| Fantasy Fiction posted February 20, 2019 | Chapters: |
...8 9 -10- 11... 
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After everyone leaves, reality starts to come to light...
A chapter in the book Renaissance of Enchantment
Chapter Three, Part 4
by Y. M. Roger
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.
| Background Maggie is up in New York and has no idea about any of this. Rosemary has finally been laid to rest and the guests have gone home. Geoffrey's flight leaves tomorrow morning. Now, it gets interesting... |
The sun had set as Peadar rocked slowly in one of the rocking chairs on the expansive front porch. He mumbled incoherently about nothing in particular as he puffed slowly on his pipe. His hands worked deftly on a pair of Kato’s large athletic shoes the large male had, once again, managed to wear through. On a normal, inviting evening such as this, Peadar would be off somewhere up to something. But, right now was anything but normal.
He was, however, quite glad the whole celebration thing was done; Peadar was simply not cut out for dealing with people. Not at all. Deep puff on the pipe as his mind continued to wander. Now, if they could only get this Marguerite here.
“Then things kin settle down ‘round here,” he mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the nearly 700-pound lion that had been napping nearby stirred, a low growl rising up from its massive frame.
The both of them raised their eyes to focus on the figures approaching along the front walk. The first, a large dog, black as midnight. The second, of obvious feminine stature – a hooded cape making her identity unmistakable.
The lion leapt to its feet, its growl much more menacing this time. But Peadar was slower to rise, taking a long and purposeful time to put down the shoe and then his needle as he spoke.
“Inside. Now!” his words, though whispered, were harsh and demanding. They were spoken around his pipe he had clenched tightly in his teeth.
The lion growled in disagreement as the hair stood along its backbone. It turned its head toward Peadar briefly and rumbled its argument.
“Miss Rosemary’s wards are still stron’, I kin feel ‘em,” Peadar spoke to the beast as he held the screen door to the house open, “Now. Git inside an’ lemme ‘andle her.”
The lion let out a short roar directed at the visitor – who was about halfway up the walk now – before turning to trot inside.
“Tell the others.” Peadar added just above a whisper as the massive lion brushed against his leg on the way in the door.
Another growl and a huff was all Peadar got as acknowledgement before he let the screen door close behind the huge jungle cat. He then turned his attention to the approaching figures. Peadar tried to calm his emotions as he prepared to speak; he had less than nothing to say to this dark bitch tonight as his anger brewed inside of him.
Said bitch stopped a few feet from the bottom step and lowered her hood, raising her face to Peadar who still stood on the porch. Gods be damned, but she was beautiful! Peadar had forgotten what the Sisters looked like under full spell and seal of the Order. But that realization also confirmed the suspicion he’d had of Rosemary’s leaving the Sisterhood – Geoffrey’s comment in the hospital about the arrangements having been yet another in a long line of clues.
Peadar had actually watched their Rosemary age over the past few years – something she had not done up to a point – something this evil bitch in front of him obviously had under control. No, it may have been gradual, but Miss Rosemary had definitely grown older before her sudden death. Oh, she’d done it gracefully and her attitude and abilities had never wavered, but the lines on her aging face had spoken volumes to him.
Just as the lack of those lines on the face he now beheld spoke different volumes. Volumes of lies. Of deceit. And of avarice.
Of an Order that had apparently set about to and had succeeded in bringing down the Guardian Protectress of their sanctuary grounds…of each of them…of all that passed through her wards and through the door of The Refuge.
The perfect, glowing female smiled at Peadar. It was a smile that promised many pleasurable things, and he felt his trousers tighten with the visions of those pleasures.
Bitch.
Just like the inky mongrel sitting at her side.
Peadar ground his teeth, removing his pipe to keep from breaking it. In the process, he felt his nails begin to elongate with his anger.
“Fer as ye go, manky bitch.” He breathed in and out to control his arousal the female’s scent physically induced. “The both o’ ye.”
Her smile never wavered.
“Ahhh, but handsome Peadar, if you would invite me just onto the front porch, perhaps we could come to an agreement of sorts. After all, the Order has no quarrel with-”
Peadar sneered as he watched her hands moving rhythmically at her sides, just ever so slightly. He knew she was tracing spells to test the strong wards Rosemary had woven around the house.
