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Chapter 24

Duke Everwynn reached over, and leaned on Gwen.

“My apologies, but I need some assistance with getting down. If you would be so kind.”

Gwen struggled over the steps. She wasn’t a weakling, but the lord was rather larger than her. And with the shingles threatening to crumble beneath her, it kept her looking towards the edge. “Duke, I’m…I just don’t know. This can’t really work.”

“Just another moment,” Everwynn said. There was another pulse. Gwen felt her body clear up. “And…there. That should take care of any residual magic that my family tried to implant in your essence.”

Gwen’s eyes widened. “They…you…what the hell is going on?”

“Problems, Duke?”

Gwen and Everwynn looked up. Drake floated in the air.

“Drake,” Everwynn said. “Are you all right?”

“Yup. I saw the family were flexing their muscles, and wanted to make sure the house is still standing.”

Everwynn nodded. “It was touch and go for a time, but we will all be here to see the dawn.”

Drake grunted. “And you…Gwen, you doing ok?”

Gwen nodded.

“Finding out more about our crazy cuckoo life?”

“It is…more than I thought it would be.”

“A bunch of eggs, just ready to crack,” Drake said sagely.

“Eggs?” Everwynn asked.

“Well, let me get you down at least,” Drake said. He waved his hand. Gwen felt herself pulled off the roof, and set down on the grounds.

“Thank you, Drake,” Everwynn said. “That was lovely.”

Drake grunted. “Next time, try and have your super-amazing battles on ground level, ok?”

Gwen looked up, confused. Drake wasn’t cracking jokes. He wasn’t even appearing jovial. He looked at Everwynn, and his eyes were filled with sadness.

“I will do my best, Drake,” Everwynn promised.

Drake nodded, and turned away.

“Drake!” The Duke shouted. “Your room is all made up. You can come back whenever.”

Drake shrugged. “Maybe tomorrow.” He flew off.

Everwynn sighed. “Another time, then.”

Felton opened the door to the ballroom, and looked out. “Milord?” he asked.

“What is it, Felton?”

“I trust that the familial dispute has been resolved?”

“Most likely it would be more accurate to call it currently tabled, Felton,” Everwynn said. “With promises of further hostilities at a later date.”

Felton darkened. “I shall be sure to locate a fine exorcist, then,” Felton said.

“Capital idea.”

“Shall I check on the rest of the students,” Felton asked. “Ensure their safety?”

“And then call it a night,” Everwynn said. “We’ll pick up our…conversation, later.”

Felton looked at Gwen, and then to Everwynn. He remained where he was.

“Yes, Felton?”

“Are you about to talk with her?”

“I thought I’d enjoy an evening walk with her, yes.”

“And tell her what?”

Everwynn shrugged. “Whatever comes up.”

“I don’t think that is wise, sir.”

Everwynn nodded. “And I appreciate your wisdom. But tonight, perhaps a lack of wisdom, in deference to frank talk, may bring us closer together.”

Felton sighed. “When are you going to stop mocking my mannerisms, sir?”

“When you start having fun.” Everwynn’s eyes twinkled.

“I’ll have fun when you stop pissing off the local nobles and starting clan wars,” Felton muttered.

“What was that?”

“I’m going to check on master Doramont, sir,” Felton said quickly. He walked away without another word.

Everwynn watched him walk away. “That poor man is going to have heart attack, or have me crowned king.” He laughed. “Then I’ll be the one with a heart attack.”

“He seems, tense,” Gwen offered.

“He has a lot on his mind,” the duke said. “Keeping watch over myself, and the grounds, and the students.”

“And a ghost staff,” Gwen offered.

“That isn’t so hard,” Everwynn said. “They’re family to him.”

Gwen looked up.

“Felton is the last remaining heir of the servant lines.” Everwynn nodded towards the Tower. “Every single bone in that wretched place has kinship with your butler.”

