My lady's maid woke me with a restrained yet insistent knock on the door to my suite. Mircea had assigned the young vampire to me, insisting that it was expected of Lady Basarab to have the services of such a maid. When I had argued that I was not Lady Basarab, Mircea had shrugged and told me to use her as needed to prepare for the ceremony. I answered the door, yawning and running a hand through my curls to fluff out my bed head. Anna curtsied and bustled in.
"What does my Lady prefer for breakfast?" she asked, straightening the papers on the coffee table.
"Oatmeal, fruit, and tea," I answered. She did not have to relay my breakfast order…the butler outside heard me and would contact the kitchen.
"With my Lady's leave, I will pack your clothes while you bathe," she announced as she bobbed her head. I nodded and headed for the bathroom. My breakfast was ready when I stepped out of the bathroom, wearing my robe. I ate quickly and dressed in the clothes Anna had laid out for me. The matching bra and panties were silk in a pale rose and felt decadent against my skin. I pulled on expertly cut grey slacks and a sleeveless mauve top. There was a matching cashmere sweater laid out as well. I quirked an eye at Anna and nodded at the sweater.
"It is best to be prepared for the change in climate at Lord Mircea's court," she informed me as she slowed down long enough to answer me and then continued packing at vampire speed. There were a lot of clothes. Some had been selected by Sal over a month ago, but other outfits had been appearing over the past several days. I didn't know my own closet anymore but someone had excellent taste.
"Has Augustine delivered my items yet?" I asked as I tugged on low heeled, buttery soft leather ankle boots that perfectly matched my grey slacks.
She slowed down again and gestured to the garment bags hanging from the rack on the luggage cart. "Yes, my Lady. Your gown has arrived as well as a men's uniform." She waved at a box sitting on the cart. "There are several leather items that were delivered as well. I was not expecting this…is the delivery correct, my Lady?" I nodded as I inspected the uniform and leather accessories. I had ordered black leather boots, holsters, knife sheaths and potion belts to go with Pritkin's uniform. There was a full length, hooded black leather cape as well. I read the attached note from Augustine, informing me that the cape was still considered part of the Corp's dress uniform and that he would bill me for it. Of course he would. His fee was already exorbitant due to the rush nature of the job. I had yet to see a bill from him, though. I believed Mircea had countered my directive to Augustine and insisted that any of Lady Basarab's costs were to be sent to Lord Mircea's accountant. I sighed. An ordinary man would not be happy about paying for another man's clothing, but Mircea would just have to deal with it since he kept countermanding my instructions to the various vendors and shopkeepers I visited. I doubt he even bothered to look at the bills. There was a sharp rapping on my door. Anna left my bedroom to answer it and I followed.
"It's all right, Anna," I called as Pritkin glowered from the doorway.
"I have been waiting for several hours to talk to you," he told me tersely as he pushed past Anna and stepped into my sitting room.
"You must have had an early start," I remarked as I looked at the clock. It was nine AM in Vegas.
"I slept at the Pythian Court last night…in my newly assigned family quarters," he told me, arms crossed over his chest. "Why did you do that? I was expecting to stay in my own home," he added angrily.
Billy drifted in, watching Pritkin with interest. "The mage is always entertaining," he laughed, amused at yet another one of Pritkin's sour outbursts.
"Robert told me it was customary for bodyguards to have on-premise quarters on their assigned duty days," I fudged. "Do you really want to commute via ley line every day?"
Pritkin's brow creased, and then he sighed while he rubbed his hands through his hair. "I suppose I can try it," he relented grudgingly, "…and the child seems to be enchanted with yet another bedroom that is all her own," he said with a ghost of a smile dancing on his lips.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"She is visiting with the other children. I talked to your friend this morning." He frowned. "She asked many questions of me. I believe she thinks I have less than honorable intentions towards the child," he told me with a perplexed look on his face.