“Ye did no’want Miss Rosemary here anymo’, did ye? But the lass woul’ no’ give eet up, wood shee?” Peadar watched that perfect smile falter only for the briefest of moments as she reached up to release the first tie in her traveling cape. The opening revealed that luscious and calling cleavage like a cloche reveals a succulent meal at a feast.
“Oh, Peadar. Just a conversation. You and I out here in the moonlight.” Her voice dropped an octave, and Peadar felt his mouth begin to water as he watched her finger tease the skin there. “As I said, our quarrel is not with-”
“Ballsch! Ye feckin’ teez!” he exclaimed as he wiped his drool over the goods she was displaying – goods that no Sister ever intended to share, “Ye Order bitches coul’ no’ even give her a proper send off, coodyee?” Peadar let his anger steer his mind away from the building arousal game she was playing. “And jus’ ‘oo is eet, exactly, ye have ye angst wi-”
“With me.”
Demetrius’ deep voice behind him startled Peadar, but the immediate transformation of the female’s alluring smile to an animalistic snarl was frightening. She raised her hands to cast.
“Animal!” She screeched as a barely visible arc flew from each of her hands only to dissipate just a few feet in front of her – Rosemary’s wards absorbing it without so much as a tremor.
The black dog at her side set into its offensive stance; its hair on end along its spine as it bared its rows of sharp teeth.
“Her wards are stronger that any of yours.” Demetrius’ voice was cold and mocking. “Which is why you still cannot enter, just as you could not when she was alive.”
The ugly anger that had taken over the female continued to simmer as she raised her lip in a snarl to create a cacophony with those elicited by her charcoal mongrel.
“But she lives no more, filthy beast! And her wards will now fade with her passing, just as all natural powers do! And then you will be ours for the killing.”
Demetrius showed no emotion at all as he allowed a laugh, such as it was, to escape him. Peadar took one step to the side away from the towering man who radiated a barely-leashed power of his own at the moment – the depths of which Peadar was not sure he could comprehend.
“Ah, but what if the new Protectress is not of your Order, Femme?” Demetrius actually cocked his head slightly to one side, mocking the angered female. “I would think that might be a problem for you.”
Now, it was evil bitch’s turn to fake a laugh.
“There is none that can stand against the trained hand of a Hecate Sister, you disgusting animal!”
Her contempt was palpable to Peadar. It seemed the Order really wanted Demetrius for….something. But even as he wondered about the dark figure beside him that had come to reside with them a few years past, Peadar could not help the hate-fueled laughter that bubbled up from inside of him.
Oh, he’d really like to strangle her right here. Right now.
For their brave Rosemary.
“Horse shite! Miss Rosemary stood agin’ all o’ ye fer years, did she no’?!”
Evil bitch grinned with a conniving glare that reflected the moonlight in an eerie manner.
“We took her out slowly, like she deserved for her misplaced loyalty, you meddling creature,” she reached up and re-tied the top of her traveling cloak, a wicked almost vicious grin coating her face, “The Mighty Hecate owns a piece of every Sister, and betrayal is never tolerated.”
Peadar watched Demetrius’ hands fist to the point of shaking, and the towering man seemed to fight a smile. His voice, however, was as unfeeling and frigid as ever.
“Confession duly noted, witch.” Was that fear that momentarily flashed across her face? “But smiles are not usually worn by the hunted so you must have found enjoyment in your task, yes?”
Evil bitch’s eyes flashed to Peadar.
“There is never satisfaction in taking down one of our own.” Her voice had a bit of a different tone this time. More clipped. More unsure, perhaps. “Even if Rosemary had brought it on herself.”
She sneered and began to raise her hood. Peadar growled at her pointed confirmation of his suspicions as his claws fully extended, the air surrounding the shorter man filling slowly with a pink and green mist.
Demetrius’ fists relaxed. If, in his anger, Peadar could have gotten a better look into the man’s eyes, he would have seen a sinister delight dancing there. Like a child’s delight at solving a puzzle.
