by Jules River
“Please follow me to the kitchen,” Mira said, and led the way down the hall to the stairs. Warin quickly fell into step with her and held her upper arm as they descended the stairs, not letting go when they reached the bottom. He stopped her, turned her to him, “You do not have any plans of leaving my sight, do you?”
Mira somewhat flippantly replied, “Not at the moment,” and tried to continue walking, but was unable when he did not move or let go of her upper arm. Warin then warned, “I would not permit that. You are valuable to me.”
Mira looked him in the eyes and said, “We have many things to discuss later.” She wanted to talk to him about boundaries, and she did not really know what he meant by his comment, but he must have decided she understood, because he continued walking with her. As they walked, Warin thought to himself, I want to trust her, but I am not certain of her agenda. I need her, I want her as much as I have ever wanted anything. She has no idea what I would do to be able to stay with her. For me, everything revolves around her. I want her with an intensity that is beyond reason. But I cannot let that keep me from my duties to my brothers.
When Mira and Warin entered the kitchen, they saw Lyra at the island chopping potatoes while Dunstin sat watching her and sipping his coffee. They both looked up when Mira and Warin walked in. Mira immediately walked over to Dunstin and held out her hand saying, “Hello, I'm Mira, you must be Dunstin, it is a pleasure having you as a guest in our home.” He gave her an odd look but shook her hand saying, “Hello.” Warin grinned at his brother when he realized what Mira was trying to do. She hoped her subtle reminder to them that they were the guests in her home would temper their behavior. She then walked over to Lyra and gave her a hug, looking closely at her, silently asking with her eyes if she was OK, and said, “Good morning.” Lyra gave a slight nod, a mumbled, “morning,” and continued chopping. Mira still watched Lyra, and said quietly, “Well, introduce yourself and say hello, we must not be rude to our guests.” Giving a follow-my-lead look, she whispered, “We must set boundaries with them politely.” Lyra rolled her eyes, looked to Warin and said, “Lyra, morning,” as an introduction, then turned to the stove to cook the potatoes. Mira sighed and walked to the coffee area and poured two cups, taking one to Warin. After she took a fortifying sip, Mira looked at all the things Lyra had out and started making pancake batter in a bowl. Warin and Dunstin nodded at each other, then continued to watch the women.
***
Faye jumped up in full attack mode when she was woken by a solid smack to her rear end. Cenric was standing beside the bed with a mischievous grin on his face, hair damp, wrapped in nothing but a towel. “I have wanted to try out a modern bathroom ever since I saw one on television. They are marvelous! Get up, I’m starving.” Faye swiped her curly hair out of her stunned face, all the while ogling Cenric. She slowly got out of bed and rubbed her smarting behind, “Don’t you ever smack my butt again!” She normally woke up in a good mood, but not this morning. She walked to the bathroom turned back, “No one can smack my butt unless I say it’s OK!” Cenric started to drop his towel to put on his pants, still sporting that mischievous grin. “Ugh!!” exclaimed Faye as she quickly turned and slammed the door. Cenric thought she was the most sensual woman he had ever seen. She would belong to him. Not only was she so obviously a part of ending the curse, she was everything and more he did not even know he wanted in life. No one would keep him from her, not even Faye herself.
Faye was so aggravated with herself she thought, I can't believe him smacking me on the butt turned me on so much. He will definitely pay for that! When she was done with her morning routine, she came out, ignored Cenric lying on the bed, and closed herself in the walk-in closet to get dressed. A few minutes later she came out wearing tight jeans, combat boots and a Guns N’ Roses fitted t-shirt. She still ignored him as she walked to the door to head to the kitchen. “Wait, Faye.” Cenric quietly commanded. She ignored him but slowed her pace. Something in his tone made her think she should not push him too much, at least not yet. Now Cenric looked to be in a bad mood; he obviously did not like to be ignored. She smiled to herself. They both stomped into the kitchen and stopped when they saw Dunstin and Warin sitting at the island drinking coffee and Mira and Lyra working at separate cooktops.
