Chapter 2
1911 Words
2
I whipped my head to Caius. “You have a brother?”
Caius’ face paled and his hands that held the good father shook. “Who kidnapped him? When? Where?”
“Perhaps kidnapping is too strong a word,” Father Ferrero corrected himself.
I set my hands atop Caius’ shaking ones and caught his gaze. “Too strong like your grip on him.”
Caius pursed his lips, but released the good father and leaned back. “Tell me everything that happened.”
The father sat up and cleared his throat. “It was only a week ago which is why you haven’t been told. Marcus was out hunting for the treasure again and ventured onto the property of the baron. He was caught by the gentleman’s gardener and, according to the message brought to me by his servant, amused the elderly man and was allowed to remain on the property to search further. There he remains.”
I looked up at Caius. “Treasure?”
His expression was tense as he nodded. “Yeah. There’s supposed to be some treasure around here left by some old people.”
“The Miamorans, or at least a branch of that ancient folk,” Father Ferrero added.
Sage arched an eyebrow. “I had no idea the ancestors of the Sylvidian Empire had ventured this far north.”
“The old legends say that they were exiles, opponents of the worshipers of Gad who left of their own accord and settled in the area,” the father explained.
“A bunch of stories doesn’t explain why the baron kidnapped Marcus,” Caius interjected.
Father Ferrero pursed his lips. “I went to the manor and explained to the baron that I was his guardian and he needed to return to my custody, but My Lord refused to acquiesce to my request. He mentioned to me that Marcus himself refused to return until he had found the treasure, or at least searched the entirety of the property.”
“But the baron owns half the area!” Caius reminded him.
The father nodded. “I know, but the baron was not to be convinced and I left without Marcus.” He perked up as he clapped a hand on Caius’ shoulder. “With you here, however, I’m sure My Lord will return him, and Marcus will be so glad to see you that I’m sure he will willingly return with us.”
Caius’ face turned pale again. “Does your null work that far?”
Father Ferrero smiled and nodded. “Yes, though it may become frayed at the far reaches of the principality.”
“Null what?” I spoke up.
Sage studied the good father with interest. “I see. That is why you are Marcus’ guardian.”
“I don’t see,” I insisted.
Sage nodded at our new acquaintance. “There are a few people in this world who are capable of nullifying shifting abilities so that the people are left as merely humans.”
“My power goes beyond that,” the father told us. “I can mask the shifter so that none would recognize them as being anything but a human.” He paused and hung his head. “I’m sorry, Caius, this is my fault. I spoke too often of the deprivations of the poor before the baron’s emissaries to the village and he sought to alleviate our burden by finding that treasure.”
“Does the baron know what Marcus is?” Caius questioned him.
The father lifted his eyes and shook his head. “No, though I doubt the baron would have much interest in the wealth promised by the body of your people. He was always more interested in the hunt than commerce.”
“Marcus would be a rather interesting prize for a hunter,” Sage warned them as he rubbed his chin. “However, a null has never failed to impede the ability of a shifter, so we may take comfort in that.”
“So how important is this baron?” I asked the group.
Caius climbed to his feet and folded his arms over his chest. “He’s the ruler of this area.”
“If I recall my readings, the Mechta family has been in charge of the Principality of Mechta for some ten centuries?” Sage spoke up.
Caius nodded. “About that long, ever since they bought most of the land.” He leaned down and offered his hand to Father Ferrero. “You need help getting back to the village?”
“First I must get up,” the good father chuckled as he took Caius’ hand. Caius pulled him to his feet and Ferrero brushed off his frock before he paused and frowned. “Though I wonder if you will be allowed onto the estate.”
Caius arched an eyebrow. “We’ve always been allowed on the grounds.”
Father Ferrero nodded. “That was true until three months ago when the baron shut off the grounds to visitors. Now the only way into the estate is through some rather small holes that only someone Marcus’ size could fit or through the main gates, and I have heard from many of my people that requesting entrance to see the exquisite gardens before winter takes their beauty is no longer allowed.”
Sage furrowed his brow in thought. “I wonder what would have the baron be at a summer palace when the winter is so near.”
“He’s said to be in poor health and seldom travels,” Father Ferrero revealed. “Perhaps he means to leave only when he must.”
“Whoever he’s allowing into the grounds, he’s going to allow us,” Caius insisted.
Father Ferrero clapped his hand on Caius’ shoulder and smiled at him. “I am glad to see that the hard world hasn’t changed you. If you wish then I won’t keep you.”
He stooped to pick up the buckets and tried to apply pressure to his injured leg, but the elderly man lost his balance. Caius caught him before he fell face-first into the dust. The good father sheepishly looked up at him. “It appears I have a slight problem.”
Caius grinned. “I’m glad time hasn’t changed you, now let’s get you home and we’ll go get Marcus.”
