Homeward
The car had a forward-facing bench seat in the back with two rear-facing jump seats across from it. The bench seat was for regular passengers while the jump seats were for the guards. Because of my father’s presence, and the absence of two of our guards who were still sweeping Mari and Jo’s house for bugs, our regular seating arrangements were changed.
Church sat on the bench seat on the passenger side while I sat across from him on the jump seat. Ancil had the other jump seat, and my father occupied the remaining spot on the bench. I tried to keep my focus on my husband or on the scenery outside, but my eyes kept drifting around to my father. He didn’t look the way I remembered. He was dressed the same as always, in a suit that was two shades of green. His hair was still brown and combed flat to his head. He was still overweight. Everything about him was the same, except he seemed much smaller than I remembered.
I tried to open conversation to demonstrate my ability to be civil. “What have you been teaching the children?”
He waved his hand in the air dismissively, like his fingers were a whisk broom sweeping away dust. “Basic arithmetic, some reading and spelling, and broad historical themes. I tell stories about the founding of the modern political system. Old King Pravus makes for rich storytelling. He’s an excellent villain.”
I didn’t like to hear that he was portraying Pravus as an evil king. “You should know, father, that what you’re telling them isn’t true. I know it’s the accepted history, but it’s a lie. Pravus was not a bad king or an evil man. He was a great man who built the foundation of the modern world. He was deposed and exiled by his own son and a greedy, disloyal faction within his court.”
My father lifted his chin and looked along his nose in his standard posture of disdain. “What are you talking about?”
“We met Pravus and his partner, Fidum Cacula. Fidum told us what happened.”
Church tapped my leg with his foot to get my attention and shook his head. “We know it’s not true, but because of your Uncle, no one else does. Verpa is right to teach them the accepted history. If they wrote down the truth, the teachers would fail them.”
I wanted to argue, but he was right. He and I had the same conversation when we were raising our own children. We even had to help them write reports about how evil King Pravus was and the great heroes who overthrew his tyrannical reign. I hated it, and so did Church, but we had no choice. Once our children were old enough to understand the difference between a historical lie and an empirical truth, we told them of our adventure to the Demon’s Citadel. We proved the story by showing them all the carvings and artwork Fidum left behind.
We were also able to explain where our vast fortune came from, that it was the price Church exacted from my uncle for saving the world. The children believed us and were fascinated by our tales. My father knew nothing of that time. He listened to the discussion between Church and me and re-asked his original question. “What are you talking about? What do you mean when you say you met Pravus and this other person?”
I shook my head because I had no intention of explaining. I doubted my father’s ability to listen and believe. “It doesn’t matter.” I went back to looking out the window.
It took just over an hour to travel from my daughter’s house in Bona Mane to the town of Ortus where I grew up. The scenery got more and more familiar the closer we got to my childhood home. At the end of the journey, the estate car stopped at the security booth of the gated community where my father lived. He rolled his window down to acknowledge the guard. We were granted entry and proceeded to the house.
* * * *
The driver cruised slowly into the wide driveway and turned so the side of the car where my father sat was toward the house. He brought the car to rest and stayed in his seat. This was standard practice when we arrived at an unfamiliar destination. The guards in the chase car got out to check the property. The driver of our estate car wouldn’t open our doors until he was told to by the guards.
My father didn’t know the nuances of our security routine. He reached to open the door. Ever vigilant, Ancil held his hand up to stop the motion. “Please sir, wait for the driver. The team only needs a minute to secure the perimeter. Until they do, it’s safer if you leave the door closed.”
My father was indignant over the precautions. “This is absurd. Who do you think is after you? Church, Chordus, you must think yourselves terribly important to go to all this trouble. Is this amount of precaution normal or are you showing off for my benefit?”
Church exhaled a frustrated sigh and rubbed his face with both of his palms. “Verpa, my husband’s name is Shawn. You may use the name he prefers, or I will refer to you as ‘peckerhead’ for the remainder of our time together. As for the security, if it wasn’t necessary, we wouldn’t do it. We are wealthy and influential people. Our lives are at risk every time we step out of the door. I don’t like it, but that’s how it is. There have been over a dozen attempts on our lives in the years since the kidnapping you initiated.”
