Witches, Wolves, & Warlords (Shifters of Bastion Keep #1)

Chapter Seventeen

Russell finished checking over the item, making sure there weren't any damages.There were a few scratches, and one of the tree limbs had broken off during shipment, but those he could fix.

It was a simple stone fountain, like the others in his room.He'd managed to find one that had both a bear and a wolf sculpture on it, drinking from the water, and then he'd asked his Ma for a tiny stone dragon he could glue onto it, which she'd been more than happy to provide.It was almost ready, but first, he needed to ask one of the guardians for some help, and he carried it over to the Guardian's Quarter.

"Fuck yeah, mate, I'd love to!" Mary said after he'd explained what he wanted."Come on in."

He followed her into her quarters.She lived in one of the more recent additions, and had about the same living space as Ser did.He followed her past a living room decorated with exotic and colorful posters on the walls and into a study that smelled strongly of glue, chemicals, and paint.He wrinkled his nose.

"You can set it down anywhere."

He looked around, found a clear area on a table that wasn't covered in miniature figures, and set his fountain down.

"So do you want to do the painting yourself, or do you want me to do it all for you?"

He thought about it."I would like to say that I painted it, but help is okay."

"That's sweet of you.Any experience painting minis?"

He shook his head.

"Then we're probably looking at three or four short sessions.I'll talk you through what you need to do, and do the final touch-ups myself.Today we're just going to clean your models and apply a primer to each of them.Next time, we'll do color."Mary gestured for him to leave the small study, and she shut the door behind herself as she followed."Sorry, I don't want to risk any shed fur in there.Lord Sergiy's color scheme I know well, but can you show me your wolf fur?"

Russell nodded, taking off his sandals and disrobing.He made sure there was space, then shifted into his wolf form.

Mary ran a hand through his fur, checking the layers."Hmm.Your color's kind of a mix between rust red and a dark orange, maybe a Titian red.Let me take a picture so I can do some digital palette checks."

He waited patiently.

"Great!And for the bear?The current color's kind of cheap looking, so we'll want to redo him, too."

"Brown.Or maybe, a green bear?Can we do that?"

"Of course.We could paint him like an aurora borealis, if we wanted to."She led the way back to her painting room."Now give me your dragon, and let me introduce you to the magic of removing flash."

He had no idea what she meant, but if she was willing to help him with his gift, he'd be happy to do what he was told.And painting sounded like it would be fun.Shifting back into his human form, he donned his kilt and followed her back into her smelly room.

◆◆◆

"So what did the coven do today?" Russell asked."Wednesday, coven day."

Wrapped up in his arms beneath a tree, he felt Bruin lift his head up before settling back down."Today was my day, and as much as I wanted to start a coven-blessed garden, the power of three's was too important to waste.Two weeks ago Rosemary made her husk dolls, and last week Lux had us use the full moon to bless the castle, so I wanted to do something in that line."

Bruin gestured broadly to the grounds."So we planted those new gemstones we just picked up!Eighteen different protection stones to start with, in different sized rings around the property.Each one by itself is hardly noticeable, but all combined, it should do something, maybe."

Russell whined, rubbing the side of his head against Bruin's."You dug holes without me?"

"I wouldn't call it digging," he said, patting him soothingly on the leg."We just drove a stake a few feet into the ground with the help of a post driver, pulled it out, and then dropped a stone inside.Repeat a lot of times.How was your day?"

"Chores, and a secret thing."

"Can I ask what the secret thing is?"

"No.The secret thing involves you."

He smelled wonder and affection from his boyfriend, and he lowered his nose down to the side of his head, drinking it in.

"Is it a good secret?"

"I think so, yes.You will be happy."

"Okay.Thank you, Russ.I look forward to whatever it is.How long before you tell me what the secret thing is?"

He thought about it.Three more sessions of about an hour or two each, Mary had said, but they were about due for an incursion, and that would interrupt the process.

"Maybe weeks."

