When Maya was gone, Eleanor settled back in her chair, with Hamlet wedged open in front of her, and a Salamander wrapped around her feet, keeping them warm. If someone had waved a magic wand and given her three wishes, this was exactly where she would have wished to be. The only flaw in life was Lady Devlin's opposition to having a 'commoner' as her daughter-in-law—
Which is next to no problem at all, she thought, warming the tea again by asking another Salamander to pop out of the fireplace and wrap himself around the pot. Compared to unweaving Alison's spells.
Besides, she wanted time. She and Reggie had scarcely known each other. Not that she didn't love him! But love was not entirely rational. She was not going to be Lady Devlin all over again, either. This was going to be a marriage of partners.
Whether Reggie entirely understood this yet, or not.
'And,' she said aloud, 'whether he's comfortable with it or not.'
A movement in the fireplace made her glance at it to see two bright blue eyes looking back at her. 'Just remember, daughter of Eve,' said the Phoenyx who was her chief magical tutor, and evidently a friend of Horus, 'If you need a negotiator, you always have one at your disposal.'
Eleanor burst into laughter that she could not stop until her irritated neighbor knocked on the wall to make her quiet down.
