Reah, lives will be saved in the long term, Lendill attempted to reassure me.
And how many deaths will I witness, before I can walk away? Or will my death be one of those? Honestly, I don't think you or the Director care about that, as long as you get what you want. I cut off the communication.
I was going over accounts on my newly acquired comp-vid when Teeg slouched into the bedroom. "Long day?" I asked.
"Bad day," Teeg pulled his shirt over his head. "Where does the laundry go?"
"I think the others just dropped it on the floor and expected the staff to pick it up. I have a pile going in the closet—I'll try to get a hamper or two tomorrow."
"What did you do today?" Teeg unbuckled his belt. Teeg has muscles—lots of muscles—that ripple when he moves. I can't seem to stop staring when he takes his clothes off like he does. His navel is the center point in a hard, powerful body. I'd thought Bel and Delvin were well-put together. Tory and Aurelius might compete with this, but nobody else could.
"I, uh, fired people. For, uh, theft and stuff."
"You said stuff." He pointed a finger at me.
"I like that word. It's not in any dictionary I've ever seen, but I like it anyway. And I hired some people." The pants dropped. "And, uh, did my best to get security on my side, so they'd report future, uh, infractions," the underwear dropped to the floor.
"Reah, I love the look on your face right now."
"Uh, right." I turned back to my comp-vid, trying to make sense of something that now resembled gibberish.
"You think Arvil has cameras in this room?" That was something I hadn't considered before. What if he did?
"I don't know," I answered truthfully.
"If he does, we'll give him something to think about." Teeg climbed into bed. His comment had me worried, but his loving soon had it flying out of my head in favor of other things.
Head cook Kiasz grinned at me. I'd gotten rid of his troublemakers and hired better staff. Arvil's assistant, who'd hired the others, was the one Haral had fried in my kitchen. Now Kiasz was getting what he wanted from the kitchen help and waitstaff. "Wilffin actually didn't complain about his last visit, and normally he does," Kiasz said. "But I have to get you to show me how to make those oxberry tarts for the next time—that's what he liked best. He said he hadn't gotten anything that good since he was on Tulgalan."
I schooled my face. "All right—we'll work on that. Are you expecting any oxberry shipments soon?"
"I have some frozen in the keeper inside my office," Kiasz whispered. "They're nearly as good as fresh if you cook with them."
"Then we'll work on that soon," I said. "Let me know when you have some time and we'll invite important guests for drinks and dessert."
"I like that idea." Kiasz traded his wide grin for a chuckle.
"Little cook," Farzi nodded to me when I walked into the kitchen at Arvil's palace later. I was frazzled—keeping up with all of Arvil's casino restaurants was a tiring enterprise.
"Farzi—I am pleased to see you," I said.
"We have been out, searching for good place to replant," he said. "Many places have one thing but not another. Most have sufficient, but too many people. You understand?" He blinked golden-brown eyes at me.
"I do. Would you like something to eat?" It was late and the kitchen staff had already left. Nobody working in the kitchen lived in the palace now—Arvil had decided against it. Only the housekeeping staff stayed in the basement. The wizards had the first floor, since they were our defense if someone got past the guards surrounding the walls.
Farzi was hungry, as were Nenzi and the others. They'd come in shortly before I did. I made a dish with fowl, mushrooms and sauce inside a flaky pastry. Farzi loved potatoes, so I made some for him in the zapper. Potatoes cook well there and it takes no time at all. All the reptanoids loved chocolate so a quick cake with a swirl of caramel and chocolate sauce running over it came for dessert.
"We not get food so good. Ever." Nenzi liked his dinner.
"Nenzi, I never had such a wonderful driver before." I sat next to him and gave him a hug. He looked at me in surprise for a moment before giving me a wide smile.
"Is there dessert left?" Arvil walked in. He got a plate.
"My restaurants are doing better and my head cooks don't grumble so much," Arvil said. "My new assistant that Teeg hired is also very good. He keeps me advised on this." Well, I expected Arvil to have eyes and ears everywhere. He probably watched everything on a vid screen somewhere. "My friend, did you have any luck on finding new fields?" He turned to Farzi.
"Not yet, friend Arvil. We go out again next eight-day." Farzi was tired—I could see that for myself.
"We ought to hurry—three plantings have been ruined."
"I know this. I do what I can." Farzi rose, causing the other reptanoids to rise with him. "We retire." Farzi nodded respectfully to Arvil.
I put the dishes into the dishwasher after Arvil left the kitchen right behind Farzi. I think he wanted a private meeting with him, but I wasn't about to stick my nose into that.
Chapter 9
"We just have to get them away from the palace, separately or together, so Haral and one of the others can get rid of them. I'd prefer not to kill them, but we have to get them out of the way, somehow." Delvin held up a hand as he spoke to the other wizards. "Arvil should have designated one of us as the heir—if not more than one of us. We've done everything for him, including saving his worthless ass during the firebombing. Yet he gives everything away to those two."
"It was your idea to bring the girl along, if I recall." Milus snorted at Delvin's logic.
"Only to protect us from Wilffin's warlocks. We're dead if they figure out we want San Gerxon's stake in all this. They'll work with San Gerxon, because they have for years. As far as the girl and that carpenter go, we don't know how Wilffin will react to that. We'll have to get rid of those two, and then get San Gerxon to go with us, instead. We can take over quickly after that."
"You think San Gerxon will do this? I mean, we wanted the girl because we were afraid Jazal would find a way to kill his brother and we'd be forced out by Wilffin's warlocks. She was our insurance—you said she could protect us against their attacks." Haral spoke, now.
"She can. She has some kind of natural shield. It doesn't protect against physical attacks—just spells and magical castings," Delvin explained.