Page 29 of Queen Takes Knights
“Good, but not spectacular.” Rik scraped diced vegetables into the pan. “I’m not a chef, but I’m a passable cook. We need to start taking you to all the five-star restaurants in the country. That would be fun.”
Her mouth turned down. “Sounds too fancy.”
For me. Though she didn’t say it, I saw it in the way she ducked her head. I glanced at Rik and a muscle in his jaw ticked. “Nonsense. That would give us an excuse to do lots of shopping too. Not just leather jackets, either. Though if you want one in every color of the rainbow, I’m sure that can be accomplished.”
She heaved out a huge sigh, as if I’d told her we were dragging her to the dentist every day for a month. “I don’t need much. Really. I don’t place value on possessions, or fancy clothes. I have simple wants. And I certainly don’t want a bunch of crap slowing us down if we have to make a run for it.”
“You have a rock troll and a warcat at your side now.” Alrik tossed the sauteed vegetables with cooked pasta, added freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and swirled with a little olive oil to finish. “We don’t make a run for it. We stake your territory and then we bleed to keep it.”
I hit the wine fridge and pulled out a nice Pinot Grigio. I wasn’t sure of my queen’s tastes yet, but a crisp blanc would go well with the pasta.
We ate in the breakfast nook in the large kitchen rather than carrying everything to the formal dining room. The housekeeper definitely deserved a raise, even if Ms. Talbott was already paying her handsomely. The wine was fantastic and Rik had managed to find a crusty Italian bread too.
“This is a feast,” Shara said around a mouthful of pasta. “I can’t believe you threw this together in just a few minutes.”
“Simple but good food doesn’t need a lot of ingredients, but I’m afraid I don’t know a ton of dishes. You’ll get tired of pasta pretty quickly.”
“I can grill steaks, chicken, that kind of thing,” I added. “Plus we both can make pancakes and eggs, though my specialty is grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“Sounds good to me, and I want you to teach me so I can contribute.”
I wanted to protest that there was no need for her to cook, but she meant well. She wanted to do her part, and certainly didn’t want us to feel as though we had to wait on her hand and foot.
When that’s exactly what wewantedto do.
“We should also ask Ms. Talbott to find us a personal chef,” Rik said. “Especially as more and more Blood come to your call. It’ll eventually be difficult to keep us all fed without help.”
She buttered a piece of bread and nibbled on the crunchy crust before answering. “I don’t really want us to get that… big. I like it just being us.”
“Which I love, don’t get me wrong, but you need more than two Blood. Both for defense against thralls, and the other queens. It’s a cutthroat court.”
“But if I don’t go to court, why would I ever even see any other queens?”
“Daire’s better at understanding court etiquette than I am. Can you explain?”
I refilled our glasses and leaned back in the chair. “It’s like politics.” She made a sound of disgust that made me smirk. “Every queen has her own court, and yes, there’s jostling for position. The larger her court, the more her power and protection. But the larger her court, the more her Blood and sibs will struggle to gain her attention. All power trickles down from the queen, and naturally, those on the bottom want and need more.”
“We already talked about this. I said I didn’t want a Blood I don’t love and trust, and I don’t want a huge court of people I barely know.”
I took another sip of wine, trying to find the best way to explain. Then I decided to just lay it out on the line. “If you only have two Blood, we’ll love you and you’ll love us, and then we’ll die. Because we weren’t strong enough to hold your position.”
She gasped and Rik shot me a dark look. “He’s exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not. You and I both know it. How many American queens are there? Name them.”
“Our former queen, Keisha Skye in New York City.”
I held up one finger, waiting. I knew he’d have a hard time coming up with any others. America wasn’t known for queens for a very particular reason.
“Leonie. In New Orleans.”
“That’s two.”
“There’s one in Texas, I think. But I don’t remember her name.”
“Even if I give that one to you, I bet you can’t name a fourth.”
Rik didn’t like losing, even to me. “What’s your point?”
