---
One maid very quietly stepped forward and set down the tea tray.
Bat Bat looked at it. Then at Elena. Then at the food again.
And because she had not yet mastered adult dignity in any body she possessed, she forgot everything immediately and sat down on the empty chair beside the table with open delight.
"Fine," she said. "I forgive the house for now."
Elena looked at Sekhmet. "War preparations continue in one hour."
He nodded once.
Elena's gaze shifted to Lily. "You come after that."
"For what."
"Control training."
Lily took another bite of bread and said, "You make everything sound like punishment."
"That is because you only enjoy half of what you are becoming."
Lily did not answer that immediately. It was the right kind of silence.
Bat Bat, of course, broke it by saying around half a bite too many, "I enjoy almost everything I am becoming."
"No," Elena said. "You enjoy avoiding grammar."
Bat Bat nearly dropped her cup.
"We are still on that."
