Page 44 of Battling Bright
“What?Uncle Normic.”
“Stephani is fired.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.I know you gave them the orders to give me and my family minimum hospitality when we came here.”
He looked ashamed.“The order was given years ago.I forgot to reverse it.”
She smiled.“Don’t worry about it.I won’t be back.Coming here was Reynal’s idea.”
Normic frowned.“But if you get engaged, you will come here.”
“No fucking way.This was the restaurant’s last chance with me.Overpriced, the food is prepared adequately but not beautifully, and your servers are rude and entitled.You have given Reynal permission to date me, but you probably tried to suggest a different option for him.”
Normic’s cheeks darkened.
“Right.Goodbye, Uncle Normic.You have managed to kill my desire to taste the pretty dessert I have been after since I was ten or even to set foot in your facility again.Have a great day.”
She turned and went to Reynal, taking his hand as he led her to the long SUV.She was tucked inside, and they were off to the werewolf clan milkshake shack.
* * * *
Amy wandered out andsaid, “Uh, Dad?Why did they leave so suddenly?If there is one thing I know about Krys, she likes desserts.”
He turned and ran a hand over his face.“When her family wanted to come here to celebrate her skipping grades, I ordered the staff to keep them from ordering the best food on the menu, including the dessert.She asked for it, and they told her it wasn’t available.Same when she finished high school early, and when she opened her first business, it was the same.She has been trying to have our signature dessert for close to two decades.Today, she was denied again, and it broke something.”
Amy frowned.“The snow globe?It’s lovely.I had two.Wait, she’s never had it?”
“No.I forgot to retract the order until I saw her face.Then it came rushing back.”
Amy frowned.“This is very disappointing.Why do you have a caste system anyway?This isn’t the Middle Ages.”
“It is to help distribute the funds of the clan.”
“And don’t the less powerful members need more support than those who are wildly successful?”
He opened his mouth and closed it with a snap.“This is the way things have always been.”
“Right.There has always been a male couple in control of the clan?”
He blinked again.“Ah.Right.I think I may have to redo some policies.”
“As someone who was raised powerless in this kind of situation, I can add my input, and if Krys is ever willing to speak to you again, she has insight into growing up in a lower caste.Did she get the same education you offered me?”
He blinked and looked a little white around the eyes.
“Wow.That’s a no.”She patted his shoulder.“Let’s go back inside to help you make rules for all the clan.Keel can tell us how much it will cost to get everyone equal.I also want you to talk to Krys and her parents.You have done a lot of damage there, and my cousin deserves respect.”
He snorted.
“You know she is powerful enough to freeze you out, shatter you, and use her winds to scatter your corpse, but she doesn’t do it because you are family, and she doesn’t want to be in charge of the clan.Don’t change her mind.”
Normic gave her a look, and she saw that he had understood that situation the moment Krys had outed herself.
“Oh.You figured that out.”
He gave her a short nod.“Now, how do I fix this?”
“Talk to them.She needs to find out why you are so harsh with your brother.”
