The next day at work I mostly just met with my department managers to discuss how things were going, so there really isn’t much to report on that front. Things were going along just fine without my physical presence in the office, as I’d expected. Still, several of the staff did say that it was good I’d come in to the San Jose office, even if it was for just a couple of days.

It was during lunch with a couple of my project managers that I got the call I’d been dreading in the back of my mind. When I saw who was calling, I stepped away from the table to talk, apologizing. “I’ve got to take this,” I said.

“I’m sorry to say it,” Michael said when I answered his call. “But I think you will be needed here in Seattle. I’m not able to sort things out here without your authority.”

“You know Emmy and I’ve given you authority to deal with Night Children issues as they arise,” I said.

“Yes, but… This is a matter for a queen to deal with, not merely her designated man,” Michael said.

“Do I need to bring Emmy?”

“I have two thoughts on that. The first is to say yes, that it would be good to have her rule on this matter. The second thought is that perhaps that undermines your authority, since it may seem as if you are unable or unwilling to make a ruling without her,” Michael said.

Sighing, I said, “Yeah, I can see that. It’d be like your mother saying ‘just wait until your dad gets home- then you’ll be in trouble’, all right. O.K., I’ll come up. I guess I may as well fly from here, since I’m already north of LA anyway.”

“The sooner the better,” Michael said.

“Damn. Alright. I’ll grab the first flight I can. I’ll let you know the details once I’ve got it set up.”

Back at the table, Margo could tell my mood had changed. “Leah, what’s up? Everything O.K. back in LA?”

“What? Yeah, LA’s fine. This is a problem in Seattle,” I said. “It looks as if I’ve got to go up there to deal with a personnel issue.”

“We don’t have an office in Seattle, do we?” she asked, puzzled.

“It’s on the other side, the hospitality division,” I said. “And no, no local office.”

I called in to the San Jose office, and got the receptionist. “Get me on the first plane to Seattle,” I said. “I won’t need a car.”

“The life of the jet-setting executive,” Chad said with a laugh.

Shaking my head, I said, “I just wanted to go home and relax tonight. Now I’ve got to fly up to Washington and deal with some stupidity of some kind or another. I have no idea how long it’ll take or anything.”

A few minutes later I got a call that I was booked on a 3:10 flight, so I texted the info to Michael, reminding him that I was going to fly into King County airport, not SeaTac. He confirmed the info almost immediately, so I got back to lunch and the discussion of the strip mall remodel that Chad was managing.

After lunch, I stopped at the office to grab my things and say goodbye, then went back to the condo to pack. Soon enough I’d dropped off the Camry and was waiting in the private aviation terminal for the flight.

Stepping outside, I called Emmy, and as expected, got her voice mail. “Hey, babe, I’m going to be home late tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning. I’ve got to go up to Seattle after all. I’ll keep you updated,” I said and left it at that.

Wishing I’d packed some of my protective clothing and Old Stabby, but hoping I wouldn't actually need any of that, I watched the planes land and take off for a while until it was time to board.

When our jet pulled up in front of the terminal and the stairs were rolled into place, I handed my travel bag to the steward and followed a handful of business-suited types and a couple of tech bro guys onto the plane. I was the only woman, and my jeans and long sleeved T shirt set me as not part of the business crowd. One really nice thing about these little executive jets is that there was never a need to fight over an armrest, since no two seats were next to each other. Also, nobody next you wanting to talk for hours. As soon at we hit ten thousand feet, every other passenger I could see pulled out their laptops, as did I. Hey, it was a couple of hours, so might as well read through a few of the proposals that had been sent to me, right?

I’d never flown into King County, also called “Boeing Field”. It was a lot smaller and less hectic than SeaTac, which was a good thing, since I just wanted to get things sorted out and then get out of Dodge. I’d considered trying to get a visit with Donny and Sana in, but just didn’t know if I’d have time.

It was a nice, clear late afternoon when we stepped out of the plane, for which I was grateful. I hadn’t packed any sort of rain gear, not expecting to actually have to travel to the Pacific Northwest.

