Jenna was having a devil of a time getting any work done since her crown had been upgraded.  Everything was difficult.  Vash had to bring her pain meds to help her deal with the constant pain, but nothing he gave her could keep her awake.  

She did her work from her bed.  

She tried to talk to Favel about what was happening to her, but every time Ixy tried to get in contact with him, it was clear he was giving her the slip.  She called Temptic instead.  He was in space, but he still sent Jenna a message that his father was negotiating with the Hipposyphis.  They didn’t tell Favel they were adding an extension onto her crown before they did it, so he has something to work with.  Favel was also being sent reports showing that Jenna was struggling with the gem on her crown, but so far he had had no success in negotiating its removal.  He didn’t want to see Jenna until he had good news for her.

Jenna thanked Temptic and tried to be patient while she coped.  

Ixy gave Jenna the job of arranging the palaces.  Now she had ten palaces to arrange with the addition of the Crescent Bell Palace and the Mercury Palace.

No one was in the Waterfall Palace since Rennett had been asked to leave and since Fallcet was not living in the Sand Palace or the Dahlia Palace, both of those were empty.  Jenna was thinking of pushing the empty palaces away with the exception of the Sand Palace because Jenna used it all the time to house guests.  

That was what she was working on when she got a call from Rold, Scion’s arms dealer father.

Jenna was not at her best when the transmission came through.  She was propped up in her bed wearing a silky black nightgown.  Her knees were covered by her blanket, but the curve of her chest was more visible than she realized.  Her hair fell in the kind of waves braids produced because that was the only hair maintenance she could stand when she didn’t have Misha to help her with her hair.  The look was completed by two very dark circles under her eyes that went beyond fatigue.  They were the kind of circles produced by danger, weariness, and pain.  If she had realized how seductive she looked, she might have put on an oversized sweater before taking the call from Rold.  Or, she may not have cared at all.  The continual pain changed her priorities.  Who cared what anyone thought of her when she felt sick as a dog all the time?

“Good afternoon, Madam Diplomat,” he began, but when he saw her sick, exposed, and vulnerable, his expression changed.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not feeling very well today,” she said softly.

He rolled his unlit cigar between his fingers and leaned forward on one knee.  “Please do not take this the wrong way, but are you being poisoned?”

“It feels a little like that, but no.  I’m fine.  To what do I owe this honor?  Do you have another son I can crown?” she asked playfully.

He laughed at her joke with a huff before lighting his cigar.  “I thought I’d take you up on your offer for me to visit Octavia Prime.  That’s still on the table, isn’t it?”

Jenna did not want Rold to come for a visit.  She felt like roadkill and even if he said he wasn’t coming for a year, she didn’t think she’d feel any better then.  The only thing that was clear to her was that she had promised him that he could visit his son and she would rather chew off her own head than show him any hesitation.

“Of course, the invitation is still open.  We’d be delighted to have you,” she said, putting all her energy into appearing warm and only giving a hint of it.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Rold said crossly, still examining Jenna closely.  “You really do not look well.  Are you pregnant?”

She shook her head no.

“Then is this what comes of marrying an Octavian?  Did one of his people poison you with their poisonous tentacles?  Isn’t your husband’s son one of the poisonous ones?”

If Jenna had been feeling less sick, she would have been more enraged at Rold supposing that Temptic or another Octavian was responsible for her illness because they were careless with their suckers.  Except it was an Octavian who was at fault for her current state.  Still, she hated to point fingers.

Jenna smiled at him.  “You’re so kind to worry about me.  Rest assured, my illness has nothing to do with my friendly marriage with Favel.  With any luck, I’ll be all better when you arrive.  I am so looking forward to it.”

Rold looked at her skeptically.  “What’s that thing on your crown?”

Crap!  He’d noticed it immediately.  “Isn’t it pretty?” she answered vaguely.

“Yes, very pretty.”

Jenna pushed the conversation onward.  “Normally when we have guests of your status, we put them up in the Sand Palace, but I was thinking that since you are Scion’s father, you might want to stay with him in the Rainmaker Palace.  Does that suit you?”

“The Rainmaker Palace will do,” Rold said like he was used to playing the part of the troll who slept under the bridge and it didn’t matter where Jenna put him up.  

However, wheels were turning in his head.  He was an arms dealer.  He even developed weapons of his own.  Perhaps he knew what was on her crown and if he didn’t know, he could probably find out faster than Jenna could.

“Keep the gate unlocked for me.  I’ll be there soon,” he said before he cut the transmission and the image of him faded to black.

Jenna sighed and went back to work on the arrangement of the palaces.  If Rold was going to visit, she needed to set the Rainmaker Palace and the Crescent Bell Palace adrift from the main cluster.  She didn’t need to make security tougher for everyone by letting Rold roam around the whole complex.

She gave Ixy the order.

“Aren’t you worried about that guy visiting?” Ixy asked in her ear.

“Yep.  But we need to remember one thing about him.  He isn’t a member of the AAMC.  That means he could be part of our problems with them or he could be a solution to our problems with them.  He’s dangerous for sure, but we shouldn’t discount him as a possible ally.  Scion kept his crown on and he has been the very opposite of a pain in my backside since he arrived.  I think we should give it a try.”

“Yeah.  Why not?” Ixy said enthusiastically.  “It’s not like he can kidnap you even if you are like a wet lump on a log.  Men lose arms that way and even if he is an arms dealer, he probably doesn’t have the right kind of arms to pass out when people lose them.”

Jenna laughed and yawned at the same time.  “I’d be insulted, but I’m very much like a wet lump on a log.”