"By then I'll have forgotten this conversation, so it really will be an actual surprise."

Bruin stretched himself against him, and Russell moved one of his hands to the witch's belly, putting it up under his shirt.With his other hand, he started running it through his hair.

After a few minutes, Bruin gestured drowsily."Let me know when it's your turn for the pets."

Russell hugged his witch closer by way of answer.As expected, after several more minutes, he started hearing snores, and he paused his pets long enough to kiss his boyfriend on top of his head.

A predictable afternoon nap with his teddy bear.

◆◆◆

Two days later, on the morning of the first of June, Russell followed his da and Lux into the castle's war room.He carried his da's wooden box that had his High Priest supplies, while Lux followed along with his own witch's bag.

"This is where you strategize?" Lux asked, taking a look at the large table, shelves full of books and binders, and computer equipment.

"Sometimes, lad, yes.At this point, though, it's really more of a meeting room, but we do train the pack leaders in here by running scenarios on the table.Gregory came up with the idea a decade ago, and I confess, it does prove easier than setting up sand tables and physical maps.Alright, through here."

The war room had a double-sized back door, and opening it revealed the candle sanctum.

Russell watched Lux pause just inside, smelling his interest and appreciation, and he tried to put himself in the witch's shoes, seeing the room for the first time.

The room opened up onto the upper floor of a two-story chamber.Beyond the railing was a room with high recesses, marble walls, and stained glass that, thanks to mirrors, let multi-hued sunlight into the room from sunrise to sunset.

His da's influence was unmistakable, with most surfaces covered in lit candles, made of wax that never seemed to melt and wicks that never burned out.Upon an elaborate altar rested exactly fifty-eight large candles, and into each one was etched the name of one of the guardians, a flickering demonstration of their life.Russell had only heard of a candle going out just one time, during a harrying incursion when he and Ser had been but ten years old.

The guardian altar was the profound addition that really made the place seem like Da's sanctum, and not the sanctum of whatever High Priest or willworker was performing at Bastion at the time.He made a mental note to tell his da that he was proud of him, later.

"You can see the anchors from up here," Da said, "but let's get a closer look."

They descended the steps, then approached the center of the room where a twenty-foot wide depression was roughly worked into the shape of Wayiyi's terrain.Within its walkable area, fifty-four glowing towers stood in miniature, representing the anchors.

"It's breathtaking," Lux said."I can already feel the weight of centuries of magic, and I haven't even cast a sensing charm."

"Aye, lad.I'll let you do your charms later, after you've talked over their purpose with me, but I wanted to show you the area.I may not always be available for fixing up the spells in this room, so it's practical to have someone else trained."

"There's no one else?"

"No one who can work magic that isn't a plane trip away, but there are plenty who know theory, including Lady Usenko, Lord Sergiy, and my son.For right now, if an emergency happens and I can't be reached, any of those three can at least explain what all the moving parts do."

Lux made a shallow bow."You're trusting me with something precious.I appreciate the honor."

"It's just a little trust right now, which you've earned.You're still forbidden from being in here by yourself, but I expect that to change one day.Besides, I don't have a large pool to draw from, do I?"

"Rosemary could do this.An altar to pray at for the wellbeing of its guardians?An inner heart for the home?And a physical representation of your lands.In truth, Roland, she might even be better suited than I."Lux reached up above his head, seeming to pluck one of the strands of light."But you'd be right in dismissing Bruin."

Lux looked over at Russell."No offense intended to your beau, of course.Bruin has many talents, but the subtle artistry of this place would go above his head."

Russell crossed his arms across his chest."He would try."

His growling tone seemed to give Lux pause, and the witch nodded slowly."In an emergency, if something happened, and no one else was around… yes.He might mess it up, but you're right that he would put his entire heart into it.Perhaps all of us witches should be shown this place."

Roland pointed towards a stone cabinet with a glass cover, within which rested a few sanctum supplies and a dozen tomes.

