Long ago there had been rumors that the castle hid treasures. He’d been all over the lands and the fallen stones, and nothing. He had wondered if Prisane had hidden it from him with her magic, but knew that couldn’t be true. Wherever she was, she was flush, and he wished now he’d beaten her more to get answers. Of course, killing her would have gotten him more money than the scraps he’d been able to gather when she’d been there.
There had been plenty of things for him to sell off, long ago. Her hair brushes had brought him a lot of coin. Everyone wanted a piece of the queen, and he’d really talked it up. But he’d not been able to get another one. She’d hidden them away, along with a lot of other things he’d been meaning to sell off.
He had been able to get to the paintings that had been in the great halls. There was the silver too. Hand forged, and worth a great deal more now than he’d been able to get for it back then. Even with it being the set of silver engraved with her coat of arms, it had only netted him a few coins. Butler laughed too that he’d been able to get to and sell off her teas and cocoas, something that he knew she loved very much.
Her necklace had been the only thing that he’d not been able to part with. And all these years later, he knew that it had to be his one and only good fortune. Marrying Prisane had been easy enough; his father had wanted him to marry, and had paid a dear price for it to happen. Butler had even managed to get ahold of that money and spend it on whores and mead, two of his favorite things.
The trees were much larger than he remembered them to be when he’d been there. When he’d been living in the castle, they’d been mere sticks of wood, tied down so that the winds didn’t beat them down. As he made his way up the drive, he noticed that there was new stone on it. The grasses along the side were well kept too. The closer he got to where he remembered the castle to be, the more he worried that someone had bought it when he’d been away, and he’d no longer have access to it.
“Of course when I am king, I’ll simply take it back. It was meant for royalty, not some upstart that would live there only but a few times a year, and not care for the things that I will fill it with anyway.”
He saw the barn first. It was a large structure and the doors were painted the colors of the flags that had flown over the turrets to the castle. The barn itself was a dark green. If he remembered correctly, that was one of Prisane’s colors that she liked to wear.
Moving about, just near the entrance of it, was a man leading a horse around the drive. It was a monster of a thing, its coat gleaming in the sunlight, and its blinders the same color of the barn and livery of the man. Butler wondered how much money was to be had from the people living here, and thought of plans he was going to come up with to get inside before they’d be the wiser. He needed the cash for magic.
The castle came into view then. Butler wouldn’t have believed he’d come up the right drive but for the colors on the turrets. The stone that it had been forged from was gleaming with sparks from the stone. There were shutters at the windows too that had never been there before. And the entire front had flowers of every color along not just the castle, but the stone walkway as well. He couldn’t believe that this was the same place of so long ago.
“May I help you?” Startled, he nearly fell when a man spoke behind him. Asking him who he was didn’t get an answer, but he did tell him that the property wasn’t open to the public. “You cannot enter these lands. I’m afraid that you’ll need to be on your way.”
“I most certainly will not, and I know that it is not for the public, you moron. I own it.” The man, guiding yet another horse, this one as white as the snow on yonder mountains, told him that he did not. “Yes, I do. I used to be king of all that you can see. My mate, Prisane, she was the queen before she left me.”
“Ah, so you’re Butler.” Butler was glad that someone remembered him. “We’ve been warned that you’d be coming around. We’re to call the police if you give us any trouble. You’re not, are you?”
“Trouble? No, I only want to go into my home and see what things have been done to it. No one has my permission to do any of this. You’re very lucky that I’ve not called the police on you.” The man only smiled at him, and that made Butler angry for some reason. “What is all this going on here? As I’ve said, I’ve given no one permission to do all these improvements. And I’m not paying for them either. See if I do.”
“It’s all been taken care of. You’ve nothing to worry about. But as for you going into the castle, that’s not going to happen. You’re not welcome here.” Butler asked him why not. “I haven’t all the details on it, but I was told that if you were to show up, we’re to tell you to be on your way and to leave the buildings here alone.”
“I will not.” The man simply shrugged and walked by him, the horse flipping his tail so that it hit Butler in the face. “You’ll come back here right this minute. You’re not to show your back to the king. I said for you to come here until I have given you permission to leave me.”
The man kept walking. It was more than he could take, and he moved forward and grabbed the man by the shoulder, thinking to flip him around then dismiss him. But he found himself on his back and the booted foot of the man at his throat.
“I told you not to cause us any trouble or I’d call the police. Now, I’m a man who likes to give a second chance to all, but with you, I think that you’ll not learn anything from multiple times no matter the consequences.” He wasn’t able to move, even when the man lifted his foot. “You be on your way now, and we’ll just mark this off as a man who got confused. Because if you return, I won’t be so nice the next time.”
“You’ve not been nice now.” He got up, but it took him a few minutes. Butler was heavier than he’d been in his younger days, and even then, he’d been overweight. Plus there was the pain in his belly as well as his arm from when he’d fallen. “I will go into my home, and you’ll not stop me.”
