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“But I assure you, Ambassador, this is a requirement,” she seethed, her voice rising to carry across the busy courtyard.
“And I’m telling you, Sister, I don’t care. If she doesn’t want it, I won’t force it.”
“You give her a choice?” Sister Hesta cried in outrage, raising her hand to her chest.
“Is something the matter?” Ambassador Valerius approached from behind Sister Hesta, a leather duffle slung across his body to hang at his side.
“Ambassador Covina here does not care if Miss Ryans gets her birth control shot.” Sister Hesta said her tone much more respectable now that the ambassador for her former guild was present.
“Ah,” Valerius said, raising his hand to his mouth as if in thought. “Leave it with me. Thank you, Sister Hesta.”
The sister nodded, bowing at the waist before returning to the keep in a flurry of black skirts.
“Forgive Hesta, she’s a bit old fashioned.” Valerius said, watching to make sure the woman returned inside. “She’s always been a bit of a stickler for the rules, even when she was young.”
Now that was an odd thing to say, considering he couldn’t be much older than his mid-thirties while Hesta was certainly pushing into her seventh decade by now.
“Congratulations by the way,” the Xynin ambassador said, breaking Felix from his musing.
“On?”
“Securing Miss Ryan’s contract of course. Ademi tells me he doubted you would have stopped at a million, and frankly, it was starting to get a bit too rich for my blood.”
Felix nodded his acknowledgment.
“You certainly have a good eye for talent. And I do foresee great talent in that woman’s future.”
“We certainly hope so.” Felix replied, hoping that would end the conversation.
“May I ask a small favor?” Of course he didn’t take the hint.
“You can ask.” Felix replied, unable to hide the annoyance from his voice.
“Will you tell Miss Ryans I look forward to our next encounter?” And with that the Xynin ambassador walked away, entering a sleek black Bentley that rolled up the cobbled drive.
“What was that?” Marik asked, as he and Ryn approached from the stairs, each carrying a duffle between them.
“The Xynin ambassador wanted to let your Little Thief here know he looks forward to seeing her again.”
Ryn snorted. “Sure, he does.”
“He did seem genuinely interested,” Felix replied as Drew’s custom Rolls Royce Phantom pulled up beside them.
“Funny, I didn’t peg him as a sucker for punishment.”
Ryn turned to stare at Marik, his expression completely neutral.
“Do you know what the difference between you and Felix is?” she asked, as Marik opened the trunk to deposit the duffels and his own bags that he’d carried down earlier.
“Oh, my Little Thief, there are far too many to count.”
“Well only one of them matters,” she said as Marik raised an expectant eyebrow at the newest emissary. “His jokes are funny.”
Felix burst into laughter as Ryn jumped into the car's back seat, Marik close on her heels.
Felix threw his own bag into the trunk before closing it, heading up to the front. “Could have at least made me call shotgun.”
Marik shrugged. “I enjoy the view back here more.”
