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Asa's humour had chilled as well, and inscrutable eyes found the tiny Shadow waiting. It could still surprise him how long she'd been around; longer than Ciara, if absences were counted.
cia
Long enough to remember that two out of three of us once belonged to different Covenants.
"Miss Villiers." Asa smiled briefly. "Good evening."
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Nervous, Martha smiled at Asa and nodded to the others present. Dipping her very best possible curtsy, she rose from the curtsy to reply to the Prince;
"Good evening, Your Majesty. I hope all is well. Forgive my approach, Majesty, but my Priscus has informed me that you wished to speak with me. Can I be of service?" she tried to sound cool calm and collected. But, experience told her that no meeting with the Prince ever went in straight lines.
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Ciara offers a polite bow of the head to the tiny Shadow and a much deeper one to the Prince before excusing herself from the conversation.
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Asa nodded as Ciara left and turned back to Martha.
An interesting turn of phrase, her question, given the circumstance.
"Miss Villiers, I was informed that you chose to harbor two Kindred here." Asa spoke softly and slowly. "Two Kindred which I assume were the subjects of your letter -- making them both Unacknowledged and poachers. This is not a halfway house for itinerant Kindred or personal rehabilitation projects."
Asa paused, letting the words sink in. He'd considered the matter carefully -- even going so far as to wanting to ask why. But it didn't matter. The sanctity of Elysium had been put at risk with Kindred who could have been doing who-knows-what the entire time they'd been there, when the woman could have just as easily kept them in her own Haven or even the Chapterhouse.
Instead, she'd chosen to use and risk his resources.
"Your tenure as Keeper of my Elysium has come to an end."
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This was a bitter and confusing disappointment.
Clearly, what had started as a terrible evening had ended much worse. Nodding her sad agreement at Asa's wishes, she held her tongue. It would be useless to debate the matter.
"Very well, Majesty. I am sorry to have failed you." she added sincerely and dipped a meek curtsy. Making a mental note to move her things from her former Chamber.
Robbed of energy and a desire to do much else, she simply nodded her sadness once more. Martha waited to see what fresh miseries might pile up.
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In another time and place, he might have asked another question.
Why had she let Regan take the Dracul from her?
Two years ago, he'd opened his eyes to a city full of Dragons and strongly considered that she'd been amassing them to stage a coup. Now he wondered if they'd all been Dragons at all, or just leeches.
"You're always welcome to establish your own Elysium." Asa eyes moved over to the Reeve's office.
"Good evening, Miss Villiers."
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Now more confused than before, Martha nodded her bewildered thanks.
Was he allowing her to set up the Trax as she'd proposed?
Was he..?
She came to no conclusion. Her ill-focused mind wasn't working correctly.
"Thank you, Majesty, I am always ready to serve you. Good evening, Majesty." Was all she could manage. Having no invention left, no desire to do much else at all, Martha decided to keep her questions to herself.
Asking questions only exposed her inner doubts and confusions more clearly, Martha dipped another curtsy and, having offered her thanks again to Asa, glumly hobbled away to pack her belongings and move from her former Chamber.
Effectively, Martha leaves the scene.
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