"Should I presume that the Minister also sometimes walks?" Belby asked, his mind racing now.
"Nearly daily, in all kinds of weather," Khaat said. "Not any routine routes, but he prefers to walk."
"Nevertheless, it is somewhat predictable," Belby said, looking at them both. Then he looked at Khaat. "It appears you know less than you thought you did before. Perhaps this wasn't wasted. Especially if you were all of the presumption that they were after you, then perhaps you were not entirely correct. I don't know yet if you were entirely wrong, but perhaps you were not the only targets. Is the Minister the man of strategy he is supposed to be?"
"I think he is," Khaat said.
"Then he might also have figured out that until they make their next move, it is little more than a gamble to try to predict their intentions. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't see much other course now than to wait, I'm afraid."
"Oi," Remus said. "This scarely sounds like resting. Let the others deal with this for this afternoon and tonight. You've only survived the morning. You still have the afternoon and evening to go."
Downstairs, Angus looked up from his task of filling soup bowls for those at the table. "I've been asking if they were awake, and people keep blowing me off," he said, unintentionally venting at Jess. "I've never let her go without a tray. I'll get it now." He went to the kitchen and prepared trays to sent up to them.
Michael didn't respond. He understood Angus's frustration. He didn't like being ignored either or treated like part of the furnishings. He saw Dakota reaching already for a piece of bread and handed it to her, rescuing her cup before she spilled it.
"Ask next time," he said to the tot gently. She looked at him and then nodded. "Jess," Michael said once Angus was in the kitchen. "Don't take it personally. Sometimes he doesn't feel like as valued a fighter as he wants to be. Sometimes he feels like he's just a cook, and when he was home, he found some of his family thinks he's a laughing stock. I'll try to talk to him this afternoon after the kids are settled for their naps."
As Michael was talking, Edward perked up, uncertain why. A moment later, Robert arrived in the living room.
"We weren't expecting you home for lunch, Robert," Edward said. "You rarely come home just for that."
"I didn't," Robert said. "I want to see for myself that our wounded are alright. And I wanted to meet with the grownups after the kids are down for their naps. Do you mind setting one more place?"
"Already on it," Michael said, as he began setting a place for Robert.
"Shall I take it that Belby hasn't left her?"
"No," Brian said. "He hasn't."
"Let him stay as long as he likes this afternoon. We won't move him until the end of his shift and the start of the night shift, I don't think. "
"So be it, but I am claiming the nightshift with my own wife for myself," Brian said.
"I don't think anyone feels that they need to be a third party in your room tonight unless its truly medically necessary," Robert laughed. "None of us need that much information." Angus's tray for Khaat and Belby zipped out of the kitchen, high up near the ceiling to avoid hitting anybody and sped up the stairs towards the bedroom. Robert frowned. "I hope he's not overshooting that thing," Robert said, a bit concerned.