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"We just did"

"No, Lady Maccon, all the way"

Alexia was quite shocked "Like an Oriental?" Her goould barely per and her corset certainly would not permit her to board

The earl looked equally taken aback

"You are in the presence of royalty!"

"Yes," Alexia agreed in principle, "but to kneel on the ground?"

"Do you kno ers the queen has allowed into her presence over the last few centuries?"

Lady Maccon could hazard a guess After all, if she looked as bad as Matakara did… "Not a lot?"

"None at all It is a great honor And you should bow, properly She is a great woman, an ancient lady, and she deserves your respect"

"She does?"

Conall sighed "When in Rome"

"That’s just it, dear, we aren’t We are in Alexandria"

But it was too late; her husband had already swept off his hat a second time, knelt, and bowed forward

"Oh, Conall, the knees of your trousers! Don’t put your head all the way down We don’t knohere that floor has been! Oh, now, Prudence, you don’t have to follow Daddy’s exa like her , she pitched forward and put her head to the ground with alacrity

Feeling she was the last holdout, Alexia glared at her husband "You’ll have to help, she knelt slowly down and tilted herself forward as arments would allohich wasn’t very much She nearly overbalanced to her left Her corset creaked under the strain Conall hoisted her back up, turning human for that one moment

Chancellor Neshi went to stand next to his queen, on a pedestal of just the right height to bring his ear to her her than she The vampire queen spoke to hily, wondering if his supernatural hearing picked up anything

"No language I know," he said unhelpfully

"The queen says that Europeans do everything wrong, writing fro the head to enter a roo the feet confined" Chancellor Neshi stood stiff-backed to state this, like a town crier, acting thefor an answer to these accusations of backward behavior, he turned to listen once n children look the sahter, as standing in unusual docility by her side "Well, this particular child is Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama"

"No," said Prudence No one listened Prudence was to find this all too co life

Chancellor Neshi continued to speak for his queen "Daughter of a hellhound, named for a soul-sucker and a bloodsucker The queen wishes to know if she works"

"Pardon?" Alexia was confused

"Is she a Follower of Set? A Stealer of Souls?"

Lady Maccon considered It was a fair question, of course, but Alexia was too much a scientist to answer in the affirmative Instead she said carefully, "She manifests the abilities of a supernatural creature after having touched hi"

"A simple yes would have sufficed, soul-sucker," said the chancellor

Lady Maccon looked hard into Queen Matakara’s sad eyes "Yes, but it would not be true Your nahter and me here, Venerable One, simply to insult us?"

Chancellor Neshi bent to listen and then seeument Finally he said, "My queen wishes to be shown the truth"

"What truth, exactly?"

"Your daughter’s gifts"