"What does that mean?" I asked.
"It might mean that he would behave for the cameras as nicely as the queen," Penny said.
"How long have you known this bit of information?" Rhys asked.
"Pansy only heard from her sister recently, and the gossip came up. Her sister did not realize the importance of it, or the use we might make of the information."
I found the "we" interesting. Penny didn't mean just demi-fey, but us, her, me, all of us fey living at the estate in Holmby Hills. It was rare for one type of fey to include themselves with others not of their kind. But then I'd accepted any fey who came into exile with us, or were already here in California in an exile older than my own. With a few exceptions, everyone was welcome.
There was a knock at the door, and the guard opened the door and peeked in, saying, "The ambassador is back."
I sighed, and said, "Send him in."
Peter Benz walked through the door smiling, his handsome face set in easy lines, his hand already out to shake. His dark blond hair was cut short and neat; his suit was tailored to his five-foot, eight-inch frame so he looked taller, and it showed off that he exercised and ate carefully enough that he was in shape. He was vain enough that he'd paid for his suit to fit, rather than hide his body. The last ambassador had been vain, too, and Taranis had played on that vanity for all he was worth.
I didn't really want to play that game, but I wanted this ambassador to be one who worked for both courts, not just the Seelie, so I made myself smile and walk toward that extended hand.
His even white teeth spread in a Hollywood-worthy smile. Mr. Benz was an ambassador now, but he had the feel of someone who had much bigger goals for his future. Ambition wasn't a bad thing; it could make a person very good at his job.
His handshake was firm, but not too firm. He also didn't have an issue with my hand being small; so many men either engulfed my hand in theirs or barely touched my hand as if afraid they'd crush it.
"Princess Meredith, thank you for seeing me again."
"Mr. Benz, you are the new ambassador to my people; why wouldn't I receive you?"
He raised a well-groomed eyebrow at that, but turned with a smile to shake first Galen's hand and then Rhys's. The cloud of flying demi-fey he didn't really look at; he treated them as if they were the insects they resembled. I would have said, How very human, but even among the sidhe, we forgot to count them, or many did.
I glanced at Penny and Pansy as they hovered in the air. They met my look with one of their own; they'd noticed his lack of notice, too. The demi-fey would be wonderful spies on human politicians. To my knowledge no one in faerie was doing that, but it was a thought, a potentially useful one. I filed it away for later, much later. We had a long way to go before spying on human politics was a priority for me.
"I know you must be eager to go home."
I looked at him. "Define home," I said.
He smiled again and made a little push-away gesture with his manicured hands. "You've made it very clear that Ms. Reed's mansion is your home for now."
"While my uncle is confined to faerie, I think I will not be safe there."
The smile faded. "I am sorrier than I can say about all the problems you and King Taranis are having."
"Did you know that once upon a time the king could hear any conversation that mentioned his name?" Rhys said.
Benz gave him a skeptical but pleasant look. "I was told that hadn't been true in a very long time, Mr. Rhys."
"No, but then he hadn't been able to use his hand of light through a mirror being used as a magical Skype interview in centuries either."
"We also believe he's reacquired the ability to use the mirrors as a door that he can step through, or pull someone else through," I said.
Again, that eyebrow rose. "Really?"
"Yes," I said, "really."
"No one saw him step through a mirror or pull someone else into one during the unfortunate events in your lawyers' chambers," Benz said.
"But we did see herbs touch the surface of the mirror, and they floated as if on water tension," I said.
"When a mirror runs like water, or even semiliquid, it usually means that the person on the other side can step through," Rhys said.
"Does it really?" This time Benz looked more interested than skeptical.
We both nodded. Galen was sort of ignoring us all as he continued to sort the things we were taking from those we were donating. Oddly, Galen was probably best suited to have charmed the ambassador; it was actual ability for him, a type of glamour magic, which was why we'd decided he would leave the talking to us. We didn't want to be accused of trying to magically influence the new ambassador after what had happened to the last one.
