'You know I don't,' I said.

'Then remember that when you are dealing with him and his people, please.'

'Are you afraid I'll be rude and spook them?'

'You, rude, ma petite, why would I fear that?' The sarcasm was not that thick, but the very delicate touch of it brought it home.

'I'll be good. It's nice of them to help us out at short notice.'

'They have little choice; the old European council would have seen a refusal of such niceties as a grave insult and would have acted accordingly.'

'What does "act accordingly" mean in this context?'

'You have met envoys from the council, ma petite. What do you think they would do to a master who was discourteous to them?'

'Scare the hell out of him, torment, torture, overthrow him maybe if they had someone to put in his place, or in some cases just for the hell of the chaos it would cause.'

'On one hand we are hampered by the old council's actions; it makes the others fear a council here in the United States. They fear we will go mad with power, but on the other hand, they will offer up service and courtesy in hopes of placating us and keeping us from having a reason to be angry with them.'

'So, on one hand the old council's reputation makes things harder for us and scares everyone, and on the other hand they'll probably behave better because they're more afraid of us.'

'Exactement,' he said.

'Wait, we had to offer food to visiting council people. Are they going to offer us food for the ardeur?'

'I have not arranged it, but if they do not then it is a sign that they are not giving us the same respect that they gave the old council.'

'You're using this as a test to see how Fredrico behaves toward us, toward you.' I fought not to sound accusatory.

'I did not engineer this visit, ma petite, but now that we have it, yes, it is a test for the local master. We must discover how well we rule, or how weak our rule is, so that we can decide how tightly we wish to hold the reins of power.'

'I'd rather not use visiting Micah's dying father as a test of loyalty for the local vampires.'

'Not just vampires, ma petite, but local wereanimals. Our Micah travels the country talking to various animal groups, helping them deal with their problems. He promotes better relations between normal humans and the lycanthrope community. He has become the public face of the movement and is often called to handle disputes hundreds of miles from our lands.'

'What are you saying, Jean-Claude?'

'We learned that the reason you have no other king of any other animal group as attached to you as Micah is that metaphysically you have your furred king. Through you, he has ties to many more animals besides the leopards.'

'I know, I know, we have ties to all sorts of wereanimals, and Micah is a real leopard king in the metaphysical sense, able to rule by supernatural power and not just force of will and actions. If I hadn't had a wereanimal in my bed that was a true king, then it wouldn't have worked that way, but I thought that was just here in St Louis. You're saying that the other wereanimals across the country are being attracted to Micah's power and don't even realize it?'

'No, I am stating that when he travels and meets them, the power of a true king follows him. People want to be protected, ma petite. In America they teach that everyone should be the hero of their own story, but most people are not suited for it. They want, and need, someone to follow. If they are lucky they find someone good to lead them; if they are not so lucky ...' He let the thought trail off.

'Micah's good,' I said.

'Yes, he is good and strong and thinks of the larger group, the bigger issues.'

'I don't think Micah has called and talked to the animal groups in his hometown.'

'That is why I did it for him.'

'You should probably tell him you did that.'

'I have,' Jean-Claude said.

'What did he say?'

'He was grateful for the help, and he told me that politics was the furthest thing from his mind.'

'Of course it is,' I said.

'But that does not change the fact that this visit is political, ma petite.'

'Oh, shit, you're going to say that since Micah can't, I have to oversee more politics.'

He gave a small chuckle. 'Not precisely, but I have spoken with Fredo not about your choice of guards, but about the possible political pitfalls. He said he would inform whatever guards you chose to take with you, though he did say that if it was a political visit he'd have chosen different guards. I told him that your safety is more important than the politics, so go with the original guards, whoever they might be.'

'You know, I totally trust that you didn't ask who we'd picked.'

'In choosing soldiers, ma petite, I would trust you implicitly.'

'Thank you. I trust you and Micah politically. Bad timing that it's me with the clearer head on this trip.'

'It is unfortunate,' he said.

I had a thought that I hadn't before, and felt slow. 'I'm feeding off Rafael the Rat King and Reece the Swan King. If either of them had been my lover before I found Micah, would they have been my "king" in the same sense that Micah is?'

'I do not believe so, but I do not know for certain. I do know that the rats and the swans are the only animal groups that have a countrywide ruler. I know you do not feed the ardeur on either of them often, but when you do I have felt the energy of everyone bound to their king.'

I shivered, and not from happiness. It was the most amazing feeling to feel people hundreds of miles away give up their energy to their king, and through him to me. I knew the faces of some of the swanmanes and wererats even though I had never seen them outside a metaphysical energy exchange.

'You think Micah is starting to be the overall king?'

'I believe that he has the unique opportunity to become the ... high king of most of the lycanthrope community in this country. I believe he has taken the wererat model as his working blueprint.'

'You and Micah have talked about this?'

'A bit.'

'Don't you think I should have been included?'

'What did you think was happening, ma petite? Micah and his Coalition are called in across the country to settle disputes between diverse animal groups so they can avoid violence and be more "human." When a group of people turn to the same person time and again for leadership, what does that mean, ma petite?'

'That he is their leader, or becoming their leader.'

'The fact that you did not see that is because you did not want to see it. You hate the politics. Micah is not wanting to be king, but he is too intelligent a leader not to see the possibilities.'

'Okay, so I've been slow and a little stupid, sorry.'