Chapter 56
Everyone was relieved that the Dark Hall incident was over. Still, the magic over it lingered; Michael thought of having it torn down completely.
Too much blood had been spilled in those halls. Perhaps the only thing that can be done to cleanse it would be to set it afire and watch as it turns to ashes.
Still, the stone would survive. Perhaps he would get in touch with one of the ancient wizards and see if there was something he could make that would dissolve the stone and brick.
He stared at the halls with the feeling that there was something else that they had missed, something, but he didn’t know what it was.
Michael also knew that it was time to come clean with his daughter and son; they needed to understand the prophecy and the warning that went with it.
He hoped they wouldn’t be too angry with him for holding back that information. He didn’t want to ruin all the happiness and excitement that was happening; it had been so long since the walls of this castle had felt anything close to it.
One of his servants came up to him with a black envelope. The last time he saw one of those was the last time he received a message from Blane the Ghost. The hair on his arms started to stand as his fingers touched the black envelope.
He decided that the best place to read this would be his office, that way he was guaranteed some privacy. You never know what was inside one of Blane’s envelopes, and since the sender was dead, he could only imagine what this was about.
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Noah took Raja for a run, Daisy was sleeping, and Enid was with her. It took Garret the better part of two days to calm Enid, and now she was staying with Daisy for a little while to rest and make sure that Daisy also got some rest.
That left a little free time for Raja to have a run, more like a walkabout. Raja insisted on sniffing everything and marking his territory, which was embarrassing because his pee spraying of all the trees in the garden didn’t go unnoticed.
He also swiped at a few of the tall ferns and made growling noises as he went. Everyone stayed away from that part of the garden.
Everyone except one ten-year-old boy, Danny, was curious he had never seen a tiger before, let alone a shifter tiger. Danny didn’t know that the Tiger in question was sneaking up on him as he tried to catch a glimpse.
He was trying to pick the right tree to climb to get a better look when he heard purring coming behind him. He stopped and held still, he felt the Tiger rub up against his legs, and the purring got louder.
Danny, for some reason, got the idea that the Tiger wanted to play, so without so much as a thought, Danny jumped into the ferns and wildflowers, attempting to hide from the Tiger.
The Tiger jumped right into the thicket of ferns after the boy, the servants that were outside witnessed that all the ferns and wildflowers were whipping around, and coming out of them were giggles and playful growls.
In one giant leap, the Tiger with Danny on its back was leaping and running throughout the garden; Danny sounded like he was having the time of his life,
This went on for two hours until dinner had ended all the fun. Still, Raja got some much-needed exercise and had playtime; young Danny would sleep well tonight.
Noah felt better as well; some of the tension from all the events was released from his body, and he had Raja and Danny to thank for that.
Looking at the boy made Noah think of his children and hoped they would be like Danny, at least in some small way.
The Ball had been rescheduled, and in three days, both his and Daisy’s world would get much more complicated. Noah was taking care of all his businesses, and his fathers; those tied to the pride were left in the hands of his father.
It was decided that leadership of the pride would officially be Noah’s, but his father’s second, Cory Winn, would be taking care of everything daily until either Noah could take over totally or one of his sons.
Still, he was going to keep an eye on Danny to make sure he grows up happy and healthy, as well as see to his education, he knew that Garret was already taking the young man under his wing, but it couldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes on him.
Noah walked over to Garret to ask him if he had checked on their ladies just as a scream was heard through the whole castle. Following the scream was a whole string of profanity that would make the most seasoned sailor proud.
Everyone went silent; Garret was the first to speak.
“I believe that came from my master’s chambers.”
Garret and Noah started to run to the King’s chambers as another set of profanity hung in the air. As they passed down the hall, Daisy and Enid poked their heads out to see what was happening.
When they saw Garret and Noah running to the king’s chambers, they went after them to see if they could help—hoping that there wasn’t anything wrong with her father.
When they all reached the King’s chambers, the doors were wide open, and there was a god-awful green fog that smelled like rotten eggs; Daisy couldn’t enter the room. It was going to make her throw up again.
Michael looked a bit green and pissed off in the middle of the room, but he was also laughing; no one knew what to make of it. They all held their distance except for Garret.
“Sir, are you ok? What is all this?”
Michael looked at all of them in the room and noticed that they were not immune to the smell, especially Noah; his acute sense of smell must be going crazy.
“I will tell everyone all the sordid details of my final gift from an old friend but not in this room.”
Michael stood up and left the room as they all followed after him, wondering what was going on. Did someone try to poison their king?
Once they were all in the common living area of the west wing and all settled comfortably, Michael held up a letter written on black paper. The writing on the note was done in some silver ink.
This is my parting gift from the one you know as the Ghost or the Wraith. I knew him as Blane. He was an old friend, and in our younger days, we played a game we would find clever ways to prank each other.
I had thought I had won that battle, but I was greatly mistaken. My friend gave me some valuable information and reminded me that I must talk to you both about something.
The green cloud and that horrendous scream happened when I opened the envelope; I can imagine that you heard my string of profanity. I am sorry about that, and I hope none of the youngsters heard it too clearly.
He won the prank war; that asshole always did manage to get the last laugh. Scared the crap out of me, I could hear his laughter still. I bet he was sitting there like an actual ghost, just waiting for me to open that damn envelope.
As for the information he gave me, I have to have the guards search and check the ballroom and coronation room for traps and bombs.
As for the rest, I have to talk to my daughter and sonalone; there is something they must know before the children are born. They decided that the three of them would go up to Noah and Daisy’s quarters.
Once everyone was settled, Michael began to speak; he decided to let it all out at once and then go from there.
“What I must tell you, I should have told you. For that, I apologize; I was enjoying having family. This will shock you, and I will answer any questions.”
Both Daisy and Noah looked at Michael, waiting for him to continue.
“There is an ancient prophecy it talks about the triplets; it brings me terrible sorrow to tell you that one of the three will die on the first full moon after their birth.”