Benz said, "I am learning so much about faerie and its magic. Thank you for being my teachers."
"We are some of your teachers, but not all," I said.
He gave a little self-deprecating head gesture, almost an aw-shucks head bob, like a bashful movement. I wondered if it was the last remnant of an old gesture. Had our so-secure Benz been shy once?
"That is true; I am to be ambassador to all the courts of faerie, not just your lovely part of it, Princess Meredith."
"Have you spoken to all the courts of faerie, then?" I asked.
He nodded, flashing that brilliant smile that would probably look amazing on camera.
"How did you like King Kurag?" I asked.
He looked puzzled, the smile slipping. "King Kurag, you mean the goblin king?"
"Yes, Kurag, the goblin king."
"I haven't actually spoken to him."
"What about Queen Niceven of the demi-fey?"
"Um, no, I have spoken with King ... the king of the Seelie Court, and your aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness."
Leaving off Taranis's name because we'd just said something about it was good, but leaving off both their names, just in case, meant he'd made the logical leap. If one sidhe ruler of faerie could hear when his name was spoken, then maybe the other one could, too. I liked him better for being a quick study. Quick and smart was good.
"You have spoken with King Sholto, because we were here for that talk," I said.
He looked uncertain, but only for a second, and then his face was back to smiling and pleasant. "I spoke to him as your royal consort and father of your children, but not specifically as king in his own right."
"Then you plan to be ambassador to the Unseelie and Seelie courts of the sidhe, and not really ambassador to all the courts of faerie," I said.
He fought that puzzled look away and said, "My duties, as described by Washington, are to the sidhe, both Unseelie and Seelie."
"So the other courts are to be ignored?"
"They are smaller courts within the two larger ones, or that's what I was told; was I misinformed?"
I debated, and finally because we aren't allowed to lie, I said, "Yes, and no."
"Please enlighten me; what do you mean by that, Princess?"
"The goblins, sluagh, and Queen Niceven's demi-fey are part of the Unseelie Court. The ruler of the Seelie Court's demi-fey is no longer an official royal, but a duchess."
His smile flashed back to full brightness. "Then I deal with the high king and high queen of faerie as I was told."
I nodded. "It's the way most people in and out of faerie do it."
He cocked his head to one side and studied me for a moment. "And how else might a person deal with the rulers of faerie?"
"I deal with the kings and queens of faerie as leaders with rights and merits of their own."
"Do you encourage me to deal directly with the goblins and the sluagh?"
I laughed a surprised burst of sound.
"Isn't that what you're hinting at, that you want me to treat them as equal to the sidhe courts?"
"Not equal to, but important, but Goddess, please do not try dealing with the goblins by yourself. I would not want to be responsible for the diplomatic disaster that might follow."
He frow
ned, just a little, as if he were fighting not to frown harder. "I am very good at my job, Princess Meredith; I think I could avoid offending anyone."
"It's not your offending the goblins I'm concerned with, Mr. Benz. I'm more afraid that they might injure you if there was a cultural misunderstanding."
"What kind of cultural misunderstanding?" he asked.
"The goblins revere only strength and power, Mr. Benz. A human without magic or the martial arts training of a Chuck Norris would find himself treated badly."
"Maybe that's why the humans stopped dealing with the goblins directly," Rhys said.
I glanced at him. "You may be right."
"I don't understand," Benz said.
"I would like you to appreciate more of faerie than just our two courts, but culturally we are the closest to human, and the safest for you, so perhaps you should just ignore me for now. If I ever feel safe to return to faerie, perhaps you can accompany me on a visit to some of the lesser courts."
Rhys patted him on the shoulder. "We'd keep you safe."
"Surely they wouldn't harm a representative of the United States government."
We all laughed then, even Galen, and the demi-fey's laughter was like the sweet ringing of chimes, or tiny bells. The sound alone made Benz smile. The demi-fey have some of the most powerful glamour and illusion ability left in all of faerie. It made them so much more dangerous than they looked.
