"The skylights are essential," Kalugal continued his tour. "Without natural light, living underground would be depressing. But they're designed to be completely concealed when needed." He tapped a control panel on the wall, and a section of one of the skylights darkened, a seamless panel sliding into place above it. "At night, the underground part of the house disappears from aerial view, and in case of a breach, I can seal it off completely, turning it into a bunker."
"Brilliant," Din said.
"Thank you." Kalugal tapped the panel again, and the skylight reopened, flooding the room with light once more. "In my opinion, that's a much smarter approach to security than Kian's. My cousin focuses on maintaining the village's aesthetic uniformity, with everyone living in similar-sized homes, which is a noble idea in theory, but impractical in reality. As leaders of our communities, Kian and I need larger spaces for entertaining guests, and we also have larger households, or at least I do."
As he led them back to the dining room, Fenella swept her gaze over the artwork hanging on the walls and the statues perched on pedestals.
Compared to all this splendor, the Clan Mother's home looked provincial.
How rich was Kalugal?
Was he richer than Kian?
It appeared there was a competition going on between the cousins, but it seemed like the kind that was inevitable between two alphas and not anything worrisome or malicious. It was good-natured.
"Hello." Jacki entered the room. "I see that Kalugal gave you the tour already."
Her blond hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and her outfit of white wide-legged pants and a pink silk blouse was casual and elegant.
Kalugal wrapped an arm around her waist. "I didn't show them the kitchen. Do you want to risk it?"
She assumed a horrified expression. "And risk my life? No, thank you. No one goes into that kitchen until Atzil is done."
Fenella laughed. "You make him sound like a tyrant. He's such a nice guy. The best boss I ever had."
Jacki rolled her eyes. "Atzil suffers from a split personality. I don't recommend you get acquainted with the one that's in control while he's in the kitchen. Can I offer you anything to drink? Coffee, tea, mimosas?"
"Coffee would be wonderful," Fenella said. "But if the kitchen is off limits…"
"We have a coffee station." Jacki leaned closer to Fenella. "Kalugal had to make ours fancier than Syssi's."
"I heard that," Kalugal said. "I just wanted us to enjoy great coffee."
Rolling her eyes, Jacki threaded her arm through Fenella's and led her to the living room to show her the sprawling bar, which could easily rival the Hobbit's and included a commercial La Marzocco espresso machine, which the Hobbit didn't have.
"That's bigger than the one they have in the village café," Din commented.
The grin on Kalugal's face was so big it was almost comical. "Of course it is."
"Should we wait for the others?" Fenella asked as Jacki started making cappuccinos for the four of them.
"They can join us when they get here." Kalugal looked at his watch, which seemed like a luxury item and probably cost as much as a car. "I think I made a mistake and told everyone to get here at eleven-thirty instead of eleven."
"You did," Jacki said.
"Oh." He cast them a sheepish smile. "My apologies for the mistake. I hope you don't mind."
Fenella had a feeling that he had done that on purpose, although she couldn't understand why he needed to use subterfuge. He could have just told them that he was inviting them earlier so they would have time to chat.
"No, of course not," Din said. "We can talk about your digs until they get here."
Fenella didn't mind general talk about archeology, but if they started throwing academic terms around that she wasn't familiar with, she would get bored pretty quickly.
"Are you also an archaeologist?" she asked Jacki as they sat with their coffees on the comfortable sectional.
"I'm not. My interest is mostly by association." She smiled at her husband. "I've always wanted to go see a dig, but Kalugal didn't want to take me to Egypt while Darius was still little. We finally went after you were rescued, but we cut our trip short to return for the birthday celebration and for other reasons." She cast Kalugal a quick glance. "We might go back after Kalugal takes care of some urgent business matters."
"What's your background, then?" Fenella asked before taking a sip from the heavenly-smelling cappuccino.
