Homesick Book 2. The Secrets of Blackthorn Manor

The Crown Jewels

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Chapter Eight

The Crown Jewels

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Even to someone like Adrian, who was not having the happiest of weeks, couldn't help but be absolutely awestruck at the sight in front of him. Mr. Perri had taken them through a complex system of corridors and locked doors. Several had heavy-duty keypads. There was a hum of magic as they passed into what looked like a very organised vault. Shelves and cabinets were carefully stacked and arranged in rows. In pride of place were several crates. They were covered in sigils. For a regular practitioner, these security sigils were probably considered quite advanced.

For Adrian, who had an affinity for shielding and sealing magic, the sigils were not the best of quality. As he peered in at the magic that wove around the boxes, he could see several holes and two rather nasty weak points. If took him a moment to decide if these weaknesses would actually be noticeable to a lesser trained practitioner. Probably not.

'And here,' began Mr. Perri as he carefully removed one of the lids with white gloved hands. 'Is one of many of the pieces that will be in the show.' Adrian felt his breath catch.

He wasn't sure he had the vocabulary for the items in front of him. The tiara inside had been carefully unwrapped and placed on a pillow. Even in the dramatic artificial light of this storage room, the diamonds on the piece glittered like so many living minuscule fireflies. There was also a pendant, the size of the sapphire inside big enough to swallow the palm of his hand.

'Their value is almost inconceivable. They have, of course, been evaluated many times but the overall worth of the collection hardly needs to be explained. The safety of this collection is our deepest concern along with the safety of the public, of course.'

'Everything is insured,' Adrian said slowly.

'Of course, but these are national treasures! Any damage to them would be inconceivable. Not to mention the damage it would do to the reputation of the gallery!' the man squeaked. His cheeks dotted with pink as he spoke, evidently passionate and earnest for the place he worked.

'I understand,' Adrian said. He dipped his head and had to fight down a grin as Prince and Duchess imitated him, tipping their own fluffy heads. Mr. Perri looked rather stunned by the display but pleased nonetheless.

'Of course, I knew you would understand. Your family has a long and extensive history of protecting precious artefacts.'

'What?' Adrian asked sharply, his voice like a whip crack.

Mr. Perri looked at him in some alarm. 'The Blackthorn family has made several donations over the years and of course, the research your grandfather contributed to the archives in regards to exotic fea-birds hybrids is incredible.'

'I... Urm, right. Of course,' Adrian mumbled, feeling his face flush. Duchess mewed quietly, her little black whiskers twitching in an accurate cat form of "dude, you need to chill out."

Judgey furball.

'I'm sure you understand the importance of protecting the collection. I will be forwarding you a detailed, to-scale floor plan of the gallery space along with a catalogue of the pieces that will be on display. As is stated in the contract, I trust you to keep those documents confidential and not mention any spells that you intend to use to anyone outside the project.'

'Of course,' Adrian agreed, already having been warned by his lawyer. It certainly wasn't unreasonable. It was as though he was setting new security codes, therefore, it was also his job to make sure those who didn't need to know what these security codes were didn't find out.