This earned loud clapping from the table the woman had come from. There were nods of approval throughout the hall. Kenneth had given a huge responsibility and essentially a very large step up in the House hierarchy to a woman who was popular with a lot of the members of the House, both, of the old Italian guard, and the new Americans. Kenneth showing this kind of trust in her was huge. As Kenneth looked out over the room, he knew he had gained points in the trust and respect category with just about everyone present. He may have won the House with battle and bloodshed, but he would keep the kingdom through praise and admiration.

  Giulia stood silent a moment before saying, “Chi ha più, giudizio più n'adoperi. I accept and will not let my House fail or our people falter.” This earned cheers of praise as she walked back to her table.

  Kenneth thought about what she had said in Italian, ‘to whom much is entrusted, much is required.’ He wondered if that was a statement about how seriously she would take her new duties? Or if perhaps it was a warning to him? Giulia had always been a bit of a wild card, and he still didn’t know where her loyalties lay. Still, her popularity with the House members was unquestioned and that’s what spurred his decision in the first place.

  He waited for Giulia to take her place back at her table before silently raising his glass. The rest of the room followed and in a moments time everyone held aloft their crystal glasses filled with Italian wine.

  Kenneth spoke, “To the victors go the spoils, A chi vuole, non mancano modi.” There was a nodding of understanding around the room. There were a good number of those in the room that had no idea what Kenneth had just said. Italian was the favored language for House Dukart, but since coming to America, those who came from here and reborn into the House hadn’t learned Italian as well as Kenneth would have liked. But to those that did understand, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ was a simple yet powerful message. Kenneth raised his glass to his lips and drank deeply. The rest of the room followed. After a moment of silence, he set down his glass and stood up straight.

  He then nodded to the far side of the hall. The massive full wall double doors opened eerily silent on well-oiled hinges as they were pushed inward. Brian walked in through the open entry way wearing a splendid white suit with purple and red accents as he led in a small parade of very demure looking women. They were all dressed in elegance materialized. He guessed by their attitude and behavior that they had never been among such elegance, nor had they ever worn clothes of the quality that now draped their human flesh.

  Kenneth greeted his lieutenant in the middle of the room by gently grasping his arm in friendship. The women were lined up in the middle of the banquet hall and Kenneth walked along the line, inspecting each woman with his appraising eye. Being the Head of House, he would always choose first.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He stopped in front of a true beauty. Her long black hair draped over her shoulders in soft curls. Her deep brown eyes tilted up at the corners, in a perfect imitation of a cat. She carried herself with dignity and grace. She was obviously the premium choice of the group and he offered her his arm.

  The woman slid her arm under his and gently folded it back to herself and placed her other hand on top, locking her arm in place. Kenneth was amazed at what had just happened. It had been years since he had seen a woman move with such fluidity. Her darkly tanned skin glowed under the warm yellow light of the banquet hall. Through his suit jacket he felt the calm confidence of the woman and the strength that rested in her arms.

  “And who might you be?” Kenneth asked.

  “I am the spirit that resides in this mortal shell for the time being,” she replied calmly and evenly.

  Kenneth’s brow furrowed a bit as he allowed a bit of his confusion to show. Nodding calmly, he turned and led the girl back to the head table. “Does the spirit which inhabits this mortal shell have a name?” Kenneth asked lightly.

  “Nova,” the girl answered plainly.

  Kenneth was pleased, “Elegance in simplicity, I will have to thank you parents one day.”

  The girl smoothly turned her head and looked up at her escort, “My parents didn’t choose my name, I did. Through dreams I allowed my mother to know what my name was.”

  Kenneth couldn’t help but smile. This girl was either crazy, or she had enough confidence to fill the banquet hall. Either way, he found something deeply interesting about her. She was not overcome by the wealth that surrounded her, nor was she nervous being seen in a room of this type of elegance and beauty. The way she carried herself and the way she spoke with such calm matter-of-factness was something that Kenneth had never encountered before in a mortal.

  He guided the woman around and pulled her chair out for her and easily slid the chair back into place once the girl had seated herself. She was a perfect height and her breasts curved smoothly away from her body to be modestly covered by her dress but not before giving away hints of where those curves led. Kenneth had to force his eyes up before he stepped back to his chair and smoothly sat down.

  After the Head of House had taken his seat, the leaders of each table stood up, one after the other. They then walked down the line of women, appraising each woman as they passed, much as Kenneth had done. One by one, the women were chosen and escorted back to their respective tables.

  The woman next to him didn’t say anything, nor did she gawk at the crystal glasses or the décor, or the dresses. She simply sat there taking in the scene before her. Kenneth had been to a few House banquets before and the woman who had been at his table had always tensed, or gawked, or was obnoxiously ‘impressed’ with the grandeur of the banquet hall. Those women had elicited none of the feelings he now felt.

  He should have been the first. As Head of House Dukart, it was his right. But the woman sitting next to him permeated confidence and calmness. There was something that he simply must see. He decided to test her.