Chapter 25

After all the upset of the day before, Wilhelmina spent a luxuriously late morning talking with Diccan and...well, snuggling. She'd never considered snuggling to be a separate activity before, but she thought she could get to like it.

It was close to lunchtime when the question of breakfast came up, but when Diccan asked her plaintively if she wanted to starve him on top of wearing him to a shadow, Wilhelmina examined him thoughtfully, considered the question, and hit him with a pillow. He stole the blankets.

The tussle that followed meant it was well past lunchtime when they finally got to the kitchen, where Jhaliir was lounging by the hearth and trying hard not to look like he'd been waiting for them. The tiger rose to his feet and gave Wilhelmina a thoughtful stare and Diccan a perfunctory one. Good mate? he asked her.

Wilhelmina went bright red. Diccan bit his lip to keep from snickering, but she knew she'd be hearing more than enough from him later.

"Males," she muttered, and stalked into the pantry to find something to eat.

Between the two of them and Jhaliir, they scoured the pantry clean of anything remotely edible, and ate it in comfortable disarray around the kitchen table. In the friendly clutter of the kitchen, it was easier than she'd expected to talk about the message she'd received from Terreille. It wasn't long before the three of them were discussing the problems over what little remained of their meal. And Jhaliir wasn't in the least pleased with her decision to travel to Terreille.

Not your sire. Not your dam. You owe them nothing. The tone was hostile, but she read only worry in the way his ears kept flicking backward.

"They're not blood kin," she admitted. "But - I don't know if I owe it to them or owe it to myself, but I have to meet them. Will you come with me?"

His ears flattened completely for a startled moment; then he got to his feet and bumped his head against her ribcage. My Lady, he answered, and seemed to think that was all that needed to be said.

She tangled her fingers in his ruff, drawing strength from his unquestioning loyalty. She knew Diccan would come with her as well...she just didn't know what it would cost him. Terreille had scarred him as well, and his wounds were fresher than hers. She would do all she could to prevent those wounds from reopening, but she didn't know if she would be able to protect him.

So she told him what she knew about Chaillot and Beldon Mor, about where they could stay without drawing undue attention and how best to deal with the local Blood. With two Sapphire Jewels between them, they might well be the most powerful Blood in the Territory, but that very power might alarm the people who had survived Dorothea's rule. Jhaliir, who saw no point in talking about something when they'd already decided to do it, padded off to lie in the sun by the kitchen door, but Wilhelmina and Diccan were deep in conversation when Wilhelmina looked up at a familiar psychic scent. "Mother Night." She'd forgotten-

Mairin breezed into the kitchen with no more than a token tap on the door, basket hooked over one arm. She glanced at the two of them, crowed with delight, and bent down to kiss Jhaliir squarely between the ears. "Finally! I was beginning to think you'd just dance around each other forever."

Wilhelmina blinked. "Does everybody worry about my - who I - about my personal life?"

"Just me. And Mam and Dirdre. And likely Lady Karla." Mairin paused for thought. "And maybe-"

"Stop it!" Wilhelmina protested, not sure whether the hearthwitch was joking but entirely sure she didn't want to find out.

Mairin subsided, though there was a wicked gleam in her eyes that told Wilhelmina her friend would have much more to say on the subject. It faded, though, as she took a longer and more thoughtful look at Diccan and Wilhelmina. "So why does it look like I've walked in on a war council and not a celebration?"

"Because that's more or less what it is." With a Warlord's sure instinct for allies, Diccan pulled out a chair for Mairin and explained the last day's events to her. "So we're going to Terreille so she can do...whatever she has to do."

"Just the two of you?"

Jhaliir rumbled.

"Three of you," she corrected. "But still - that's all?"

"That's all," Wilhelmina said. "I couldn't ask anyone else to come with me."

Mairin frowned dubiously. "Lady Morghann won't like it."

"Whyever not?" Diccan was part of Morghann's Court, but she'd already made it clear that she wouldn't be placing any demands on him for some time.

"She may want a show of strength," Diccan said. "After all that's happened between Terreille and Scelt...well, a hint of teeth and claws may be just what's needed."

"I don't like it." Wilhelmina's jaw set stubbornly.

"I know you don't." Diccan stroked her hand, looking momentarily delighted at being able to do so openly. "But she's the Queen, and we'll need her permission even if you don't want her help."

Wilhelmina scowled, not quite able to explain the reluctance she felt. Even with as little of her family was left, and as badly as they'd hurt her, she didn't want their flaws and her own failings exposed. Bad enough to think of Diccan seeing what she'd left behind; the thought of Blood she didn't even know following her to Terreille made her cringe inside. But that insistence on secrets was what had hurt her, and what had almost destroyed Jaenelle.

Maybe Diccan's wounds weren't the only ones that had needed to be exposed to light and air.

Maybe.

Diccan made a sound that wasn't quite a sigh. "Well. No matter what you tell Morghann, I'll need to make a few changes before seeing her," he said, with a rueful glance at his rumpled, day-old clothes. "Let me go home for a bit, and then we'll have our talk with the Lady."

He leaned over, kissed her lightly, and bowed himself out with a cheerful promise to see her in a few hours. Mairin watched him go with a thoroughly satisfied smirk, which lasted even after she realized there were dirty dishes on the table and reflexively started clearing them. "That took you entirely too long."

"I think it took just long enough," Wilhelmina said demurely, and watched Mairin sputter with considerable satisfaction.

But the hearthwitch kept glancing thoughtfully at her, and when she had everything neatened to her satisfaction, she sighed sharply, visibly braced herself, and crossed her arms. "I'm coming too."

"What? It's dangerous!" Mairin was smart and fearless, but she still wore a Yellow Jewel, and light-Jeweled witches were easy prey in Terreille.

"With Diccan and Jhaliir along? And whoever Lady Morghann sends as escorts?" Her shoulders were hunched unhappily at the conflict, but Wilhelmina didn't think she was likely to back down. "I'm not stupid, and I'm not going to do anything dangerous. But I want to come with you."

"Why? There's nothing there that's - Hell's fire, I don't want to go at all!"

"I don't want you to go either. I've heard what you say - and what you don't say - about your home. But if you are going..." Mairin paused to collect her thoughts. "I'm glad you have a lover. But I think you're going to need a friend."

Wilhelmina bit her lip, caught between worry and relief. Another witch to help and to help her, without the responsibilities that Protocol would demand between her and the males...more importantly, a friend. "I think you're right."

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, folks! I promise I'll get everybody to Terreille in the next chapter. Worldfinder: I'm very glad you're enjoying it. Hopefully the assorted jumpy, grudge-holding males won't be too hard on what remains of Wilhelmina's family... Moonlit Wanderer: Oh, I pounced on "Dreams Made Flesh" the second I saw it in the bookstore. I loved the Lucivar-and-Marian story the best...but as you may have noticed, I have a soft spot for hearthwitches. :-)