"Yes," Viktor said. "You can enjoy yourselves while I hurry back to Istara to deal with the unrest there. You'll be safe. The Grandmothers have already sent security ahead.”
I didn’t have the best opinion of the Grandmothers after they argued amongst themselves, kept me in a mummy’s tomb for a couple of weeks, and didn’t teach me anything cool, just asked me to try a little magic practice with the pendant on. It seemed to work. I zapped a few priestesses and after a heart-stopping few minutes, the effect faded. They tutted and took notes. I got a physical checkup and was asked a lot of questions about my growing up years, whether I had powers manifest before (nope), how long I’d been banded (always), and how the Merryweathers treated me (fine, I guess).
I had this feeling they didn’t actually know what to do with a queen. I asked for a box of condoms, got scolded for not wanting to have Children of Horus this exact second, but Rusa hooked me up on the sly and I had a lot of sex with Ansel.
Now, on the narrow Italian cliffside road, I noticed that we were passing some small houses and outbuildings wedged in the hills with a number of nondescript trucks and SUVs parked out front and tough-looking people surveying us as we passed. If they noticed me inside the car, they bowed gallantly, like I really was a queen.
"We get a kidnapping upgrade," Ansel said. "How nice of you."
"I am aware you don't enjoy being kidnapped," Viktor said in a droll tone. "But thank you for reminding me. Of course, there is a reason for all of my caution. Suppose you were seized and questioned in Cairo? You, my dear, are so important to this world that for the moment, you must be kept more like precious cargo than a queen, but once we're all together, we can get to business."
The villa was surrounded by a vineyard and gardens and I thought there might be another pool in back. The house was a good size, but not excessive, two stories of stone with a balcony and a shady space underneath. Vines climbed the balcony, and a fountain trickled out water into a blue tiled pool to one side of the drive-up pavestones. My inner bird wanted to splash in it, but that was what the pool was for. A total Italian dream vacation, but I wasn't going to get lulled into that.
A tanned, freckled, black-haired woman in a plain dress and white apron, about thirty or so, ran out to meet us.
"Buon giorno, Viktor," she said, greeting him warmly, and then she walked over to the driver's side of the car as Decker parked on the paved area, surrounded by the gardens, where bees lazily drifted from flower to flower. "Howdy, stranger. It's been a while," she said, leaning in.
"Uh, yes, yes, too long." Decker looked embarrassed at the attention. Most people glossed over him compared to Viktor.
"And these are my most illustrious guests? I'm Gina. And you're Mina!" She lit up, like she'd just realized the rhyme. "How funny. And is this colorful young man another consort?"
"I'm Ansel." I'm not sure if Ansel liked the 'colorful young man' description, but it was impossible not to like Gina and I was sure English wasn't her first language.
"Ansel... A German name...or French? You look Asian."
"I believe I'm half French or German," Ansel said. "But...I just don't really know."
"So sad...," she murmured. "Separated from your parents at a young age? Well, I'll be your mother for the length of your stay and fatten you both up; that's why you come to Italy, right?" I was sure she wasn’t old enough to be our mother, but maybe an aunt.
"Do you take requests?" I asked.
"What would you like?" She looked absolutely eager for a request.
"Seafood linguine?"
"Of course! That's easy. I thought you were going to say something difficult. Seafood linguine. I'll go right to the market."
She rushed into the house and I noticed Decker was staring after her with a tiny smile.
He wiped it before Viktor got out of the car. Viktor tilted the brim of his hat down to block the aggressive sun and glanced around at the gardens. "You'll be very comfortable here, I'm sure," he told me. "I hate to leave, but..."
"It's pretty bad back home," Decker said, scrolling the news on his phone now.
"I want to speak to Alistair," I said. "Really, I don't understand why we have to be cut off from our friends and families. How am I supposed to feel comfortable anywhere, no matter how pretty, if it's like that? And believe me, I'm not very happy with Alistair either, but I do want to know he's all right."
Viktor led the way to the big wooden door, with a heavy metal knocker and very low doorknob. "All right," he said. "You can call Alistair. I don't enjoy all this secrecy. But..." Inside the hall, the floor was reddish glazed slabs of tile that were more uneven than modern tile floors, but very smooth and full of character. The walls were white plaster with more of the framed fine art Viktor seemed to like. He stopped and turned to me.
"You have now met the Grandmothers," he said. "And you know where this prophecy came from. You know the weight of what our ancestors have entrusted to the queens and consorts. You know that your power is real, and this moment is real, and it will only come once..."
"Yes. I get that. You do give very nice speeches. I can see why you're the president." I put a hand on my hip. "I just want to talk to the annoying-ass boy whom I kinda love and kinda want to yell at. I want to know he's okay, and I want him to know I'm okay. That's it. You're getting way too up in the clouds about all of this."
"That's probably true," Viktor said. "But--I won't lose this chance. This one chance. And I am very concerned about the influence of Esther Merryweather. How sweet would you say Esther is, on a scale of one to ten?"
"Ten? Well, no, probably nine. I have seen her yell when she really needs to."
"I don't consider it a virtue to be sweet," Viktor said. "It is a willingness to give an inch to one's enemies and it sounds fine on paper until those enemies win. I will win this fight no matter who I piss off, even if it means you all hate me."
"Isn't this supposed to be about teamwork?"
"I'm sure our ancient ancestors were thinking about whatever it takes. Not 'teamwork'." He looked at me as if he was daring me to argue.
"Well, it sounds like you've decided the path you're taking. Kidnapping, lying...but if you hurt Esther, we have a problem."
"No...I won't hurt her. I'll just go around her. When I come back from the States..." His words lingered, the pause full of his overwhelming presence. His pale, perfect face studied me, his lips parting just a crack as if he was considering giving me a goodbye kiss.
He was like a bottle of good liquor. I knew he'd be bad for me. I knew he'd get me under the influence. I guessed that if I tasted him, I'd want more.
"How about...we explore the house, and you get going?" Ansel said, running his fingers down my arm.
"I'll leave Gina with instructions to let you call Alistair," Viktor said. "And...as soon as I return, we'll get your bands off."
"Yes--yes, you'd better!" I sputtered.
I marched upstairs with Ansel to check out one of the bedrooms, grabbed a pillow, and screamed into it. "He does something to me! He's like, messing with my head! Whenever I'm face to face with him I just turn into a puppet!"