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“Did you? Abort any other children by him?” She told him she’d never have done that. Not even if she had ten children, all of them girls. “I’m glad to hear that, Mom. It would have been nice to have a sibling, but I understand that it would have been difficult to want to have a child by such a monster.”
Duncan sat on her lap then, just there so that she could hold him. While sitting there with his head under her chin, she told him of the things his father had done to her. What he would have done had he ever found out about her having a son.
“There were times, my son, that I would wish for death after he was finished with me. The healers had to work very hard to keep me from throwing myself from the highest peak. The wounds I would carry during my life cut harder than any other thing I have had to endure. Even a spear, which I have had plenty enough of, were nothing compared to his terror.” While not giving him a great many of the details, she did tell him of the whip he’d used. His fist, as large as her head, would slam into her body any time he saw her.
Dante told her son some of the things she wished for him to remember. The decision was his mate’s, and hers alone, as to when to have children or not. There were other things too that she imparted to him. The wisdom of keeping his mouth shut when he was angry. To not make decisions without discussing them with his mate.
“Your mate will be smart, Duncan. And stronger than you will ever be. Not just in strength but also in mind. She will have knowledge that comes from being a warrior. Use that. All the birds will be able to protect you in ways I cannot see or even imagine.” He told her he’d treat his mate the opposite way from how Dante had been treated. “Then that is all that I can ask of you, Duncan. I will die knowing you will be the greatest king that has ever lived.”
“I will not disappoint you or my mate, Mom. I promise you on my heart and yours that I will treat her as the queen she will be.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Come with me now. I want to swim with you while the others are finishing up. One hour will make little difference in getting ready for a king that will not see this place.”
The two of them played in the water for more than half the day. When they weren’t swimming, the two of them talked about the things she’d seen. The companies, what they were called in the future, would make him the most profit, also about when he was to sell them so as not to lose a great fortune.
“There are things called market that are nothing like we have here. They are to buy and sell stocks—I believe that is what they’re called. The things I have written for you will tell you when to buy such stocks and when to sell them. One minute will make the difference in when you sell them, Duncan. Be on time for that.” He told her he would. “Good. That is all I can ask you to do. It will be able to sustain you for years and years.”
As Duncan made his way home, she mixed up her tea and took it with her to the towers. Duncan thought it would be tomorrow morning, but she didn’t know if she could go through with it if she knew he was standing not far from her. As she settled herself into the middle of the room, she looked up at the skies. The birds, all of them, were awaiting her signal. Drinking the brew straight down, she told her birds how much she had come to love them.
“Once I am gone from this world, which will not be long now, you will receive a gift from me that you’ll need to survive under the conditions of the world beyond.” She didn’t tell her birds what she’d done, that she’d poisoned herself with her own brew. Nor did she tell them she’d made it so they’d be humans. Also, they’d be true immortals and not able to be killed. Dante was afraid they’d not take down the castle but leave it for others to take over. There would be no one else to live here but her sons and the birds. Even though he didn’t know it yet, the castle would be ready for them to live in quite nicely.
“You are angry. I can feel it. I’d rather you be happy that the other people that were living here are as safe as we could make them. That without you, I don’t know that I would have been as long for this world as I was. You not only saved the people here, my birds but me as well.” Her vulture asked her why she had to die. They could carry her away. “If there is even a hint of me being not at this castle when it fell, then I will be hunted down for treason. They will not only kill me, but they’ll have their sport with me, as well as torture me to find out where my people have gone. I know I cannot survive the sort of torture they would put upon my body. I am old, and my body wouldn’t sustain as much as they will use against me to go and find them.”
Her body was weak already from her magic being depleted as much as it was, but she held onto her mind for as long as she could. Telling her saviors about how she had known to find them. That they were, of all the birds around, the ones she knew would care for her and her lands. Telling them that it was time, well past the time, for the work to be done. Then she told them one more thing before she succumbed to her death.
