The princess stared at her visitor. She was a dark skinned Hiyasta, below average height, with rounded features and an old-fashioned shirt of black chain-mail. No one wore chain-mail like that anymore. It was most peculiar.

"What is your name, and how did you penetrate my private cavern?"

"Distikka," replied the stranger, but left the second part of the question unanswered.

"And?"

"I am Queen Malveria's advisor."

Princess Kabachetka wondered briefly if she might have become deranged due to a surfeit of guilt and shame. This certainly didn't seem to be making much sense. "The Fire Queen's advisor? In those clothes? Not very likely. You are a wanderer from the desert, driven mad by the sun. As I'm late for an important moisturizing, I may spare your life if you depart immediately."

Distikka showed no inclination to depart. The princess noticed that her visitor's black eyes burned with a peculiar intensity. "The defeat of the werewolf clothes designer and the Fire Queen may also lead to the defeat of your brother Prince Esarax. He's a great threat to you."

Princess Kabachetka stared at her visitor, who seemed to know far too much about her private thoughts. No one was supposed to know that Kabachetka feared and hated her brother. She looked over Distikka from head to toe and tried to study her aura, but the Hiyasta Elemental had it well masked, and the princess could discern little.

"Do you always wear that elderly collection of chain-mail that hangs so unflatteringly?"

"I do."

"Do you plan to suddenly take up with high fashion and set yourself up as a style icon among the Fire Elementals?"

"Certainly not."

"In that case," said Kabachetka, "I may be prepared to listen to what you have to say."

CHAPTER 43.

Captain Easterly remembered why he never visited his cousin Albermarle. The clutter was intolerable. As an adult, Albermarle hadn't given up on his teenage enthusiasms, he'd indulged them. His spacious apartment was packed full of books, comics, games, toys, and models. It was beyond Easterly's comprehension why a grown man would devote an entire row of shelves to replica spaceships, but Albermarle did. Running out of shelf space, his spaceships had overflowed onto the floor, and Easterly had to tread carefully to avoid splintering some of the small silver models.

"Don't go hunting werewolves, Albermarle. It's not like in a comic. It involves violence, blood, and death. You'll be very bad at it. Stay in the office where you belong."

"I've completed the training course."

"That's not the same. It doesn't prepare you."

"Mr. Carmichael obviously thinks I'm ready. He's assigned me a team."

Quite why Mr. Carmichael had done that, Easterly couldn't fathom. Surely Easterly wasn't the only one who could see that Albermarle was unfit for duties as a hunter?

"You're just worried I'll eclipse you," said Albermarle.

Captain Easterly shook his head. He knew his cousin was jealous of his own reputation within the guild, but he hadn't imagined Albermarle's jealousy would make Albermarle volunteer to actually face werewolves and, inevitably, die.

Albermarle, moving quite rapidly, rescued a spaceship from under Easterly's feet.

"You've never treated me like a grown-up."

"That's true."

Albermarle glared at him. "And I'm not overweight anymore."

"I didn't say you were."

"You were thinking it."

There had been a period in Albermarle's life when he'd been very overweight. In his last year at university, he'd ballooned to an incredible size. When he'd started working for the guild, he could hardly fit behind a desk. He'd lost most of that weight over the years and, recently, become rather fit. Though Easterly might not have acknowledged it, his cousin had been working hard in the gym beneath their apartments. He was now a large, strong man, with only a hint of surplus flesh.

"You should just stay behind the scenes at the guild. You do good work, locating werewolves for us."

"Now I'm going to hunt them," said Albermarle, stubbornly.

"My father was killed by a werewolf." Easterly tried to adopt a conciliatory tone. "I've got a good reason for risking my life. You don't. Just stay out of the front line."

Albermarle drew himself up and put down his spaceship with some dignity. Though he was large, his rounded face had never lost its boyish features, and his pink skin, thick curly hair, and small wispy beard didn't make him look any older. "I have my reasons."

"What did werewolves ever do to you?"

"That's a curious thing for a werewolf hunter to say," countered Albermarle. "Aren't we meant to hate them anyway, no matter what they've done?"

"Yes. We are. But most people won't take the risk of hunting them unless they've been personally affected in some way."

"My life was ruined by a werewolf at Oxford," said Albermarle, rather dramatically.

"What did he do? Break one of your spaceships?"

"It wasn't a he. It was a she. But I didn't know she was a werewolf then. Now I do, and I'm going to hunt her down."

Captain Easterly looked inquiringly at his younger cousin. "Is this something to do with the time you became depressed in your final year and put on all that weight?"

"Stop calling me fat."

"What happened? Did some female werewolf break your heart?"

