Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

We rejoined Fysan in the hall. The owl sat atop a wooden statue of a soldier and glared at us from on high. "My Lady's guests will be down presently. You're to wait here until they return."

A rumble of thunder made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I whipped my head up to Ben whose concern reflected my own, though more subdued. "This storm's going to get worse before it gets better, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Whoever is controlling it must be taking their time for the buildup."

"Can one person really control the weather like this?" I asked him. "I mean, maybe it's a whole gaggle of wizards."

He folded his arms over his chest and furrowed his brow. "It's possible there's a group of magic users, but it's just as possible that our foes have paid handsomely for a very good service."

"Undoubtedly one of the best," Callidus spoke up as he and Edouard descended the stairs and rejoined us at the bottom step. "I am familiar with only a few people who are capable of such sorcery and I am one of those few."

"And the others?" Ben asked him.

Callidus furrowed his brow. "The Matriarch, Gabo, and Zauber the Great."

Ben nodded. "I'm familiar with their names, but would they undertake such an arduous task?"

"For a price, I believe they would," the emperor confirmed.

I raised my hand. "Who are these people? Gabber and Zauber and the Patriarch?"

"The Matriarch," Ben corrected me with a smile. "She's an old crone who sells her magic to the highest bidder."

"And one who has lived far beyond her years," Edouard chimed in with a curl of his lips. "It could only be dark sorcery that has kept her alive."

"And the others?" I wondered.

"Gabo and Zauber the Great are sorcerers, men of powerful craft but a weakness for money," Callidus told me.

I looked over each of the men in the group. "So do any of them have a knack for making up storms and brewing cursed fog?"

"All of them, given enough time, could be able to perform such feats as what we are witnessing," Callidus revealed.

"How long has this truce been in the making?" Ben asked our royal personage.

"Long enough to be leaked to our foes, though the date was only finalized two weeks ago."

"And the location for the meeting?"

Callidus sighed. "That, unfortunately, was never mine to decide. King Eall refused to leave his woods, so it was merely a matter of timing."

A draft blew past us and made me shiver. The chill air reminded us that the fog lurked just beyond the walls.

The emperor offered me his arm and a smile. "Shall we venture into the depths of Rookwood Manor?"

"Perhaps Millie and I should go together," Ben spoke up.

The emperor feigned displeasure, though there was a tone in his voice that hinted at a seriousness that wasn't to be taken lightly. "You wouldn't keep your emperor away from the pleasure of such a beautiful woman, would you?"

Ben lifted his chin somewhat and tried to hide his displeasure. "Not at all, Your Majesty. I was merely pointing out that Commander Edouard would be more eager for your company."

"And I would," Edouard chimed in as he set a hand on the hilt of his sword. "We don't know what danger is around here."

"Nothing Miss Lucas and I cannot manage on our own," Callidus insisted as he looped his arm around mine and proceeded into the next room. Fysan swooped in front of us. "We shall return in good time, gentlemen, and then you shall have your turn at the watch!"

I couldn't help but snort at the image of Edouard and Ben taking the watch together, mortal enemies helping one another.

"Something amuses you, Miss Lucas?" Callidus asked me as we strolled through the museum that was Aunt Dreda's house.

I straightened and shook my head. "N-nothing."

He now chuckled. "You are a terrible liar, Miss Lucas."

I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose. "You know, you don't have to call me that. Millie would be just fine."

He smiled and inclined his head to me. "It would be my honor to call you by your name, and what would you like to call me?"

"Dreda keeps calling you ‘Cal,'" I mused.

He stared ahead as we wandered through the jungle of trinkets and baubles, accumulated by centuries of family eccentricity. "Yes. A familiar name from our time together as children."

Something in his voice caught my attention and I leaned forward to catch his eye. "You sound like you were close."

He nodded. "Very close. We did consider marriage at one time, but she would not leave her beloved Rookwood and I could not rule my empire from the middle of a forest, particularly one controlled by the werewolves."

I winced. "So no fairy-tale wedding."

A bittersweet smile slipped onto his lips as he shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but that is not to say the outcome was completely unpleasant. We have remained good friends these long years."

