol y shot a look around the room that warned, Back off, and nobody took a chance on crossing her. Smoky glowered, Tril ian and Morio looked worried, but she gave them a smal shake of the head, and they kept quiet.
Roz quickly jumped to get everybody's attention off of her. "Yo, Wilbur," he said. "You want anything to eat?"
Wilbur cleared his throat as he plunked down into a chair. "Coffee if you got it, black, strong. And something sweet would not be amiss," he added, staring at Menol y.
She let out an audible hiss. "Hands to yourself, big boy. I told you that on the way here."
"Damn wench smacked me a good one," he said, rubbing his jaw and laughing. "Al right, al right, I'l back off. Looks like you've got cookies there--I wouldn't be averse to a couple of those."
I handed him the plate, thinking that if he had his way, al three of us girls would be his personal cookie jar. But none of us were interested. Wilbur was too coarse for our tastes. He bit into the cookie as Roz poured him a cup of tea.
Wilbur glanced at Camil e, frowned, then sniffed the air. "Wolf Briar. I can smel it on you. Jangled your senses, didn't it, girl?"
I shot a look at Menol y, wondering if she'd told him about it, but she shook her head. "You can smel the stuff? What else do you know about it?"
He swal owed the mouthful of cookie before answering. "Wolf Briar--I learned about it down in the jungle when I was in Special Ops." We'd recently learned that Wilbur's stint in the military had included a tour in some special operating force, one so top secret it didn't even have a name, though we knew it had been part of the marines.
"You have a lot of werewolves down in the rain forest?" I knew he'd been stationed down in South America, but he never told us just quite where.
