- Freiburg, Germany -
They had managed to get a rather nice room in a Gasthof way back in the Black Forest - or, as Kip had started calling it, Schwarzwald. This was mainly due to the fact that she had inherited the fairy talent of languages, and both she and Mulch could speak any human tongue fluently, though sometimes with a strange accent. Anyway, it was a rather nice place, consisting of a bathroom, two bedrooms - each with two twin beds - and a sort of living room, complete with kitchenette and television. Butler, when carrying the bags upstairs, had made it clear: he and Artemis had one room, Kip the other, and Mulch had to make do with the couch. Kip had laughed at the look on Artemis' face as they went to unpack, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Now, though, it was two days later, and Mulch was not back. He had gone off in search of anything that might lead them to the captured fairies. And Kip was going stir-crazy. "It's one of my faults, according to the nuns," she said, fiddling with her hair and getting it smoothed into a ponytail. "I have no patience."
"You're just antsy," Butler said, looking rather strange in a designer suit on the obviously well-worn sofa.
"Antsy?" Kip snorted. "Look, we don't really know what's going on here. I mean, can you be prepared for something when you have no idea what that something is going to be?"
"Perhaps." Butler stood and Kip immediately rolled out of his way, somehow springing to her feet in time to counter his first blow. "Good," he said, though he seemed more than a little impressed. "Though I must say, that ponytail offers a great handhold."
"Like I'd look better with a shaved head," she countered, dancing out of his reach and grinning as he ran a hand over his bald dome. "Besides, it'd hurt like crazy if I were somehow tall enough to whip it in your eyes."
Artemis - from a safe distance in the corner - had to laugh at that. "Yeah, maybe if you shot up a couple feet."
Butler straightened up from his fighter's stance, gesturing to his employer. "I won't stand in your way."
Artemis didn't even have time to set his book down before she had tackled him, flipping him onto his pack and pinning his wrists. "What?" he gasped. "Can't a guy speak the truth around here?"
"Obviously not," butler said calmly, picking up his newspaper and reading it again.
"You're helpless," Kip said, smiling.
"It would appear I am."
She laughed, leaning over to kiss him, releasing his hands and taking her knee off his chest so he could sit up and take her in his arms. Butler sighed, fiddling with something in his pocket as they found something mildly interesting on television - with English subtitles - and sat there on the floor, talking and laughing in low tones. He hated one-time-use cameras more than he could tell, but Mrs. Fowl had insisted. Already he had taken five pictures on it, though the quality was most certainly questionable. Oh, well, he thought, carefully aiming and snapping another as Kip looked up at Artemis, a sparkle in her eyes. He was being paid extra for this, after all.
* * *
Mulch was making a mistake that, had he made it before, he would very well have learned his lesson and not be attempting it again. Except, had he already made the mistake, he may not have remembered making it; after severe blows to the head, sometimes the minutes preceding the trauma are never recovered in memory. But, for reference, it is a fact that he had not made this mistake before.
The mistake? Trying to wake Kip up at one A.M.
Not that this was in all actuality a bad thing. He had found the fairies, after all, and knew she would want to know as quickly as possible. Scaling the wall of the Gasthof was extremely easy, especially because it was of the old, half-timbered style, and he was a dwarf. Her window was even open about an inch to let in the soft summer breeze and it willingly slid further to admit Mulch himself.
He crossed the room quickly and silently, looking to make sure he had the right room and that she was not Artemis, or - never mind; he didn't continue that thought, anyway. So, it was she, and he began to shake her arm. "Psst! Wake up!"
And she did, precisely two seconds after backhanding him hard across the chest and sending him flying into the wall across the room, where he slid down, bumped into a chair, and eventually ended up on the floor. Of course, it took less time for Butler to fling open the door, weapons out and night vision goggles on, so he saw Mulch before the dwarf hit.
Kip was sitting bolt upright. "What in the world are you doing?" she demanded. The gun he was quickly securing to his belt under his coat - did he actually sleep in his clothes? - was more of a concern than the fact that she was in nothing but a spaghetti strap top and some boxer shots, but she grabbed the blanket and pulled it up, anyway.
"Wondering who you were karate chopping past midnight."
"Karate - oh, great." Kip had caught sight of Mulch. "Idiot," she muttered, getting out of bed to see if he was still breathing and make sure his neck wasn't broken - the usual.
