Page 113 of Elven Crown

From the open service window, Bor grumbled as he smacked his lips like he’d just bitten into something particularly insulting to his palate. “Except that one. Whateverhe’sgot going on, I wouldn’t call it go-get-’em like everyone else.”

No, Rebecca would call it trouble.

But that was her problem, not Bor’s. “He’ll figure it out eventually.”

“You think so?”

She shot the cook an amused glance, then leaned closer to the service window. “So that’s really what you think is going on here?”

He raised a scraggly eyebrow. “What doyouthink is going on here?”

“Well, it’s definitely not celebratory morning-after vibes.”

Bor snorted. “Sounds like you’ve got a decent handle on things as is.”

“Right. But, pretending for a second that I’m brand-new to all of this, you’re telling me that what we’re feeling in the air right now is just general boredom. Is that it?”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Bor grunted and turned away from the window, shaking his head as he shuffled across the kitchens to get back to work.

An idle mind was the devil’s playground and all that. Now that Shade recognized what it was capable of againwithoutsomeone like Aldous yanking the chains, Rebecca had a task force of efficient magicals no longer content to sit around and waste their talents and skills instead of using them.

And it was her job to figure out how to use them before the restlessness took over. Most likely, that would look like theseoperatives finding their own way to stay busy, and that smelled like too much trouble waiting to happen.

Not if she could get ahead of it first.

“All right, everybody, listen up,” she called. Her voice only rose partially over the constant murmur of conversation until someone let out a sharp whistle, then the noise faded.

Most of the magicals already had their eyes on her, but now those slow to get with the program were jostled and directed toward the refreshments table Rebecca had now apparently made her stage.

And they all expected her to say something worthwhile, didn’t they?

Fine.

“We did good work last night, and I know everyone’s feeling like things are finally starting to change around here.”

A murmur of assent filled the common room, joined by a few bitter laughs at such an understatement.

“That doesn’t mean we get to sit around trying to figure out what the hell to do next,” she added. “We stay busy. There’s a lot of shit out there that shouldn’t be, if you ask me. Last night was just the first example of what we can actually get done, and it doesn’t stop there. Hannigan?”

At the sound of his name, Maxwell straightened from leaning against the archway of the hall where they’d entered, his jaw clenching as he looked around the room before settling his gaze on Rebecca with a questioning frown.

There was something to be said for keeping him on his toes.

She bit back a smirk before asking, “We still have the weapons shipment on site, don’t we?”

His frown only deepened. “Yes.”

“And we haven’t made any other plans for those yet?”

“Nothing that’s been decided yet, no.”

Rebecca could tell already he wouldn’t like what she was about to do, but this was part of the job, wasn’t it? Making the decisions that needed to be made, whether or not her Head of Security, who acted more like her personal bodyguard, approved.

She was commander here, not Maxwell Hannigan.

“Good.” Rebecca nodded. “Seeing as everyone’s up so early with nothing else to do, we’ll be training with the new weapons we hauled in off the docks last night. Unless, of course, anyone has any objections?”

She’d opened the floor for decorum’s sake. Every operative staring back at her now looked like they’d just hit the jackpot, faces lighting up with eager anticipation.

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