17. Arthur

Chapter 17

Arthur

" M aster, welcome back," Balthazar said. "How was your visit to Montana?"

I looked at my head of security and smiled. "It was unexpected," I said. "Needed though. Edric enjoyed the extra time with family, and I was able to learn some additional things about the Venice coven members, so I would call that a bonus." I was a bit surprised I'd been able to learn anything, what with how the trip turned out, but I had no complaints. "And how is our resident hellhound? Has Dante settled in?"

Balthazar snorted. "I guess you could say that. He's bored, from what it seems. He does daily patrols around the perimeter, and he sort of sulks around the manor, but he's friendly and always smiles at the children. They're fascinated with his eyes, which I guess is understandable."

I chuckled. "Yes. For Edric, it seems to be the dragons. I wonder if he'll be equally enthralled with Dante though." I picked up the top piece of paper that was on my desk and sighed. "I guess time will tell," I said. I looked up at Balthazar, who was staring at me. "What is it?"

"It's good to have you back, Master. Not that we couldn't handle the coven, but it just feels more at peace with you and Patrick here. Any news?"

"About?" I asked. It was obviously no secret why I'd ended up spending a week in Montana when I had only planned on a few days. It wasn't something anyone in the coven ever hid because there was absolutely no shame in a member having a fertile period.

"Patrick, sir. Is he? Did he?"

I chuckled. "We will know for certain in another week or so. For now, neither of us has been able to sense anything different." I tossed the paper back onto the desk. I would deal with it and the other important things later. "We will, of course, be thrilled to welcome another baby into our family, but neither of us are expecting it to happen at this point. We've had more fails when it comes to growing our family than successes." It hurt every time Patrick realized he'd not caught. He always felt as if he was the cause of it, despite all of my reassurances that it was nothing he did.

"I understand completely. Grant and I haven't experienced such devastating news, and that is something I'm immensely thankful for."

"Things are shifting, and more instances of these changes are going to be seen everywhere."

"Master?"

I indicated the chair across from me. Once Balthazar sat, I sighed. "The goddess has made changes. We don't feel them because we're already mated. It is my understanding that when she had a meeting with the council in the spring, Father mentioned how it is no longer necessary nor fair to enforce the urgency for warlocks to claim their One."

Balthazar's eyebrows rose. "She's able to do that?"

I shrugged. "Since she is the one that enacted it, I would think she could. I personally haven't yet seen this come into play, but I'm told it is indeed now a possibility. There has been news of a warlock in Spain who recently found his One, and they waited three weeks before claiming each other."

"Three? That's…incredible."

I nodded in agreement. It truly was. "I'm not sure exactly how this will pertain to us, but there is also something regarding pregnancy. It will no longer be an absolute thing. I'm not certain if this is only for first-time heats and fertile periods or if this will be for all going forward. Father didn't have an exact answer for me about that."

"So newly mated couples will no longer be forced to have children right away?"

"Correct. I'm told that if they wish for children, then they will happen. If not, then it won't. I don't know how that will impact the rest of us. If it is that simple, that would be wonderful." I shrugged. "I guess it will take time to see if things truly have changed or not."

Balthazar was quiet for a moment. "I hope that for not only you and Patrick but all of the others who wish to add to their families, or who are content with the size they already have and suppressors just don't seem to work, what you have said is true. I know of many from my birth coven who spent years wanting another child and couldn't have one. I understand this is something that humans are faced with frequently, but one would think that perhaps it would be different for us. We're not exactly human."

I was in full agreement. "What I know of it is that the world's situations were different then. Times were obviously much simpler, and it made sense for the time. As the world has evolved, certain aspects of our lives haven't, and the update was very much needed."

Balthazar nodded. "I agree." There was a moment of silence. "Well, I hope the changes are real and they are beneficial to us all." Balthazar took another moment before nodding. "Not to change the subject, but I did want to touch base with you on one particular thing."

"Of course. Which is it? The clowder? Or something else?"

Balthazar chuckled. "Neither, actually."

"Oh? Do tell, then."

"It's really nothing too terrible. It's just that I wanted to let you know that Grant and I would very much like to travel next month. We will, of course, be taking the children with us, and my parents will be accompanying us as well."

"Oh yeah? That sounds like a very nice time. Are you planning on visiting Spain?"

"For a bit, yes. We would like to visit several places. Spain being only one of them. It has been years since we've traveled, and we thought that with Maxwell finally being a bit older, it was time to give it a try."

"Sounds wonderful. Am I to assume that the two of you will be gone for the month?" Not that it wouldn't be allowed. I didn't control the coven members. They could come and go as they pleased.

