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“I’ve heard.” He asked her if she was truly one of the birds. “I am—the phoenix. My mate here is fae. So you can see, we together have a good deal of magic. I’ll free you from this place should you wish. I’d not have anyone here against their will, Baker.”
“You’d do that too, wouldn’t you?” She told him it would be her pleasure to do that for him. “I should like to be freed so I can have a roam when I wish. I canna go no further than the walls of the keep now. But I’d be proud to work for you too.”
“Thank you so much.” She turned and looked at the castle. “I don’t suppose you know how I’m supposed to cross over the threshold, do you? I could swim the waterway here, but I’d rather not. I don’t know what’s in that, but it needs to be cleaned up.”
“You’ve only to drop a bit of your blood on the stone there.” She asked him if he was sure. “Aye, I am, my lady. The mate too. Lord Grant will need to be welcome here as well, so that will be all it takes. But you’ll need to move back. From what I’ve been told about the magic there, it works quickly.”
She hadn’t any idea what that might mean but cut open her palm and dropped a few drops of blood on the stone. When she was finished, Grant did the same. Backing away from the stones when the noises coming from the castle started, they all three stood there watching and waiting to see what would happen. Baker had been right. It did happen fast.
The large stone doorway laid down to rest on the stones they’d bled onto. It was a loud sound that hurt her ears more than she thought it might. As soon as she was across the stone drawbridge, she put her still bloodied hand on the wall of the castle, as did Grant. Grant pulled her away from it as soon as things started to move. And move they did.
The opening of the castle looked like the castle was just waking up from a long nap. The yawning hole there was larger than she’d ever seen on a castle, but it soon moved to be the same size as the stone they’d crossed to get in. Stepping back more, they all watched as not only did the windows open in the solid stone walls, but things inside the castle began to move around. From where they stood, they could see the walls stretching and moving. A stone table appeared in a room, along with a stone bench on either side. Then just as they appeared to be complete, they changed again into couches, as well as tables with lamps on them.
“Should we go in?” Baker said as soon as the castle was finished, they’d be able to enter. Not a moment before. “You mean if we tried to go in too early, the castle wouldn’t allow it? That seems very magical. I’m assuming this is from the former queen?”
“It is. She might well have given it some magic I’m not privy to, but this, she told me, would make the home something you’d be able to raise children in. I’m not sure what that meant. Some of the people out yonder, they’re raising them on a good deal less.”
“Why don’t we go and take care of the people while the castle finishes? Baker, if you’d like to come with us, I’d appreciate it. Just in the event they try and give us some trouble, you can be there as a witness to the facts.” Baker told Grant he should expect trouble. “You know who these people are?”
“No, my lord. I could only see them from the turrets there. I could see them fighting among themselves and with the others. Nasty group of people if you were to ask me. The worst part is, they kill some of the creatures around here and leave what they don’t want to rot. To me, that’s a waste.” They were headed toward the field that, if she remembered correctly from flying above it long ago, used to be filled with homes. Small cottages that had been for the people outside the keep. She asked Baker about it. “The homes, they were broken down by some people like these. Might well have happened to the castle had anyone been able to get into it. But they would come along, pick up the stones that made the houses and take them off. Or like these here, they’d just pile them up for their own uses. You be careful of them, my lady. They’re a lot that has been getting things on their own for a while now.”
They were in tents and makeshift houses. Tarps of every imaginable color on the roofs of some of the places were being held down by the same stones she was asking about. Most of them had outside fire pits, the smell coming off whatever they were cooking, making her gag a little. She ate worms as a bird, and that didn’t smell nearly as bad as whatever was there. Instead of approaching them as herself, she shifted to her bird and landed on the shoulder of Grant. If he needed manpower, she thought as her bird, she’d be better help.
“Good. I nearly suggested that you come as your bird, but thought you’d want them to know who is in charge. I’m assuming this way, you’re safer as well.” She told him she was a good deal safer since she could still be ten times his size. “Good to know too. I’m thinking once they see you in that form, we’ll not have any more trouble with them.”
The first man they came upon came out with a gun in his hand. Piper didn’t like that—the gun or the man. The two little children behind him looked as dirty as the water around the castle. They were skinny and smelled like they’d not had a bath in recent days. The man asked them what they wanted.