“So, you admit there have been others?”
At Demetrius’ question, the female froze in the raising of her hood – the halt in motion only momentary, but Peadar caught it. The question had taken her off-guard, and that realization alone made Peadar re-examine the dark man beside him.
The one who raised a slow, simple eyebrow to accompany his question of the defiant female.
The dog beside her began to fidget and whine, unsettled, it seemed, about something. Evil bitch then sniffed and continued raising her hood to placement. A smile slowly crept back across her perfect lips as a slight huff slipped out, the forced breath to be her only response to Demetrius’ prosecutorial inquiry.
“Know this, vile abomination.” She indicated her head toward Demetrius, the contempt returning to her voice. “Hecate will bathe her vengeance in your blood, and anyone who dares provide safe harbor to your kind against us will pay dearly.”
The female turned and walked away, her unkempt and smelly black beast by her side. Her silhouette was soon swallowed up by the darkness.
Peadar took a deep breath to clear his senses, and the colorful mist surrounding him began to subside. He withdrew his claws as he began to speak, turning toward Demetrius in question.
“Why, exactly, was sanctuary necessary for a–”
But Peadar was alone on the porch.
to be continued…
He was, however, quite glad the whole celebration thing was done; Peadar was simply not cut out for dealing with people. Not at all. Deep puff on the pipe as his mind continued to wander. Now, if they could only get this Marguerite here.
“Then things kin settle down ‘round here,” he mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, the nearly 700-pound lion that had been napping nearby stirred, a low growl rising up from its massive frame.
The both of them raised their eyes to focus on the figures approaching along the front walk. The first, a large dog, black as midnight. The second, of obvious feminine stature – a hooded cape making her identity unmistakable.
The lion leapt to its feet, its growl much more menacing this time. But Peadar was slower to rise, taking a long and purposeful time to put down the shoe and then his needle as he spoke.
“Inside. Now!” his words, though whispered, were harsh and demanding. They were spoken around his pipe he had clenched tightly in his teeth.
The lion growled in disagreement as the hair stood along its backbone. It turned its head toward Peadar briefly and rumbled its argument.
“Miss Rosemary’s wards are still stron’, I kin feel ‘em,” Peadar spoke to the beast as he held the screen door to the house open, “Now. Git inside an’ lemme ‘andle her.”
The lion let out a short roar directed at the visitor – who was about halfway up the walk now – before turning to trot inside.
“Tell the others.” Peadar added just above a whisper as the massive lion brushed against his leg on the way in the door.
Another growl and a huff was all Peadar got as acknowledgement before he let the screen door close behind the huge jungle cat. He then turned his attention to the approaching figures. Peadar tried to calm his emotions as he prepared to speak; he had less than nothing to say to this dark bitch tonight as his anger brewed inside of him.
Said bitch stopped a few feet from the bottom step and lowered her hood, raising her face to Peadar who still stood on the porch. Gods be damned, but she was beautiful! Peadar had forgotten what the Sisters looked like under full spell and seal of the Order. But that realization also confirmed the suspicion he’d had of Rosemary’s leaving the Sisterhood – Geoffrey’s comment in the hospital about the arrangements having been yet another in a long line of clues.
Peadar had actually watched their Rosemary age over the past few years – something she had not done up to a point – something this evil bitch in front of him obviously had under control. No, it may have been gradual, but Miss Rosemary had definitely grown older before her sudden death. Oh, she’d done it gracefully and her attitude and abilities had never wavered, but the lines on her aging face had spoken volumes to him.
Just as the lack of those lines on the face he now beheld spoke different volumes. Volumes of lies. Of deceit. And of avarice.
Of an Order that had apparently set about to and had succeeded in bringing down the Guardian Protectress of their sanctuary grounds…of each of them…of all that passed through her wards and through the door of The Refuge.
The perfect, glowing female smiled at Peadar. It was a smile that promised many pleasurable things, and he felt his trousers tighten with the visions of those pleasures.
Bitch.
Just like the inky mongrel sitting at her side.
Peadar ground his teeth, removing his pipe to keep from breaking it. In the process, he felt his nails begin to elongate with his anger.