"Are you this vicious with your alarm clocks as well?" Butler asked mildly, crouching down to see the dwarf was merely knocked out.
"You don't want the story behind this."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, noting her look toward her still-open door. "Artemis is still asleep. You could run a stampede of elephants right by his pillow and he wouldn't as much as roll over."
She might have chuckled at the image, but she was not feeling in a chuckling mood. "I told you the nuns taught all of us karate, in case - well, in case of anything, really."
"You did."
She was not looking at him. "They didn't teach any of the others nearly as much as they taught me."
Butler was silent.
Kip sighed. "Look, it's nothing, really. I -"
"Part of being a bodyguard is knowing what is and what is not everyone's business."
"No." She shook her head. "No, because you'll just tell me I should tell him."
His pulse quickened as it usually did when he smelled something important going on, but he did not let it show. "If you think that, you probably should."
Kip stood, arms crossed tightly over her chest and went to the window to shut it, as if she were cold in the still-warm night air. "It's over and done with, and nothing came of it, anyway."
"Kip . . ." Butler stood. "I won't lie: I like you. I really and honestly do, and if someone hurt you -"
"Tried," she corrected. "Someone tried, and he failed."
"When?" he asked softly.
"A . . . a bit over a year ago." She was still not looking at him. "I switched apartments right after. He - he'd climbed up in the balcony, and came in -" She shivered again. "I screamed when he - when he touched me."
"And he ran away."
Kip shrugged. "Not fast enough. They caught him. The nuns were furious, especially because I'd just struck out on my own, and then . . . Let's talk about something else."
But Butler would not drop it. "So you proceed to beat everyone who tries to wake you up?"
"Butler -"
"You realize we're talking about Artemis."
Her jaw clenched shut.
"Butler?" Artemis' voice sounded sleepy and he could not stifle a yawn as he stood in the doorway, surveying the surroundings, injured dwarf and all. "Umm . . . what's going on?"
Butler said nothing, picking up Mulch and carrying him out into the living room to lay him on the couch, shutting the door behind him. Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Well, then. How am I supposed to take that?" Kip shivered again, and he noticed. "Are you all right? It's not so cold . . ."
She swallowed hard. "Cold enough."
"Kip, what -?" He did not expect her to turn around with tears in her eyes and he gently took her in his arms, confused. "Narda, sweetie - what's going on?"
"A nightmare," she sobbed. "Something I'd almost been able to forget . . ."
And she told him. Haltingly, and she got hiccups from crying, but she managed to explain the situation vaguely enough that she could say it, yet clear enough he was livid when she finished. "That little -"
"Artemis!" She pulled back to look him in the eye. "Leave it, all right? He's in jail now -"
"Yeah, because he'd already done it to a bunch of other girls before he tried it one you!"
"Artemis -"
"Why can't you be mad at this?" he demanded. "This guy - he's just like your father. What if he'd left you in the same position your mother was in? What then? Do you think the nuns would have helped you?"
"But it didn't," she insisted. "Look, I'd almost forgotten about it -"
"Until you almost sent Mulch through the wall," he concluded. "Great. And if that had been me?"
"First off, Butler would usually kill you before he left you and me alone together behind a closed door."
"Great, so it takes the fact that some guy almost raped you to get me that privilege? I'm pleased." He spat the words out, heavy with sarcasm.
Kip shoved him away, going to her wardrobe and pulling on a shirt over her camisole. That was not at all the reaction he had expected; shouting, yes, or some smart retort, but silence? And she had her back to him again, arms crossed tightly, like she was shutting him out, closing him off. "You were never going to tell me," he said slowly, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.
"Why should I?" She turned toward him, voice sharp, eyes bright from unshed tears. "To hear you say things others have said before? To remind me what could have happened? Do you think I never thought, 'Oh, God, was it like this for Mother?' Do you think I never wondered, for one brief moment, if history were about to repeat itself? You know what they think of children conceived by rape - well, maybe you don't - but do you even realize what they think of the women? They would make be think - make me honestly believe - that it were somehow my fault. And the child, if there had been one; could he think any better of his father than I do of mine? Would he be raised to hate his own existence, to despise the very fact that he lived, and breathed, and - and loved?" Kip was choked by sobs at that point, turning her face from him.
Artemis, who had been taken aback by this outburst, found his fists clenched in rage. Not at her - how could he ever be mad at her? - but at the ubiquitous them. "They're wrong," he snarled. "It's not your fault, none of it. And they're horrible people for making you feel this way."