The man moved, bowing for him to go ahead. Once he was at the sidewalk that was newly put in, he looked up at the walls and wondered if he had remembered it wrong. The stones were larger than he remembered. And he was sure that the place was deeper too, right up and perhaps into the mountain. He’d think of it later. Now he wanted to see his home again.
The doors were wide open. Welcoming, he thought, and was glad that something was going his way for a change. Butler could feel the magic—the place was surrounded by it, and he knew that as soon as he entered, he was going to be fully restored and at his best.
Going to the doorway, he was stopped. There was no one there to keep him from going in. The wall that he could feel wasn’t really there. It was magic, and a great deal of it too. Trying to push his way through it only made him weaker, and he stood back to regain his breath. Looking at the two men that had been near the barn, he asked them what was going on.
“You were told not to enter. I told you several times, as a matter of fact. The magic that surrounds all the lands here that go with the castle, they have been enhanced so that you cannot come here to harm it. Or to steal from it.” The man he’d been talking to laughed. “I told you, Butler, that we’d been warned about you coming here. Now take yourself away before the police arrive to take you to jail.”
“You called them? I didn’t take anything as yet. Nor did I get into my home. My home, not whoever is living here now. This is where I will live, see if I don’t. And the first order of business will be to fire you all.” He stomped away when he heard the sirens. “People will rue the day that they made me unwelcome in my own place.”
There wasn’t any place that he could stay in the town either. Someone, more than likely the same people that had told the men at his home to be on the lookout for him, had told everyone not to do business with him. He would get to the bottom of that too, soon enough.
He had made himself comfortable in an old shed—well, as comfortable as he could, considering that he only had a pillow and a dirty blanket. Lucky for him, he supposed, that it wasn’t raining, n
or was it cold. Food had been a problem too, until he found himself a field of potatoes and one of corn. It was all he’d eaten since he’d been here, and it was starting to make his belly hurt.
He wandered around for a little more, marveling at the changes to the town. He’d not been here in many a decade, and wondered where all the money was coming from to keep it going. There were new cars along the store fronts, plenty of them. A barber shop, and something about a custom nail place. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what sort of nails you’d need to be custom. There were even several places to eat—a pizza place and a steak house.
He loved pizza. It was something that he had grown quite fond of over the years. The kind with all the toppings was his favorite, but he liked them with just meat on them as well. He could not stand them with nothing but cheese on them. And he didn’t care for people who ate them that way either.
“Well, I don’t care for people anyway, so that’s not so bad.” He laughed at his own joke as he stole away in the cornfield. “If I only had someone to cook this for me, I’d be better off. And some butter too, to rub all along it. I’d be happy as a tick on a dog.”
He ate three ears as he picked himself more. Butler felt his belly rumble just as the first cramp hit him. Tearing at his pants, he nearly didn’t get them down before he was losing his insides to a bowel movement. Watery liquid seemed to be all there was, but he couldn’t stop it from boiling out of him. Twice as he made his way to his home, he had to hide behind a tree or house to empty himself again. He was weak with it by the time he was able to lie down.
Butler was sick, and he knew that someone had poisoned his food. Corn pulled right from the stalk should have been all right, but he knew now that he should have suspected it to be bad. No one left their fields untended like that, without some sort of fence around it. They knew he’d be hungry and made sure that it was there for him to steal. He’d know better the next time.
Moaning the entire night with the pain of his belly, he knew that he’d opened the old wound too. Black ooze seeped from it, and even his wrist was beginning to pain him something terrible. He kept telling himself that he’d be king of the world soon, he just had to go back to the McCades and make them give over their jewelry. Then everything that he ever wanted would be his.
“If I live long enough.”
Butler slept fitfully, and when the sun was right in his eyes, he realized that he’d left his door open for things to get in. A cat was sleeping on his head, and he grabbed it and tossed it off him. But it wasn’t a cat, but a skunk, and the fucker sprayed its poison all over him before Butler could get away. Crying about his luck, Butler sat there in his own mess, smelling like he’d died, and wondered what he’d done to deserve such a bad time of it.
~~~
Vance hated to fly. It wasn’t as bad as some of the cargo planes he’d been on, but he didn’t care for the taking off or the landing part. But this time it was made a little easier because Micky held his hand. He just had to remember not to squeeze her quite so tightly when he was nervous. As soon as they landed, he kissed her bruised hand and told her how sorry he was.
“It’s fine. See, not even a mark.” There wasn’t, but he still felt bad for hurting her. “I tell you what. The next time we have to go in a subway for something, you can let me hold your hand. I hate being underground in those things.”
“Really? You have a deal. For the record, I love the subway. Not the people in them—like sardines in a can if you ask me—but I do like to ride them.” She asked him how many times he’d been able to ride one without people. “You’d be surprised. Sometimes all I have to do is show up dressed out in my gear, and they run off like I’m going to kill them. Makes for a few good laughs for me too.”
The family was being met at the hangar as soon as they landed. Looking out the window on his side of the family jet, he could see the three long limos, as well as a cargo van for their luggage. He was glad now that his mom had told him to bring a lot of clothing, as well as his dress clothing. Vance could see that it wasn’t like home, but a good deal more formal.