"She didn't sound too happy to see you," I pointed out as we steered toward the rear of the house.

"I had meant to return many years ago, but my duties kept me from a promised visit," he admitted.

I grinned at him. "I guess better late than never."

The emperor smiled. "Yes. I am very glad to see that nothing has changed. Even Werd was here the last time I visited, and Fysan will no doubt outlast us all, so great a lifespan does his kind hold."

Fysan landed on a wide fire mantel and puffed out his chest. "I will be sure to remember you in a complimentary light for future generations."

Callidus bowed his head to our feathered friend. "Thank you for your kind offer, Fysan."

"Of course, Your Majesty." Fysan opened his wings and flew off ahead of us.

Callidus winked at me and I smiled as we proceeded onward.

I cleared my throat. "So, um, could I call you Cal?"

The emperor nodded. "I would be honored, Millie."

By this time we had reached the far depths of the western wing somewhere several halls off the dining room. The wooden walls were of some ancient lineage, at least judging by the thick layers of cobwebs that inhabited the knot holes. A layer of dust covered the floor and trinkets, but I did notice a single path that led from the door to another entrance. The second door was a thick steel contraption without a handle or knob. A circular had been inscribed in chalk on the front with unfamiliar designs in its center.

I nodded at a thick door tucked into the corner of the room. "Where does that lead?"

Fysan landed on a table with clawed feet just like his own and looked at where I indicated and wrinkled his nose. "To the basement."

"We should check down there, shouldn't we?" I suggested.

Fysan fluffed up his feathers. "No, I think not. My Lady doesn't allow anyone down there and the walls are well sealed."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Why? You said it was just a basement."

"Hurry along now," Fysan commanded as he fluttered off his perch and through into the next room.

I turned to Cal who had his own curious expression on his face. "Do you know what's down there?"

He shook his head as he led us after our feathered guide. "Not at all. I recall us being forbidden from venturing down there and the door was never left open, not even for a moment."

"Did you try to push on it?"

He smiled. "Naturally, but the door never so much as budged."

We had to leave that secret behind as we ventured through the house. The tour of the ground floor took well over an hour and by the time we returned to the stairs my feet were warning me that another search like that would do them in.

Ben and Edouard arose from their chairs in the parlor and ventured out into the hall to join us. "Well?" Ben wondered.

Cal smiled at him. "The house is as secure as my vault."

Edouard frowned. "That might not be the most apt description considering the disappearance of your heirloom, Your Majesty."

The emperor shook his head. "As I have told my advisers, I doubt the vault was breached. There must be some other explanation for the Prima Staff's disappearance." My left arm twitched.

A squeak on the stairs made me look up and I saw Dreda descend toward us. Her eyes were a little bleary but she held her head high. She would have made a wonderful empress.

"What news about Werd?" Ben asked her.

"He still hasn't awoken and he's painfully weak," Dreda informed him as she reached the bottom step and grasped the banister. "I have never seen him in such a state. It's as though all the energy has been drained out of him and there are strange burn marks on one side of his face."

I couldn't help but be reminded of the episode in the shed with the fog. I'd not only exorcised the attacking mist but Werd had been negatively affected, as well. Too affected, by what I had seen and what Dreda just mentioned.

"Perhaps he stepped out into the sun before the storm took hold," Ben suggested.

Edouard frowned. "Then that would make him more of a vampire than you were earlier suggesting."

Dreda spun around to face him and shot the man such a look of death that even the imposing commander started back. She narrowed her eyes and venom dripped from her words. "You will not lay a finger on him or so help me I will summon the gods to curse you and your line into eternity."

Cal stepped between them to prevent Dreda from making good on her promise. "There is no need for threats. We will do no harm to anyone any of us considers a friend. Why do we not sit for some tea and-"

At that moment the whole house shook. It was like being inside a defective pinball machine where all the trinkets, jingles, and baubles rattled and wobbled all at once. I fell into Ben's arms as the vibrations were followed by a horrible rumble from beneath our feet.

The color drained from Dreda's face. "The dragon!"