I spotted Michael and Eddie right away, and soon we were on the freeway headed north. We passed Downtown, making me wish I was there as a tourist instead of having to bust some guy’s balls for being a jackass.

Eventually Michael exited the freeway and we headed into a part of town that was clearly working-class. Not bad, really, just not all that attractive and of little appeal for tourists. After a while the sidewalks vanished and it was just the mostly overgrown yards that ran right up to the edge of the street’s pavement. We pulled into a weedy gravel driveway in front of a small house in need of fresh paint.

“This is where Samuel lives,” said Michael. “He is expecting us.”

“All right. Let’s do this,” I said, getting out of the car. I followed Michael to the front door, Eddie bringing up the rear. The door opened immediately at Michael’s knock, proving that Samuel was indeed expecting us.

Inside the small living room were three Night Children, to my surprise. I recognized their faces, but the only one whose name I remembered off the top of my head was Samuel, the local liaison.

The two on the couch stood up and bowed when I entered, but Samuel made no such gesture, just waved us in.

“All right,” I said. “Everybody here knows who I am. This is Michael, my second in command, and Eddie, Michael’s right hand man. Just for clarity, please introduce yourselves.”

“I am Samuel. I am the Queen’s representative here in Seattle,” the bald man said.

“I’m Katharine,” the beefy woman said.

Realizing it was his turn, the third Night Child said, “I’m Ronnie.”

“Perfect,” I said. “I’m Leah, Queen of the Night Children in North America. You have all accepted my shadow.” I looked each one in the eye to make it clear that I was the big boss and I wasn’t going to take any shit. “I’ve been called here to Seattle to settle a dispute. Samuel was right to bring it to Michael’s attention, and he brought it to mine. Samuel, if you will, please explain to me what the problem is.”

“Queen Leah, Katharine and Ronnie are husband and wife, but they find they cannot get along. This has lead to numerous disputes between them, and talk of petitioning you or Queen Emmy to grant a divorce. Events came to a head a few days ago when their neighbors called the police to break up a fight between the two,” Samuel said. “By the time the police had actually arrived, things had calmed a bit and the police left without arresting either of them, but I heard of it.”

“So what did you do?” I asked Samuel.

“Nothing, my queen. I have not been given a position of power over others- I’m simply here to serve as a conduit between the local Night Children and the national Figures such as Michael, and yourself.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. “I’m glad you recognize that fact. You were right to not take issues into your own hands. So,” I said, turning to the couple who I now realized were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, as far from each other as they could. “Katharine. Tell me your side of the story.”

“He’s an asshole,” she said, jerking her thumb at Ronnie. “He always has been, you know? But now, now we’re living in the daylight, I don’t have to put up with it anymore, right? I’m not hiding any longer, and don’t need the safety and protection afforded by having a husband who can keep an eye out while I sleep.”

“Ronnie,” I said. “Your turn.”

“Kat has always been tough to live with, my queen. She gets moody and turns violent when she drinks, which has been more and more frequent now that we’ve both been working real jobs. I’m worried that one of these days she’ll stab me in my sleep.”

“Me? Stab you? No, I’d just lock you out so I could listen to you cry outside all night,” Katharine said.

“All right, that’s enough,” I warned her. “Ronnie, tell me about the fight the other day.”

“I came home from work, and she was already home, in our apartment,” he said. “She works odd hours, and that day she had an early shift. I could tell she was drunk, so I just tried to avoid her, but she would not let me go to bed in peace. She demanded sex, but I didn’t want to touch her in the state she was in.”

“He can’t get it up,” Katharine said, derisively.

“Let Ronnie speak,” I said, giving her a look.

“I told her that I wasn’t in the mood, but she didn’t take no for an answer, and she tried to force me.”

“Six years! Six years we’ve been married and he still hasn’t given me a baby!” Katharine yelled.

“Shut it,” I said, pointing at her. “You’ll get your turn.”