“What?” Gwen exclaimed. “But, but he talks with us. He, he never mentioned anything…”

“Gwen, I thought you realized this,” Everwynn said. “No one mentions anything about themselves. It is, I suspect, a feature of society to keep one’s secrets to oneself.”

He turned, and started walking off towards the treeline. “Now, about that stroll.”

Gwen took the hint, and caught up with the duke.

They crossed the grounds, and turned left once they reached the trees, keeping the moon in sight. Everwynn looked up at the sky, smiling. He’d run his hand over the bark of a tree every hundred yards, or so, enjoying the texture.

Gwen tried to keep calm, but she couldn’t stop fidgeting. The duke was silent, serene, and she didn’t want to ruin that. But she needed answers.

“Duke?” she asked.

“I love this land,” Everwynn said. “Especially with how Doramont keeps it. There’s a sense of peace here that you don’t find in Callgar, or any other court. I can be…I can be better than I have ever been.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t have to kill anyone.”

Gwen chilled.

Everwynn sighed. “Gwen, have you ever tried to find a utopian existence?”

Gwen thought about it. Utopia. A perfect existence. Peace, compassion, equality and prosperity. Where everyone was able to pursue their dreams without fear.

“I have spent my adult life trying to bring about a utopia. Where those on my lands are not fearing whether or not they will live to see the morning. Where Doramont can pursue his horticulture. Indearie can compose. You can read, and perhaps even write.

“But I run into two major problems. Finances, and the designs of others.”

Everwynn picked a spot beneath an oak tree, and sat down. He sighed.

“How to describe my early childhood? I was groomed by my parents to be an extraordinarily gifted font of evil and power. To not be bothered by the slaughter of innocents, because it gave the family power. I would live, casually surrounded by those people I would soon butcher and set into eternal bondage.

“But something was…wrong, with me, by family standards. I liked playing with others that weren’t in the family. I adored the young serving girl that fetched the well water. I helped the porter lug new exotic gifts across the manse. And what I loved most of all was playing with the butler’s son in the forest. Running away from all sense of responsibility to be in these trees.”

Everwynn looked towards the Tower. “They tried to break me. The porter was soon replaced, and disappeared. The serving girl later, when my father erroneously thought that she was the full object of my affection. They even made me watch as they sacrificed Felton’s father. Binding him to the Tower.

“But it wasn’t until they tried to take Felton away that I lashed out. The thought of losing my friend, my one chance at light, that I found my own capacity for cruelty. The family soon learned just how unwise it was to train a killer and then take away the only parts of his life that kept him sane.”

“You killed them,” Gwen whispered. “You killed your family.”

“I removed their evil,” Everwynn said. “I snuffed out the Everwynn line. Two grandparents, six aunts and uncles, a score of cousins. One sister. And finally, my parents, who could never understood just what they had done to make me so angry.”

Everwynn held up his hand. It glowed an angry violet. “My magic, as I described, is specific, and quite effective. I can push past any and all magical defenses. No armor can block my strikes, no fortress can withstand my will. The Everwynn line was supposed to be the most magically proficient family in the Callgar lands, and I took us apart in an afternoon.”

“What,” Gwen started, and then gulped. “What did you do next?”

Everwynn shrugged. “I was sixteen at that time. Felton and I buried the bodies, and I was ready to tear this house apart, stone by stone, starting with that damnable Tower. But I wasn’t powerful enough to do that, not yet.

“I wanted to leave, but the idea of leaving this scar on the world, where others could find it, struck me as worse than using it myself. So here I stay.”

“And, you adopt children?” Gwen asked.

“I hope that by helping you all realize your potential, and become good members of society, I can start removing the evil my family has done.” He gave a wry smile. “See? Even my compassion is self-serving.”

Gwen nodded. “So…the killing?”

Everwynn sighed. “I have power. And a bit of a silver tongue, if I do say so myself. But I never got around to learning just what it takes to run an estate. I don’t know what it is that others can do to raise their funds except through my own specific skill.

