“More rum!” he cried. “More rum for me and my distinguished guests!” Samedi’s “distinguished guests” were three pretty young women he’d stolen off the streets. They laughed with him and smiled, but there was fear in their eyes, and they kept stealing glances at the zombi guards at the doors. Samedi grabbed one of them by the wrist and pulled her onto his lap. “Drink!” he said, tipping a goblet of rum to her lips. She choked a little as she swallowed, rum dribbling down her chin, and Samedi bellowed again. At the other end of the table, watching all this without a hint of emotion, was Queen Theodosia. She sat with her hands in her lap, doing and saying nothing to stop Samedi. She might have been in shock—Hachi couldn’t fault her for that—but Hachi still hated her for not protesting, for not fighting back. Hachi nodded to Fergus, and together, dressed in maid uniforms and bonnets to hide who they were, they wheeled in big serving carts filled with silver-plated dishes.