She shook her head. "They're nuns, Artemis. They're supposed to know God's word, to be holy, to speak the truth."
"But they're wrong." He again took her in his arms, but this time she stood stiffly, not melting in his embrace, which just made him more determined. "And I was wrong to get mad at him, if you've - put it behind you."
"You almost said, 'If you've forgiven him,'" she said softly.
He had. What was the point in denying it?
"I don't know if I have." She seemed cold and distant, even standing right there. "I just tried to forget."
"Narda . . ." He kissed her forehead, willing her to come back to him, to stop remembering and once again let it go. He should never have asked; she should have been allowed to let it stay forgotten in peace.
"Oh, Artemis." Kip relented, sliding her arms around him and resting her head on his chest, letting her rock her gently and smooth her hair, though her eyes remained open, focused on something within.
"I'm sorry," Artemis said softly, though, as for what, he would not have been able to put that into words. Just . . . sorry. A "Don't leave me" sort of sorry. A "Let me take away the pain" sort of sorry. A "Listen to me: I love you, and there's no reason for you to be feeling like this" sort of sorry.
Her eyes closed then, and she squeezed him tightly. "I love you, too." And her tone was soft and sincere, meaning she took the last sort of sorry.
A smile tugged at the corner of Artemis' mouth. "You know, the door's still closed . . ."
She hit his shoulder, not quite playfully. "And I'm still raised Catholic."
"That's not what I meant," he protested, feigning hurt and not entirely sure whether or not he was lying.
Kip decided she did not want to figure out whether he was or not and decided to take the easy way out - assume he was telling the truth. Besides, it was not every day that she could kiss him properly; most of the time Butler was watching, always ready with that stupid one-time-use camera when he though he was being discreet. Discreet? Hah. Every time she cuddled with Artemis, every time she went to give him a peck on the cheek, she had to be on the lookout for that stupid thing. Seems like closed doors were good for something, after all.
- Freiburg, Germany -
Mulch's eyes popped open around three AM. His first view was of Butler leaning over him - not exactly what he would have asked for, but good enough, he supposed. The dwarf sat up, rubbing his head. "I can guess what happened."
Butler's eyebrow rose. "Oh?"
Mulch caught his glance to Kip's closed door. "Yep. That guy swore to the police he was being chased by a - what'd he say? - a 'butt-ugly pit bull.' Poetic, huh?"
"She didn't mention you were there at the time."
Mulch shrugged. "Maybe she thought Arty'd be jealous."
"Hmm." The big man took a seat on the armchair. "And?"
"Don't you want to wait for those two to start the debriefing?" Mulch asked.
"They're asleep."
"Ah. Already taken some pictures, huh?" Mulch waggled his eyebrows. "You're not as sneaky as you'd like to think."
"Oh?" Butler cracked his knuckles.
The dwarf took the hint. "Found them. Rather bad situation, actually; there were five warlocks."
"Were?"
"Two of them were killed in a freak tunnel collapse."
"Ah. Back-stabbing?"
"Most likely. Those things were built to last centuries without so much as chipping. The warlocks seem to be the brains behind everything. They have DNA cannons; probably smuggled them from the trash heaps. Foaly didn't look too happy."
"You saw them?"
"Sort of. They're in the middle of this orange bubble thing, like what got Kip, except I don't feel anything because I don't have magic anymore. Foaly, Root, Holly, and Chix are in one of them, with most of the Council members in another bubble in the same room. There are two other large rooms, only about five of them to each bubble."
"Mmm." Butler started massaging his temples.
"Thinking it's a good time to rouse the strategist, huh?"
"He knows more about the People than most of the People."
"And he's a genus. So why aren't you moving?"
Butler shot him a look. "Artemis doesn't want Kip caught in the crossfire."
"Literally or otherwise?"
"Both. He's already discussed this with me; when we move in, she's staying out."
"Oh. And has he, um, told Kip that she's being left behind?"
"Not as far as I know. And she's not finding out from me."
Mulch shook his head. "She's not sitting this out, not if he's going in. If there's any chance he'll be in danger, she'll be there to take the bullet. Laser spurt. Whatever."
Butler nodded. "I did not tell him that, though."
"Why should you tell him? He should know it already!" Mulch hopped off the couch and headed for the door.
"What are you doing?" Butler asked, getting swiftly to his feet.
"Getting them up. And I'm waking Mud Boy first."
