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A quote: “Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master.” ~~ Demosthenes
I’ll start with a story …
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She noted how the young people tried so hard not to squirm. She wouldn’t fault them; the starched collars and the delicate dresses were not something they wore except to church.
She caught the lavender scent and revised her thought – to weddings or funerals – then refolded and stored away.
Her task was clear. Despite the snow-white hair and age spots, she still was sharp enough to train this select group in her art. Once table manners became instinct, the palate could discern Darjeeling from Keemun… once they could easily pass as City elite, her real mixology would be taught.
Poisons.
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Now, it’s your turn.
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. Featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license
Cameron says: She smiled at the officious bureaucrat as she poured him some tea. “I did take the time to read your demands,” she said. “I’m afraid I must decline to give you this land.”
He took a sip and said condescendingly “It’s done. You have no right to own this much acreage. Furthermore-”
“Oh, I’m going to continue owning the land. You were very careless about leaving proof of your crimes and my grandson released everything.”
The man went pale as his phone began to buzz urgently. “Finish your tea, sir. It’s the last you’ll ever have as a free man.”
Margaret Shayell poured the tea with a practiced grace, the product of her training at Ramboullard. Back home at Association Point it would’ve been coffee, served strong and black in the manner of sailors. But here in Mandarkeel, in the Seafort Palace, one drank the beverage of the elites if one wanted to be taken seriously.
She had no other way to ferret out the reason a young scholarship student should’ve been targeted for so much hostility, so much cruelty. It went far beyond the normal school bullying, to the point she had reason to believe that the girls had been put up to it by their elders.
Some sort of political power play? Margaret had no idea, but she’d promised Iris that she would discover the reason, and she would use all her knowledge, all her connections, to keep that promise.
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