Chapter 14

Despite his lack of sleep, Ayden felt wonderful.

He did tell Justine to stay in bed, but she got out and bathed with him. She also dressed and came down stairs to see the guests from Slidervale off. They weren’t terribly happy, as quite a few were still feeling the effects of having taken a liking to Ayden’s Kaboo and the fine summer wines that were produced in the region.

Captain Fort had knocked on each door until it opened. A maid had handed over a tray. They had been served tea with bread, butter and honey in their rooms and told to pack and be down stairs by eight bells.

Lacy had tried to go see Ayden but the guards to his wing had refused and told her that she was wasting time. If she wasn’t packed, then her luggage would follow later. The servants had already packed Ivana’s things and they were in one of the Flatbeds they had used for luggage, as was her body.

She may not like the plain urn that her ashes were in, but Ayden didn’t care. He had seen to her cremation and even recorded it on his vambrace. Disgraced Queens didn’t get lavish ceremonies. He had her lover burnt too and he was in the other urn. Lord Bail was cut from the same cloth as Ivana and Ayden had disliked him even before he became Ivana’s paramour.

The man had been a Boa-Shifter, but he had not been very gifted magically. He’d had to use a spell finder artefact to find Ayden’s spells. Ayden wondered how long it took the man to undo his spells. He had once spied for his mother but become Ivana’s man ten years before. After that, Ayden told his mother not to trust anything Lord Bail told her.

Ayden wasn’t surprised that Lacy started squealing at him when he arrived downstairs. “Is this how you treat all your guests? What sort of Regent tosses his guests out without even giving them breakfast or time to pack?” Lacy confronted him angrily.

“A Regent who has had his hospitality abused,” Ayden replied in a hard voice.

“What? You kill my mother to steal my birth right and force me from the ballroom, as if I’m inconsequential. It is me who has been abused,” she replied indignantly and loudly. “Then I find you have had her cremated without my permission, without ceremony. Lord Bail will not be pleased,” Lacy spat with venom.

Ayden was horrified that she didn’t seem affected by the loss of her mother, as a child should. She was only concerned that she wouldn’t replace her and that she was being denied the rights to which, she believed she was entitled.

He noted that she blamed him, when in fact; it was Trae who had ordered the new spells be put on her mother’s items and Collin and Serpin who had carried out Trae’s wishes.

Lacy looked around, “Where is he by the way? Have you taken him back into your service? We knew that he once spied for your mother you know, my mother had little trouble persuading him to work for us,” she said spitefully.

“He is in the second urn that is in the box with your mother’s,” Ayden replied stonily.

Lacy gasped, “Why, what did you do to him?”

“Well, that is generally what happens to people who try to kill a Regent and rape their paramour,” Ayden informed her and the other nobles with her, to their shock. “I don’t know who put him up to it but if I get any more unwanted visitors, they will find a similar fate.”

Ayden turned when a woman joined them with a packed chest and several other items of luggage being carried by the Rider driver who had brought her to the palace. “A little more notice would have been nice, Ayden,” she grumbled good-naturedly.

She was a pleasant looking Genteli woman who looked in her mid-thirties. She was close to one seventy in height and on the slim side. She was dressed in a tunic and skirt in a style that was favoured by business people. Her pink streaked blonde hair was in a bun on her head.

“Lacy, this is Minister Helen Tyler. She is a close cousin of mine and she is one of my legal representatives. For the time being you will consider her in charge of Slidervale as my Viceroy. If she informs me of any hindrance and I have to come sort it out sooner than I intend, I will not be pleased.”

He smiled as a Carrier pulled up and Captain Fort got out, “We are packed and ready, Sire,” the big man said cheerfully.

“Helen, you can either travel with Lacy or if you prefer you can join Captain Fort and his team who are in charge of your safety,” Ayden replied.

Helen snorted, “That’s a no brainer. Captain you may load my bags, I hope you have got some more good stories to keep me entertained on this three-day trip,” she said as she walked with the grinning Captain to the Carrier.

“Lacy, I suggest you get in contact with your legal people and make damn sure they and the other nobles cooperate or you will find yourself living in a cabin in the mountains. As it is, my preference is that you not be in the palace when I get there in a month’s time.”

“You will find Helen is not a push-over and she has my permission to do what is required to ensure my wishes are carried out. All of the private property under your mother’s name has been confiscated by the crown, due to her crimes,” Ayden informed her with a glare.

Lacy gave him a venomous look and turned to get in the Carrier she was traveling in. The other visitors hurried to also get into theirs, as they knew it was pointless arguing with an angry Regent. Some of them sent a few very worried looks Helen’s way.

They knew of Helen’s reputation for sniffing out crooked deals and had a feeling they needed to do a quick tidy up of their finances as soon as they got home. She had been Queen Carmila’s contracts agent and legal representative for many years.

Ivana had hated her turning up to negotiate new agreements or trade disputes, because she was not a woman you tried to fool. She was a Mage and specialised in truth spells. Helen probably knew their tax system and laws better than they did.

Ayden chuckled as he watched the southern Lords and Ladies drive off.

The Smiths were also up early.

The weather was changing, and they noted the morning was cooler, which was a relief. Most of their discussions centred around what they were going to do. The machines they had ordered were more for their weapons manufacturing than their other business. They had planned to have them sent later.