“Fer as ye go, manky bitch.” He breathed in and out to control his arousal the female’s scent physically induced. “The both o’ ye.”
Her smile never wavered.
“Ahhh, but handsome Peadar, if you would invite me just onto the front porch, perhaps we could come to an agreement of sorts. After all, the Order has no quarrel with-”
Peadar sneered as he watched her hands moving rhythmically at her sides, just ever so slightly. He knew she was tracing spells to test the strong wards Rosemary had woven around the house.
“Ye did no’want Miss Rosemary here anymo’, did ye? But the lass woul’ no’ give eet up, wood shee?” Peadar watched that perfect smile falter only for the briefest of moments as she reached up to release the first tie in her traveling cape. The opening revealed that luscious and calling cleavage like a cloche reveals a succulent meal at a feast.
“Oh, Peadar. Just a conversation. You and I out here in the moonlight.” Her voice dropped an octave, and Peadar felt his mouth begin to water as he watched her finger tease the skin there. “As I said, our quarrel is not with-”
“Ballsch! Ye feckin’ teez!” he exclaimed as he wiped his drool over the goods she was displaying – goods that no Sister ever intended to share, “Ye Order bitches coul’ no’ even give her a proper send off, coodyee?” Peadar let his anger steer his mind away from the building arousal game she was playing. “And jus’ ‘oo is eet, exactly, ye have ye angst wi-”
“With me.”
Demetrius’ deep voice behind him startled Peadar, but the immediate transformation of the female’s alluring smile to an animalistic snarl was frightening. She raised her hands to cast.
“Animal!” She screeched as a barely visible arc flew from each of her hands only to dissipate just a few feet in front of her – Rosemary’s wards absorbing it without so much as a tremor.
The black dog at her side set into its offensive stance; its hair on end along its spine as it bared its rows of sharp teeth.
“Her wards are stronger that any of yours.” Demetrius’ voice was cold and mocking. “Which is why you still cannot enter, just as you could not when she was alive.”
The ugly anger that had taken over the female continued to simmer as she raised her lip in a snarl to create a cacophony with those elicited by her charcoal mongrel.
“But she lives no more, filthy beast! And her wards will now fade with her passing, just as all natural powers do! And then you will be ours for the killing.”
Demetrius showed no emotion at all as he allowed a laugh, such as it was, to escape him. Peadar took one step to the side away from the towering man who radiated a barely-leashed power of his own at the moment – the depths of which Peadar was not sure he could comprehend.
“Ah, but what if the new Protectress is not of your Order, Femme?” Demetrius actually cocked his head slightly to one side, mocking the angered female. “I would think that might be a problem for you.”
Now, it was evil bitch’s turn to fake a laugh.
“There is none that can stand against the trained hand of a Hecate Sister, you disgusting animal!”
Her contempt was palpable to Peadar. It seemed the Order really wanted Demetrius for….something. But even as he wondered about the dark figure beside him that had come to reside with them a few years past, Peadar could not help the hate-fueled laughter that bubbled up from inside of him.
Oh, he’d really like to strangle her right here. Right now.
For their brave Rosemary.
“Horse shite! Miss Rosemary stood agin’ all o’ ye fer years, did she no’?!”
Evil bitch grinned with a conniving glare that reflected the moonlight in an eerie manner.
“We took her out slowly, like she deserved for her misplaced loyalty, you meddling creature,” she reached up and re-tied the top of her traveling cloak, a wicked almost vicious grin coating her face, “The Mighty Hecate owns a piece of every Sister, and betrayal is never tolerated.”
Peadar watched Demetrius’ hands fist to the point of shaking, and the towering man seemed to fight a smile. His voice, however, was as unfeeling and frigid as ever.
“Confession duly noted, witch.” Was that fear that momentarily flashed across her face? “But smiles are not usually worn by the hunted so you must have found enjoyment in your task, yes?”
Evil bitch’s eyes flashed to Peadar.
“There is never satisfaction in taking down one of our own.” Her voice had a bit of a different tone this time. More clipped. More unsure, perhaps. “Even if Rosemary had brought it on herself.”