"Tammy has seen the worst of what adults sometimes do to homeless children. She is just being cautious. You should thank her for protecting the kids as well as she has these many months," I explained quietly. Pritkin seemed startled, then thoughtful. "By the way," I asked, "Are you bringing Jeannie along to the ceremony? Every little girl wants to be a princess and this party Mircea is throwing will be a perfect opportunity for her to dress up. I'll bet it will be the first time ever she has worn a pretty dress."
"She does not have a dress. I did not think she needed one so I did not purchase one when I shopped for clothing," Pritkin admitted.
"There's a children's clothing store in the lobby. Why don't you both come along with me and we'll find something for her," I offered.
We looked in a few stores before we stopped outside Augustine's shop. Jeannie stood mesmerized, staring at a small pink dress shot through with silver thread as it shimmered in the display window. Without checking with Pritkin, I took her by the hand and entered the shop. Pritkin followed, looking somewhat lost in the high-end clothing store. He was more than happy to let me deal with the details of shopping.
"The pink dress in the window in her size," I told the attendant as I pointed to Jeannie, "…and she'll need shoes and socks as well."
"What do I owe you?" asked Pritkin as we left the shop.
"Please let this be my gift to her," I told him. There was no way I would let him know how expensive Augustine's was. He hadn't been paying attention when I handed my credit card to the clerk, who simply waved it away and told me the bill would be sent later. I expected this would be yet another item charged to Lady Basarab. Pritkin started to voice an argument, then changed his mind and nodded his thanks. We headed back to my suite just in time to place the packages onto the luggage cart. Rafe was on my sofa, sitting completely still. He finally moved when Jeannie ran up to him and hugged him. He looked up at me.
"Mia stella, we must leave soon. The plane is ready for us. Mircea had to leave last night. He instructed me to accompany you on the flight."
I looked at Pritkin. "Why don't you get your things and fly with us to Washington State? You have too much baggage to travel by ley line," I told him. He had packed up more of his items from both his old apartment and his hotel room in preparation for his move home. He would now be taking his and Jeannie's possessions to the Pythian Court. He nodded and a bellman followed him to his room. A second bellman left with my luggage cart while I collected my purse, handing the binder and leather portfolio to the butler. Pritkin met us in the lobby, wearing his leather coat and potion belts. He handed a small pink backpack to Jeannie. It was a sunny morning and I noticed Rafe looking quietly at the bright daylight.
"Anna," I whispered, "bring me the leather cape from the luggage cart." As our limo with dark-tinted windows pulled up under the portico, I handed the cape to Rafe. He smiled his thanks and donned it before we all headed outside and climbed into the limo. The drive to the small private airport was quick and smooth. The vampires liked their luxury cars. We settled into the private jet and a steward offered us coffee while the luggage was loaded. Pritkin sat nervously in his seat and I wondered if he had ever flown in a plane before. He usually got wherever he needed to be by traveling the ley lines. Jeannie sat buckled into the seat next to him and gently patted his hand.
"It will be okay, Mage Pitkin," she whispered to him. Pritkin swallowed hard and nodded to her. Once we were underway, Jeannie retrieved her pink backpack and pulled out her reading primer. Pritkin walked her through the lesson and she started on the exercises, quietly sounding the letters as she colored in the appropriate pictures. Jeannie kept him occupied the entire flight while I read more of the binder Robert had given me. Before I knew it, we were landing in the mountains of Washington. Pritkin left the plane first, clearly relieved to be on solid ground again. He surveyed the area while Rafe talked to the guards waiting by another limo with dark-tinted windows. When Pritkin was satisfied, he motioned for me to exit the plane. The air was fresh and clean and smelled like the tall evergreens that surrounded the small airstrip. Snow-capped mountains towered in the background. Robert met us by the limo, greeting me respectfully.
"Welcome to the Chelan Mountains, my Lady," he bowed slightly.
"Thank you, Robert. How are the preparations coming along?" I asked as I inclined my head towards him.
