The Anxiety of Kalix the Werewolf Read Online Free PDF

Vogue concerning a designer the editor did not like. I greatly admire that editor. She is so cruel.” Malveria suddenly looked troubled. “What if she were cruel to me? I do not think I could bear it.”
    â€œMalveria, why would that happen? You’re always the best-dressed person in the room.”
    â€œIf that’s the case, why have they never included me in their ‘fashionable party people’ page?”
    It was a long-standing ambition of the Fire Queen to appear as a “fashionable party person” in Vogue . Her failure to achieve this was a source of constant irritation.
    â€œThough I have appeared at many of the most fashionable events, and practically flung myself in front of the cameras, they have so far resisted me. It is most aggravating. Am I not fashionable?”
    â€œYou’re very fashionable. But there’s a lot of competition. Don’t worry, we’ve got a lot of events coming up.”
    Thrix used a small piece of sorcery to bring up her social calendar, which hung in the air in front of them. The Fire Queen gazed at itapprovingly. Since Thrix’s business picked up, she was being invited to more events.
    â€œSoon we will attend the designer of the year awards. Such a wonderful occasion.”
    The Fire Queen finished another glass of wine. “I feel my gloom lifting. I must be at my most fashionable at this event. Vogue will take my picture, and then the new young Empress will see what it really means to be an icon of style.”

CHAPTER 5
    The funeral service at the abbey had been a splendid affair, reassuringly traditional and full of ceremonial flourishes. As the burial proceeded at the cemetery in Chelsea, there was general satisfaction among the assembled mourners, many of them fellow members of the aristocracy, that the Countess of Nottingham had received a fitting send-off. The late afternoon sun lent an unexpected warmth to the proceedings, and the mood among the mourners as they made their way from the grave was not overly somber. The Countess had been very elderly, in poor health for a long time, and her death had not come as a surprise.
    â€œA nice funeral,” said Mr. Carmichael on the slow walk back to the car park. “The Countess would have been pleased.”
    Both of his companions nodded. They had been impressed by the ceremony and the rank of many of the guests. Mr. Carmichael, chairman of the board of the Avenaris Guild, was a well-connected man. He had good reason to be at the Countess of Nottingham’s funeral. She’d had an association with the werewolf hunters’ guild for many years.
    Mr. Carmichael nodded politely to one of the Countess’s sons, himself a wealthy man in the city, who paused nearby as his wife dabbed her eyes with a tiny lace handkerchief.
    â€œDo we have the money?” asked Mr. Eggers.
    Mr. Carmichael frowned, not quite liking the tone of the question. “Show a little respect, Mr. Eggers. “We’re still at the funeral.”
    â€œSorry.”
    They waited patiently outside the car park as the crowd dispersed.
    â€œBut yes, we do have the money,” said Mr. Carmichael softly.
    The legacy from the Countess had been expected, but its size had been a surprise. The Countess of Nottingham had made donations to the Avenaris Guild for many years. She believed that her youngest son had been killed by a werewolf in Scotland, many years ago. Mr. Carmichael had never been certain that this was actually the case, but the Guild accepted the money gratefully. Now the Countess had left them a large sum, which could hardly have come at a better time. The Guild had been hit by a recent severe downturn in the markets and had seen many of its investments shrink alarmingly. There had been talk at headquarters of laying people off, and even suspending operations in some areas of the country, but now the mood had changed. Bolstered by the huge sum left them by the Countess, the Guild