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“I do.” Jude turned to her as she continued. “I have had the oddest feeling since we got here. I know that you’re going to laugh, but I think that we’re all being watched, from afar. I know that there are hundreds of people here, but I feel like there is someone else, not here, that is watching us.”
“Us? Or just you?” When Jude flushed brightly, she laughed. “So. Do you think it might be your mate? He’s so shy that he only feels safe when he’s far away from you? Not boding well for you to meet if he’s doing that, don’t you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. But here’s the strangest part. I feel like whoever this is, it’s not a bad feeling. Like they’re watching over me instead of simply watching me. Do you understand?” Blaze said that she thought she did. “I’m probably just being silly. But I am having a great time. And look at Miley. Who would have thought that she’d bond so quickly with all the kids here? I don’t think she has this many friends at her school.”
“I was thinking that earlier. She has grown so much, don’t you think?”
Not just in age—no, it was her manner. When they’d first met the little girl, she’d been bound to a wheelchair and would have been for life. But after Mercy healed her, she’d been non-stop in everything that she did.
Dinner was going to be in a couple of hours. They decided that while it was still light out they’d head to the castle. Blaze still wasn’t sure that she wanted to be there. It had not only been their home for a great deal of their life, but it was also the tomb of their queen.
Bryson was going with them, as was Miley. It would be nice, Blaze supposed, for them to see it for the first time. All Blaze could think about was how it had looked in all its glory so very long ago. Now, thanks to them, it was in ruin.
They all were aware that the castle hadn’t been perfect. Back then there had been no running water except what they could bring up from the well that the castle had been built around. Toilets were nothing more than pits in the ground, and the smell in the warmer months was too much to bear at times. Also, while food and meat were plentiful, disease and sickness were things that they combated daily.
Dante had taken care that they had plenty to eat to combat any of the things that came with living in filth. She made sure that there was plenty of straw to lay on the grounds. They had a doctor on duty that would do his best. With what Blaze knew now, she wondered how they had survived living in that time. Surely more people should have perished from not being able to keep things clean and sanitized.
Mercy landed first. Blaze was sure that they’d gone to the wrong place. The castle here was being repaired, and a fine job was being done of it, too. It looked as if it had never been destroyed. There were large earth movers in the courtyard surrounding it, like they had only just left—the smoke from their chimneys was still blowing warmly. There were even a few of them that would be able to lift some of the heavier stones.
Landing on one of the places that had been built especially for them when they lived here, Blaze shifted to her human self and stood atop the tower. Remi and Esy joined her, and Bryson. They all looked as confused as she felt.
“Something is going on.” Blaze was too confused to tell Esy that she was speaking the obvious again, something that she did a great deal. “Mercy knows something. Look how she’s just walking around like she fully expected this. What do you think she knows?”
“You should ask her.” They all turned to Bryson when he spoke. “Or not. You can just stand up here and speculate on what she knows, or do what I am going to do and go down and ask her.”
He moved to the edge and shifted as he jumped off the side. Bryson had been doing that for a while now, just playing around with his bird. When he landed beside Mercy, she hugged him. Okay, Blaze thought, she did know something, and she wanted to know too.
Following Bryson’s flight, she landed just as the others were landing as well. All of them asked at once, not only wondering what Mercy knew but why she’d not told them anything.
“There is nothing to tell you. I knew that the castle had someone working on it. I didn’t have anything to do with it, but I knew. As for who is doing it, all I know is that we’ve been invited to the Christmas party, and all will be told to us then.” Bryson asked her if there was nothing she could tell, or nothing she was able to tell. “Both. Don’t ask me anymore. I can’t tell anyone what is going on until then. I promise you, it’s nothing underhanded, but it’s going to be good.”
“You know who will be there, don’t you?” Mercy only stared at Jude, her face as unreadable as she’d ever seen it. “What’s going to happen that has you all close mouthed? You said that it’s not bad. But are you sure about that?”
“I’m as sure about that as I am of my love for Joel and Miley.” Jude stared at Mercy. It was a hard stare, like she was trying to read her mind. They all knew that Mercy wouldn’t allow them to do it, so she wondered why she’d even try. “All right. I’ll trust you on this. I don’t like it, just so you know, but I’ll trust you with this.”
“Thank you. I hate keeping things from you, but I was sworn to secrecy. I won’t break this promise.” The way Mercy worded that had her thinking that she’d not just been asked to keep it to herself, but that she’d been ordered to. “Let’s just enjoy looking around and see what improvem
ents have been made. All right?”
They all agreed and went their separate ways to do just that. Perhaps thirty minutes later, Piper yelled at them all to come to her. There was no fear in her voice, but a great deal of pain. Hurrying to her, Piper was sitting in a small plot of ground that faced the castle walls.
“Holy Christ.” The headstone was made from one of the stones of the castle walls. The image that was chiseled into the stone was of the queen. It was as beautiful as the portrait of her that hung over Mercy’s fireplace. Esy sat down as she read what was on the stone. “Here lies the queen of the castle, Queen Dante of the Six Birds. Creator. Mother. Daughter. The greatest ruler that ever lived. Mother?”
“You did this, didn’t you, Mercy? I just know it.” They all agreed with Remi. “Do you suppose she’s buried here? That whoever found her body— Mercy? You’re the one fixing up the castle for us, aren’t you? What’s going on here? Tell us.”
Mercy didn’t even look up from the stone. That was when Blaze knew that something very important was going on. Something that she was sure would change their lives in some way or another.
They headed back to the town and had the most amazing dinner. The townspeople went all out, as they did every year, because, like them, they had a great deal to be thankful for. They would not have survived if even one of them had been left behind to be beaten by the king until they told what had happened at the castle all those years ago.
The town’s mayor stood up and everyone became quiet. His name was Barron, named for his father, who had been mayor of the town when it had been set up. Barron cleared his throat.
“We, this year especially, have a great deal to be thankful for. Not only have the queen’s protectors come to see us, but we have three more children born this year.” The applause was loud, and happiness rang though the entire building. “However, we have lost one of the many that came with us so long ago. Allison’s mother was a great woman, and served the queen well as her lady’s maid. Allison, sadly, was killed only a week ago when her home was hit by a boulder that was being brought down from the mountain for the stone where our Lady Queen now lies.”
Everyone bowed their heads when the mayor asked them to. A short prayer later, others stood up to speak of the things that had happened to them this year, and how it had impacted the town.
Others did the same. There were great stories, as well as happiness at what had happened. One man—his name eluded her at the moment—said that while his garden had not done as well as he’d hoped, his neighbor had helped by sharing what crops he’d had.
Story after story was told similar to his. Women too stood to speak, talking about the quilts they’d been able to sell in the next town over, many miles away, but they had trucks now so it was easier to take things and bring things back. Another woman spoke of her herbs, and how she was able to sell them on the Internet, a new thing for the people living here.