“I initiated?” My father blustered. “How dare you? Mendax Domus was the mastermind of Chordus’ kidnapping! I was as much a victim as he was.”
My father continued to bluster but I could no longer hear him. No one could hear him. Church had put him in a box of physical magic. He rubbed his face again. “I’m losing my patience, Love. It’s been forty fucking years, and your peckerhead father has learned nothing. How does a man get through so much time completely unscathed by the lessons of everyday life?”
He shrugged because the question was rhetorical. “What do you want to do? We’re here, but I don’t know if I can keep my mouth closed if we stay. What do you think we should do? Do we stay like we told Bem we would? Do we go home and open the house back up? Do we fly to Epistylium and check into The Grande Hotel for a few days? I’ll do anything you like.”
As much as I didn’t want to enter my childhood home, I saw the value of being there and resigned myself to the experience. “Let’s stay. We’re already here and I want to be close so Bem can keep us updated on his progress. As soon as he finishes his investigation, we can be at Jo’s in an hour.”
Church shrugged again and nodded his agreement. I added one more thought as the security team waved to the driver to let him know the property was cleared of threats and he could release us from the car. “Don’t worry about keeping your mouth closed. My father never worries about who he upsets. You shouldn’t either.”
“I just don’t want any more turmoil than there has to be. Your old man never backs down. If I open my mouth to challenge him, we’ll go back and forth forever.” He pointed through the wall of magic which sealed my father’s words in. “Look, he’s still at it…talking away like anything he says matters. How the fuck does he do it?”
I shook my head because I didn’t know. I never heard doubt in my father’s voice; not ever. He was always right, and right at the top of his voice. He could pontificate ad nauseum on any topic and he always spoke with the air of an expert. I would have thought it impressive if I didn’t find it so oppressive.
The driver opened the door on my father’s side and Church released the magic barrier at the same time. The release caught my father in the middle of a sentence. “FURTHERMORE…”
Church cut him off with a roar. “VERPA! SHUT UP!”
My father snapped his mouth shut and sat stunned that anyone would speak to him so abruptly. Church lifted a hand toward the house. “Let’s go in, please? Have someone show us to a room and we’ll get out of your hair.”
My father got out of the car and made his affronted way toward the house. Ancil got out and waited for us. The driver opened the door on our side of the car. We got out and stood for a moment in the late morning sunshine. Church asked a practical question. “Will there be room for us and the circus we travel with?”
I pointed to the various features of the heavily ornamented blue stone mansion. “It’s a grand house in the traditional sense. The entire first floor is for entertaining, ballrooms and drawing rooms and two dining rooms. The second floor is all bedrooms. There are four for the family and another ten for guests. The third floor has even more bedrooms for the help.”
“Big place.”
“Small property, though. A house this size should have some land around it to keep it from feeling overwhelming. This grand palace sits on a postage stamp.”
Church chuckled. His amusement rippled along our emotional link. “What do you know about postage stamps?”
I smiled and chuckled with him. “I know they’re small, like this property is.”
He and I always enjoyed when one of us uttered a commonplace statement from the other’s world. He held his hand out. I took it and let him lead me around the car toward the stairs up to the porticoed entrance. Ancil joined us and held the door as we went inside.
The scent of the entryway hit me like a physical blow. The space was all dark wooden paneling and high ceilings. Our footsteps echoed on the hard surfaces. I reflexively looked to my right, into a small alcove between the twin closet doors. I was shocked to find a bulky, dark complected man in the space. He wore the burgundy livery of a servant and must’ve been the current butler. He wasn’t who I expected to see. I had to blink several times to remind myself that despite the familiarity of the setting, many years had passed since I was last within.
I expected to see Cellarius. He was the butler for my entire youth and the only adult male figure who treated me kindly. I lost touch with him when my mother sent me to live with my uncle. He and I reconnected once Church and I established our household. We bought his contract from my father and asked him to work for us at our estate.
Our intention had been for the elderly man to help us set up our household and then retire. He refused retirement and worked as the indispensable leader of our domestic force until the day he died. I missed him desperately. His absence from the alcove brought back the memory of his passing like it happened the day before instead of twenty-one years ago. Tears welled in my eyes. I had to blink them away.
Church felt my emotional pain and wrapped his arm over my shoulders. He closed us in a box of magic to check on me. “What’s up?”
