Rook

room door, carefully carrying two cups of tea. She and Bronwyn had agreed the previous night that, since they’d both had quite a bit to drink and it was so late, her sister would stay over.
    “Bronwyn?” There were the sounds of someone waking up with tremendous difficulty and getting struck by a hangover. “I have tea for you.” She heard a mumbling that she interpreted as “come in,” so she did. Her sister was lost in the thick covers of a large bed, but a mass of blond hair helped Myfanwy pinpoint her whereabouts.
    She sat carefully on the edge. An arm emerged and gingerly took the tea. Finally, Bronwyn managed to get herself sat up, her hands wrapped around the cup.
    “This is good,” said Bronwyn.
    “Val made it,” admitted Myfanwy.
    “Who’s Val?”
    “My housekeeper.”
    “You have a housekeeper?” asked Bronwyn.
    “She also cooks,” said Myfanwy. “It was either hire her or starve to death in the middle of appalling squalor.”
    “It is insanely early,” said Bronwyn accusingly.
    “I know, I have to go to work, and I wanted to say good-bye.” Myfanwy paused and took a long sip of her own tea. “So, what’s your schedule like today?”
    “I have class at ten,” said Bronwyn glumly. “So I need to go home and get changed and pick up my notes and stuff. And then to school. And you?”
    “Remember my friend Shantay? I have a meeting with her this morning, and then all sorts of paper shuffling throughout the day. And this evening will probably be a formal dinner with the heads of my department to discuss some new developments with the Americans. Tedious. But necessary,” she sighed. “Val is cooking waffles, so I figured we could have breakfast, and then I can get a car and driver to take you home.”
    “I can’t believe that you have a driver,” said Bronwyn. “You must be really good at what you do.”
    “Yeah, well, total prodigy at paperwork,” said Myfanwy dismissively. “But I really want to spend more time with you. I mean, now that we’ve found each other—” She broke off awkwardly. “I guess it’s kind of abrupt to say I want us to be a family. But friends, at least?” She looked shyly at her sister.
    “Absolutely. I can’t wait till you meet Jonathan! I’ll e-mail him. He gets back in two weeks. Unless, you want to write to him directly?” Bronwyn asked.
    “God, I wouldn’t know how to write a letter like that,” said Myfanwy helplessly. “Maybe it would be better if you wrote it.” Bronwyn nodded. “Now, if we don’t get downstairs, Val will kill me.”
    M orning, Rook Thomas.”
    “Morning, Bishop Petoskey,” said Myfanwy to Shantay as she walked into the reception area outside her office. “You’re here early. I’m guessing Ingrid has provided you with coffee and pastries?”
    “Yes, Rook Thomas,” said Ingrid, looking slightly frantic. Ingrid was notorious for being the first day-shift person in the building, but Myfanwy had heard from her driver that Shantay had arrived before her.
    “Our office sent the latest reports on that Grafter chick,” explained Shantay. “And the minibar in my hotel room was mysteriously emptied.”
    “By arcane forces beyond the understanding of normal human beings?” asked Myfanwy as she sifted through the in-box. It was thesort of question you learned to ask automatically when you worked with the Checquy.
    “No, it was me,” admitted Shantay without a shred of embarrassment.
    “Oh, okay. Ingrid, what do we have going on today?”
    “There are manifestations in Bath and Exeter,” Ingrid read from a list. “The city teams were dispatched as soon as they erupted and are taking care of it now. The Elephant and Castle plague team are hoping to present their final findings this afternoon. And the entire Court will be meeting with the Croatoan representatives this evening.”
    “Dinner?” asked Myfanwy.
    “Yes, indeed,” confirmed Ingrid. “The Apex House chefs are already working.”
    “Excellent. Well, then, Bishop Petoskey, won’t you come in?” said Myfanwy, concealing a smile.
    “Why, thank you, Rook Thomas, I would be delighted,” said Shantay, giving her a wink. Once the door was securely closed, Myfanwy burst out laughing.
    “What in God’s name are you doing here this early, Shantay? Aside from trying to break my secretary.”
    “I got bored” was Shantay’s casual response. “Bishop Morales is still sleeping and there was nothing to watch on the hotel TV. You said that you