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her hands in the general direction of the doors. “But in here, in private, I get to relax and be anything I want to be. The only thing is—” She looked around mournfully. “I don’t have cable.”
    Xanthe blinked. “Then I shall fetch one for you immediately. It would help for me to know what kind of cable you require.”
    Niniane giggled harder. “Oh no, I do not require that kind of cable. ‘Cable’ is slang for cable TV. I suppose in Thruvial’s household, you did not have access to any television during your months in America?”
    “Ah, no,” said Xanthe. “However, we were able to examine a television in one of the motels we stayed in when we journeyed to Nevada.” She paused then added delicately, “Watching this device seemed an odd pastime.”
    “Oh, it is,” Niniane assured her. “It’s also fun, if there is a good story to watch. Theoretically. In Cuelebre Tower in New York, the cable company was horrendous and installed everything wrong. Then they couldn’t seem to get it fixed right until Dragos himself went to talk to the head of the company. After that, the problems were fixed within a week. All eighty floors.” She heaved a sigh. “It must be good to be a dragon.”
    “One imagines so,” said Xanthe politely.
    She settled quickly into her new routine and duties, which were at times not at all what she had expected. The Queen had lived for two hundred years in New York, and while, as she had said, she maintained formality in public, in private she indulged in her odd, casual American ways. Often she and Tiago dined privately in her apartment. On the occasional nights when the Queen was not engaged, yet Tiago was away at work, Xanthe learned how to play card games called euchre and hearts, and once she endured a painfully long board game called Monopoly. She was not eager to repeat the experience.
    She found that while she had taken her sevenday, investigators had discovered that the little Wyr girl’s mother was a drug addict who was so far gone in her own mind, she hadn’t noticed the child had been missing. The investigators had contacted other family members who, shocked to find out what had happened, had filed for emergency custody. As soon as they could arrange to do so, they would be traveling to Adriyel to collect the girl and bring her home. Niniane would provide financial help so that they could take time away from their jobs and make the journey. Xanthe was sorry to hear of the mother’s neglect, but glad to know the child would go to a home where she would be cared for and she could belong.
    On the days when she had early duty, afterward she traveled home to the cottage. When she had late duty, she stayed overnight in the palace barracks. Every sevenday she received her wages and she got not one but two full days off, a new policy which had been instituted by this Americanized Queen and felt like the height of luxury. She also received several moons pay that was owed to her for her assignment to infiltrate Thruvial’s household and execute Tiago’s kill order. For the first time in a very long time, she had a tidy nest egg that she could set aside and leave untouched.
    On the one hand it felt good wear the palace black, not to have to cover up her identity or put on a mask. On the other hand, there were times when the guard duty felt too passive. Fortunately the Queen was quite active. Due to Xanthe’s senior status, she could have become captain of the Queen’s personal guard, but that would have involved extra boring duties such as scheduling, and besides, Rickart was a good man and didn’t deserve to be supplanted.
    She saw Chancellor Riordan often, as much as several times a week. He and the Queen might take a walk through the palace grounds as they discussed an issue, or they shared breakfast. They often attended the same functions, whether it was a dinner of state, or some gala like the annual regatta, where boats and barges of all sizes and kinds floated on the