Benz frowned again, looking puzzled, and smoothed his hands down the front of his suit. It was almost as if he knew that something had just affected him in a more than normal way, but he wasn't sure what it had been. I was betting the ambassador was carrying some kind of charm against our magic. He'd need it.
"It is the last country on the planet that would allow your people to immigrate," Benz said.
"That is true, but the goblins would not see it as harming you, but as your proving unworthy to deal with them as a representative of the government."
"Are you saying that an ambassador to the goblin court would have to be a soldier?"
"Unless you're willing to shoot someone when you step through the door, no, not a soldier," I said.
"What then?" he asked.
"A human witch or wizard, though it's a more patriarchal society, so a wizard would be better."
"A wizard with military training would be your best bet," Rhys said. He came closer to the ambassador and raised the eye patch that was covering the smooth scars of his empty eye socket. "The goblins took my eye, Ambassador Benz, and I'm a lot harder to injure than a human."
Benz did a long blink but didn't flinch, which earned him another point. I wondered what he'd think if he saw the goblins. They prided themselves on extra limbs and eyes, so that females that looked like humanoid spiders were the height of beauty among the goblins. For that matter, he hadn't seen Sholto with his extra tentacles visible. Benz was going to have a lot more chances to practice not flinching.
"Are you saying the goblins would attack me?"
I stepped in. "No, it is perfectly possible to visit and negotiate with the goblins in safety, but it requires an understanding of their culture that is rare even among the sidhe. I know of no human who has ever been that successfully intimate with the goblin court."
Rhys snugged his eye patch back into place. "I've learned that my injury came through a lack of cultural understanding." His voice was only a little bitter. He lost his eye hundreds of years ago, but I'd explained the misunderstanding to him only about a year ago. He'd hated the goblins and blamed them for it for a very long time, and had only a short time to get used to the idea that his injury was as much his fault as that of the goblin who took his eye.
"My goal is to be a true ambassador to both of the high courts of faerie, both Unseelie and Seelie, but no one in our government has spoken to me of the goblins, or even of Lord Sholto in his role as king."
"Perhaps if your post as ambassador goes very well, we could escort you through the other courts at some point," I said.
"I would be most grateful for the education in your wider culture," he said, with a very nice smile. Even his brown eyes were shining with pleasure. I still felt we'd presented him with something he wasn't prepared for, but he covered it better than most envoys, human or faerie.
I smiled, and turned carefully away in my designer sundress, not sure I could equal his pleasant falseness. He really was very good.
"Now, Princess Meredith, I had my own security wait outside the room with yours, since those inside the room are fathers and royal consorts, and security stays out. I've acted in accordance with your wishes this time."
"Thank you, Ambassador," I said with a smile.
"But I also have additional diplomatic security for you."
"We discussed this, Ambassador; they are not needed."
"Not meaning any insult to your bodyguards, but you were allegedly kidnapped by the king while under their care."
"We've explained that I told them all to leave me alone, and they had to obey my orders."
"But don't they still have to obey your orders, Princess?"
"We've all agreed that Merry is never to be left alone without guards, and the same is true of the children," Rhys said.
"Even if she orders you to do so?" Benz asked.
Rhys and Galen both nodded. "She will never be left alone again," Galen said, and his voice held that new seriousness. I knew he meant it, and he was well trained as a fighter, but he didn't have the skill level of Rhys, or Doyle, or Frost. I wasn't sure if it was just the difference in years of practice, or if it had been a willingness to do deadly harm. The other men had been in real wars and had learned what it meant to kill and be killed. Galen had never had that; he'd had very few "real" fights. Honestly, I'd always thought that it wasn't just lack of battle hardness, but that his personality, the very gentleness that I loved him for, prevented him from being the warrior he could have been. Now I was no longer sure of Galen, or of many things.