Mira turned after she poured pancake mix into the pan, “Good morning, Faye and Cenric, I’m Mira and this is --,” Faye cut her off. “I think we all know everyone here, Mira.” As she stomped to the refrigerator and pulled out grapefruit juice to match her sour disposition, she poured herself a glass. She continued to ignore Cenric, and walked over to the island, picked up the steaks, and took them over to the stove Lyra was using. Faye grabbed a skillet, heating it and seasoning the steaks before she started cooking them. Lyra looked at Faye and asked her, “What’s your problem?” That’s when Faye let her have it, “Well, let me tell you, I was woken up with a smack to my butt!” Lyra turned, with a bored look on her face, and said to Cenric, “Real dick-move, genius, now she’s probably going to be like this the rest of the day. Thanks a lot.” She turned back around and continued to cook as if she never said anything. Mira admonished quietly, “Lyra!” But Lyra just shrugged. Faye told her, “Oh, so you’re the only one who can be in a bad mood in the mornings?!” It was obvious she was itching for a fight. Lyra would usually oblige her, but decided she did not want to make a spectacle in front of their guests.
The brothers just sat there for a moment, then Warin and Dunstin started laughing. Cenric stomped over to the island, giving his brothers a dirty look, and poured himself a glass of juice as they tried to stop laughing. Dunstin ribbed Cenric, “Way to go little brother, your wooing skills are rusty.” Cenric just ignored his brothers and sat down to drink his juice, fixated on Faye.
Faye pulled out her phone, put on some music, quite loudly. She started to hum, then tapped her foot, until eventually she was dancing as she tended the steaks. Soon Mira and Lyra were shaking their butts, rolling their hips and shimmying their shoulders, dancing along with Faye, forgetting their audience -- as usual, having a great time. Before long, they were flipping food one-handed, twirling around while catching food the other tossed in their mouths, all to the beat of the music, and never paying any attention to the men in the room.
After the brothers watched the sisters shake, shimmy and gyrate to a couple of songs, they were in pain. Stomach hunger was no longer a concern, but they hungered still. The sisters were so natural, so sensual and uninhibited when they danced, it was very hard on any man not to be taken with them.
In no time at all the sisters had a bountiful meal fit for a feast and Mira decided, “Let's serve this in the dining room. Here, gentlemen, please take these plates; we will bring the food to you there.” Warin shook his head, “We will all eat here,” and placed the plates on the island. He did not want to leave the sisters on their own. They were very clever women, and he did not yet know if he could trust them. He was not about to leave them alone.
Mira shrugged, and the sisters brought all the food to the island table, and set places for everyone. They started to sit clumped together, but the men each reached for his woman and sat down beside her. After the dancing they had just been subjected to, the brothers needed to at least be near enough to the sisters to be able to touch them at will.
Lyra punched Dunstin in the leg when he pulled her right up against him, and he just grinned. Faye would not even look at Cenric; she continued giving him the silent treatment, which had him glowering even as he absently caressed her arm. Mira glared at Warin as he sat her right next to him with an arm around her waist. She was still peeved he had thwarted her plan to speak to her sisters in private. They had many things to discuss, first and foremost being what to do with these men.
They all started eating in silence, until the men tasted the food, and then they moaned in pure pleasure with looks of satisfaction on their faces. It had been so long since they had tasted food, and never anything as good as this meal. The brothers ate
seconds of everything and thirds of some. The meal was almost over when Faye questioned, “Are we going to address the elephant in the room or just continue to ignore it?”
Chapter 7
After Faye’s remark, no one made eye contact for a moment, then Mira looked around the table, “Faye’s right, we need some answers.”
Just then the housekeeper came to the kitchen to let them know guests had arrived. Lyra answered, “Thank you, and please show them to the office.” Lyra looked at her sisters, “I sent for Steven and Todd while you two were away. We could use their help.”
“Good thinking, Lyra, they will be very useful. Let’s just hope everyone can get along. Faye, you will need to keep this situation under control,” Mira said while giving Faye a meaningful look.
Faye showed Mira her irritation, “And just how do you propose I do that? Never mind, I’ll figure out something.” Cenric gave Faye a questioning look, and took hold of her hand; she continued to ignore him.
Warin demanded, “Who are Steven and Todd?” Dunstin gave Lyra an aggravated look, and Lyra gave it right back to him. “What?! They are professionals, our assistants, and they will be very helpful. There is still much we must get done.”
