"Don't you think you deserve it?" I asked.
"Perhaps. But deserving and receiving are generally two different things," he bowed. "The four weeks of vacation that you insisted on went over very well with the workers at the blood substitute manufacturing plant."
"Well, since we don't have to pay for Social Security or health insurance," I said. He laughed and sat down.
"Lissa, we've had offers to buy either the formula for the blood substitute or to buy the bottled product itself," Merrill said, attempting to calm me down by changing the subject. He was probably wise to do so, my fangs were pricking my lower lip and my eyes were probably a shade away from red.
"Well, you guys came up with that, you can do whatever you want with it."
"Lissa, you're not being selfish enough over this," he informed me. "The plant is sitting on property owned by the crown. You own a piece of this. What do you want to do?"
"How big is the market?" I asked. "Do we have the facilities to manufacture enough to meet the demand? If so, then let's do it from here. If not, then sell the formula. That's simple enough."
"I think we can manufacture here," Adam said. "If we triple the size of the plant, which can be done soon. I'll have a feasibility study on your desk by next week."
"Sounds good," I nodded.
"Will you consider leaving the palace where it is if we build you a home on the ocean for your one day retreat per week?" Wlodek had been sitting in the back all along.
"I'll consider it, but the first time somebody drags tourists into this palace without my permission is the day I move it."
We got down to business after that. I was tired and yawning when it was all over. "Lissa, you have to appear at dinner, the others are about to become more upset than they already are," Gabron informed me as we walked out of the Council Chamber. That was just what I needed. I figured Gavin was going to give me an earful, whether it was over dinner or later. Gabron wasn't high on my list at the moment either. "Lissa, I never said I wasn't going to have sex with other women," Gabron said, as we walked down the lengthy hall toward my suite. I almost stopped in my tracks but forced myself to keep going. I wasn't about to be a hypocrite.
"I know that," I sighed. "But I was hoping it would be somebody you actually cared for, if you did. Just do me a favor and don't come home smelling like one of them." I misted away.
* * *
"I am in the dog house, I think the phrase is," Gabron sighed as he sat down to dinner. They were waiting on Lissa again. He knew that she might not come and he knew he'd be the reason.
"In your case, I think the phrase might be cathouse," Drake snickered.
"What did you do?" Garde had come for dinner, hoping he could speak to Lissa afterward.
"She knows I trained most of my employees," Gabron replied. "I told her I never said I would not have sex with other women. She told me she was aware of that, but hoped it would be someone I cared for if I did. Then she told me not to come home smelling like one of them."
"I think that is a reasonable request; Lissa's nose is the most sensitive I have ever encountered," Wlodek observed. He, Adam and Merrill had stayed for dinner.
"She may not come to dinner, I have upset her," Gabron sighed.
"I will go get her," Garde offered.
"Karzac told me about last night. She may not be happy to see you, either," Drew said.
"I have to apologize to her and I wish to see my claiming marks," Garde sighed. He rose from his seat. "I will return." He walked out of the dining hall.
* * *
I sat on the vanity bench in my dressing room, staring at my image in the mirror. I'd lost my appetite after the tiff with Gabron. "Lissa?" That was Garde's voice. I'd heard the door to my suite open, but thought it might be Giff or Roff.
"What do you want, Gardevik?" I used his formal name. Yeah, I was pissed at him, too.
"Lissa, you know I want to apologize to you, on my knees if it will make any difference. And I wish to kiss my claiming marks." He came up behind me and moved my hair aside. I'd left it loose; his marks still looked red and angry, which reflected my mood at the moment. I'd checked them myself only a few minutes before. My neck ached, still, although Reemagar had healed it as much as he could. The rest of me ached too, and I wasn't in any mood to have sex for a few days.
"Avilepha," he breathed on my neck and placed his mouth on my nape carefully. "They are beautiful, my love. So beautiful. Like my Queen." He scooted me over and sat next to me, putting his arms around me. "I will never hurt my love again that way; my Thifilathi is quite satisfied. He shouted from the roof last night, howling out his joy. You do not know how long I waited for you."
