Deathstalker 05 - Deathstalker Destiny

and I won't even lower myself to piss on you."
    "You always did take things too personally," said Chantelle, shrugging prettily.
    "I just go with the flow, darling. You were In, then you were Out, and now you're In again. That's how things go, in Society. One day even I may fall from grace, for a time, and then it'll be your turn to crow. It's a question of style, you see. But then, you and style have never been friends, have you? I mean, that silver dress you're wearing is so déclassé. And you really should find the money for a new nose. Now then; I have work to do. Busy, busy, busy.
    Shouldn't you be holding Robert's hand, or something? I'm told the poor dear is in a very nervous condition. Hardly surprising, after what happened at his last wedding."
    "He can manage without me for a few minutes. I thought it important we have this little chat."
    "You can't touch me, Adrienne. I have friends."
    "No you don't. I'd wager good money you've never had a friend in your life. At best, you have allies. And I'm going to take them all away from you."
    Chantelle smiled serenely. "Dream on, darling. Recent rebel heroes might be In at the moment, but heroes and politics come and go, while the old powers remain.
    Don't bank too hard on your relationship to the new King. All kinds of things may change, once he discovers the true political realities of his situation. Now you must excuse me; I have a lot of people to shout at and I'm behind in my schedule. I was sorry to hear about Finlay."
    "But not sorry enough to go to his funeral."
    "Oh, I detest funerals, darling. They're depressing. Those frightful Family dos afterwards… and besides, black was never my color. But I do miss Finlay."
    "You know very well you couldn't stand him."
    "Not for long, true. His conversation was very limited. But he made a perfectly adequate lover, for a while."
    And with that final devastating sally, Chantelle bestowed a last perfect smile on Adrienne, and went on about her business.

    Not that far away, Toby Shreck and his cameraman Flynn had been getting it all on film. They were both wise enough not to broadcast it live, but you never knew when footage like that might come in handy. Normally both ladies would have detected a camera's presence through sheer instinct, but they were so taken up with each other they'd completely missed Flynn's camera hovering silently just behind a waiter's shoulder. The picture might be somewhat limited, but there'd be nothing wrong with the audio. Flynn grinned as the camera flew back to perch on his shoulder again.
    "Recriminations, threats, and sheer bloody-mindedness, and the day's barely started. God knows what we'll have on tape by the end of the day."
    "We probably won't be able to use most of it," said Toby. "If we want to keep our dangly parts where they're supposed to be. But just the threat of owning
    footage like that should be enough to pry some useful quotes out of those two later on. As confrontations go, I was hoping for something a little more dramatic, involving raised voices and a certain amount of open violence, but that little tid-bit about the late Finlay Campbell will do very nicely as future leverage."
    "You have no ethics at all, do you, Boss?"
    "Of course not," said Toby. "I'm an award-winning journalist. Now let's see if we can find someone else to sneak up on."
    A pair of Elves began wandering purposefully in their direction, and Toby and Flynn immediately decided to make themselves hard to find for a while. The Elf espers had been brought in from New Hope to provide top-level security, under their current representative, Crow Jane. The gestalt telepaths had a lot of experience as battle espers, and a complete willingness to kick anyone's ass if he looked like he needed it. Permanently in telepathic contact with each other, armed to the teeth, and possessed of powers that unnerved even standard espers, they made perfect security guards. They also made sure that everyone was exactly who he or she was supposed to be.
    The Mater Mundi gestalt had provided living esp-blockers, who strolled quietly through the crowds, inside and out, ensuring that no one but the security Elves could use any form of esp. Now that all espers were part of a single conscious gestalt, the threat of rogue espers was pretty much eliminated, but no one was taking any chances.
    Crow Jane strode restlessly back and forth, checking everything over and over again, down to the smallest detail. A tall, strapping brunette