Wood Sprites(156)
Hopefully it would draw Ming’s attention and resources to the other side of the planet. It was a big flashy disaster to draw his attention from the more quiet attacks that she had planned. Now to start the more local damage.
She did a quick search and found a Canadian website that worked with governments of certain countries to set up shell corporations. She wanted the companies she used as legal as possible to make it harder for Ming to take back his money, just in case he ever managed to track it all down. For a small fee for each transaction, the Canadian legal firm created dozens of shell companies scattered around the world. Another small fee, and she had a matching number of perfectly legal Singapore bank accounts, owned by the companies in such privacy-minded countries like Belize and Malta. It took her less than a half hour. It was a lot easier to set up bank accounts when you weren’t concerned about breaking the law. If she were caught, being taken away from her guardian would be the least of her worries.
The offshore accounts set up, she turned her attention to the massive sprawl of Ming’s holdings. He kept them isolated from each other to make it harder for anyone to realize the extent of his wealth. Hopefully, it would also make it harder for Ming to realize someone was systematic cleaning them all out. Still, once he noticed, every transfer increased the likelihood of him intercepting her. How long before the explosion distracted him?
In the next room, the painters finished up painting. During the last two days, Louise had come to recognize individual voices. The worker’s supervisor was a female that Anna believed to be named Cosette, but the other elves called Dovetail. As Louise listened, their female supervisor announced that she would install the lighting, but she wanted to wait on hanging curtains and moving in the furniture. Louise breathed out in relief; another day of work before Dovetail could call the room finished.
The workers gathered up their painting equipment and trooped out. Dovetail remained to install the lights. Her footsteps echoed in the empty, high-ceiling room. She sang as she worked. The song seemed to be Low Elvish, full of puns that Louise suspected were sexual in nature.
Dovetail suddenly stopped in mid-word. “Oh! Husepavua! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking.”
Husepavua? Was Sparrow here?
“Finish what you’re doing,” a familiar male voice answered in French.
Louise smothered a gasp as she recognized Yves. The twins hadn’t officially met the male. According to Anna, he had been away on business since they had arrived. When did he return?
Dovetail’s sigh of relief echoed loudly in the empty bedroom. “Yes, Husepavua.”
“Black and grey?” Yves snorted. “They’re just like their mother; she was a moody little bitch. It’s ironic that Sire felt that he couldn’t safely lock Esme up and use her as a brood mare. Yet, she turned around and made herself one.”
“Do you think there are more than these two?”
“Assuredly,” Yves said. “Finding them is the problem. Damn these monkeys with their mechanical idiocy. Every twenty years, they’re changing how the world works. Just as you’re starting to understand how to run their machines, they change everything. Nothing new works with anything old.”
Dovetail made a sound of disgust. “I know. Every fifty years I’ve had to completely redo all the damn lighting because they’ve changed the light bulbs again. You can’t get one of these to save your soul.” She apparently held up the old bulb. There had been an antique crystal chandler hanging in Lain’s bedroom with large flame-shaped bulbs. “What is it you need, Husepavua?”
“I need you to supervise uncrating our prize.”
“Ha! I heard about your adventure! So we’re going to take it apart here? I thought you’d ship it to Elfhome with the others.”
“I don’t want others to know I have it. They’ve been saying that the beast doesn’t exist. I’m not sure if they were being naïve or deceitful.”
“Or just plain stupid.”
“Possibly. Still, you’re right. This is not the best of places for spell working, so I need your expertise.”
“Understood.”
Footsteps echoed, moving away.
“Husepavua?” Dovetail called before Yves left the room. “Will we follow Sire soon?”
Follow? Follow Ming where? The twins hadn’t seen Ming since before Shutdown. Had he return to Elfhome without any fanfare?
“What are a few months to the thousands of years that we’ve waited?” Yves said.
“I’m so sick of this world,” Dovetail whispered fiercely. “I’ll be glad when we can go home. Reclaim all that was taken from us. I hate huddling around little pools of magic, praying that it will be enough to sustain us. I hate the monkeys with their stupid hidebound mores that keep changing according to some illogical male whim. Don’t bathe together. Don’t go out without a veil. Don’t go out without your breast covered up like it’s something indecent instead of a simple mammary gland. Don’t sleep with the slaves! Don’t own slaves. Treat everyone equaly. They’re imbeciles.”