VULPINE: Her Second Chance

The Hidden Not-A-Castle

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The Hidden Not-A-Castle

The king's response was to lower his brow and go a little faster.

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In about two and a half hours, they approached the base of the mountain that had been looming over them for the last stretch of the drive. Thalia had switched seats with Thaddeus at that point, purely for the purpose of seeing the place where they'd be staying, but King Jackson's pleasure at that had been infectious, and so she was feeling much better about his lead foot. Shifters' reflexes and strength were of course enough to handle such high speeds, but no one was completely invincible, after all. Luckily, he'd slowed to a 150kph "crawl" when the path had begun to wind.

They'd driven past other, smaller elevations at this point, but the tallest of them all was clearly their final destination. She'd assumed that the packlands were at the base or peak of the main landmass, but what she saw instead was decidedly different than her expectations.

The king's "castle" appeared to be a series of small, large-windowed houses built into the side of the mountain. Small enough to be somewhat cloaked from afar, the houses appeared to be about the size of her parents' current home, which was a cozy cottage in northeastern Carnelia.

Like most 'wolves and their packhouses, the surroundings seemed to inspire the decor, but Thalia suspected that the king's werebear side was likely the cause for the circular windows. Even when they drew closer, the round openings didn't stand out very much, due to the thick coverage from the vegetation and rocks that made up the side of the mountain.

Large brown curtains covered the wood-trimmed windows, aiding with the natural camouflage. They also seemed to be looking at the rear of the houses, which Thalia supposed made sense; a daily mountain climb to enter one's home seemed pretty ridiculous. There was enough space before the windows for yards or porches, and although they of course weren't visible, she felt she could assume they were there.

The king finally used his brake, but rather than park at the foot of the mountain, he took a barely paved road that appeared to wrap around the side. Seeing that it lead up to the peak, Thalia was glad her new mate had made the rare decision to drive slowly. However, they turned onto a hidden path shortly after starting upwards, and a garage door - hidden behind attached greenery and rocks - opened into the mountain. She turned to King Daniel.

"The front doors are within the mountain?"

"Yep. That's why the windows are so big; it's hard to get by without sunlight." They followed a winding road and turned off the path again, this time into smaller tunnel that led into a surprisingly well-lit courtyard with a circular driveway slanting up to a manageable amount of wide stone steps. They drove around a large water feature in the center of the drive, a deep looking pond rimmed with flowers and surrounded by a short stone wall.

The king returned to speaking in her mind, which seemed to be his comfort zone. -A friend of mine lives on the other side of the mountain, if you follow that path for about an hour. We're connected in case of an attack.-

Thalia nodded while wondering who he was talking about, since the 'bears were the only shifters on the Northern side of the mountain. Not that she didn't believe in the king, or doubted that his friend was anything but a bear, but after the alliance fell through in its infancy, there were clear borders between the two shifters. Werebear rule was absolute, and so whoever it was, they were either really powerful or so weak as to be able to pass unnoticed.

She was torn from her musings, quite literally, by Claire, who opened the passenger door, grabbed Thalia's hand, and pulled her from the car. She liked to prank Thalia whenever she noticed her sister's mind wandering, but thankfully only did so when it was appropriate. Thalia landed on Claire's foot, accidentally on purpose.

"Ouch! Worth it, though!" Claire made a face and stuck out her tongue as though she wasn't a thirty-three year old adult, and then skipped around to the SUV to help with the bags. Thalia, being mature, definitely did not flip her off as she went.

Daniel came around the corner of the van while Thalia was mid-rude gesture and chuckled at the two. "This is the North Star Sapphire packhouse, but we usually call it the Haven, since the actual title is a bit long."

Thalia nodded. "That makes sense. We call the Imperial Topaz Skulkhouse the 'Den' for the same reason."

"We also call it the Northern Sky Castle behind Danny's back." Thad added in his two cents as he approached, appearing to have convinced Beau to let him carry everything as the 'fox returned to the SUV to get his daughter. "He's very insistant that, although he's the king of a kingdom, he does not and will never live in a castle."

Thalia looked around at the opulent courtyard set inside of a mountain, and raised a sarcastic brow at the king. "I mean, what else would you call this, a lair?"

Daniel threw back his head and laughed. It was an event, truly, that shook Thalia and her Spirit both. His eyes crinkled and his attractive throat was on full display. It felt like her whole nervous system skipped a beat. How unfair it was for her mate to be that beautiful, when she was doing her best to look past that face of his and figure him out.

"Maybe something a little less villainous, I think." He spared a glance for the small crowd of their people behind them before turning back to his mate. "Shall we, my queen?"