"Yes. We thought it would be best to not rush in any particular place. It will be a month at most. We're really going to play it by ear and see how things go. We know the older two will do well since my parents have traveled with them before."

I grinned. "I understand completely and wish you, Grant, and your parents a fun time. I've never traveled with four young children, but we are certainly at an advantage with certain abilities. Please keep us up to date if your travel plans should change and you decide to stay a bit longer. Otherwise, have a great trip."

Balthazar grinned. "I will. Thank you." Balthazar started to stand but stopped and looked at me. "I didn't even think to ask if there was anything else, Master."

"There isn't," I said with a chuckle. "Go and tell Grant. Do you have a departure date?"

"Nothing is set. I only thought to mention it to you so we could work on that."

"Then it sounds as if you have something to go discuss with your One. I do wish you and your family a wonderful time away. I also hope that you will decide to return here."

Balthazar snorted. "Yeah, that's definitely happening. We're not looking for somewhere new to settle down. Just taking time away for a bit."

I nodded. "I understand that completely. If and when I have time, I plan on taking Patrick away. Most likely, Edric will be with us, although he might decide he would much rather go stay with his grandpas again." I smiled. Edric hadn't missed us even a little while we were in Montana and Patrick ended up in a fertile period. Then again, he had a lot of family out there and, of course…dragons. With the way he was so fascinated with them, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't end up with a dragon for his own One someday.

"You know," Balthazar said from the doorway. "I can't say that I blame him. Dragons are pretty fascinating."

I chuckled as Balthazar walked off. He wasn't wrong. They truly were, and until recently, I'd not known many. I settled back in my seat and picked up the top document. It was a status report from Dante. I chuckled again. Was he serious? Really?

Unsure if this was because that was simply how he operated or if it was something that Father had suggested, I picked up the phone to find out the reason behind it.

"Master Arthur. Is there something you need from me?"

"Hello, Dante. I was wondering if you would mind coming to my office when you have a moment or two? I had a few questions for you."

"Of course. I'll be right there."

The call ended before I could say more, not that I minded. Finding out more about Dante and how he ticked was going to be interesting, I was certain. I should have spent more time here at the coven with him before taking off to Montana, but in the end, Patrick needed me more than I needed to be here.

Dante suddenly appeared in the doorway, standing there way too seriously, in my opinion. "Come in, Dante, and have a seat," I told him. He did as I'd said, and when he sat, he was incredibly stiff, and I sat there for a moment, trying to figure him out.

"Is something wrong, Master Arthur?" he asked finally.

I shook my head. "Not that I'm aware of, no. I'm simply trying to figure you out." I picked up the stack of papers and dropped them in the middle of my desk. "Is there a reason why you are doing a written daily status report?" I glanced down at the top one briefly. "And are you invading the privacy of everyone in the coven to do so? Or just the newest members?" We were certainly going to have to get to the bottom of things.

"I've not invaded anyone's privacy," he said immediately. "Any and all information I've garnered has come from when they were in common areas. Nothing is from private quarters or moments. I was sent here to observe, and that's what I'm doing."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I think it's more that you were sent here to observe the area and watch out for the cousins that went missing, not spy on my new coven members." I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I crossed my arms over my stomach and stared at the hellhound. "Tell me what makes Dante tick," I said.

"Sir?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you an enforcer? Did you really wish to be one, or was it because you're a hellhound and the other hellhounds are enforcers? Why are you on this assignment? Did you volunteer, or were you assigned?"

"That's a lot of questions."

I nodded. "Yes, but you're in my coven." I pointed to the stack of papers. "And you've written a detailed report for every day. Is that a council thing? Or something you just do?"

"To answer your earlier questions, I'm an enforcer because I had nothing else to do. There was nothing left for me in the jungle, so I had no issues with returning with Augustus and the others. I needed a bit of time to recover anyway, and it's really not a bad thing. Being an enforcer, that is." Dante seemed to think about something for a moment, and if I hadn't been staring at him so intently, I wouldn't have seen the change in his aura's color. It was very brief though, and then it was gone in a moment.

"Do you like being an enforcer?" I asked.

Dante shrugged. "It's not bad. It's by far the best job I've had since I've been here in this realm. As for the reports, I honestly didn't have anything else to do. You were gone, and I didn't want you to think that I wasn't actually doing what I was sent here to do."

"What is it that you've actually been sent here to do?" I asked. "Are you looking for the Gallo cousins?"

"If they should happen to appear here, I have instructions to bind them before taking them to the council. Personally, I don't think they'll show up here. It's a possibility, but I don't see it happening. The coven members you have here were so far down the line in their old coven that they aren't a threat to either of them. They weren't privy to the inner workings of the coven, not really, so they wouldn't be the targets."