"Yeah, I'll bet," I grumped."I am your second oldest mate," Garde nuzzled my collarbone, planting kisses there and down my neck. I watched him in the mirror; his dark hair thick and curling slightly, his eyes closed in pleasure as he placed careful kisses on my nape. "Only Kifirin is older than I." That made me sit up straighter.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"I do not recall the exact number of years. My brother Jaydevik is more than nine hundred thousand years old and he is younger than I. I am something over one million and eldest of the House of Rath. Many Larentii, even, are younger than I, avilepha." He lifted his head and I watched his dark eyes in the mirror; they were watching mine in exchange, begging me silently to forgive the pain his Thifilathi had brought.
"Holy crap," I muttered. I couldn't gauge High Demon ages very well since I didn't have a reference point. I did, now. Glinda, I knew, was quite a bit younger than Jayd and Garde. A lot younger. Less than fifteen hundred, I think.
"I look forward to the day when I may make love to you and form the linking."
"Well, I still ache all over, thank you very much, so nobody's getting any for several days."
"I am sorry. I remember how soft and perfect your body was; my Thifilathi was holding your hands in his afterward, marveling at how small and beautiful they were. He was careful with his claws and made sure not to mark you in that way."
"You make it sound as if it's a separate entity," I said.
"It seems that way, most of the time—he is more primal and attuned to the natural world. Come now; let me take you to dinner. You must eat." He nuzzled my neck again.
"I'm not hungry."
"I know you feel this way. Come with me, avilepha. You will lose your strength if you do not eat properly." He lifted one of my hands to his lips and placed a gentle kiss. "For me?" he coaxed. I walked out of my suite with him.
* * *
Roff got to spend the night in my bed. He let me sleep in his arms. Somebody must have gotten all my mates to back off for my off-days; Drake and Drew sat in the hot tub with me the following day; they teased me a little but knew not to ask for sex. Tony came and let me lean on him while I read afterward. I fell asleep that way, too, while he kissed my forehead and stroked my hair. I went to bed alone that night, but woke up held tightly by Karzac.
"Did you think I would abandon you?" He nuzzled the tender spot behind an ear.
"What about Gracie?" I watched his hazel eyes as he smiled at me, the corner of his mouth quirking nicely. I traced the attractive crease with a finger.
"I am not her only mate. Dragon and Crane are taking very good care of her," Karzac murmured. Well, he was a savvy healer. He got what the others weren't getting. He was careful about it and did a little healing afterward. I slept late and nobody forced me to get up and go to breakfast. Giff brought in a tray for Karzac and me. Karzac left after we ate, so I showered and dressed lazily, then decided to see what I could get into.
* * *
"Bryan?" He'd seen me walking down the street—he'd been out trimming some sort of shrubbery that grew in his front yard. The vampire belt—where the light was constantly in twilight, still supported plant life—a few things had adapted to the weak light available. Even certain types of flowers grew and Bryan, it seems, was taking full advantage. He'd already planted a very nice garden in his yard. Bryan Riley, former assistant to the night director for one of the local news channels in London was now trotting happily in my direction.
"Lissa!" He gave me a huge hug.
"Are you doing all right?" I smiled at him when he let me go.
"Great. But I wanted to come and talk to you about our media, or lack thereof," he grinned.
"Ah. Well, we probably need it, don't we? I can imagine that those vampires are just starving for news and weather reports."
"Flavio says he'll set me up, if I want to manage the whole thing."
"Well, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have in charge," I said. "Would you like to walk with me for a bit?"
"Absolutely!" He was quite happy with that idea. We talked about where we could build the station and he mentioned public access for the Council meetings, which was a good idea. I agreed with him on that. And we both agreed that some meetings would remain private, and most of those dealt with trials and (when we needed them) executions. He and I also talked about communication satellites, where we could get them and the cost.
"You might want to talk to Joey and Shadow," I said. "Since they're engineering geniuses or something." As we walked along, we gathered more vampires. One of them was painfully shy, but he managed to speak up after a while.
"Queen Lissa, I can't get the toiletries and laundry soap I like," he mumbled.
"What?" I stopped right there in the street, causing everybody else to stop, too. "Why can't you get those things?"
"We don't get shipments from Earth—we have to deal with what comes from the Alliance worlds," someone else spoke up.
"Let me see what I can do about that," I said, wondering if Radomir, Russell and Will might want to go into the grocery/pharmacy business. I think Brock and Stephan were considering my proposal to open sporting goods stores and clothing chains. Vampires weren't much on groceries, but the tourists would be. Somebody had to sell snacks. And shoes and books—my gosh, how had I forgotten books?