“Which is about to become significantly harder.”

He reached down, and pulled off his right leg.

Gwen recoiled, aghast.

“Relax,” Everwynn said. He held it up. “It’s a prosthetic.”

It was. The leg was wooden. Perfectly molded, with lines of golden energy running up and down the side, concentrated in the joints.

“A marvel of engineering from Doramont,” Everwynn said. “Though he doesn’t know it. He had come to me with this design months ago. His plan, however, was self-improving, hoping to cut off a leg and better commune with his fauna. I convinced him that removing his limbs would not be endearing to the trees. And I had the design rattling around my room when I went into the Tower, and was able to fashion a limb for myself.”

He sighed. “It is serviceable. But I have lost a step or two. I doubt my clandestine operations will ever again be possible.”

He smiled again. “I need to find another source of revenue. Sorry.”

Gwen collapsed in the ground next to him. “This is…duke, this is too much.”

“Again, my apologies,” Everwynn said. “But after all you have been through, it is only going to get more complicated.”

Gwen’s mind raced. “So, you are trying to…rescue people? Like me, and Indearie?”

“I try to help people, who can also help themselves,” Everwynn said. “Though in public, I must take on certain airs. I can’t seem like a charity, or we will be overrun.”

“And you rescued Doramont and Drake from their own charges.”

Everwynn grunted, but did not confirm or deny.

Gwen sighed. “And Rosamund? What about her?”

Everwynn raised a hand to his face, and considered.

“What?”

“I have always believed that a man’s secrets are his own, until they become my problem. However, I have heard multiple times about the ongoing feud between the two of you.”

“Because she’s a cold, calculating…”

“Princess.”

“Yes!” Gwen shouted. Everwynn arched an eyebrow, and Gwen paused. “Wait, what?”

“Rosamund is a princess.”

Gwen shook her head. “Like, what kind?”

“The royal kind.”

“Get out.”

“I’m serious. Rosamund is fourth in line for the throne of Callgar. Her royal highness, one-time duchess of Alleyne.”

Gwen was ready to collapse now.

Everwynn smiled. “Do you know what the nobles think of the royal line? Not much, truly. Everyone knows the true power lays in each of us and our own estates. We have a royalty for convenience as much as a need for them. The figurehead keeps the citizenry mollified, and the king helps us settle disputes that get out of hand.”

He darkened. “But there are powers. Political moves, that could help families attain more wealth and power, if they had the right puppet on the Callgar throne. One family thought that Rosamund was the right puppet.”

“A coup?” Gwen asked. “Someone tried a coup?”

“And failed spectacularly,” Everwynn said. “Rather hard to perform a coup when your figurehead is completely unaware as to your intentions. Yes,” Everwynn said when Gwen realized what he said. “Rosamund had no idea what was going on. She didn’t trick a family, or manipulate others, or anything else you think. The poor princess was another casualty of politics.”

Gwen snorted. Poor princess.

Everwynn gave her a look. “Indeed. What do you think the punishment is for treason?”

Gwen chilled. Okay, that might be kind of a poor option.

“The rest of the royal family was ready to have her beheaded on the spot. The king, on the other hand, did not want to let the nobles know they could endanger the royal line through their own machinations. Luckily, I happened to be attending court, and the king knew of my current project with students. I took on Rosamund’s sentence, which was lessened to exile.”

Everwynn smiled. “Rosamund is forbidden from leaving the estate, on pain of death. She has been stuck here for three years, without any female companionship in that time.”

He laughed. “And then two lovely young women arrive. One, a character of poise, elegance and charm. Who shares her interests in the finer aspects of court, such as music, art, and boys. The former princess finally has someone who she can share her life with. If only the cruder, more prone to outburst woman would just stay out of her way.”

Gwen glared at him. “You saying this is all my fault that we fight?”

“I’m saying that young people have a tendency to be young people,” Everwynn said. “I don’t excuse Rosamund’s behavior, or yours, for that matter.”