He came to me then, took my hand in his, and smiled down at me, his green eyes filling with that warmth they'd always held. "You look sad, my Merry. I would do anything to chase that look from your eyes."
How could I tell him that it was his new resolution that made me sad? I couldn't; we were all being changed by the events of the last year. We were parents now, and that would change us more.
"Kiss me, my green knight, and it will wipe the sadness from my eyes."
I was rewarded with that brilliant smile of his, the one that had been making my heart skip a beat since I was fourteen, and then he leaned over, bending that six feet of muscle down to lay his mouth upon mine. The kiss was chaste by our standards, but the ambassador finally cleared his throat.
I had to break away from the kiss and explain, "Throat clearing is a human way of expressing awkwardness, or impatience with something sexual, or romantic."
Galen glanced at the ambassador. "That wasn't sexual by court standards, not by Unseelie standards anyway."
"I've been told that sexuality is freer among the sidhe," he said.
"If you try the throat-clearing routine with my aunt, the queen, either it will prompt her to say something scathing, or she will be more vigorous at whatever is bothering you."
"It was not the kiss, but the fact that I think you are changing the subject from the princess having extra security from our government, that made me want to interrupt. I think of myself as fairly bohemian."
"Bohemian," Rhys said, "that's not a term I've heard in a while."
Benz looked at him, and there was intelligence in all the charm, which was good; he'd need it. "Is it the wrong word to use?"
"No, but to thrive at the Unseelie Court, you'll need to be a little bit more than bohemian."
"What would you suggest?"
"Profligate, perverse, but perhaps not." Rhys looked at Galen and me.
"You've thought of something," Galen said.
"I was just thinking that the queen never allows the human media to see her at h
er most flagrant. I was wondering if a human ambassador to our court might have a ... calming effect." His eye was full of humor at the very mildness of his word choice. If Queen Andais had to behave for human sensibilities, then torture as dinner entertainment might be over. It was always mild torture, by her standards, and it wasn't common, but her love of true torture might have to be more controlled if Benz was visiting our court--if she could control herself and hadn't gone so far into her own madness that nothing would help her regain herself. That was actually the question that stood in the way of her visiting the babies. Was she truly mad or just aiming her grief at her own court because she could? If she had to find other outlets for her grief, I wondered if I could talk her into grief counseling. She'd gone to human fertility specialists; maybe she'd do therapy.
Rhys came to join Galen, adding his arms to the other man's so he had an arm around both my waist and Galen's. "Now it's you who've thought of something interesting, our Merry."
I nodded. "We'll discuss it later."
"When I'm not here to listen in," Benz said.
I glanced at him. "Yes," I said.
He laughed then, and said, "You know that most humans would have denied it, just to be polite."
"It's too close to a lie, and a lie that you would know was one. Why should I bother?"
"Ah, Princess Meredith, I think I am going find being ambassador to you a very interesting, even educational, experience."
"Which means it could be good, or bad," I said.
He nodded. "I don't know which it will be myself, yet."
"Be careful, Ambassador Benz," Rhys said, "or we'll make you too honest to be a diplomat out among the humans."
He looked surprised then, before he could stop himself, and then he laughed out loud, head back. It was the most unprotected and real expression I'd seen from him.
"Oh, Lord Rhys, a diplomat who cannot lie would be useless indeed out among the humans, but for a time I think a little brutal honesty might be a nice change. Now, about adding some diplomatic security agents to the princess's detail ..."
We let him talk, and I hoped that the "brutal honesty" wouldn't be too brutal on Ambassador Peter Benz, or on us, for that matter. I couldn't trust my aunt, Queen Andais, to be safe and sane around our babies, but I also wasn't entirely sure we could keep telling her no. How do you tell someone who has been the ultimate power of life and death for more than two thousand years that she can't come visit her great-nieces and nephew? That was always the trouble with dealing with the immortal; they were so used to getting their way.