The man that was to meet them was Gerald Pins. He was the person who had been in charge of getting everything ready for them. He spoke to Grady when he found out who he was, and then addressed the rest of them.
“If you’d be so kind as to take a seat in a car, we’ll be on our way. The crew here will see to your luggage, as well as anything else you might have brought.” The women handed over coats as well, as the day was really warm. “There is a light snack for all of you in the cars that should hold you over until dinner. We have it to be ready at six, if that’s all right with you.”
Everyone nodded and moved to the cars. He and Lewis with their mates rode in one, the others in the other two. Lewis took several of the little tea cakes, as well as one of the containers of water. Micky asked him if he was always such a pig.
“He is where food is concerned. And don’t believe him when he tells you it’s for professional reasons either. He’s a man that likes food. No matter what it is.” Vance laughed at Raven when she told on his brother. Then he took two of the cakes himself, as well as a glass of the tea that was in the little fridge. “Oh my, you need to taste this, Micky. It’s so good.”
He ate his cakes and the little scone that was offered to him. It wasn’t enough to fill him, but it did take the edge off. When he glanced at his watch he thought he could hold out for another hour, but was reminded that there was a four-hour time difference. Vance said he wasn’t going to make it for five hours.
“I’m going to need some real food before then. I mean, like a sandwich and some chips or something. There had better be something more than this stuff when we get there.” Micky was laughing at him as he bitched about how hungry he was. “I’m seriously hungry. You distracted me this morning, and I didn’t get any breakfast.”
“I distracted you. You attacked me when I was taking a shower. How is that my fault?” He wiggled his brows at her and Lewis laughed. “He’s like this little kid with a new toy around me. Does it ever slow down?”
“No. Not that I’m complaining, but no, it’s like that all the time. It’s almost as if they are hard twenty-four seven and need someone to take the press off.” The women laughed, and Vance felt his face heat up. This wasn’t the kind of talk he did around his brothers. “Also, they’re hungry more and more the more magic they get. I am too, but as a witch, I am hungrier all the time.”
Micky was a faerie, and she needed to have fresh fruits and vegetables. While he could eat them too, they didn’t fill him like meat did. Steak was his go to source of protein, and potatoes. But veggies, they filled the void, but didn’t last long. He figured it was his dragon.
“I’ve not see him yet.” Lewis asked him what he meant. “My dragon. I’ve never—I guess I should have brought him out or something, but I never thought of him. I should probably do that before Butler comes around. I’d hate to have to call him and not have any idea what I’m doing.”
“We’ll do that after we have a look at the castle and the grounds. I guess the townspeople are having a welcome home party or something for us tonight.”
It was a party, but it wasn’t for just that. He was getting married tonight, and Raven was going to give him the necklace for the occasion. He looked at Lewis as he continued.
“Mom said that she wanted to go into town tomorrow and do some shopping and such. Are you ladies going?”
“Not on your life.” They all laughed at Micky. “Shopping with them once is more than enough for me. I will order online if I need anything, or go by myself. That is just too much, going with them, for one person to be able to handle.”
“My lords, the castle is just around the bend here.” They rolled down the windows as the driver instructed them to do. And when they stopped at the end of the tree lined drive, Vance got out. “Shall I wait for you, sir?”
“No. I think I’d like to take a walk if you don’t mind.” The man might h
ave said something, but he didn’t hear it if he did. Vance was blown away by the castle that was his family’s. Mostly Gabe and Harper’s, but they’d said it was for all of them.
“’Tis something else, isn’t it?” Vance nodded at the man as he stood beside him. “We had heard that you men were big, but I didn’t take it the way that I should have, I’m embarrassed to say. My name is Toby Mannulus. I care for the horses and other barn animals.”
“It means pony in Latin.” Toby bowed before him and grinned. “I’m Vance McCade. And yes, we are all big men. We have wives too, though they’re not at all large, but mean as snakes when pushed. This is beautiful.”
“Thank you, my lord. It was in ruin until a few months ago. The first wall going up was our first clue that the magic was coming back. Then as the days went by, the castle started moving to be repaired faster. It’s still working on a few things; the building now goes back into the mountain behind it. There are several more bedrooms than there had been before. And lots of improvements that I have come to enjoy.” Vance asked him if he’d been here, back then. “In a way, yes. Good of you to know that, sir. But my family was a part of this castle for a great many years before it fell. I’m married to the eldest daughter of Lord Caelin.”
“He’s a good man. I’ve only just come to know him.” He said that he was the best there was. “And these improvements, I was told that there would be a great deal of security around the place as well. We might have a visitor that isn’t welcome here.”
“Butler. He’s been here. Just this morning, as a matter of fact. We tried to get him to leave by telling him, but he had to try and enter the castle itself. He couldn’t, of course, not with the magic in place. And if someone has ill-will in their heart, the thoughts to kill or even to harm anyone within the walls, then that person cannot get in either. It’s magic that has kept us all safe in this area for a long time.”
Vance liked that. But it might not be enough. Walking around the huge stone building, he could see that there were natural security measures as well. That he knew he could live with.
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