“You’re trespassing. I know you were forewarned that someone was coming to live in the castle soon and that you had to be on your way. So this is me, as the owner of the castle and the lands around it, asking you once again to pack up and leave.” The man just snorted. “Was that another language? I can tell you to leave in several if you were to tell me what one you speak.”
“Huh?” The man looked as confused as anyone she’d ever seen before. Grant repeated his offer. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m speaking what I always speak.”
“Oh. So you speak stupid. Okay. I think I can make that work too. You gotta leave right now.” The man, if it was possible, looked more confused than before. “Leave here now, and I won’t have to have you arrested.”
“This here is my place.” Grant told him it wasn’t. “It is. See? I have my home here all set up. I even got family here that I’m taking care of.”
“You don’t seem to be doing such a good job of either if you ask me.” The man said he’d not. “No, so you didn’t. All right, Mr. Curtain. I’m going to give you an hour to be packed up and on your way. If not, I’m going to move you along faster by having you burnt out. It’s up to you.”
Grant moved through the next few people on the land. He met with the same lack of hospitality, the same claims, as well as people meeting him outside of whatever they were living in with a gun pointed at him. Piper thought warning them that they had to move had each of them gathering up a weapon of some sort and having their reasons all lined up for why they weren’t leaving. Like they’d been given a script to read over.
They were headed back to Mr. Curtain after they’d hit all the squatters. His name, as well as the other names, had been given to Grant by her. A quick search of his mind had not only the adult’s name but those of the children as well. Piper even knew how long it had been since the children with two of the families had eaten. It had been a couple of days.
“Mr. Curtain, you don’t seem to have taken me seriously. You were told what would happen if you didn’t have your things packed up and weren’t ready to leave. You’re starting to get me in a shitty mood. You don’t want that.” Mr. Curtain actually pulled his kids in front of him. “Are you going to use your children as a shield, thinking I won’t burn you out? That’s a very stupid mistake on your part, I’m afraid. You see, I’ve warned you. After you were warned the other day. This is your final time. Leave, or I will have you burnt out. I can’t believe you’d use your children as a way for you to not get harmed. Just so you know, that won’t stop us.”
“You think anyone is going to serve you with you burning out a man and his kids? Nah, you’re the one that is going to be fucked up in all this. My kids and me, we live here. There ain’t shit that you can do about it. Now, you get on back to wh
ere you came from and leave us alone. We got ourselves a nice place here, and we’re going to be living here long after you just start pushing up flowers.” Grant asked him if he was threatening him. “No. I know that’s against the law. I’m telling you right out, you either leave us alone, all of us, or we’re going to hurt you and yours.”
The man seemed quite satisfied with his rules against Grant. When Grant laughed, asking her to have a look-see, she hopped down off his shoulder and let her larger bird take her. She stood over Grant by several feet—the man and his children more so. Piper was happy to see Baker ask the kiddies to come on over to him, and they did. It was just the man standing there when Grant asked him once more if he was willing, on his own, to get packed up and go.
“You don’t understand what I’m telling you. You don’t have any rights to tell me where I want to live or not. And don’t think I’m not going to tell the cops that you took my kids from me.” Grant told him he could if he lived. “You’re thinking you can kill me, boy? I want you to know I’m not nearly as stupid as you think I am. I got me this here gun, and what do you have? Nothing, I’ll tell you, nothing at all.”
“I have her.” Grant pointed to her, and the man just glanced in her direction. “Doesn’t even her size make you think she might well be able to hurt you without much in the way of effort? Your kids are afraid of her.”
“Kids are stupid. You can have those two. They ain’t worth the trouble anyway. They’re forever hungry and wanting something from me. Take’em. I got no use for them. Hell, it’ll be nicer here without them.” Grant only nodded. “You gonna go away now?”
“No. I’m not. As I have said to you several times now, you’re trespassing.” The others started toward them. Piper had the feeling this man was the leader of this little group, and he’d bully whoever didn’t do things his way. “Do you have your will filled out, Mr. Curtain? Someone we can notify when this is over? Because no matter what you say to the contrary, you’re not going to be living here any longer.”
“So says you.” The man looked at the others. Piper wasn’t sure they were thinking Curtain was in the right any longer. Each of them started away once they realized Grant wasn’t backing down. “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve scared off some of my fine neighbors. I’m afraid now I’m going to have to find me a whole other group of people to piss you off.”