"All is completed, my Lady. We have been greeting arriving guests all day. Please note that Lord Mircea has powerful wards up today, so any of your personal electronic items will not work consistently. Shall we proceed?" He indicated the open limo door and we all climbed in. The drive to Mircea's court was short; with Robert explaining this was the estate's private airstrip. The limo took us on a winding narrow road heading up towards a green hillside. The road led straight into the side of the hill. The limo slowed as the vampire driver maneuvered the car into the opening past the guards and came to a stop before a set of large carved wooden double doors set into the smooth granite wall inside the hill. A uniformed staff member opened the car door and held his hand out to assist my exit. The large wooden doors opened and Mircea stepped out, taking in all the activity with a single flick of his eyes. He smiled warmly at me as he stepped forward and took my hand, gently dropping a kiss onto the back of it.
"Lady Basarab," he said formally with a slight bow, "welcome to my court." I wasn't going to embarrass him in front of his staff, so I kept quiet and did not protest. He placed my hand on his arm and led me through the doors. I found myself in an ornate entry hall with white marble floors and glittering chandeliers. Mircea led me through the hall and slowly past several formal sitting rooms, currently occupied by silent vampires standing still in the low light. I felt a buzz of power emanating from the various rooms. The hair on the back of my neck prickled and I shivered involuntarily. I heard a hiss from Pritkin somewhere behind me and then I felt a flare of power as his shields snapped into place. Mircea ignored him and kept leading me on towards the end of the hall, which seemed to end in a solid wall. Mircea touched a small panel and the wall slid open, revealing a small room. He waited until all of our party had passed through and stood inside the room, then he pressed another panel and the wall slid back to its original position, closing us in. He led us to another wall that slid open at his touch, and we passed through into a hall lighted with indirect sunlight. There was a large ballroom off one side of the hall and a large dining room off the other side of the hall and opposite the ballroom.
"The ceremony will take place here tonight," Mircea indicated the ballroom with a nod of his head, "and the dinner will follow in this room for those who eat," he added as he nodded towards the dining room. "The festivities will end with dancing back in the ballroom," he finished. He led us past several smaller sitting rooms and then turned down a smaller hall and through a set of double doors, guarded by a silent vampire. "This is my private wing of the house," he told me as he led me on to a room off the side of the hall. A butler opened the door and Mircea led me inside. The room was beautiful; everything was rose and cream with touches of gold and pale green. "This suite is for your use whenever you are here at my court," he told me. "My own suite is through that door," he said with a wink as he indicated a door set into the far wall. I walked over to the draperies and pulled one open enough to peek at the view. The draperies covered french doors that opened onto a stone terrace with a carved stone guard rail, with a beautiful glacial blue lake beyond, sparkling in the sun far below. The house was built into the side of a sheer granite cliff. It was breathtaking.
"How many rooms are in your private wing," I asked.
"There are four suites, but only these two have such fine appointments as you see here," he told us as he swept out his hand to indicate my assigned suite. "You have a sitting room which you see here, a main bedchamber, a smaller bedchamber, an office, a bath, and a dressing room with adjoining walk-in closet. Ah, I see the luggage has arrived," he noticed as Anna led more servants through.
"Where is Pritkin's room?" I asked. "He has his ward with him…she's five."
"Ah, I see. Perhaps one of the suites in this wing will suffice? Or Mage Pritkin might prefer to stay at the ranch."
"What ranch? I didn't see anything close by that looked like a ranch."
"The ranch is on the other side of the hillside from where you came in. Most of the mages have preferred to meet there, and there is a ley line that runs close to the ranch house. It is well-warded…the mages preferred to set their own wards," he said with a bemused expression.
"I will stay near Lady Cassandra," Pritkin told him. Mircea looked at one of the butlers, who then stepped forward and led Pritkin out of my suite, followed by Jeannie.
"I will leave you to get settled. Perhaps I may join you for a late lunch a bit later?" he smiled.
"Yes, of course." I noticed all the servants were just now conveniently busy somewhere other than my sitting room. Mircea leaned forward and kissed me slowly, stroking his hands up my back. He broke off the kiss and pulled me close.
"I am sorry I could not make our date last night," he told me softly. "The Consul demanded that I attend her." He sighed in frustration, and then went quiet. "More guests have arrived. I must greet them," he told me after a moment. He kissed me again and left, leaving me in my pretty rooms.