She sneered and began to raise her hood. Peadar growled at her pointed confirmation of his suspicions as his claws fully extended, the air surrounding the shorter man filling slowly with a pink and green mist.
Demetrius’ fists relaxed. If, in his anger, Peadar could have gotten a better look into the man’s eyes, he would have seen a sinister delight dancing there. Like a child’s delight at solving a puzzle.
“So, you admit there have been others?”
At Demetrius’ question, the female froze in the raising of her hood – the halt in motion only momentary, but Peadar caught it. The question had taken her off-guard, and that realization alone made Peadar re-examine the dark man beside him.
The one who raised a slow, simple eyebrow to accompany his question of the defiant female.
The dog beside her began to fidget and whine, unsettled, it seemed, about something. Evil bitch then sniffed and continued raising her hood to placement. A smile slowly crept back across her perfect lips as a slight huff slipped out, the forced breath to be her only response to Demetrius’ prosecutorial inquiry.
“Know this, vile abomination.” She indicated her head toward Demetrius, the contempt returning to her voice. “Hecate will bathe her vengeance in your blood, and anyone who dares provide safe harbor to your kind against us will pay dearly.”
The female turned and walked away, her unkempt and smelly black beast by her side. Her silhouette was soon swallowed up by the darkness.
Peadar took a deep breath to clear his senses, and the colorful mist surrounding him began to subside. He withdrew his claws as he began to speak, turning toward Demetrius in question.
“Why, exactly, was sanctuary necessary for a–”
But Peadar was alone on the porch.
to be continued…
 Recognized |
I know this was a bit longer, but it was too short to cut into two (they would have been too short each). Thank you for your diligence!! :) ;)
This is the end of chapter three -- we're back to New York with the next posting...remember, Geoffrey's flight leaves in the morning. :)
Rosemary - (deceased) Rosemary Fenna, Sister of the World Wide Hecate Order and Guardian Protectress of The Refuge
Geoffrey Staltson - Rosemary's lawyer and friend to the residents at The Refuge
Demetrius - tall, mysterious male resident of The Refuge, does not seem to socialize with the others
Peadar - Irish male resident of The Refuge, helped Rosemary with upkeep
Lycaois - (aka Lyca) Goth, warrior-looking female resident of The Refuge
Koko - Native American male resident of The Refuge, has unending optimism and warmth about him...most of the time
Kato - large male resident who wears the clothes of a teenager
Charlise Staltson - Geoffrey's wife (they have a three-way marriage - Geoffrey, Gary, and Charlie)
Gary Staltson - Geoffrey's husband
Freki - Lyca's over-sized pet 'dog'
Stephen - private investigator employed by Geoffrey
Jinx - computer hack/whiz working with Stephen, handles all the tech-forensics for investigations
Witch of the Hecate Order -- first appearance here
Image of 'Delightful Southern House Plans' at The Image Fixer [theimagefixer.com]
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. This is the end of chapter three -- we're back to New York with the next posting...remember, Geoffrey's flight leaves in the morning. :)
Rosemary - (deceased) Rosemary Fenna, Sister of the World Wide Hecate Order and Guardian Protectress of The Refuge
Geoffrey Staltson - Rosemary's lawyer and friend to the residents at The Refuge
Demetrius - tall, mysterious male resident of The Refuge, does not seem to socialize with the others
Peadar - Irish male resident of The Refuge, helped Rosemary with upkeep
Lycaois - (aka Lyca) Goth, warrior-looking female resident of The Refuge
Koko - Native American male resident of The Refuge, has unending optimism and warmth about him...most of the time
Kato - large male resident who wears the clothes of a teenager
Charlise Staltson - Geoffrey's wife (they have a three-way marriage - Geoffrey, Gary, and Charlie)
Gary Staltson - Geoffrey's husband
Freki - Lyca's over-sized pet 'dog'
Stephen - private investigator employed by Geoffrey
Jinx - computer hack/whiz working with Stephen, handles all the tech-forensics for investigations
Witch of the Hecate Order -- first appearance here
Image of 'Delightful Southern House Plans' at The Image Fixer [theimagefixer.com]
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