I tilted my head toward the alcove where the dark man stood. “Cellarius used to stand there.”
He rubbed my shoulder and up and down my arm. “I’m sorry, Love. I miss him too.”
I sniffed and cleared my throat and blinked again. “I’m alright. I’ll be fine. It’s a lot being here.”
“Fuck me, I get it. Because of you, I was able to deal with a lot of my family stuff, but even now I’d have a hard time if I had to go back to my parents’ house. I wonder if it’s even still there. I hope not.” He squeezed me against him. “It’s only for a couple of days. I’m here. I’m ready to listen if you want to talk, or to just be here if you don’t.”
I rested my head on the front of his chest. “Thanks, Love. That helps. Maybe you could keep us inside your magic the entire time we’re here.”
I felt gentle gladness along our link. The feeling was similar to if Church had smiled. He rubbed my shoulder again. “I’ve got the magic to do it, but I don’t think it would work. Eventually we’ll have to talk to someone.”
As if cued by Church’s words, my father appeared in front of us. He gestured and spoke, though we couldn’t hear him. “Are you ready to face it?”
“I guess we have to. I’m ready.”
Church released the barrier around us. My father’s speech came to us unwelcome but necessary for our sleeping arrangements. He was talking to his current butler, Brosus. “As I said, the security people can have rooms on the third floor and Chordus may use the blue room on the second.” My father shifted his speech from the butler to me. “I suggested the blue room because it has an outer room for your man. I presume you’ll want him nearby to see to your needs.”
Bubbling amusement rippled from Church along our emotional link. My father’s choice of words struck his sense of humor. They’d done the same for mine. I very much hoped Ancil would be seeing to my needs, but not in the manner my father meant. I nodded to agree to the arrangements. Church vocalized the same for both of us. “Thank you for your foresight, Verpa. Shawn and I tend to be rather demanding masters. We’ll want to keep Ancil close so he may attend to our every whim and desire.”
I shoved my body against my husband’s as a warning to stop his leering speech. I also glanced toward where Ancil stood deferentially near the wall. He was never in the way but always at the ready. Cellarius taught him well. His usual placid demeanor was marred only slightly high color which flushed his alabaster face. He caught the gist of Church’s words and was embarrassed. When I looked again, I noticed the barest hint of a grin. He wasn’t embarrassed at all, he was eager. So was I. I used my anticipation as a shield to protect myself from the difficult present. I also tried to shorten what felt like an interminable delay in the entryway.
“May I show them the way, father?”
My father stopped in the middle of a sentence and glared. He didn’t like that someone else took initiative in his presence. He ran the palm of each of his hands over back of the other and dropped his arms to his sides. The gesture was to indicate he washed his hands of us. He walked away and tossed words over his shoulder as he went. “You may do just as you like. Your domineering husband has intimated that you would. Brosus, bring lunch to me in the drawing room. I’ve had a busy morning and need rest. See to this party after you’ve seen to me.”
* * * *
I sat on the bed in the blue room. Church opened the windows to freshen the air. It was stale because the room had been shut up for a long time. Ancil was off with Brosus. The two butlers went to gather fresh bedding and other supplies that we needed for our stay. They also planned to bring our bags in from the car. I leaned back on my arms and let my head hang with my face to the ceiling.
Church opened the last window. “I searched your memories and there doesn’t seem to be a gym in this house. Do you think your father added one since you’ve been gone?”
I didn’t bother to drag my head up to answer. “Are you kidding? Does my father look like he works out?”
“No, he doesn’t. I think we should get a workout in. When Ancil gets back, I’m going to have him find a place and secure it for us.”
I shook my head at the ceiling. “I know what that means. You’ll have him bribe the owner to close his doors for the afternoon so we can work out in safety. I don’t want that. I mean, yes, I could use the stress relief, but I don’t want to interrupt all those other people from their stress relief.”
He offered an alternative. “What if we bring Ancil and the guards with us? The two we left at Jo’s just messaged that they’re finished with the sweep of her house. They didn’t find anything, and they’re on their way. It’ll take Ancil some time to make us comfortable here. By then, we’ll have four guards at our disposal. Since no one would have expected us to come here, anyone who wanted to harm us would be off their game. It should be safe enough for the two of us and Ancil to work out with four guards present. We’ll go to a local gym. Two of our men can be inside and two can watch the parking lot from the car. We’ll be as unobtrusive as we can be.”