They had managed to get a rather nice room in a Gasthof way back in the Black Forest - or, as Kip had started calling it, Schwarzwald. This was mainly due to the fact that she had inherited the fairy talent of languages, and both she and Mulch could speak any human tongue fluently, though sometimes with a strange accent. Anyway, it was a rather nice place, consisting of a bathroom, two bedrooms - each with two twin beds - and a sort of living room, complete with kitchenette and television. Butler, when carrying the bags upstairs, had made it clear: he and Artemis had one room, Kip the other, and Mulch had to make do with the couch. Kip had laughed at the look on Artemis' face as they went to unpack, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Now, though, it was two days later, and Mulch was not back. He had gone off in search of anything that might lead them to the captured fairies. And Kip was going stir-crazy. "It's one of my faults, according to the nuns," she said, fiddling with her hair and getting it smoothed into a ponytail. "I have no patience."
"You're just antsy," Butler said, looking rather strange in a designer suit on the obviously well-worn sofa.
"Antsy?" Kip snorted. "Look, we don't really know what's going on here. I mean, can you be prepared for something when you have no idea what that something is going to be?"
"Perhaps." Butler stood and Kip immediately rolled out of his way, somehow springing to her feet in time to counter his first blow. "Good," he said, though he seemed more than a little impressed. "Though I must say, that ponytail offers a great handhold."
"Like I'd look better with a shaved head," she countered, dancing out of his reach and grinning as he ran a hand over his bald dome. "Besides, it'd hurt like crazy if I were somehow tall enough to whip it in your eyes."
Artemis - from a safe distance in the corner - had to laugh at that. "Yeah, maybe if you shot up a couple feet."
Butler straightened up from his fighter's stance, gesturing to his employer. "I won't stand in your way."
Artemis didn't even have time to set his book down before she had tackled him, flipping him onto his pack and pinning his wrists. "What?" he gasped. "Can't a guy speak the truth around here?"
"Obviously not," butler said calmly, picking up his newspaper and reading it again.
"You're helpless," Kip said, smiling.
"It would appear I am."
She laughed, leaning over to kiss him, releasing his hands and taking her knee off his chest so he could sit up and take her in his arms. Butler sighed, fiddling with something in his pocket as they found something mildly interesting on television - with English subtitles - and sat there on the floor, talking and laughing in low tones. He hated one-time-use cameras more than he could tell, but Mrs. Fowl had insisted. Already he had taken five pictures on it, though the quality was most certainly questionable. Oh, well, he thought, carefully aiming and snapping another as Kip looked up at Artemis, a sparkle in her eyes. He was being paid extra for this, after all.
* * *
Mulch was making a mistake that, had he made it before, he would very well have learned his lesson and not be attempting it again. Except, had he already made the mistake, he may not have remembered making it; after severe blows to the head, sometimes the minutes preceding the trauma are never recovered in memory. But, for reference, it is a fact that he had not made this mistake before.
The mistake? Trying to wake Kip up at one A.M.
Not that this was in all actuality a bad thing. He had found the fairies, after all, and knew she would want to know as quickly as possible. Scaling the wall of the Gasthof was extremely easy, especially because it was of the old, half-timbered style, and he was a dwarf. Her window was even open about an inch to let in the soft summer breeze and it willingly slid further to admit Mulch himself.
He crossed the room quickly and silently, looking to make sure he had the right room and that she was not Artemis, or - never mind; he didn't continue that thought, anyway. So, it was she, and he began to shake her arm. "Psst! Wake up!"
And she did, precisely two seconds after backhanding him hard across the chest and sending him flying into the wall across the room, where he slid down, bumped into a chair, and eventually ended up on the floor. Of course, it took less time for Butler to fling open the door, weapons out and night vision goggles on, so he saw Mulch before the dwarf hit.
Kip was sitting bolt upright. "What in the world are you doing?" she demanded. The gun he was quickly securing to his belt under his coat - did he actually sleep in his clothes? - was more of a concern than the fact that she was in nothing but a spaghetti strap top and some boxer shots, but she grabbed the blanket and pulled it up, anyway.
"Wondering who you were karate chopping past midnight."
"Karate - oh, great." Kip had caught sight of Mulch. "Idiot," she muttered, getting out of bed to see if he was still breathing and make sure his neck wasn't broken - the usual.
"Are you this vicious with your alarm clocks as well?" Butler asked mildly, crouching down to see the dwarf was merely knocked out.
