The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (55 page)

“Maybe you should tell her that, or better yet, tell the baby.” Chris closed his folder. “It’s 2:00. Are you ready?”

Kevin nodded and stood up. “I’ll be glad when this day is done. Oh, by the way, you’ll probably get done before I do. Kyle needs to go home this evening. If he shows up before I get back, can you take him?”

“Be glad to. The thought of going up there will give me something to look forward to while I’m doing all of this,” Chris said as he lifted the folder. Then he took out the small map of Camden he was carrying with him, found his first town, turned the key, and was gone.

Kevin sighed as he looked at his own map, found his first town, and began his rounds, too.

~ ~ ~ ~

It was a little after eight before Kevin made it back to his office. When he first popped in, he didn’t move. He just stood there for a moment. Then he slowly walked over to his chair and more or less fell into it.

“Tired?” Chris asked as he pointed to the mug of scog sitting in the middle of Kevin’s desk.

Kevin didn’t answer. He just nodded, picked up the mug, and sipped the beverage.

After a few minutes, and half the mug of scog, he leaned back and said, “I thought this afternoon would never end. I have never seen so much luggage. How long are these people going to stay? We traveled for a year with less stuff than some of them brought for the weekend.”

Chris laughed. “Which is why your list was so much longer than mine. But it’s not like you had to physically pick all that stuff up.”

Kevin nodded. “That’s true, but at a few places, I had to make two trips. They had more stuff than I could carry in one.” Kevin shook his head. “And to top it off, I’m afraid I may have insulted a few people along the way.”

“More than you know,” Chris said.

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Tell me how you insulted people and then I’ll tell you about my day.”

“Today was strange. A couple of women acted like I was a butler or something. They were full of instructions on how I was to treat their stuff, and they were sort of hateful about it too, but most of the people I met today were nice. Most of the women offered me something to drink and a bite to eat. Some had set up an afternoon tea with all kinds of pastries laid out on fancy tablecloths. A few had even invited the district sorcerer, captain, town officers, shop owners, local sisters, everyone they could think of to their house to meet me, and every one of them wanted to chat. All I could do was nod at them as a group, thank them for coming, and leave. I know their guests felt really slighted.” Kevin drank some more scog. “Then there were the matchmakers. I got introduced to a lot of daughters, nieces, single friends, and even granddaughters today, and in every case, they wanted me to sit and chat, go for a walk, have tea, whatever. I didn’t have time for all that nonsense.”

Chris laughed. “So what did you do?”

“Told them I was pleased to meet them and got out of there as fast as I could.”

“At least the people on your list got you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the nine men I picked up were fine with it, but the other ten… Let’s just say those women were expecting you. Some of them had refreshments and guests too, but all they got was me, and they were a bit put out about it.”

“But you only had nineteen. At least you had time to talk to their guests for a minute and eat a bite,” Kevin said.

Chris shook his head. “A couple of the women were gracious enough to offer me some tea and a pastry, but they were just being polite. And three of them had some girls lined up for you to meet. From the looks of their dresses and fancy hairdos, I bet they spent all morning getting ready. All so they could meet you. Yeah, we ended up hurting some feelings today.”

Kevin shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“Oh, I took Kyle home. And played with Nikki for about half an hour,” Chris said as he finished off his scog. “I like that pup. Can’t wait until she comes here to live.”

“I can’t either,” Kevin agreed. He turned up his mug and drank the rest of his scog. “Guess we’d better get out of here and play hosts.”

“Miranda did a cookout for the men on the patio. Might not be a bad idea to put in an appearance. That way the men can let their wives know how late you got back. May make a few of them feel a little better about being rushed.”

“I doubt it, but we can hope.” Kevin stood up and stretched. “Maybe we can slip out before long. I’m beat, and tomorrow’s going to be every bit as busy as today.”

Chapter 51

Things Get Started

Saturday morning Kevin was up before daybreak. It was going to be a long day and he wanted to run through his morning routine before it started. As he made his way out to the willow grove, he passed a few ministers. He nodded, but he didn’t stop to talk. If he spoke to one, he’d have to speak to them all, and he never would get to his grove.