“Is Ancil working out with us?”
“He’s going to have sex with us this evening. I’d rather he do it sweaty. I figured I’d ask him to join us at the gym.”
“I’d prefer he smell like a man when we engage. Your idea sounds tempting.”
He walked over. His height allowed him to make eye contact without my having to lower my head. His eyes smiled and he crouched down between my spread knees. He rubbed my thighs and lowered his face to nuzzle my package. “I’ll have Ancil set it up. In the meantime, I think I’m going to suck some stress out of you.”
I objected, but not too vigorously. “What about Ancil and Brosus? They’re coming back.”
Church rubbed his nose into my growing bulge and inhaled deeply. “Fuck you smell good. Your musk makes me so fucking hot.”
He was lost in his scent lust and didn’t address my concern. I asked again. “Love, what about Ancil and my father’s butler?”
“They can have you when I’m done.”
I knew he was teasing, but his refusal to acknowledge my question was exasperating. I gripped the sides of his head and lifted his face. Only when I denied his prize did he answer. “I put a wall of magic up outside the door. Ancil has been around long enough to know what that means. He’ll send Brosus away and knock to be let in.”
“But we’ll have to stop when he knocks.”
He laughed. “Like hell! The beauty of including Ancil in an occasional romp is we no longer have to restrain ourselves around him.”
I didn’t like the idea. “It makes me uncomfortable.”
“I’m not talking about full-on sex. It’s just a blow job. You won’t even be naked. Ancil is a professional and he’s had sex with both of us. It wasn’t the best session, but I think we’ll improve on it tonight. I don’t think he’ll mind of I suck you off while he changes the linens. If anything, it will ramp him up for later and hopefully we’ll have less conditions to restrain our action. Maybe he’ll finally let us have that big cock he’s keeping to himself.”
I wanted Ancil’s cock, perhaps not as much as Church did, but what I’d seen of its silhouette told me it was impressive. I wasn’t obsessed with size, but I wanted to experience all of my friend, and that included what was between his legs. I also wanted it because he prohibited us from touching it. The allure of the forbidden and all that. For those reasons, and because I was horny, I gave into my husband’s desires. My only condition was that he move me from the bed onto a nearby table. That way, Ancil would have full access to the sheets he needed to change.
A few minutes later, my pants were bunched up below my hips and Church was bobbing on my cock. His rhythm faltered slightly when he altered his wall of magic to let Ancil into the room. Our butler came in with his arms full of bed clothes while the suitcases floated behind in his telekinetic power. He closed the door and paused to make eye contact with me. I returned the wink he’d given me earlier and closed my eyes to enjoy myself.
Church stopped sucking long enough to tell Ancil to find us a gym. He agreed automatically. “Yes, Boss. Give me about thirty minutes. We should be ready to leave just about the time you finish with Master Shawn.”
I threaded my fingers through my husband’s long, brown hair. “Sounds like I’ll have time to reciprocate.”
He blew a long breath on my wet cock to evaporate his saliva and make me shiver. “Nope. A half hour is perfect; ten minutes for the first load, ten more to eat your ass, then ten more to get another load. Get comfortable because I’m not letting you go until Ancil tells us the car is ready.”
I relaxed and gave myself over to the pleasure. I laid on the table with my eyes closed and my hands clasped behind my head. Church went to work on my manhood. A second later, someone touched my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Ancil. He had a pillow in his hands. I lifted my head and let him put it beneath. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I know how intense the boss can be. I figured you’d need some comfort.”
“I thought you wouldn’t let him blow you.”
“I didn’t, but that tongue is pure magic wherever he uses it.”
I nodded in agreement and held my hand out. “Kiss me.”
He refused. “Not while I’m on duty. I’ll do anything you want later.”
“Anything?” I asked as I let my hand drop to the table.
His bright blue eyes widened with what looked like fear. I guessed he’d overpromised and worried I’d try to hold him to it. “We’ll have to talk about conditions.”
I wanted to argue, or at least try to persuade, but Church started to hum around my cock. The vibrations made my eyelids flutter. I closed them and started to moan.
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