A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 162: Family Affairs

"Hah...it hasn't even been an hour, and I'm already back...here."

     I had no clue what suddenly inspired the gardener to clean up the mess leftover from almost two months ago, but the stones cast about the fountain from last time were gone, and the place looked a little more tidied up than before. Naturally, marching inside, leaving the snow behind, I was finding that the interior was also lit up more than before. The heater was going, finally, and there were the presences of people milling around in general spaces rather than tucking themselves into rooms to be quiet and solemn.

     "[Noise Cancel], [Presence Dampen], [Invisibility], [No Trace]."

     I stepped off the air and my geta shoes clacked on the floor. Slowly, I meandered, searching for a good place to start. I just had some things to check up on before getting involved in all of that "hate" business.

     Ah, might as well, while I'm here...but they'll probably summon their inner banshees again, so maybe afterwards.

     I was planning on finding Adri and screwing up his Race stat as well, but I would also want to explain somewhat to him...but ah...I'd probably have to tell the earl and his wife about what I did to them, so they didn't freak out later if Adri and Hera started doing some funny things...hm...maybe I could just find Martin and Sarah and tell them-

     They weren't touchy about people being Demons, right? Well, anymore than a regular person would be.

     I hoped they were used to enough random events because of my presence that they wouldn't freak out too badly. And, anyway, I also had to talk to them about Adri and Hera's mother.

     I should also check on the earl's [List of Sentencing] progress as well.

     There were still so many things I had to do, despite wanting to remove myself from the premises as soon as possible.

     "Where to, where to, where to...hm?"

     Ah, that's right. He's here.

     That spriggan. Still hadn't the faintest clue how he got there, or when. Sherfire had told me he'd been disowned, again, but I wasn't worried. The Fae Queen loved her children - probably - and would accept him back again that time too. Maybe it would take a while, but I had no doubt that he would leave eventually. Or, someone would probably tell him he'd overstayed his visit if they were brave enough, and they'd kick him out.

     Heh.

     I'd want to be there for that.

     The banister of the stairs smoothly passed by my sight as I clacked up, step by step, until I'd left the entrance hall behind. Not much had changed since Magaris and I had run around through there all of two or three days prior - I lost track of time since I'd been making my visits around Tasega, checking up on people I knew everywhere and anywhere, so it could've been more than that, who knew - except for the strange feeling lingering in the air that I couldn't quite...something just felt...

     Missing. What was missing?

     I roamed, and roamed. I peeked into rooms where servants were taking their breaks, or where they worked. I checked on the few unicorns we had in the stables, resting where they'd been fed and left, years after I'd last seen them; I checked on the state of the trees where Blondie and Brownie used to cut them up in their hours-long spars; I checked on the river that lazily snaked by, a bit further beyond the manor, where Anastasia taught the children how to swim; I checked the gazebo that still leaned forlornly at the edge of the property, and the walls that crawled with tangles of greenery; I checked the maze where Magaris and I would go every mourning day for the kingdom to have long talks about anything at all.