Page 44 of Alpha's Magic

But it was Harrison’s kingdom. All I could do was follow his laws or leave, and that was beginning to look more and more attractive to me all the time. There was one more option and that was to work for change. I’d have to talk to Wyatt about all that. He was living with his omega in the lodge we’d once all shared here in Morovia, before each of us had drifted away. If I went to Igella, or even took Leo to Sudfarma, then Wyatt would be the one left to decide what to do about the lodge. He could decide if he wanted to stay or join one of us in a new place.

Meanwhile, I wanted to keep Leo’s book with me, because I’d had a chance to look through it, while I was waiting for him to return. It was a nasty little thing, in my opinion, but that was only my opinion—no better or worse than anyone else’s. It had no harmful magic of its own, and that was the important thing. No one had infused it with anything destructive, in other words. I decided to take it with me when we left, so it wouldn’t be found afterward to be used against my omega.

I went back to the fire, made the coffee and gave Leo some of the food I’d brought. There would be an open-air market in Marikosh, where I could buy more supplies after we arrived.

“I never asked you, but have you ever been back to the house you lived in with your parents? It was called Rook Hall, wasn’t it?”

He gave me a slightly wild look and shuddered. “Yes. But I’ve not ever returned. Grimora tried to get me to go with him, but I refused.”

I knew this whole thing was still upsetting him. Perhaps just the idea of returning was making him nervous and filling him with anxiety, and if that were true, I needed to know. I reached for his hand and held it casually in mine.

“Did Grimora ever go alone to investigate?”

“No. I never told him everything. He figured it out eventually, but he didn’t make me talk about it, and he never asked me questions.”

“It’s all right,” I said, squeezing his cold hand. “But we’ll need to go there and see if we can find anyone who might still be living there and knew your family. Anyone who might know exactly what happened that last night.”

“Is it still standing?”

“I assume so. It hasn’t been too long. I’ll speak to Lex about it, but it’s my understanding that the house belonged to the royal family, much like our lodge. As such, it can’t be disposed of or sold.”

“I see.”

“We need to go back there ourselves. And talk to any servants who might be around. Are you ready for that?”

“Yes,” he said, but I wasn’t convinced. I decided to let it drop for now.

We rode into Marikosh a little more than an hour later. It was a typical northern Morovian village, though this one was a bit smaller than most. We attracted a fair bit of notice, especially when I stopped and asked directions to the estate.

“Rook Hall? The old royal estate? The one where the prince used to live?”

The question surprised me. I guess it hadn’t been so long since the shocking events that happened there at all. The old man who had asked was from the marketplace, where I’d stopped to buy some provisions at his stall—some eggs, goat cheese and a loaf of bread.

“Yes, that’s the one,” I replied. “My name is Lord Asher and I’m here on behalf of his Majesty King Harrison. He has an interest in the place. He may want to reopen it.”

“Oh, is that right, sir?” he asked, his eyes avid. There wasn’t much new in a small village like this one, so I’d given him some good gossip, which had been my intention. I wanted word to get around that I was here looking into the old place. Maybe some of the former employees might even stop by out of curiosity.

“Well, I wish you luck. People avoid the old house these days, you know.”

“No one is living there?”

“Just the caretaker and housekeeper. They keep it in good repair. But no one else goes there. Even if they do, they don’t spend the night.”

“Is that right? Why not?”

“Well, there are many who say it’s haunted. You must know the story of the house, sir, and the murders there? How His Highness went mad one night and killed the whole family? The servants had to run for their lives. There were tales of demons and beasts as well. People say a woman in white walks the halls at night.”

“Is that so?” I glanced over at Leo to find him pale and gazing off into the distance, pretending not to have heard.

I paid the man and moved farther down the street, with Leo trailing slowly after me. In a nearby booth, I bought some fruit and a few bottles of local beer. It looked like this town had no sign of an inn, and we’d need a place to stay tonight. My hopes were that the old house was in good repair, and we could at least camp out in one of the rooms for the night. I wasn’t sure how Leo would feel about that, but I was hopeful that he’d see reason. We’d probably have very little choice. This village was more remote than I’d thought.

I put my purchases in my packs and got on the horse, reaching down for Leo and settling him in front of me again. He sat stiffly, his eyes straight ahead, as we rode slowly out of the village, following the directions I’d been given.

It looked a bit like rain, with gray clouds hanging low in the sky overhead. As we topped a ridge overlooking the manor, I got my first sight of the old house. It looked cold and unwelcoming—the perfect setting to imagine a murder or two.

The walls of the house were tall and of gray stone. There was a long, circular driveway that curved around to the impressive double front doors. The gravel in the old driveway was scattered and sparse. It was strewn with branches and one fallen tree lay across it. It must have fallen recently, because the rest of the grounds were in good shape, although since the weather had turned so cold this far north, the shrubbery was practically non-existent. It gave the house a stark aspect. I moved my horse around the downed tree easily enough and up the driveway to the house. The windows were uncovered and if I had been fanciful, I might have said they looked like empty, dark eyes sockets watching us as we came up the driveway.

“I remember when there were flowers all along the walkway,” Leo said softly. “And shrubbery by the house. It used to be beautiful.”

---