“I love you all so very much. Had you been children of mine, I would have— You are my children. Created from me so that I could be a good queen to all that lived here. But I would have taken glory in your lives. Been a part of it that would have made me the happiest I have ever been. There has never been a greater friendship than the kind we have here. I do love you. Please, remember me fondly.” She tried to laugh a little, but she was too weak to even do that now. “Let it begin. I shall wish you all the blessings a queen can give to her mates, best friends and children that you are.”
Dante was beyond feeling anything when the first stone tore into the building. It narrowly missed her, for which she was disappointed. They were thinking she might change her mind. Even if she wished to do that, it was too late.
Her last vision was of her great vulture carrying a large stone up and over her. Dante closed her eyes, letting death take her before the stone could do so.
Chapter 1
Remi tasted the soup she was making. It was missing something, something that would make it go from blah to zappy. Looking around, she put her finger into the brew on her spoon and asked it to tell her what it was she had missed. The soup, thankfully, didn’t ask questions but gave her a list of the ingredients she’d used. One time over the years, she’d asked a lobster what dish it would like to be. It had only been a question she was asking herself, but her magic had taken it to mean she wished for the large crustacean to answer her.
That had been the biggest mistake of her life around the stove. Grinning, she to this day could hear the lobster telling her he wasn’t going to give her a recipe to cook him with and had snapped at her. It had chased her, literally, out of the kitchen and into the thankfully empty restaurant she’d been in. It took her several long years to get over having food speak to her.
“Lady Remi, there is a man here to see you. He said you were expecting him. I don’t believe him, so you know. He seems to be quite messy if you were to ask me.” She asked the host on duty what he said he wanted with her. “He wouldn’t say, the turd. But I have taken it upon myself to see. He is here about the investigation you’re working with.”
“Yes. I know him now. Would you please send him back here? He’s working on something for the other birds.”
He nodded but didn’t leave without telling her he wasn’t going to leave her alone with the man. She wondered if he ever thought of what she’d done in the old times as her large bird.
Mr. Caldwell was nothing like what she’d expected him to be. In her mind, he was an older gentleman with balding gray hair, as well as a beer belly. She had to turn from him for a moment to get her laughter under control. He looked just like that old detective from the seventies—Columbo, she thought his name was. The detective was forever crumbled up looking with a hat atop his dark crew cut hair.
“I’ve found some information for you, Miss Remi.” He handed her a thick file with the word Piper across it. “Miss Piper is out of town this week, and she asked me to come and see you. I hope that’s fine.”
“Yes. Piper is at a couple of shows until the end of January. This is a picture of who?” He told her. “Rosemary. I guess she goes by Rose. This picture must be her son, I’m thinking. Do you have any of the man you were looking for too?”
He flipped the file to the end and showed her a picture. He looked enough like Basil, the king of the fae, to have been thought of as his twin brother. However, where Basil was slim, Juniper looked heavier. His face was also showing some signs of overeating a little.
Basil had told them last week that since his brother wasn’t in line for the throne, he didn’t have the same magic as he had. He’d gain weight and age, but extremely slowly. Since he’d be in the thousands of years old, he would be looking like a man in his early seventies.
Remi looked again at the picture of Rose.
“The woman there, she doesn’t go out much. I thought it was because she was hiding something, but I realized then that she was ordering things online to have delivered to her doorstep. The house is in the son’s name. Sorrel Herb owns not only the house but the car as well. It took me a while to figure out that he doesn’t live here at all. I had a bit of trouble finding anything about him until I spoke with Ms. Coby to get a little magic to make it appear.” He laughed a little. “Do you find her to be scary?”
“All of us are scary, Mr. Caldwell.” She looked at the information he’d given her. “This says they have no jobs, but they’re living in a three million dollar house. Did you find any banking information on them?”
They’d had no idea what the son’s name would have been. Finding out that everything, including their banking information, was in Sorrel’s name would make it so Mercy or any of the other birds could make a better attempt at finding them.