They decided they really needed to see what they had to work with at the Hall and then make the decisions as to what was going to come next. Collin was very worried about just what his new duties entailed. He’d been incredibly happy being Serpin’s apprentice. She and Paige promised to help him as much as possible.

They finally decided they had better head to the brunch meeting. While they had eaten already it had been early, as they found they didn’t seem to sleep as long as they used to. They were soon escorted to what Ayden called the family dining room.

Collin chuckled as soon as he saw Ayden and Justine. He knew with whom they had spent the night. His beautiful sister had become a Royal and a Queen’s Paramour; just not for the Island his father had schemed for.

He went and hugged his sister and said to her, “I hope he treated you well. If not, he has me to answer to.”

“Better than the previous person who crawled into my bed,” she replied.

Collin frowned. Ayden said, “We had an interesting night.”

This statement caused lots of chuckles until they realised something more serious had happened. Once they were all seated and kaffe was served Ayden told them of Justine’s visitor. He did assure them that it wouldn’t happen again.

He and Major Nester, who ran his security forces, had wandered the palace after their Slidervale guests had been sent home. They checked and strengthened the security where they could. Neither of them was happy that several places were not well covered and made them vulnerable.

When Ayden asked Collin if he had any spare crystals that he could buy as the Palace had some security issues, Collin handed over a large bag to him from his pack. “We have plenty more,” he assured Ayden. “You just make sure Justine is safe here.”

Ayden was surprised that Collin had so readily handed them over, but he was grateful. They had found some very glaring holes and they realised that too many people had access to areas of the Palace that he would rather they didn’t.

Collin showed Melody how to send the vids to his and Ayden’s vambraces so they could view what she had. They all took note of the people Melody told them not to trust. Glen and Tilly agreed with Melody’s assessments and provided Ayden with more information about these people.

Ayden and Justine managed to inform Ryne that when he was ready to join them, they would be happy. Ryne was pleased that they were happy to let him go to the University for a while and stay with Melody and her family.

Phil promised to keep an eye on him, as the two had become fast friends. Ayden was glad, as he knew Phil was a steady fellow and would be a good influence on Ryne. He’d keep tabs on him too but from a distance.

Ayden had organised the Royal Carrier and the party of ten headed off to see the Guild Hall, with the Smiths deciding to take their Flatbed.

The party headed to the Guild hall.

As they pulled up at the gates of the Hall, they were surprised when they automatically opened for Collin, so they drove in. As they looked around, they were astonished to find the property exactly as it had been left a hundred and twenty-five years before.

“Okay, this is very strange, it’s as if when the gates closed the whole area that is enclosed became suspended in time,” Glen said in fascination.

They all had to agree, as they had found some rather disturbing evidence of this. For whatever reason, the animals that had been on the property were still there. Cluckers and longears were still in their pens. The two dozen or so lankys were either in the stables or in the fields near them. The herd of bighorns and the flock of woollies used for milk, meat and fleece, were in their paddocks.

The fields still held the grain that was waiting to be harvested and the fruit trees and vines were lush with fruit. Items that hadn’t been collected were still where they were left and had not aged or gathered dust.

They could see the place needed a bit of maintenance but that was old news, as it hadn’t been well maintained in the last few years of operation according to Glen. They were surprised that they still had running water and electricity.

They did find the smithy and both Collin and Serpin were delighted that it was a huge workshop in its own building. It was split into four areas, forging, metal working, weapon making and a class room. It had obviously been set up to train a dozen or so apprentices and Earth Novices in, and it had lots of space.

The huge storage building attached to the workshops was filled with resources. Serpin said when she looked the room over, “It looks like they had restocked just before the Guild’s people were evicted. Collin there is little we need to acquire to set up shop. We even have room to place our new machines and we can evict some of the old ones. I could send them to Tom and Barnacle.”

They could see that Serpin was delighted with her new workshop. “Well, Sweetie, this is your domain, so you organise it as you wish,” Collin replied.

Serpin shook her head, “You have to help, especially with the weapons area, as you will need to work here too. You are still my apprentice even if you’re the Guild Lord.”

Collin was surprised and pleased. He knew he’d have other responsibilities and he had a feeling this shop would be his escape as much as anything. He did have some special commissions that he would have to work on with Serpin.

They went and checked out the living arrangements. The main complex was set up in a square ‘A’ formation with a large courtyard in the square formed by the main part of the building and the three wings. The Smiths were delighted to find the Lord had claimed one of the front wings off the main building. It was closest to the smithy.

A spell on the door to the inner chamber indicated that only the Lord and his family could access the top floor of this section of the building, unless the Lord said otherwise. Collin immediately adjusted the spells so all who were with him could do so. They were his friends and family and very welcome.

Collin’s and the other administrators’ offices was under this wing and accessed from the side of the main foyer in the central building. The front half of the wing was a large room that could be used for a lot of different purposes. It was set up as a two-story high auditorium. The third floor above it was used for storage.

They inspected the teaching wings that were opposite and formed the eastern leg of the A-frame. The dormitories took up the rear wing and the other wing on Collin’s side. They could house two hundred students and twenty or so staff members in them.

A huge kitchen and a large dining area were set up in the base of the central cross wing to accommodate the students and staff. Several smaller rooms that could be used to relax with others were accessed off the main dining area and a reception area was established in the main foyer. He stories above were the quarters for senior teachers.