Lila whipped her head from the window. “What?”
“You and the oracle. You both seem to be friends now.”
“Friends with the oracle? Have you gone mad?”
“Oh, did you have a quarrel with her, too?” He took his palm from his coat pocket and laid it on the table with a dull rattle. “She’s called me three times now.”
“She called you?”
“She’s requested that you come visit her in the temple. I’m to talk you into it.”
“Why on earth would I go visit the temple?”
“I don’t know. I thought you could tell me. She promised that she’d convin
ce the Sioux Falls oracle to stop her assault in the press. The woman hasn’t let up on me since you returned her daughter.”
“You want me to go see the oracle so that she’ll kill a story for you?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Her father tucked his palm back in his pocket. “I’m not even sure how she knew we’d be meeting today. I should be in Unity.”
“There’s still time to go back.”
“Now I know how your mother feels,” Lemaire muttered. “We’ve never fought before, Lila, and I didn’t ask you here to fight again. That’s not how we are together. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either.”
“Good. I’ve had time to settle down and think in the last week. You always have a reason for what you do, and I understand that reason now. I pushed you too hard and too soon after all that business with Peter Kruger, and you did what you did because you saw yourself in those children. Chief Shaw and I have spoken. He’s not happy about playing politics with the oracles, but he has his hands full with the Holguín investigation, so he’s leaving them to me. I’m meeting with the oracles next month, unofficially, to discuss this business with hiding their young.”
“They won’t tolerate your interference.”
“And I won’t tolerate them wasting militia resources. We might have found Oskar and his sister if Chief Shaw had not been forced to divert his resource.” He nudged the plate of cookies, bumping her arm. “Come on, Lila girl. Eat something. Chef Mathieu won’t be finished with lunch for another two hours”
“I’m not hungry. I didn’t even finish breakfast.”
“You should eat something anyway,” he said softly. “Your appointment is this evening.”
“Don’t tell me what to do. That’s all anyone seems to do these days.”
The prime minister searched her face. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Bea told me last night, but I wasn’t allowed to warn you. Duty is not always what one desires.”
“I was dutiful. I had a clear trajectory in my life. I protected the family as chief. I protected Bullstow and Saxony through our work together. Now I’m to make money for the Randolph family? Is that all that my life has become? It’s bullshit, Father.”
“It’s not bullshit,” he said, crinkling his nose as he cursed. “This is just a different way of protecting your family. Money equals power and privilege and security. You can’t have those things without it.”
He pushed the cookies forward again.
Lila shoved them away. “Happiness and security can be had without money.”
“Tell it to the poorer classes.”
“Chef Ana is happy.”
“Yes, Chef Ana is happy. She’s contracted with a very powerful family, and she’s one of the highest paid chefs in the state. When her daughter was very ill, that powerful family pressed an entire team of doctors into service. It never would have happened if Bea hadn’t gotten involved. If anyone in Chef Ana’s family falls ill again, she can reasonably expect that your mother will marshal her resources once more. It’s power and privilege and security by proxy.”
“So it all goes back to that?”
“It always has. Chef Ana will always be at your mother’s beck and call. How much would you enjoy the Randolphs laboring under the whims of the Holguíns or the Weberlys?”