I indicated that Ronnie should continue, so he said, “She wrestled me to the ground, and pulled the belt from my pants, then hit me with it over and over.” With this, he leaned forward and pulled up his shirt, turning to show the bruises he’d gotten.

“Did you hit him?” I asked the woman.

“Yeah, but his belt buckle hardly weighs anything! There’s no way it did that!”

“Ronnie, did she hit you with the buckle?” I asked.

“Yes, over and over,” he said.

“All right. This seems pretty clear to me,” I said. “As of right now, you two are divorced. Ronnie, Katharine, you two are not to see each other without at least one other Night Child present. One of you will move out of your apartment tonight. I don’t care which of you it is, but whoever moves out, stays out. A new place will be found for whoever moves out,” I announced. Continuing, I said, “You, Ronnie, should have brought this to our attention earlier. There is no need to put up with this sort of abuse. You, Katharine, are lucky. You’re getting your divorce. You’re free to find some other man that will put up with your behavior.”

“I’m lucky?” she sneered. “Yeah, I guess I am. Damned lucky, now I don’t have to put up with that weak-ass piece of shit. But how am I gonna make rent on my own? That’s what I want to know.”

“Get another job, find a roommate, whatever. It’s on you, now,” I said.

“This is bullshit!” she said, standing up. “The deal was that you’d provide. That’s the whole thing about forcing me to accept your fucking shadow, isn’t it?”

I took a calming breath and said, “It goes both ways. Yes, I provide, but in return, you have to accept my decisions and do what I say. You’ve been beating your husband, and I say that he is no longer your concern. You are now in the position of being a woman on your own. I got you a decent job, and I know how much it pays and what the cost of living is here in Seattle. I know that you can find a place with the money you’re earning. It might not be as nice as the apartment you two have been sharing, which I provided, but this is what you wanted. Now take it, and consider yourself lucky that’s all that's happening.”

Katharine closed the distance between us, but I waved Eddie back when he moved to intercept.

“You think it’s so damned easy? You and Miss Fucking Heiress have never had to scratch by in your fucking lives!” Katharine shouted in my face. “Who even made you the fucking queen, anyhow? You aren’t even one of us!” she said, and tried to jab me in the chest with her finger.

I knocked her hand away and said, “Don’t touch me.”

“Or what? You’ll have your flunkies, real Night Children, beat me up?”

“No. I’ll do it myself.”

“Sure, of fucking course you will. ‘Queen Leah, daywalking terror’,” she said, doing finger quotes. “‘Queen Leah, bringer of justice’. Yeah, I’ve heard all that bullshit, and that’s exactly what it is. It’s nothing but lies,” Katharine said, getting more and more worked up. “You know what? This whole queen thing is bullshit, too. Fuck you. Fuck you, and fuck that Emmy bitch, too!”

As I’d figured, she took a swing at me, but to my surprise, she was a much better brawler than I’d anticipated. I blocked her roundhouse, but she’d planned for that and clocked me with a surprise left. I’ll admit that the hit was much harder than I’d expected she’d be able to manage, and it staggered me. She followed me back and tried another jab, but I’d gotten my legs back under me and was ready to dish back out.

Katharine turned out to be a practiced fighter and much stronger than she looked, and I was trying not to wreck Samuel’s living room, but soon enough I had her face down in the threadbare carpet, my knee pinning her down and her arm twisted painfully behind her back.

“Listen carefully,” I said, twisting her arm a bit more to make my point. “I withdraw my shadow from you. You are no longer to associate in any way with me or mine. You are on your own now. Tonight, you will take your things from your apartment and leave. You can keep your job, but I will not intervene in any way to make your life better. Do you understand?” Getting nothing but a muffled “Fuck you,” I twisted Katharine’s arm even harder. “Do you understand?” I demanded.

“Yeah! I fucking understand!” Katherine yelled, trying to turn to take some strain off her arm and shoulder, but I leaned my weight down more to keep her pinned.

“Then explain what I just said,” I demanded.

