Leaving
the women with Phillida, Kirk visits the kitchen, to find an old
friend.
"I
meant Margo. You thought I meant you?" He chuckled. He had meant
Kirk, but he wouldn't in a million years let him know that.
Margo
giggled, smacking his arm. "I did train you well," she
said, her accent coming through stronger than usual.
"My
love, you trained me well in everything." He kissed seductively
all the way from her hand to her shoulder. "You took a dirty pig
boy and made him the premier chef in Her Majesty's service. Ah, Vicki
was quite the lady, she was." He continued to kiss her hands,
her arms, her neck. "What are you doing these days, my love?
What amuses you?"
"Better
not to go into details, Silas." Her face closed off suddenly.
"Suffice to say I am well satisfied."
"Does
he like to play games with three players?" He raised an eyebrow
as he kissed the inside of her arm from her elbow to her armpit.
"I'll
ask."
"You'll
let me know?"
"Dear
Silas, of course I will. But don't get your hopes up. He's young and
very attached."
"Well,
bugger! But I know you didn't just come here for me. Hey, did you see
his nibs new lady?"
"Yes,
she's a friend of ours."
He
leaned over, hissing somewhat as he spoke. "Best spirit her
away. It ain't safe here with herself around. She's a pretty thing,
sweet, kind... I'd hate to see anything bad hap...." He turned
abruptly back to his kitchen, clapping his hands loudly.
"Oi,
then! Check the tables! What's low, what's missing? Does anyone have
half a brain among them? No, sweetheart, that's not the serving dish.
You cannot take it out of this kitchen in that condition!"
It
took Kirk only a moment to realize there was someone standing behind
him. One of the twins had entered while they were talking. Kirk
couldn't tell them apart. He didn't remember their names without
effort, even 150 years later. He detested them both, and they him. He
thought of them as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Their personalities
augmented and accentuated Phillida's. He often wondered how they had
been before meeting her. He suspected they had been vain, haughty and
cruel even then. She was always attracted to that type. Andres was
cruel, haughty and vain personified. He had his better qualities, few
though they might be. He had the capacity to love. Kirk strongly
suspected that Phillida did not.
"Mistress
wants you," the twin hissed, his accent something dark and
growling.
Tweedle
Dum, Kirk guessed.
"Does
it ever occur to you to say please?" Margo asked him.
He
glared at her. At one time Margo had amused herself with one of the
twins. Kirk suspected that this was the one. It made his presence
moderately less tolerable. He'd treated her abominably.
"Follow
me." He bowed slightly to Kirk. "Please," he added
with a leer at Margo.
Margo
patted his cheek none too fondly as she passed. "Your
personality hasn't improved a bit, Petrov. You're still just as
grumpy as you were. Are you getting laid on a regular basis? I hear
it's marvelous therapy."
He
growled slightly as she walked ahead of him out of the room. Margo
waited for Petrov to get ahead of her. She never liked being the
first to greet Phillida. One could never tell if she was in a
throwing mood. Given the presence of the lovely and nubile Carley,
Margo judged that she would be in the vilest of humors. She wasn't
disappointed.
Phillida
was in full voice as Petrov led them to the library. Margo and Kirk
could hear her yelling several yards away. At first, her words were
indistinguishable, then an all too familiar litany developed.
"The
bastard! The slimy, two-faced, lowlife, stinking, slug brained,
worm-dick bastard! I'll kill him! I swear, I'll drink him dry. I'll
kill him in his sleep!" The crash of an expensive decorative
object echoed down the barren hall. "Then I'll rip her throat
out. No, I'll turn her as he lies there bleeding. Then her first meal
can be what's left of him. I hate him! I loathe him! I will get even
if it's the last thing I do!"
Kirk
thought he heard another voice inside and hoped it wasn't the second
twin—Tweedle Dee. For some reason, they were inseparable, although
they didn't seem to like one another very much. They stood aside as
Petrov tapped on the door just as another resounding crash filled the
hallway. Petrov flinched.
Kirk
smiled. At least there was something that got under the enigmatic
veneer. Kirk had to admit that Phillida in full anger would be enough
to make grown men tremble—even vampires.
"Come
in!" she bellowed.
Petrov
opened the door, flinging it aside without actually entering or
getting in Phillida's direct line of fire. Kirk entered warily.
Phillida was not alone, but it wasn't the other Tweedle Twin inside.
Heinrich, another of the Council members, Phillida's staunchest
supporter, was trying to talk her down as she continued to screech.
"Phillida,
this is not the end of the world. Andres has had his little flings
before. This is no different."
"But
it is! Don't you see? Can't you understand? He wants to marry her.
Make her his queen. Have an heir with her! Did he ever once offer to
marry me? Or any of the others? That is the difference, Heinrich.
Could you really see taking orders from her? She's a child, even by
human standards. It is to insult me."
©
2019 Dellani Oakes
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