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"Be that as it may, come home, daughter. I am waiting for you. Come home."
CHAPTER 38
Mimi
When Mimi opened her eyes, the auction room had slipped away and she was in the sanctuary, a small room with four walls made of stained glass. Of course, in the glom, it had never been destroyed.
She stood in a circle with the five other members; Forsyth, the seventh, stood in the middle. They were dressed in long black hooded robes. Like a bunch of grim reapers, Mimi thought. So much of the Blue Blood ways had seeped into popular culture, but twisted and stripped of their gravity.
"Welcome, everyone," Forsyth Llewellyn said, looking very puffed up and self-satisfied. Perfectly natural, Mimi thought, as he was assuming the highest office in the land, as head of a secret government the Red Bloods didn't even know existed. His work as a senator was completely perfunctory. Mimi heard he had done only superficial work toward helping to resolve the financial crisis that held the country in its grip. Mimi had not been a full-serving member of the Conclave when Lawrence had been elected, but she had a vague idea of the proceedings.
Seymour Corrigan called the roll and started the ceremony. "Since the early days of this world, our Regis holds the soul of the Coven in his heart. But before he is chosen, he must be blessed by the Seven, and so we have gathered here today for the benediction."
It was a ceremony that went back to ancient Egypt. Except this time there would be no false beard of goat's hair, no magic scepter, no symbolic leather whip, no crown of ostrich feathers. But the fundamentals were the same.
Warden Corrigan began the tabulation, calling out to the great houses by their names from the Sacred Language.
"What say you, Domus Magnificat?" The House of Riches was represented by Josiah Rockefeller Archibald, whose family had built the center on which they stood.
"We say aye," he murmured.
"What say you, Domus Septem Sanctimonialis?"
"We say aye," said Alice Whitney, who was the last of the line of the House of the Seven Sisters.
"What say you, Domus Veritas?"
Of course the Venators were represented on the council, but Mimi was curious as to why Abe Tompkins spoke for them. He hadn't been an active Venator for many years.
"We say aye," old Abe responded.
"What say you, Domus Preposito?"
The House of the Stewards was a title that had always been given to the family nearest to the Regis. The Llewellyns currently had that honor.
Forsyth Llwellyn smiled. "We say aye."
"What say you, Domus Stella Aquillo?"
The House of the Northern Star was one of the biggest benefactors of art programs in the country. Ambrose Barlow looked nervously at Minerva Morgan. He bowed his head and whispered, "Aye."
There were only two houses left. Next to her, Mimi felt Minerva Morgan's anxiety.
"What say you, Domus Domina?"
The House of the Gray Lady. Death House, but no one called it that. The family that was in charge of the records, of the cycles of expression and expulsion.
Minerva Morgan did not respond.
"Domus Domina?" Seymour Corrigan cleared his throat. "Domus Domina?"
Minerva Morgan sighed. "Aye."
"Domus Lamia says aye," Warden Corrigan said, a bit grumpily.
The House of the Vampyres; an old title, and the head of the Conspiracy.
Mimi braced herself. She was next.