As he went through his routine, he blocked out everything but the magic. After running through it twice, he felt loose and relaxed.

On his way back to the castle, Kevin realized the number of ministers standing around the backyard had more than tripled. The sun wasn’t even up yet. Was something going on he didn’t know about?

Kevin opened one of the doors to the dining room. He’d intended to pick up a couple of cups of coffee, but when he saw Miranda, Cryslyn, Allisandra, and Joan all busy putting the finishing touches on the decorations for the brunch, he decided to skip the coffee and get out of there as quickly as possible.

But he wasn’t quite quick enough. Allisandra spotted him. “Myron, we need a little help. Come here for a moment. These garlands need to be hung on the chandeliers and this banner needs to be hung. If I’m going to finish these centerpieces before people start coming in, I don’t have time to do it.”

After Kevin finished hanging things for his aunt, he turned to Miranda and asked, “Is there any coffee in the kitchen?”

She smiled and nodded. “And in your room. Chris has already been down.”

Before he could reach the stairway to the family quarters, he was stopped at least a dozen times by ministers who wanted to tell him how much they’d enjoyed the light show they’d witnessed over the willow grove that morning. Kevin wasn’t sure how to respond, so he thanked them and said he needed to change clothes.

Rupert was on duty at the foot of the stairs. “You’ve had quite a few well-wishers this morning, sir.”

“Well-wishers?”

Rupert nodded. “I’m not sure what else to call them. People who wanted to go upstairs to your room to wish you a pleasant day. I suggested they wait for you in your office. I’m afraid I may have offended a couple of them when I didn’t allow them upstairs.”

“Thank you for holding off the invasion, Rupert. I appreciate it.”

Rupert nodded. “One of the pleasures of my job, sir.”

Kevin laughed as he made his way up the stairs.

When he got to his room, Chris was out on the adjoining balcony. A cup of coffee was sitting on the coffee table, so Kevin picked it up and joined Chris on the balcony.

“Nice workout,” Chris said. Then he motioned towards the ministers wandering around out back. “And a nice audience.”

“Did they really get up that early just to watch me run through my routine?”

Chris nodded. “That’s the only reason I can come up with. They stood out there in small groups while you were working out, but now that you’re back inside, they can’t seem to figure out what to do with themselves. We might need to set up some coffee or something soon.”

Kevin shook his head. “I don’t get it.”

“What?”

“Why they’d want to watch a little glow of light come and go.”

“It’s a novelty. How often do they get to watch a sorcerer work out?”

“I have no idea, but I can’t imagine anything more boring. It’s not like they can see me do anything.” Kevin turned and went back inside.

Chris came in a few minutes later while Kevin was changing into his official uniform. “Ready for more coffee?”

Kevin nodded. “But I’ll go with you. Give me another couple of minutes and I’ll be ready to head out.”

A few minutes later, as they were leaving his room, Kevin said, “On second thought, let’s send one of the pages, and while they’re getting our coffee, they can mention something to Miranda about setting some coffee out back for the ministers.”

“Don’t want to go down there yourself, huh?” Chris asked.

Kevin shook his head. “Once was enough. I had to hang garlands and banners on my way back in this morning. I don’t want to even think about what they might find for me to do next. And besides, I’ve got to go get Kyle in a few minutes.”

“If you’re needed in the dining room, I could go get Kyle,” Chris offered with a grin.

“No way. You got to go last night. My turn this morning. But I’ll be more than happy to let you help out in the dining room. Just say the word.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin had just come back from picking up Kyle and they were walking towards the stairs to the guest quarters when he spotted a buggy pull up to the front steps. It was barely 8:00.

A couple of the grounds men, who were dressed in spotless and obviously new uniforms, waited at the bottom of the steps. As the buggy rolled to a stop, one of them stepped in front and took hold of the horse’s reins while the other helped the ladies down. As the ladies reached the top of the steps, two guards opened the front doors and bowed as they walked in.