Gwen reddened.

“Fighting with anyone not Indearie. Running away from your sentence. Almost setting the forest ablaze. And all while sulking that you’re not getting your way.”

Gwen stiffened. Here it was. The punishment.

“So what can I do to help?”

She stared. “What?”

“Gwen, I’m not your jailor,” Everwynn said. “None of us are here to punish you. We are all just trying to live our lives. I have tried for months to get you to understand that. So now I am just asking you. What can I do to help you feel more comfortable here?”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

Gwen thought about it. What did she need? What did she want? What would make her happy?

“I would like to learn more about my magic,” Gwen said. “And maybe even start finding a way to bring it out into the world.”

“That can be arranged.”

“And I want to make this place better,” Gwen said. She pointed at Everwynn. “That means financially stable. A real income, with imports and exports.”

“I believe there are books on the matter,” Everwynn started.

“Not good enough,” Gwen said. “You’ve left us all to our own devices, and we keep getting in trouble. Doramont’s found out about as much as he can about magic, and he’s plateaued. Indearie can’t learn music on her own. We need help. That means tutors.”

“Now hang on a minute!” Everwynn exclaimed. “The whole point of this is to keep the house’s secrets…secret!”

“Then we find the right teachers,” Gwen said. “Unless you don’t think you can.”

Everwynn darkened, and then laughed. “Now that’s a wonderful idea. I’ll talk with Felton, and we will draw up a list. They will have to be interviewed off-site of course.”

“We can accompany you off-site,” Gwen said. “The terms of our imprisonment stated such.”

Everwynn sighed. “You are a student, aren’t you? Very well. Anything else?”

Gwen reddened. “Just one other thing. I want…” she trailed off.

“Go ahead,” Everwynn said. “What is it?”

“I want to find my parents,” Gwen said. “Find out what happened to them.”

Everwynn beamed. “Done. But I am going to need something from you. No more fighting, got it? We need to learn how to be around each other without coming to blows.”

“They started…” Gwen stopped. “Got it.”

“And you continue to spend time with the staff. Read as much as you can. You must be better, because that is the only way this works.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And have fun.” Everwynn smiled. “Can we agree on that?”

“Yes!”

“Wonderful.” Everwynn looked at his leg. “Now go off to bed. I need to find out how I actually put this blasted thing on.”

Gwen brightened, and hugged Everwynn. The two embraced for a full ten seconds before Gwen realized what she had done. She released, turning a bright scarlet.

“Sorry! I mean, um, I’m…” she said lamely.

Everwynn laughed. “Go. Enjoy your evening.”

“Thank you!”

Gwen ran off to the house.

The duke sighed, and looked at his leg.

He had had to cut off his real one. The new count Deveren’s magic was persistent. It had burned down to the bone, and threatened to consume him. And even after he had cut off the affected limb, the fire had still tried to eat at him. If he hadn’t been in the Tower, he doubted he would have survived.

Deveren suspected something was up. Not just with him and young Gwen. But with the house. He would not remain silent. The other nobles were sure to start taking an interest in the mysterious Everwynn manse again.

And then there was the Tower. Everwynn could already see the blue shine start to return. His family was still in there, plotting. Trying to strengthen their defenses even as they sought to extend their reach.

He had beaten them tonight. But there was always tomorrow.

There was all of eternity for the Everwynns.

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Dead by the Book

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I didn't ask for a destiny.

Especially one that says that I'm supposed to destroy every god in existence.

It made the name William Creed a curse. Made me turn tail and run from the only home I knew. Left my friend, my favorite ghost, and hoped that the gods would just forget about me.

But now I'm back. Chasing the one good paycheck I've seen in years. Chasing some kid who's in way over his head, searching for a book that could break reality.

I'll have to take on dragons, the undead, a whole cosmos of deities, and my own mother.

Welcome to God Street. Where miracles become realities.

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