"I know lots of things when I apply myself."
"Then perhaps you should learn to share some of these details, especially when they involve other people's lives."
Ash sighed. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not happy with the way all this went down any more than you are. But sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see one day, little brother. I promise."
Wulf ground his teeth. "I really hate it when you play Oracle."
"I know. All of you do. But what can I say? It's my job to annoy you."
"I think you should find a new occupation."
"Why? I happen to enjoy the one I have." But something in Ash's voice told Wulf the Atlantean was lying about that too.
So Wulf decided on a change of venue. "Since you don't want to give me anything helpful, let me change the subject for a minute. Do you happen to know one of Artemis's handmaidens named Katra? She's here and she claims to be on our side. She says she's been protecting Cassandra for five years, but I'm not sure if I should trust her or not."
"I don't know the handmaidens by name, but I can ask Artemis about it."
For some bizarre reason that actually made him feel better. Ash wasn't completely omniscient after all. "Okay. Just let me know immediately if she's not friendly."
"I will definitely do that."
Wulf moved to hang up.
"By the way," Ash said as soon as he pulled the phone away.
Wulf replaced it to his ear. "What?"
"Congrats on the baby."
Wulf snorted at that. "Thanks. Maybe."
Cassandra wandered around the huge house. It was like walking through a museum. There were Old Norse artifacts everywhere. Not to mention oil paintings she'd never seen before by famous artists that she was sure were authentic.
There was one in particular outside her room by Jan van Eyck, of a dark-haired man and his wife. In some ways it reminded her of the famous Arnolfini portrait, but the couple in this one looked entirely different. The blond woman was dressed in vibrant red and the man in navy.
"It's the wedding portrait for two of my descendants."
She jumped at the deep sound of Wulf's voice behind her. She hadn't heard him approach. "It's beautiful. Did you commission it?"
He nodded and indicated the woman in the picture. "Isabella was quite an admirer of van Eyck's work so I thought it would be a perfect wedding present for them. She was the eldest daughter of another Squire family who had been sent to marry my Squire Leif. Chris is descended from their third daughter."
"Wow," she breathed, impressed. "All my life, I have struggled to find out something about my heritage and lineage, and here you are, a walking textbook for Chris. Does he have any idea how lucky he is?"
He shrugged. "I've learned that at his age, most people aren't interested in their past. Only their future. He'll want to know as he gets older."
"I don't know," she said, thinking of the way Chris's eyes lit up whenever he tried to teach her Old English. "I think he knows a lot more about it than you realize. He's a star student in class. You should listen to him go. When we were studying, he seemed to know just about everything about your culture."
Wulf's features softened, turning him into the gentler man she'd seen in her dreams. "So he does listen."
"Yes, he does." Cassandra started for her room. "Well, it's getting late and it's been a really long night. I was going to go to sleep."
Wulf took her hand and pulled her to a stop. "I came to get you."
"Why?"