which held one very large mountain of clothing and one very modestly sized suitcase. When Simone had been in there with her, Arianna’s expression had been friendly, excited, but now, her face was unguardedly forlorn. It was more than just the ratio of clothing to available space, but wasn’t that an apt metaphor? The poor girl had no idea what she was packing for, or whether anyone would help carry her luggage on the trip.
Simone would offer, of course, but that was only because Simone never had to carry her own bags; if she ever did, Arianna wouldn’t be getting any help from the princess.
Meanwhile, Herself was busy packing the car with an ice chest full of cold drinks and snacks for the trip, like they were going picnicking. And she was being all covert-ops about it, trying to avoid detection by Anock and Odji.
It might have been funny—except that it was really damned boring.
Anock and Odji each sat on one of the twin-sized beds in the cottage’s guest room, laptops running the real-time security camera footage of the wannabe escape artists. Anock had assigned himself to follow Arianna’s movements, leaving Simone to Odji, who was much more benevolently disposed toward her.
How ironic that Anock was feeling sympathetic, instead, toward this Amiti, who was now doing process-of-elimination packing, hurling the rejects into her closet.
What time were they supposed to be meeting the Legacy guys again? Not that it mattered; Anock was clearly watching the pace car, who wasn’t measurably closer to having her belongings in that suitcase, and Simone would know that Antar and company wouldn’t leave if she and the Amiti girl—the Amiti Queen, Anock reminded himself—didn’t show up.
This next step was going to be such a cakewalk, it was almost anticlimactic. It had been a year since the Guardians of the Lioness, the vampire counterpart to the Amitis’ Order of the Eye of Ra, had initiated surveillance on Arianna and her house. It had been Anock’s idea; he’d figured that high-level Order operatives would come to retrieve their Queen now that she’d been left on her own. And since Anock was the leader of the Guardians and one of Tor’s most trusted advisors—not to mention one of the King’s adopted children—Tor had agreed to the plan, entrusting Anock with the immense responsibility of keeping tabs on her so that Tor could step in as soon as the Queen’s powers began to manifest.
With Tor’s blessing, they’d installed security cameras throughout the house and grounds, gotten a Guardian operative hired as Arianna’s housekeeper, even managed to buy the house next door. For a year, they’d kept watch on Arianna 24/7, simultaneously using her as bait and keeping her safe.
It was more than a little disappointing that no one had showed up. They were all getting a little too experienced, he reflected; they’d all done their jobs a little too well. The Keeper, Marcus, with everything to lose if his daughter’s identity fell into the wrong hands, had kept his human identity very close to his chest. Very close. It had taken Tor, with all his resources and a known deadline, playing for high stakes, almost the full twenty years to find Marcus. And then ... Anock rarely wanted to smack his own forehead in frustration, but the cleanup crew he’d sent to intercept Amiti attending Marcus’s funeral had actually been too thorough; they seemed to have already caught everyone who knew about Arianna’s whereabouts. Which helped keep her accessible to Tor, but had made her lousy bait.
So it was probably just as well to let Simone play out her little field-trip idea of getting Arianna Sanctuary. Simone would probably find a way to screw things up, but with Odji and himself playing bodyguard, nothing serious could happen. If it did, he was prepared to give his life to protect Arianna on behalf of his father and his King.
Huh. In her room, Arianna had clearly made some kind of decision and
Simone would offer, of course, but that was only because Simone never had to carry her own bags; if she ever did, Arianna wouldn’t be getting any help from the princess.
Meanwhile, Herself was busy packing the car with an ice chest full of cold drinks and snacks for the trip, like they were going picnicking. And she was being all covert-ops about it, trying to avoid detection by Anock and Odji.
It might have been funny—except that it was really damned boring.
Anock and Odji each sat on one of the twin-sized beds in the cottage’s guest room, laptops running the real-time security camera footage of the wannabe escape artists. Anock had assigned himself to follow Arianna’s movements, leaving Simone to Odji, who was much more benevolently disposed toward her.
How ironic that Anock was feeling sympathetic, instead, toward this Amiti, who was now doing process-of-elimination packing, hurling the rejects into her closet.
What time were they supposed to be meeting the Legacy guys again? Not that it mattered; Anock was clearly watching the pace car, who wasn’t measurably closer to having her belongings in that suitcase, and Simone would know that Antar and company wouldn’t leave if she and the Amiti girl—the Amiti Queen, Anock reminded himself—didn’t show up.
This next step was going to be such a cakewalk, it was almost anticlimactic. It had been a year since the Guardians of the Lioness, the vampire counterpart to the Amitis’ Order of the Eye of Ra, had initiated surveillance on Arianna and her house. It had been Anock’s idea; he’d figured that high-level Order operatives would come to retrieve their Queen now that she’d been left on her own. And since Anock was the leader of the Guardians and one of Tor’s most trusted advisors—not to mention one of the King’s adopted children—Tor had agreed to the plan, entrusting Anock with the immense responsibility of keeping tabs on her so that Tor could step in as soon as the Queen’s powers began to manifest.
With Tor’s blessing, they’d installed security cameras throughout the house and grounds, gotten a Guardian operative hired as Arianna’s housekeeper, even managed to buy the house next door. For a year, they’d kept watch on Arianna 24/7, simultaneously using her as bait and keeping her safe.
It was more than a little disappointing that no one had showed up. They were all getting a little too experienced, he reflected; they’d all done their jobs a little too well. The Keeper, Marcus, with everything to lose if his daughter’s identity fell into the wrong hands, had kept his human identity very close to his chest. Very close. It had taken Tor, with all his resources and a known deadline, playing for high stakes, almost the full twenty years to find Marcus. And then ... Anock rarely wanted to smack his own forehead in frustration, but the cleanup crew he’d sent to intercept Amiti attending Marcus’s funeral had actually been too thorough; they seemed to have already caught everyone who knew about Arianna’s whereabouts. Which helped keep her accessible to Tor, but had made her lousy bait.
So it was probably just as well to let Simone play out her little field-trip idea of getting Arianna Sanctuary. Simone would probably find a way to screw things up, but with Odji and himself playing bodyguard, nothing serious could happen. If it did, he was prepared to give his life to protect Arianna on behalf of his father and his King.
Huh. In her room, Arianna had clearly made some kind of decision and
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