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"Persona non grata once hed "Beautiful country, as you say, Floote, but the locals The locals" She climbed into the cart

"Exactly so, madam" With that, Floote took the driver’s seat and, with a steady hand to the reins, guided the pony and trap through Boboli Gardens and out into the city streets He took the buentle in deference to Mada the way at a smal public eatery where, despite the presence of even more of the vile coffee and far too reatly ih the application of the best victuals she had ever eaten in her entire life

"These little chubby puddings with the green sauce," she declaiods I declare, the Templars rinned "So easily swayed?"

"Did you taste that green sauce? How did they refer to it? Pets-soenius"

"Pesto, arlic" To il ustrate her point, she took another arlic in positively everything here

Absolutely fantastic"

Floote shook his head faintly "I beg to differ, madam It is, in fact, the result of practicality Vaarlic"

"No wonder it is so rare back ho fits,Miss Evylin used to come over when faced with a feline"

"And olves?"

"The basil, ?"

"I believe it makes the insides of the mouth and nose itch, madam"

"So this pesto I enjoy so much is real y an infamous Italian antisupernatural weapon?"

Alexia turned accusing dark eyes on Madame Lefoux "Yet there is no pesto in ht to rectify that immediately"

Madao traipsing around toting a parasol that sarlic and basil She did not have to, as Alexia was distracted by the arrival of soe--wrapped in a thinly cut piece of pig meat that was almost, but not quite, bacon

Alexia was transported

"I don’t suppose this is a weapon?"

"Not unless you have suddenly taken against the Jews, madam"

It was fortunate that they ate, for no food awaited thethy stop at the alchemist’s, which in Italy also stocked phar equipment, to purchase what Madame Lefoux referred to as "necessary supplies," they returned to the temple There they found that, despite the early hour--it was not yet six

--the Te some form of extended silent prayer

While Mada the parasol and Floote went to do mysterious butler-type duties, Alexia hunted down the library When no one stopped her, she began reading various books and records with interest She had Ivy’s little clipping with her and paused to reread it now and again A printed ad from time to time You see, infant-inconvenience, it’s not so bad

She did not find the infor to the preternatural breeding prograents

However, she did find enough entertaining reading ht It was far later than she thought when she final y looked up to find the temple utterly silent around her, and not in the way of an edifice fil ed with prayer and softbrains that only ghosts were co

Alexia padded toward her roo a presence she was not quite certain she could name, she shifted in her purposeful tread and veered down a smal hal way It was undecorated: there were no crosses nor any other religious effigies, and it ended in a tight stairwel that she ht only used by servants, except that it was arched and e about it

Alexia decided to explore

This was, it ent decision of her life

But how often is one given the opportunity to investigate an ancient passageway in a sacred tehtly wet, as the back ends of caves wil get no ainst the da not to think about whether said wal had been cleaned recently The stairs see her at the end into another undecorated hal way that in turn ended in as possibly the inable

She could see that it was a roolass She walked up and peeked through