That was interesting. Dante was speaking more freely than my own Father had when I asked questions. It was refreshing that Dante was being so forthcoming. I had asked Father, but he'd either not had the ability to answer or had decided not to. Either way, I needed to discuss some things with him again.

"Bind them?" I asked.

"Yes. Bind their magic to where they cannot use it. I'm on this assignment because I was told this was to be mine. Augustus is at another coven and Damien at a third. Warwick is home with his little mate and their twins and will be taking things at a slower pace for the time being. Atticus is going back and forth between the council and each coven, checking in with us frequently."

"That's a lot. Is this how the council usually works? I'm sorry for all of the questions. I don't really ask my father about how the council works for the most part."

Dante shrugged. "I've not been with them long. I've only just been cleared myself shortly before this assignment to go out solo. I knew Augustus from before, and although he vouched for me, it was understandable that the council wanted to ensure I would be loyal to them."

"Well, I wish to tell you that I appreciate the fact that you are here to help watch over my coven." I glanced at the reports again. "Unless the council is requiring you to do the reports, I don't think it's necessary for you to spend time writing them out every day."

"Eh, I send them to Atticus to not only let him know what's going on and that I'm doing something but also to annoy him a bit."

I felt a smile form but quickly covered it by clearing my throat and reaching for the reports. "Well, if you wish to continue to annoy Atticus by doing the reports, I certainly am not going to stop you. I don't require them from you though. I simply wish for you to enjoy your time here and feel welcome. If there is something that I or my One need to see to, please don't feel as if you can't talk to us."

"I will. So far, there's been nothing though. I have enjoyed shifting and running the parameter of your estate, but there really isn't a whole lot going on here."

I snorted. "No, but that's how I like things. The more mundane things are, the better, in my opinion. I like a peaceful life for my coven and its members. We try very hard to stay under the radar of the local people. For the most part, we've succeeded. Every so often, we will get a nosy one out here, but that's about the extent of it."

Damien nodded slowly. "And this is still a school, yes?"

"It is. Which isn't exactly completely untrue. We do school others. They just happen to be warlocks who are working on mastering their powers. There are enough children here that if they should ever force the issue, which hasn't been a problem, we do have the children that can easily make a good show of things." Not that I would ever allow for things to get that far. We did occasionally have someone that was lost ring at the front gates, but after they were given directions and sent on their way, we never had any issue from them again. Not that them ringing the front gate was an issue. Sometimes an inconvenience, but those happened in life.

"Do they ever press the fact that this is a private boarding school?"

I shook my head. "No. It is a great cover for the coven. We visit the town just enough to let the locals know we're here and we aren't creeps. But we also keep to ourselves enough that they've also seemed to realize that we either don't wish to be bothered or we're incredibly busy and private. Either way, it's worked out for some time now."

"Sounds like it." Dante sat there for a moment and simply stared at me, waiting.

"I truly have nothing else to discuss with you," I told him. "I simply wanted to let you know that the reports weren't necessary for me. If you have to provide the council with them, have at it. I don't require any such thing from anyone in my coven. If you work a full day, you do. If you only manage a part day, that's fine as well. My only requirement is that the coven is safe and the members are happy and healthy. Beyond that, we can address issues as they arise."

Dante nodded. "Then I should go?" he asked as he pointed to the door.

"If you have nothing to mention to me, then yes. Otherwise, feel free to speak freely."

"No, nothing else. It's been quiet here. The new members seem to have adjusted well to being here. They do tend to stick to themselves around the coven, but I'm sure your security has already mentioned that to you."

"He has, yes. Please enjoy the rest of your day. I'm going to get caught up on things I missed while gone and then try to do the same."

Dante stood. "Thank you, Master Arthur. I'll do that if at all possible. Although, downtime isn't something most hellhounds really know how to do. I'll give it a try though." Dante left the room, leaving me to sort through the multiple notes that Balthazar and Costas had left for me in my absence. There wasn't too much of anything, so I simply picked up the stack of reports, added the pages of notes from the others, and then dropped them all in my bottom desk drawer. I'd sort them out later. For now, they were out of sight and no longer cluttering my desk.

I meant it when I told Dante that I enjoyed having a somewhat boring coven. Things ran smoothly, and when it was all said and done, my members were happy and felt like this was a family they could stick with for a long time. I knew I couldn't take full responsibility, but I hadn't lost any members when I took over for Father. That told me I was doing something right, which was all I could ever hope for.

"Patrick?" I asked, reaching out through our bond. I wondered where he could be. With the coven basically running itself and not really needing me to do a bunch of things, I figured I should go spend some more time with my One. Especially now that he no longer urgently needed me for other things. I grinned. Not that I was complaining, because I never would.