"I certainly hope so," Altair said, amused. He did believe Alecta was irritated with him, probably because of the seat he'd chosen for her. Altair genuinely liked Alecta, but he wasn't beyond power games. It was too useful to know how to unbalance powerful people. He poured her a glass of wine. "Relax, darling," he said as he did so. "You're quite safe.
"Now," he said in his normal voice, "do you know what you want?" He called a waiter over.