"It's none of your business," shouted Albermarle, suddenly flaring up. "Just look after your own werewolf hunting. Which isn't really all that great, when you look at the numbers."

Easterly had indeed been going through a lean spell. These things happened. He was still one of the leading hunters in the organization.

Albermarle ushered him out of his flat. "Excuse me. I need to go to the gym and then the firing range."

"Suit yourself," said Easterly, "but if I was you, I'd just forget whatever happened at Oxford. You're no match for a werewolf. She'll kill you."

"No, she won't." Albermarle closed the door emphatically on the captain.

CHAPTER 44.

Thrix's mood had deteriorated. She complained to her designers, shouted at models, and abused Ann for failing to set up an interview with German Vogue. Her assistant pointed out that Thrix had refused to do the interview.

"I didn't refuse. Why would I refuse?"

"You said you were too busy."

"I said no such thing!" yelled Thrix.

"You did. What's the matter? Why are you in such a terrible mood?"

"I'm not in a terrible mood."

"Yes, you are."

"Fine. I'm in a terrible mood."

"Why?"

"Because I had to move Gawain's body from a police morgue and send it to Scotland for burial!"

The whole operation, to remove the body and cover her tracks, had been extremely difficult, requiring all of the enchantress's skill. Whether it would extricate the MacRinnalch clan from the potential problems of a police investigation remained to be seen.

"I suppose that explains it," said Ann. "I thought you were just annoyed about business being bad."

"I'm annoyed about that too. You know that woman Markoza? She only left fashion college last year, and now she's selling clothes all over America just because Susi Surmata liked her last collection. And will Surmata write about me?"

"No?"

"No!" Thrix clenched her fists and swore under her breath. There was a long pause.

"Were you very sad about Gawain?"

Thrix prepared to lie, but stopped herself. She trusted Ann and might as well be honest with her. "Yes."

Ann knew that Thrix had felt a powerful attraction for Gawain, even if she'd professed to not liking him very much. Thrix growled, sounding very wolf-like. It was a trait shared by all the MacRinnalchs, as if their werewolf voices never entirely left them, even when they were human.

"So is it all right to just remove the body? Won't they notice?"

"Of course they'll notice!" roared Thrix, her temper flaring up again. She attempted to calm herself. "I did what I could. Spells of forgetfulness, some altering of records. If we're lucky, it might blow over. If not..."

At that moment, there was a flash of pink light, and Agrivex tumbled into the room, ending up on Thrix's desk, her heavy boots sending a pile of papers onto the floor.

"Hi!" she cried and struggled to her feet. "I'm okay, don't worry, I just bumped my elbow a little bit." The young Fire Elemental looked ruefully at her elbow and rubbed the injured limb.

Ann was used to the Fire Queen teleporting in but had never encountered Vex before. She took a step back in case this was some enemy, which was always possible, given Thrix's connections.

"Agrivex!" exclaimed Thrix. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come about college! It's so great that me and Kalix are going to college! Thanks for organizing it!"

The enchantress was surprised. While it was true that she had made inquiries as to a suitable institute, she hadn't expected the young Fire Elemental to come and thank her for it. Vex leapt from the desk, sending more papers flying everywhere. "The teacher gave me another gold star for my new poem! Do you want to hear it?"

"Eh..."

At that moment, there was a brighter flash, and the Fire Queen stood in their midst, looking at Vex with some displeasure. "Foul niece! Are you attempting to hide from me?"

"Absolutely not."

"She was thanking Thrix for finding a college," said Ann.

"An unlikely story. Agrivex has been attempting to avoid me since I informed her it was time for the pre-adoption ceremony. Prepare yourself, vile niece."

Vex looked pained. "I don't want to."

"What you want is of no importance."

"They'll make me wear a fire wrap."

"The fire wrap is the traditional garb of the well-bred young Hiyasta. And, in this instance, you."

"It's ugly. And the ceremony sounds boring."

"Boring?" Malveria was outraged. "The opportunity is presented to move towards adoption by the Queen of the Hiyasta, and you dismiss this as boring?"

Vex looked towards Thrix. "Have you ever seen a fire wrap? It's the most stupid piece of clothing ever. And the ceremony takes hours."

"The ceremony will take ten minutes," said the Fire Queen. "This is necessary for affairs of state, Agrivex."

"I won't do it. Maybe I don't want to be your niece. Did you ever think of that?"

"Then perhaps I should withhold your allowance and stop granting you the power to live in the human dimension?"

"You see how she treats me?" said Vex. "It's scandalous. No real relation would treat me as meanly as Aunt Malvie. If that's even her real name."

"It is not my real name, you imbecile."

"Aha!" cried Vex. "I knew it. You've been lying to me all along."