"You don't want the story behind this."
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, noting her look toward her still-open door. "Artemis is still asleep. You could run a stampede of elephants right by his pillow and he wouldn't as much as roll over."
She might have chuckled at the image, but she was not feeling in a chuckling mood. "I told you the nuns taught all of us karate, in case - well, in case of anything, really."
"You did."
She was not looking at him. "They didn't teach any of the others nearly as much as they taught me."
Butler was silent.
Kip sighed. "Look, it's nothing, really. I -"
"Part of being a bodyguard is knowing what is and what is not everyone's business."
"No." She shook her head. "No, because you'll just tell me I should tell him."
His pulse quickened as it usually did when he smelled something important going on, but he did not let it show. "If you think that, you probably should."
Kip stood, arms crossed tightly over her chest and went to the window to shut it, as if she were cold in the still-warm night air. "It's over and done with, and nothing came of it, anyway."
"Kip . . ." Butler stood. "I won't lie: I like you. I really and honestly do, and if someone hurt you -"
"Tried," she corrected. "Someone tried, and he failed."
"When?" he asked softly.
"A . . . a bit over a year ago." She was still not looking at him. "I switched apartments right after. He - he'd climbed up in the balcony, and came in -" She shivered again. "I screamed when he - when he touched me."
"And he ran away."
Kip shrugged. "Not fast enough. They caught him. The nuns were furious, especially because I'd just struck out on my own, and then . . . Let's talk about something else."
But Butler would not drop it. "So you proceed to beat everyone who tries to wake you up?"
"Butler -"
"You realize we're talking about Artemis."
Her jaw clenched shut.
"Butler?" Artemis' voice sounded sleepy and he could not stifle a yawn as he stood in the doorway, surveying the surroundings, injured dwarf and all. "Umm . . . what's going on?"
Butler said nothing, picking up Mulch and carrying him out into the living room to lay him on the couch, shutting the door behind him. Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Well, then. How am I supposed to take that?" Kip shivered again, and he noticed. "Are you all right? It's not so cold . . ."
She swallowed hard. "Cold enough."
"Kip, what -?" He did not expect her to turn around with tears in her eyes and he gently took her in his arms, confused. "Narda, sweetie - what's going on?"
"A nightmare," she sobbed. "Something I'd almost been able to forget . . ."
And she told him. Haltingly, and she got hiccups from crying, but she managed to explain the situation vaguely enough that she could say it, yet clear enough he was livid when she finished. "That little -"
"Artemis!" She pulled back to look him in the eye. "Leave it, all right? He's in jail now -"
"Yeah, because he'd already done it to a bunch of other girls before he tried it one you!"
"Artemis -"
"Why can't you be mad at this?" he demanded. "This guy - he's just like your father. What if he'd left you in the same position your mother was in? What then? Do you think the nuns would have helped you?"
"But it didn't," she insisted. "Look, I'd almost forgotten about it -"
"Until you almost sent Mulch through the wall," he concluded. "Great. And if that had been me?"
"First off, Butler would usually kill you before he left you and me alone together behind a closed door."
"Great, so it takes the fact that some guy almost raped you to get me that privilege? I'm pleased." He spat the words out, heavy with sarcasm.
Kip shoved him away, going to her wardrobe and pulling on a shirt over her camisole. That was not at all the reaction he had expected; shouting, yes, or some smart retort, but silence? And she had her back to him again, arms crossed tightly, like she was shutting him out, closing him off. "You were never going to tell me," he said slowly, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice.
"Why should I?" She turned toward him, voice sharp, eyes bright from unshed tears. "To hear you say things others have said before? To remind me what could have happened? Do you think I never thought, 'Oh, God, was it like this for Mother?' Do you think I never wondered, for one brief moment, if history were about to repeat itself? You know what they think of children conceived by rape - well, maybe you don't - but do you even realize what they think of the women? They would make be think - make me honestly believe - that it were somehow my fault. And the child, if there had been one; could he think any better of his father than I do of mine? Would he be raised to hate his own existence, to despise the very fact that he lived, and breathed, and - and loved?" Kip was choked by sobs at that point, turning her face from him.
Artemis, who had been taken aback by this outburst, found his fists clenched in rage. Not at her - how could he ever be mad at her? - but at the ubiquitous them. "They're wrong," he snarled. "It's not your fault, none of it. And they're horrible people for making you feel this way."