“I’m fucking cut out, all right? I get it. You’re kicking me out of your little fucking nation!”

“No, Katharine,” I said, my voice low. “Your actions are what took you out of my nation. Violence against your partner was bad enough, but attacking me? The one who got you a job and a good place to live? You were living in an abandoned warehouse before I offered you my shadow, and begging or stealing to get by. Do you remember that? Do you?” I demanded, yanking her arm again.

“Yeah! I fucking remember!”

“Be thankful I’m letting you keep your job. But if your boss decides to fire you for whatever reason- and it won’t be me telling him to do that- I won’t be there to help you out. You’ve gotten all you’re ever going to get from me,” I said.

“All right! I got it! Now get the fuck off of me!” Katharine said, and I could hear the pain in her voice.

I let go and stood up, ready to fight again if she made any moves, but she didn’t. Katharine slowly got to her feet, glaring daggers at me. “How am I gonna get my stuff out? Where am I gonna go?”

“Where you go is no concern of mine, as long as you don’t bother anyone in my shadow. How you’re going to move out? Also not my concern.” I turned to Michael and Eddie. “O.K. You two, take Ronnie and Katherine back to their apartment, and help her get her things out. You can even drive her to wherever it is she wants to go, if reasonable. And Eddie? If Katharine gets violent or abusive, you don’t need to put up with it. Just stab her and bury her in the woods somewhere. Got it?”

“Yes, Queen Leah. If Katharine is difficult, stab her. Got it.”

“You can’t be serious!” Katharine said.

“Don’t give anybody a hard time, and you’ll walk away on your own two feet,” I said. “It’s that simple.”

I got my bag from Michael’s car and went back inside once Michael and Eddie had left with the two others.

“Samuel, I’m sorry about your living room,” I said, looking at the mess the fight had made. “Michael will buy you a new table and lamp.”

I called myself a ride share, surprised it was going to be there in less than ten minutes. Somehow I’d gotten the idea we were sort of in the sticks, but I guess that wasn’t really true.

While waiting for the car, I spent the time asking Samuel about how things were going other than this particular issue, and got a quick rundown. He seemed to have a pretty good handle on things, but I told him I’d be back in a month or so to see how things have shaken out. “I’ll tell you when I have the visit scheduled, and we can call a meeting of all the local Night Children,” I told him. “It may be that I need to keep a closer eye on things up here for a while. I appreciate the job you’ve been doing, but maybe I need to reinforce the idea that there are rules to follow.”

The Lyft driver gave me a funny look when I climbed into his Honda, but I didn’t think anything of it. I spent twenty minutes finding a flight back to LA that left that night. It meant flying in at almost midnight, but at least I’d be in my own bed.

I got a few more questioning looks at the airport, no doubt from the black eye I could feel developing. I acted as if nothing were any different than any other time, and nobody asked about it.

Neither did the taxi driver at LAX, or the doorman at the apartment building, even though he did give me a look when he opened the front door for me.

Emmy was awake, practicing her guitar with headphones on when I got home. At first she didn’t realize I was there, so I walked into her field of view so as to not surprise her.

“Leah! What happened to your face?” she asked, setting the headphones and guitar aside. “Does it hurt?”

“My face doesn't hurt me,” I said. “Does it hurt you?”

“How can you joke?” Emmy demanded, when she realized what I’d said. “Tell me what happened while I get ice for that.” I followed her to the bath, where she got a wash cloth, then the kitchen where she got some ice from the freezer. She wrapped the ice in the cloth and handed it to me while I told her about all that had happened.

“She is very lucky you did not kill her,” Emmy said.

“I wouldn’t actually kill her, even though she is a terrible human being,” I said, indignant. “The whole thing with Eddie stabbing her was just to keep her from doing anything stupid. Really, I could have maybe kicked her a few more times or something just to make a point, but I think she got the message.”

“And what was the message?” Emmy asked, brushing a stand of my hair back.

“Do not question mah owthoritay!” I said in my best South Park accent, but Emmy didn’t get the reference.