Page 4 of Sweet Dominion

Grinning, Lan nodded. “So, good job with that.”

“Perfect.”

“Oh. She also talked about Silver Needle a lot and believed it had a light, floral aroma with a hint of sweetness.”

“Alright. That sounds good.”

“I’ll get it, Mistress.” Fen walked around the table. “I remember which bowl had the Silver Needle.”

“Okay.” I considered the ones I had so far. “Hibiscus, Chamomile, and now Silver Needle.”

“Here they go.” Fen brought over a tiny black bowl with these elegant silvery buds. Then, she lifted it to my nose.

I breathed in their scent. “Mmm. This tea is going to smell so good.”

Lan raised her finger. “Jing insisted that Silver Needle raised the elegance of the tea ceremony, so this must be another good pick.”

“Then, we have to go with it.”

Fen took the bowl over to the table with the other ones.

“So. . .” Lan lowered her voice. “Chen told me that the Grand Mountain Master and also the Mountain Master were partial to Lavender because the Grand Mountain Mistress would put it in everything, tea, marinades, sorbets, and ice cream.”

“I love lavender. Let’s add that too.”

“I will get it.” Fen headed back to the table to grab it.

I grinned at Lan. “You are on point today. Thanks.”

“No problem, Mistress.”

“And” I winked. “Chen was nice to you last night?”

A wicked smirk hit Fen’s face. “Very nice. He’s a. . .perfectgentlemen.”

Thandi spoke from the door. “Big on poetry.”

“Poetry?” I chuckled. “Don’t tell me Chen was over there trying to spit some sort of poetic game to you all.”

“No.” Lan shook her head. “Chen just liked talking about poems. He’s. . .cultured.”

Oh my God.

I glanced at Thandi and she nodded letting me know that Chen was really on some pimp-player shit last night.

Wow. At least now I have some Chen-kryptonite. When he tries to bother me. I’ll just tell Lan to handle him.

I smiled. “And what about Duck and Hu? Were they on theirbestbehavior?”

To my surprise, Fen spoke, “Hu was very nice. He showed me to my bedroom and when he spotted a spider in the doorway, he saw how terrified I was and got rid of it. I could have done it myself, but. . .it was nice of him to handle it. Then, Hu spent the next twenty minutes searching my room making sure no other spiders were in there.”

“You don’t like spiders?”

“I’m not a fan of them.” Fen picked up the bowl of lavender and took it over to the other table.

I quirked my brows. “And Duck? How was he?”

Although they went quiet, all their faces held this comical expression.

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