Kevin was impressed. “I don’t get that kind of treatment when I come in,” he whispered to Kyle.

Kyle laughed. “How often do you come in the front door.”

“You have a point.”

“I’m sure they’d do that for you if you wanted them to, but somehow I just don’t see it.”

“Neither do I,” Kevin agreed, “but the ladies look like they expect it, like anything less would be unacceptable.”

“Those women are every bit as impressed as you are. They’re just better at not showing it.” When they reached the bottom of the steps, Kyle paused and asked, “Are you coming up?”

Kevin shook his head. “I need to get back to the office. I’ll see you at the brunch.”

Kyle headed up the steps, while Kevin walked back across the entrance hall towards his office. He hadn’t seen most of them come in, but there were over a dozen ladies scattered around the hall. A couple were seated, but most stood in small clusters, chatting. Some were young, some old, some in between. Some were bone thin, some were plump, but most weren’t either one. The only thing they had in common was they were all dressed in flowing gowns and fancy hats, not exactly what he was used to seeing the women around the castle wear, and definitely not for breakfast.

When he got to his office, he asked Ariel, “Is the brunch for everyone? Or just the women?”

“Everyone,” Ariel answered. “Or at least your family, Steve’s family, and the invited guests. The castle staff’s already eaten.”

Kevin nodded and headed for his office. The door was closed, so he knocked once and opened it. Chris was sitting at one of the small desks with his head bent over a stack of papers.

Kevin circled around to his chair and looked over at Chris. “Anything I need to know about?”

“No,” Chris said. “I’m hiding.”

Kevin laughed “From whom?”

Chris darted his eyes towards the open door. He got up and closed it. “Cryslyn has everything under control. Your aunt’s flower arrangements are gorgeous. Miranda has the brunch ready to serve. Your uncles are smart. They’re down at the lot getting things ready for the men to start building, except for Kyle, but I’m sure he’ll find them soon enough. Danyelle and her children are outside in the playground with Serra and the staff’s children.”

Kevin frowned. “So who are you hiding from? Who’s left? Laryn? Joan?”

Chris shook his head. “The last I saw of them, they were hiding in Joan’s office with Petri guarding the door.”

“So? Who are you hiding from?”

“Dara. Apparently everyone is doing everything wrong and since they won’t listen to her, she needs someone from this office to order them to do as she says.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “You know, if she wasn’t Dayed’s wife, it would be funny. How did you handle it?”

“I told her I didn’t have the authority to order anything, that I was just an assistant and no one listens to me anyway. She’d have to wait for you. And I hid in here.”

At that point there was one hard knock on the door and it swung open. Dara was standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “About time you got here. How do you expect to run this castle if you aren’t available to make decisions?”

“Well, for one thing, I don’t run this castle. That’s Cryslyn’s job. We have a deal. I don’t mess with her job and she doesn’t try to do mine. Division of labor. I have the same deal with Miranda.”

“Humph! That’s no way for the head of the House of Nordin to handle things. You’re supposed to be in charge, so take charge!”

“I’m in charge of seeing to it that we have competent staff, and we do, so I stay out of their way and let them do their job. But I take it you have a problem. What is it?”

“The decorations in the dining room are all wrong! She has flowers hanging from the chandeliers!”

“You don’t like the way they’re hung?”

“No, I don’t! They look, well, tacky.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but you weren’t in there to tell me how you wanted it done when I put them up this morning, and it’s a little late now to change things. Brunch will be served in a few minutes.”

“You hung them?” Dara asked, her cheeks turning pink.

Kevin nodded. “Was there anything else?”

“Yes. The menu. This is a brunch for ladies. Serving meat and eggs is not appropriate. Your cook should have served light foods, like fruits, light pastries, a bit of cheese, but meat and eggs? For ladies? Never.”

“If the brunch were only for the ladies, I’m sure Miranda would have served a lighter fare, but since the men are joining their wives for brunch and they have a house to build today, she felt they’d need something a little more sturdy.”