I stood up, telling Penelope that I needed to stretch my legs. In truth, I wanted to check on my crew. There would probably not be any incidences on a flight to Florida, but I had enemies like Peters, who deemed me a danger to society. There were even graver issues with the Queen’s Court. The rivalries among the Faerie went way back. When a Queen showed favoritism, that opened the recipient to jealousies and revenge.
Bob was sleeping, snoring peacefully. Terry, beside him, having sensed my shift in position, eyed me as if wondering if I needed something. I smiled at him and stretched my arms. In the middle section, in the seat closest to me, Ben was alert and ready to jump up if needed.
I suppose I should view Ben as a traitor, his allegiance obviously first to his Queen, but I trusted the Fae. He’d stood by me for many years. Unless Queen Moragana directly ordered Ben to interfere with Penelope and myself, he’d stand by us, and even then, he’d let me know if there was a problem.
In the seat in front of my wife, by the window, the other member of my team, Daniel, the Thunderbird, was reading a book. Except the moment he felt my eyes on the back of his head, he turned to scan first me and then the others on the plane. I knew what his eyes were asking. I shrugged and stretched again, letting him know that everything was fine.
I watched as he once more lowered his gaze and began reading again. Daniel was sitting beside a rather heavy-set man who bulged out over his seat. Thank goodness I’d been able to get us seats in First Class. Penelope kept raving about how comfortable everything was. She had no idea what it was like in economy class.
Daniel’s seat buddy was certainly not someone who looked like he was ready to spring up and scream Vampire Alert in the middle of our skyward cruise. Nor did any of the other passengers surrounding us. It looked like a really calm flight, at least in our section of the plane.
My eyes shifted to Ben’s placement. Although the seats were supposedly full, he had no one seated beside him. That was a good thing, I thought, but it made me slightly leery.
It had been a long time since I’d really relaxed. Not everything needed to be of a suspicious nature. I sighed, decided to visit the WC, and motioned for Terry to move forward so he could sit beside Penelope.
When I returned from that short trip, a stewardess was standing in the aisle, giving Terry a bad time about moving from his seat. Penelope was defending Terry, and my employee was trying to explain that it had just been for a minute, but the attendant was adamant that Terry couldn’t change seats in mid-flight.
I gave a head jerk to Terry and said, “Thanks for entertaining my bride while I was in the loo. I’m sorry that it apparently created a situation.”
The stewardess sputtered a couple of times, but I gave her a warm smile, despite wanting to glare at her for her interference, then I slid back into my seat and kissed Penelope on the cheek.
“Did you miss me?” I asked her, ignoring any further discourse with the surly attendant.
I would guess that treating first class passengers as the stewardess had done was not favored by the airline. A second attendant came storming down the aisle, scowling at the first woman.
“Is there a problem here, Sir?” the newcomer asked.
I shrugged. “No we’re fine. It was just a bit of a misunderstanding about our friend slipping into my seat to chat with my wife while I was gone. No biggie. I didn’t know that such things were against the rules.”
“I see,” the woman said, giving the trouble-making attendant a strange look. “This is Barbie’s maiden flight. I’m afraid she’s still learning the ropes. May I get you and your wife a drink or something extra to make up for the trouble?”
“Do you want something?” I asked Penelope.
When she shook her head, I suggested that my insulted friend might like something. “He was looking pretty irked by the episode,” I said.