Father Ferrero was placed atop one of the fine steeds while the rest of us walked. The good father studied the fair beast and stroked her mane. “I have never seen a finer unicorn in all my years, and those are many now.”
“Have you ridden them before?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Yes, when I was a young lad and full of adventure.” He paused and looked around at the crowd. “But you haven’t introduced your friends to me, Caius.” His gaze settled on my left hand and his eyebrows shot up. “And this young woman appears to have a ring that matches the one on your own finger.”
Caius showed off a crooked grin and had to suppress an evil chuckle. “Father Ferrero, this is my wife, Jane, and her grandparents, Storm Sage and Beastly Bee.”
Father Ferrero’s eyes grew so big I worried they were going to burst. “W-wife? S-Storm Sage? B-B-” He shook himself of his stupor and stutter and frowned at Caius. “I thought I had taught you well enough not to lie, Caius Ornello.”
It was my turn for my eyebrows to shoot up. “Ornello?”
“My last name, and I suppose yours now,” Caius teased.
“It’s a very good name that you shouldn’t hide,” the father scolded him.
“I hide it to keep it good,” Caius quipped as he stared ahead with pursed lips. “And to keep Marcus safe.”
“So does it mean something?” I wondered.
“It means ‘flowering ash tree’ from the wondrous forest that surrounds Wyvern,” Ferrero explained.
I furrowed my brow. “That’s where that old city was, wasn’t it? Where Bee was taken to?”
Sage nodded. “The very place.”
“The great city of the ancient grayscales,” the good father mused He smiled down at me and bowed his head. “But enough of the past. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jane, and I hope only the best life for both of you.”
I snorted. “It’s certainly been an interesting one.”
Ferrero looked to my grandparents. “I never thought I would be honored to be in the presence of such esteemed persons.”
Sage shook his head. “The honor is ours. I have very rarely met a null, much less with your unique skills. And-” His eyes flickered to Caius. “-I am honored to meet someone with such patience as to willingly deal with the Ornello clan.”
Ferrero chuckled. “Caius was a handful when he was younger.”
A sly grin appeared on my lips as I glanced at Caius, but addressed our new friend. “You wouldn’t happen to have some embarrassing stories, would you?”
Ferrero tilted his head back and furrowed his brow. “I do recall one time where he mistook himself for a pyro dragon and tried to burn the church down by breathing on it.”
“His breath didn’t at least melt the stone?” I teased.
The good father winked at me. “I thought it might since he had just eaten most of the church’s onion patch in the belief that it would frighten away monstrum.”
“I think that’s enough,” Caius warned him.
I sidled up to Ferrero and lowered my voice to a hushed whisper. “Later. You and me.” He bowed his head.
“I believe I see our destination,” Sage spoke up.
I looked ahead and saw a quaint village a mile up the field. The hamlet was populated by stone houses with thatched roofs. The streets were hard-packed earth and the yards were more chicken coops than lawn, but the walls were clean, the stoops freshly swept, and the straw roofs shimmered with that year’s hay. Children scampered about free from their chores for the moment while mothers looked on with smiles. The men strode to and fro, some with more thatch and others to the fields to bring in the last of the harvest for the day.
The people paused at our coming. Well, except for the children. They squealed and raced toward us, their eyes wide with curiosity for the beautiful unicorns. The group of some two dozen children stopped in front of us and gaped at the beasts.
“Is that really a unicorn?” a young boy asked us.
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“Can I pet it?” a girl wondered.
“Of course,” Bee offered as she drew the steed near.
The unicorn bent its head low as an offering to the kids. They squealed again and rushed forward. The kids tempered their glee and gently stroked the beast’s nose. The unicorn shook its mane and its hair shimmered and twinkled in the fading sunlight. The kids clapped and jumped up and down.
“Hurry along now, young ones!” Father Ferrero called from his mount. “Your mothers will be wanting you.”
“But I want to pet the unicorn some more!” an older boy whined.
“Do you want to be eaten by the Miamorans?” the good father warned him. Some of the younger ones stiffened and shook their heads. “Then you had better go home. Besides, it’s almost supper time.” As though in reply, dinner bells began to ring up and down the village and mothers called out to their children.
“It’s almost supper time! Hurry and help set the table!”
The children, intoxicated with the day’s fun and the unicorn, laughed and scurried over one another to beat each other to their homes. I watched them go with not a little bit of bemusement, and caught Sage looking at me with a soft expression on his face.
“What?” I asked him.
“Just remembering days long past,” he admitted. “A time when a certain young woman did not wish to come inside against the growing darkness.”
I smiled and shrugged. “I wasn’t afraid of the dark.” That thought made me look to Father Ferrero. “Are there any more of the Miamorans around?”
He shook his head. “No, but there are tales still told of their powerful magic and how they haunt the fields and caves at the foothills of the mountains.”
“And what’s left of their homes,” Caius added.
Ferrero shifted his injured leg and winced. “I will be glad to reach mine.”
- Writer
