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‘Thank you,’ she says, and I cease pouring
‘Sugar?’
She shakes her head
‘Milk?’ I enquire innocently
She looks up atas a crocodile ‘Thank you’
I glance at the eed hand and watch her hand spas to ars into it Then I return theit over to her and positioning the jug above her cup of tea begin pouring She raises her hand to indicate when she has had enough I take the jug back todown pour some milk into my cup Silently I stir my milk
‘I have an issue to take up with you’
I raise an eyebrow
‘I’randson’
My s open with astonishone where she definitely shouldn’t have ‘That creature happens to be my best friend, and I will thank you not to refer to her as such again in my presence’
‘That woman with a neck that looks like a public lavatory wall is your best friend?’
The arrogance and snobbery is breathtaking I take a deep and cleansing breath before I drea that randson?’
Her eyes flicker insolently She has done that on purpose to provoke ht hand are resting delicately on the table top The air conditioning hums like a lazy insect It is actually too cold in this roos I wonder if she has turned it up on purpose No wonder she is wearing a turtleneck sweater
I cos I detest and deeply resenthotel room with my mother-in-law
‘Well,’ I say quietly, ‘I’d rather be her than a bloodline snob, any day’
She smiles cynically ‘Are you sure? You see in your power to…catch a bloodline snob in your net’
‘By some quirk of fate I find myself married to one, but I can assure you I wouldn’t want to be one of you’
‘You don’t seem to understand Our bloodline can be traced back to antiquity, beyond recorded history We, the thirteen original families, have been in power since tin of the current paradige You cannot join the family You must be born into it There is no other way in So you can never be one of us’
She stops and takes a delicate sip of tea and I stare at the sheer hubris of the wo is case specific, depending on the role required There are no ‘unapproved’ unions Our families always intermarry between houses In all my time on this earth I have never seen or heard of a fa this code’