"I'll think about it.For now, you should know that this is where we keep the anchor information."Opening the cabinet, Russell's da picked out a volume and handed it over to Lux."Start with this one.It's written mostly in English, but the handwriting is atrocious, and it uses centuries-old vernacular.It'll be slow going."

"Centuries!"Lux seemed alarmed at first, but then relaxed as he ran a hand along its cover."Oh, good, the book has protection enchantments.You had me worried."

"I can't let you leave with it.I trust you some, but not enough to leave you with the secrets of Bastion Keep unattended.Your schedule's clear until noon, aye?Good.Russ and I have tasks that we do here each month, and will take several hours.You can read until then."

Roland gestured to a simple desk and chair.

"I hope you learn what you need."

Lux was already taking a seat."Rosemary and I did our best to see if there were significant events, but I couldn't find any celestial reasons for sudden changes.No comet trajectories or planetary alignments, and our Augury came up indeterminate. Perhaps there is something about the anchors themselves, or the ritual that originally made them."

"I'll leave you to it.Son, you ready?"

Russell nodded, then handed over his da's priest tools.While his da whispered oaths and prayers to the war goddesses that he worshiped, he himself took dusters and miniature scrub brushes and began attending to the room itself.

It was slow, but pleasant work.He knew what needed to be done, and all it would take was time.

Straightforward, he liked that.

Collect dust off of the altars, and sweep the floors.Use tiny brushes to get between the cracks and grooves.Check for flaking paint, or worn areas, and repair as needed.For the guardian altar, set several fresh candles into a special basin filled with hot wax, 'feeding' the enchantment.In time, wax and wick alike would disappear within its shallow depths.

Russell had watched the process several times before.Each time had been a pleasantly quiet twelve hours.

After a couple of hours, his da got up off of his knees, put away the prayer cushion and his incense, then excused himself.

"Bye, Da," Russell said, giving him a hug.

"Bye.Lux, you can stay until Russ finishes, if you're so inclined."

"Hmm?Oh, yes.Of course, thank you."

His da walked up the steps, shutting the door behind himself.

Russell did a last bit of cleaning, including wiping down the desk and chair that Lux was sitting at, then did his final safety check.

"Check high and low, and end to end," he chanted."For paper is a fire's friend."

A silly rhyme from his childhood, but it made sure he never forgot to look for anything loose and blowing, like papers that could flutter over candles and catch the room ablaze.

After making sure the altar cloths were perfectly stable and nothing was hidden beneath them, he grabbed his things and went over to the first witch.

"Lux."

"Is it time already?Alright."

Lux handed Russell the book, which he returned to the cabinet and then locked.

After picking up the basket of cleaning supplies and trash, he began leading the way upstairs, but then Lux called his name.He turned around, waiting expectantly.

Lux ran a hand through his hair."You and Bruin are getting along, I see."

He nodded."I like him."

Lux smelled oddly uncertain.Guilty, maybe?

"Is he happy?"

"He was happy before we met.But he is also happy now, yes."

"I'm glad.If he hasn't told you yet, he and I used to date, before I realized some things about myself.He seems to have fallen for you and Lord Sergiy quite hard.If you find him difficult to handle, I could offer advice."

Russell was already shaking his head.

"He is not difficult at all.Very friend-shaped."

"Ah.Well, he is very friendly, I agree."

Russell didn't bother correcting the witch, just nodded, since Bruin being friendly was also a true statement.

He was turning to go when he smelled surprise and confusion from Lux.Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed him staring at the terrain map, and Russell peered over at it.

One of the obelisks had a shimmering miasma around it, a shadowy distortion like it were surrounded by a gas.Russell had just grabbed Lux by the elbow and was hurrying him out of the room when the tower bells began ringing.Three rings, then six seconds of silence.Then three more, repeated.

"Is that…"

"An incursion, yes," Russell said.He heard a couple of excited wolf howls echoing through the castle."Let's go."