Nel glanced up at the approaching temper, and saw Tayuya and Apache stomp into her kitchen. Nel had endured a long day of doing the same housewifey crap she always tended to do in the Palace, partly because there was little else to do and partly because most of the Palace's occupants were men and men just didn't seem to see mess the same way she did.

From the look on Apache and Tayuya's faces, someone in possession of a penis had upset them, badly. Further examination showed Apache seemed to be the more injured party, which meant the offender was more likely the second of the two possibilities.

She had been about to make herself a cup of tea, but this might be a situation that called for a bottle of wine. She also had a box of chocolates tucked away somewhere the boys would never look. When Nel wanted to hide things in the kitchen, she hid it with the cleaning supplies. The boys would probably wash dishes, eventually, but if one of them ever broke out the mop without being asked, Nel might faint.

"Go on," she said, "what's Yylfordt done now?"