He smiled and offered his arm to her, which she dazedly took. Thalia was mildly worried that the king had realised the power that his gaze and his expressive grins had over her sense of equilibrium. After a while of sitting next to each other and chatting, he had begun to fix her with that stare of his anytime he was hoping to ask her something, and smiling almost as a reward for every response. She was about as flustered as she could quietly be when he placed his hand over hers and began to lead her to the front doors, which were also quite circular.

To distract herself from him, as well as Helena cat-calling her mentally as the blended pack followed them in, Thalia took note of the entrance. There were five round openings arranged in a sort of arc, with two small windows on the farthest sides and two larger windows flanking the large double doors. The effect was almost like an eye or a frowning mouth, but somehow seemed elegant and quaint instead of off-putting.

As they started on the steps, the king said aloud: "Welcome to the Haven, our much-awaited new packmates. And don't mind Jerry, he's just easily excited."

"Jerry?" Beau, still carrying his sleeping daughter, piped up, but it was too late to ask any further questions.

Thalia heard his languid heartbeat before she saw him.

The doors opened, either by magic or some unseen servant hiding behind them. Probably magic, since she'd only heard the one heart beat in range. A silver-haired shifter with a strongly lined face waited just by a set of double stairs in a sleek black suit layered with all the pieces including tails. Thalia found her eyes drawn to him before she could even begin cataloguing the new space.

She assumed he was over a century old, if he'd aged enough to have such prominent wrinkles, and a tranquil heart and aura. Impressive. Shifters could live for untold periods, but tended to pass on in their first century due to their temperamental nature. It kept the global population reasonable, but it was still nice to see the lucky some that made it, and the elderly male didn't seem otherwise bent with time. He spoke as Thalia overtly noticed him, his voice gentle and his brogue thick.

"Young Master Daniel, I'm sure you won't neglect to introduce your long-awaited new mate to us?"

"Of course not, Jerry. This is Her Majesty, Queen Thalia Weiß of the Western Union. Thalia, this is Jerry." Thalia, slightly miffed at the lack of appellation or explanation for Jerry, held her hand out to shake as the elderly shifter approached, nonetheless.

"Oh!" She was slightly surprised as Jerry bent at a precise 90 degree angle, gently holding her hand near his bowed forehead. "That's not necessary, Mr ... Jerry." She felt awkwardly disrespectful calling a newly met and much older gentleman by his first name.

"Ah, my dear Majesty, but it is!" He rose from his bow and gently patted her still-held hand. "A humble old male such as myself, who is barely able to call himself as close to you as random a pack member, must usually wait until you have said that they may rise to even glance in your direction. Of course, I shall rise today since you've allowed and spare myself the shame of talking at the floor. Gerrard the retired knight of the realm turned butler of the castle, at your service, Your Majesty, though I am called Jerry by the pack."

All of this was said at a clip to rival the Lady Mirella's, but with an intentional efficiency that was much less off-putting. At the end, he bowed again, and Thalia was quick to allow him to rise, as well as to jump on the opportunity he'd presented.

"Thank you for the correction, Sir Gerrard. If you would be so kind, I would like to trouble you with something right now." At his ready expression, she continued. "As you may have deduced, I am new to rulership on this scale. Are there any teachers of etiquette or history that I could patronise?"

She wanted to display her willingness to stay to the king. The mating was still up in the air, but the original plan was to stick it out if she could, and it was looking likely that she'd be able to remain here for as long as she wanted.

"Of course, your Majesty. Let me go ahead and speak with the Lady Flynn. Perhaps I can catch her before she leaves the castle."

At the king's measured inhale, Thalia felt her curiosity flare. Wonder who that is. Guess I'll find out, soon enough.

"Not a castle, Jer, we talked about this." The king teased, his discomfort gone as soon as it had come. -And we can talk about Miss Flynn later, if you'd like.- She wouldn't like. She didn't respond, merely watching as Sir Gerrard left through a tunnel between the feet of the stairs.

"Speaking of the Not-A-Castle, where do we sleep? Hopefully not in here." Helena demurred, though the foyer they had walked into was definitely sleepable. The room itself was spherical, which Thalia was beginning to realise was more a structure thing than a design thing - though it was definitely doing the design favours. The room was cozily lit, with a large seating area to the left and an individual reading nook set into the base of the stairs on the right.

"Oh, this, I think you're gonna like," he said, seemingly unruffled by Thalia ignoring his message. She hoped so, because a distraction was what she needed to quell the sour taste that was beginning to form.

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