She shook her head. "They're nuns, Artemis. They're supposed to know God's word, to be holy, to speak the truth."
"But they're wrong." He again took her in his arms, but this time she stood stiffly, not melting in his embrace, which just made him more determined. "And I was wrong to get mad at him, if you've - put it behind you."
"You almost said, 'If you've forgiven him,'" she said softly.
He had. What was the point in denying it?
"I don't know if I have." She seemed cold and distant, even standing right there. "I just tried to forget."
"Narda . . ." He kissed her forehead, willing her to come back to him, to stop remembering and once again let it go. He should never have asked; she should have been allowed to let it stay forgotten in peace.
"Oh, Artemis." Kip relented, sliding her arms around him and resting her head on his chest, letting her rock her gently and smooth her hair, though her eyes remained open, focused on something within.
"I'm sorry," Artemis said softly, though, as for what, he would not have been able to put that into words. Just . . . sorry. A "Don't leave me" sort of sorry. A "Let me take away the pain" sort of sorry. A "Listen to me: I love you, and there's no reason for you to be feeling like this" sort of sorry.
Her eyes closed then, and she squeezed him tightly. "I love you, too." And her tone was soft and sincere, meaning she took the last sort of sorry.
A smile tugged at the corner of Artemis' mouth. "You know, the door's still closed . . ."
She hit his shoulder, not quite playfully. "And I'm still raised Catholic."
"That's not what I meant," he protested, feigning hurt and not entirely sure whether or not he was lying.
Kip decided she did not want to figure out whether he was or not and decided to take the easy way out - assume he was telling the truth. Besides, it was not every day that she could kiss him properly; most of the time Butler was watching, always ready with that stupid one-time-use camera when he though he was being discreet. Discreet? Hah. Every time she cuddled with Artemis, every time she went to give him a peck on the cheek, she had to be on the lookout for that stupid thing. Seems like closed doors were good for something, after all.
- Freiburg, Germany -
Mulch's eyes popped open around three AM. His first view was of Butler leaning over him - not exactly what he would have asked for, but good enough, he supposed. The dwarf sat up, rubbing his head. "I can guess what happened."
Butler's eyebrow rose. "Oh?"
Mulch caught his glance to Kip's closed door. "Yep. That guy swore to the police he was being chased by a - what'd he say? - a 'butt-ugly pit bull.' Poetic, huh?"
"She didn't mention you were there at the time."
Mulch shrugged. "Maybe she thought Arty'd be jealous."
"Hmm." The big man took a seat on the armchair. "And?"
"Don't you want to wait for those two to start the debriefing?" Mulch asked.
"They're asleep."
"Ah. Already taken some pictures, huh?" Mulch waggled his eyebrows. "You're not as sneaky as you'd like to think."
"Oh?" Butler cracked his knuckles.
The dwarf took the hint. "Found them. Rather bad situation, actually; there were five warlocks."
"Were?"
"Two of them were killed in a freak tunnel collapse."
"Ah. Back-stabbing?"
"Most likely. Those things were built to last centuries without so much as chipping. The warlocks seem to be the brains behind everything. They have DNA cannons; probably smuggled them from the trash heaps. Foaly didn't look too happy."
"You saw them?"
"Sort of. They're in the middle of this orange bubble thing, like what got Kip, except I don't feel anything because I don't have magic anymore. Foaly, Root, Holly, and Chix are in one of them, with most of the Council members in another bubble in the same room. There are two other large rooms, only about five of them to each bubble."
"Mmm." Butler started massaging his temples.
"Thinking it's a good time to rouse the strategist, huh?"
"He knows more about the People than most of the People."
"And he's a genus. So why aren't you moving?"
Butler shot him a look. "Artemis doesn't want Kip caught in the crossfire."
"Literally or otherwise?"
"Both. He's already discussed this with me; when we move in, she's staying out."
"Oh. And has he, um, told Kip that she's being left behind?"
"Not as far as I know. And she's not finding out from me."
Mulch shook his head. "She's not sitting this out, not if he's going in. If there's any chance he'll be in danger, she'll be there to take the bullet. Laser spurt. Whatever."
Butler nodded. "I did not tell him that, though."
"Why should you tell him? He should know it already!" Mulch hopped off the couch and headed for the door.
"What are you doing?" Butler asked, getting swiftly to his feet.
"Getting them up. And I'm waking Mud Boy first."