Those sound like big shoes to fill, I returned.
Her feet were small, like yours, he teased mentally.
"I have many things to do," Kifirin said aloud and disappeared.
"I wish I could do that," I sighed, staring at the empty space he'd occupied seconds earlier.
"You do well enough when you're mist," Merrill was now listening in the doorway. "Who have we here to take care of us?" He came to meet Roff and Giff.
"A King," Roff's voice was reverent as he bowed to Merrill.
Merrill's eyebrows rose sharply in surprise. "How do they know?" he asked, turning bright blue eyes in my direction. I shrugged. I could have bet everything I had that Merrill didn't want that information leaked.
"They knew I was a Queen the minute they met me," I replied. "They were kissing my feet, too, and they should never do that," I came to hold Giff's face in my hands. He gave me a lovely smile.
"That's more than we knew," Gavin's voice held sarcasm.
"You are my Queen's other mate?" Giff asked.
"I am her first mate," Gavin declared.
"That is a technicality," Roff informed him. Greg snickered; he couldn't help it.
"Come on you two, I'll show you around," Franklin was laughing with Greg as he rounded up Roff and Giff before they could get into an argument with Gavin.
"They truly have no genitalia?" Merrill whispered as Franklin led them away.
"Yeah. Their blood is sweet, too," I said. "Kifirin says they reproduce autonomously. They grow a pouch on their side with the baby inside that, and it drops off when they're ready to be born."
"You're joking?" Gavin lifted an eyebrow.
"That's what Kifirin says."
"I'll ask Wlodek to set up identification for them," Merrill sighed. "And we'll determine what to pay them. Do you think they might learn to drive?"
"You won't even let me drive," I grumbled.
"You may drive me around later," Gavin offered. Paul and Deryn chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, both yawning. They'd been asleep all day, I could tell. Not that I blamed them; they'd fought hard beside Charles the night before.
"Let's take the wolves for a bite to eat," I suggested, "since we're out of live deer."
"How do you know about that?" Deryn asked. Tony and René walked into the kitchen, then. René was dressed more casually than Gavin, in a designer shirt and slacks, his slightly curly, dark blond hair styled neatly. He had a smile in his warm brown eyes as he caught sight of Gavin and me. Gavin pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me. With René, Tony, both werewolves and the comesuli in the house, Merrill's huge manor was filling up nicely.
"I spent some time with Winkler and Weldon, remember?" I said, answering Deryn's question. "I misted over several runs, just to make sure the Grand Master was safe."
"You watched them hunt?" Deryn didn't know what to think.
"The bear was the hardest; I think I turned away when they killed it," I said.
"I love bear meat," Paul sighed.
"I don’t think it's on the menu here or at any of the restaurants in London," I replied. "You'll have to settle for domesticated bovine."
* * *
"This restaurant belongs to Adam Chessman," Merrill informed me quietly as we walked into a restaurant later. Franklin offered to prepare a meal at the house, but Merrill decided to take the werewolves and comesuli out to eat so Frank wouldn't have to cook. The maître d' of the upscale eatery recognized Merrill immediately. Consequently, we were seated right away.
Giff and Roff were excited that they could read the language on the menu and talked together about what they should order. Paul got into a conversation with them, pointing out what was good. They knew not to reveal either race and were quite circumspect. Gavin, René, Tony and I didn't eat; we merely had a glass of wine and talked with the others.
Tony gazed longingly at the steak his brother ordered, but he knew he wasn't hungry; René had seen to his feeding earlier. Merrill had a small meal, laughing and talking with René, Gavin and Tony. I was content to watch all of them, I think, although Greg and Franklin were teasing one another and then teasing me.
"I want you to sing karaoke with me again," Greg announced.
"Buy a piano and we can do it at home," I suggested.
"But we won't have as good an audience," Greg declared.
"Fine. We'll go right after we get done here," I said. That's how we ended up at the same bar Greg, Franklin and I had gone to, shortly after my stint in the sun. I can tell you this; every man inside the bar drooled over Merrill, Gavin, René, and the others. There wasn't a slouch in the bunch. Even Giff and Roff were invited for drinks. They smiled and said they were with me. Greg signed both of us up for a song apiece.
Greg loves Judy Garland so he did Over the Rainbow. I didn't know what I was going to do until I got on the stage. I did You Raise Me Up just for Greg, and played the piano instead of using canned music. Merrill was staring at Franklin when I finished to a nice round of applause.
"I will buy a piano," Gavin said when I sat down again. "How did you hide this from us?"
"There hasn't been a lot of time for this," I pointed out. "I turned down a music scholarship at an out-of-state college when I graduated from high school. I wanted to stay close and make sure my mother had some support against Howard Graham. He managed to kill her anyway, after I finished my first year at OU. It was difficult after that, because people would recognize my name in some of my classes. I dropped out of several because I couldn't handle the stares after a while." Gavin didn't say anything; he pulled me against him instead, and dropped a kiss on my forehead.
Greg was tiring, so we left shortly after that. I had no idea how much time he had left or what the disease was going to do to him before it took his life. I wondered, too, when Merrill might make his offer as he said he would.
We found a bedroom for Roff and Giff; Merrill offered them separate rooms, but they insisted on using the same one so an extra bed was brought in. Merrill and Franklin arranged to buy clothing and other necessities for them. Gavin and I left the others and went to Merrill's roof. I hadn't sat on a roof since leaving Refizan, which made me think about Gabron. So many of his vampires had died the last night I was there, and I didn't even know their names to grieve for them properly. Here on Earth, we were into August already; time was moving so swiftly and there I was, thinking that as an immortal it should slow dramatically.