Chapter 53 #2
“But it makes sense that you feel angry. It doesn’t feel fair. It’s hard,” Luca responded quietly.
“Yeah, but… I… I know it’s just because I might end up representing the coven instead!” Antony exclaimed.
“Doesn’t mean you can’t feel mad,” Luca countered. “Just like Charlie can still feel bad even though bad things aren’t always happening.”
“But I don’t want to feel angry.” Antony’s defeated response made Tam’s hand fall away from the door handle. His poor nephews were lost amid the chaos of everything that was happening. Their futures and their roles in it were uncertain.
“One day you won’t. Maybe one day you just stop.
Maybe one day you think of something and it helps.
I used to get angry at mean customers back when I lived at the tavern.
My other mom used to say they weren’t worth getting mad about, but I still felt mad.
But I’ve already stopped caring about them anymore. ”
“I want to stop feeling bad now, though,” Antony said dejectedly.
Tam didn’t hear Luca respond, but he heard some rustling as though someone had moved.
“Sometimes we just have to wait. But I’m here to help! And Asher and Charlie are, too. We can all try to wait together, and maybe we can keep trying to all feel better.”
Tam swallowed with difficulty as pride swelled in his chest over his son’s words.
He glanced at the guards and found that the one at his left was wearing a half smile and even gave a nod of understanding to him.
Letting out a quiet breath, Tam knocked loudly, then pushed open the door the rest of the way.
“Alright, monsters, bedtime!” he shouted jubilantly, hoping to help spark a happier atmosphere.
Then Tam took in the sight before him and faltered.
All of the boys sat in front of the hearth, circling a candle. Their beds sat empty, though they all wore their night pants and tunics.
Upon seeing his father, Luca’s face broke out in a wide grin. He bounced up to his feet and darted over to him, throwing his arms around his hips.
Tam ruffled his son’s hair and looked at his three nephews. “What’s happening here?”
“It’s a secret!” Asher announced importantly while lifting his chin.
Tam chuckled. “I see. Well. Just make sure you don’t get wax on that carpet or Hannah will have a fit.”
The boys all nodded seriously. They knew Hannah’s temper was not to be trifled with.
“Now, as curious as I am about your secret meeting, it is time we all went to bed. Eli and Penelope are together tonight, so I’ll be just a couple doors down from you all,” Tam said while Luca released him and sidled back over to his cousins.
“Dad?” Luca asked suddenly.
Another yawn stretched Tam’s mouth wide, which in turn made Antony and Charlie yawn. “Mm?”
“Are we… Are we going to live in the castle forever?”
Tam balked. He hadn’t really been planning on having that conversation for a little while yet.
“Ah. Well… After all the excitement that has happened, your aunt needs my help to settle a few things, and we also need to talk with people about what is going to happen with witches and the two kingdoms. And it’s good for Eli to be here with the physician given how things are with the baby.”
“Oh…”
“So, after our new cousin is born, you’re going to leave?” Charlie asked, his somber golden gaze finding Tam’s.
Tam let out a long breath and gestured for the boys to head over to the beds. Begrudgingly they all rose and sidled over.
“I don’t know what will happen. What we are looking to do is start assigning heads of government, which will diminish the power the king and queen have, but will also ideally help manage things.
The covens are talking about trying the same method.
In other words, there is a lot of work to do.
So… here is what I think will happen.” Tam paused his response as he slowly tucked the boys in.
“I think Eli, Luca, Penelope, and I will have a place of our own that we move to shortly after the baby is born. But, unlike the old plan for your parents to move to Sorlia and me to stay here in Austice, for the foreseeable future, we will live close by and see you often.”
The end of his speech was met with four visibly confused faces.
He hadn’t even mentioned how the king’s council had only just recently decided that the punishment for taking the castle into the void would be an outrageous fine paid to the monarchy.
Not that he cared. They had managed to prove the devil’s fate had made him act out of character, which negated the threat of him being tossed into a cell.
He let out a breath and shortened his answer. “Right. You will see us all the time, but after the baby comes, we won’t live in the same castle with you anymore.”
“Oh.”
“Aw.”
“But we like Luca and Penelope being here!”
“We have to guard the new baby together!”
The four responses that came brought a smile to Tam’s face. The last one in particular, which had come from Asher.
“I’m glad you all are getting along. But don’t worry. You will have lots of time to be together before that happens, and even after, we most likely will stay overnight at the castle on special occasions.”
The boys seemed moderately placated with that assurance, and so Tam continued to busy himself snuffing out the candles, until only the one at Luca’s bedside remained lit.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you and Eli ever going to get married, or is my new sister going to be a bastard like me?”
Tam’s jaw dropped. “Oh… Gods. We are talking about that in the morning. Good night, Luca, boys, I love you all, and Luca? Please don’t use the word bastard to describe yourself, or your sister, again.”
“’Night!”
“’Night, Uncle Tam!”
“’Night, Dad!”
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”
Tam was halfway to the door when Asher’s final send-off reached him, making him pause and slowly turn back around. “Asher. Do not. And I am dead serious about this. Do not use your magic to bring bedbugs into any home ever .”
“Okay.”
The tone with which Asher’s assent was given did not sound convincing.
“Asher. Did you already bring bedbugs into this castle?”
“… Nooo.”
Tam dropped his face into his hand.
“Asher. You have to tell every single bedbug to leave the castle. Right now.”
“But they’re really friendly!”
“No. No they are not.”
Tam wondered if he should look into finding a place for Eli and their family sooner than later. As he suspected, his plans for going to bed soon were promptly dashed. But at least none of his children were bug witches.