“We don’t need help from outsiders,” Dunstin insisted.
“They are not outsiders, they work for us,” replied Lyra. As they all got up to go to the office, the warriors stayed close to their women, feeling more possessive now than ever.
As soon as they walked into the office the sisters rushed to Steven and Todd to happily greet them. Lyra hung back slightly as Faye hugged Todd and Mira hugged Steven. Their assistants were about to kiss them on the cheeks when the women were suddenly yanked away from behind by Cenric and Warin, as the two warriors growled at the same time, “You will not touch her!” and “Unhand her!”
Mira said to Warin, “What are you doing? We are saying hello to our friends.” Steven asked, “Hey, what’s going on here?” as he eyed the unfamiliar men.
Warin ignored Steven to command Mira, “You will not touch another man for any reason.” He glowered as he held Mira closely against him, trying to calm down. Seeing her in another man’s arms, about to kiss him, did not sit well with Warin.
Faye tried to pull away from Cenric; when he did not let her, she elbowed him in the ribs, but that did not even get a grunt from him. Faye asked him sarcastically, “You’re not about to piss on me, are you? Territorial much?” He just scowled at her, and growled in her ear, as he subtly rubbed against her, “That’s not what I’m about to do to you.” She rolled her eyes and resumed ignoring him. He had seen red when that man had touched Faye.
Dunstin looked Lyra in the eyes seriously, “Don’t even think about it.” As he pulled her into his arms, he continued quietly, “You don’t want to test me in that way. I will kill for you.” Lyra tried to relax in his embrace. She did not want her friends to get hurt. Lyra always thought Steven and Todd were relatively manly, but in the same room with the warriors, it was apparent how civilized and tame they were in comparison.
Mira realized how possessive and unsettled the warriors were so she tried to defuse the situation. “Warin, this is Steven and Todd. They assist us with our work, they specialize in research. They worked for our father before he passed away. Steven, Todd, this is Warin, Dunstin, and Cenric Faust. They are...uh...well they...the statue...that is...they are...our friends. Yes, they are our friends, they are in a unique situation, and they need our assistance. Isn’t that right, Faye, Lyra?” She looked to them for support. Faye did not say anything, just shrugged as if in agreement. Lyra said, “Sure,” in her typical bored tone, not wanting to give Dunstin any satisfaction, yet not wanting to upset the brute further.
The tension in the room had decreased slightly, so Mira gestured to the seating area where they should all sit to have this conversation. Steven and Todd both wore looks of skepticism on their faces. Warin sat Mira next to him on one sofa, Dunstin and Cenric sat with Lyra and Faye on the other sofa, leaving the club chairs for Steven and Todd. Steven was watching Faye closely. Cenric noticed and kept his eye on him.
Mira started. “I trust your flight was uneventful. We are glad you could make it so quickly.” Steven said, “Lyra booked us first class. We were happy to get the call from her, but she was vague on the assignment we would be working on.” As he glanced at Lyra, he smiled.
“Well, in short, we have acquired all of the weapons, and the statue.” Steven sat there staring, then he excitedly asked, “Where is the statue? It has been a long time since we have seen it, I mean a photo of it. Where was it hiding?”
Mira told them about the castle with all its belongings coming on the market and how she had been looking into the previous owner’s penchant for black-market goods, and how it paid off.
Steven again asked, “Where is the statue? I have already noticed the weapons on your, uh, friends.” He gave a derisive look toward the brothers. “What have they to do with all of this? Why are they wearing them and dressed that way?”
The sisters looked at each other, then Lyra bluntly stated, “They were the statue. The weapons belong to them.”
Steven and Todd sat there stunned for a minute and then, both burst out laughing. Everyone else was looking at them, but they weren’t laughing. Bored, Lyra pulled out her phone and started doing some online shopping at local boutiques for proper clothes for the warriors that she would have delivered shortly, while the others waited until Steven and Todd calmed their laughter. Steven wiped his eyes and chuckled, “That’s a good one, you had us there for a minute,” nudging Todd in the shoulder.
Mira spoke up and told them, “It’s true, it all happened just as the codex said it would. We suddenly found all of the weapons, reunited them with the warriors, spoke the words and voila, here they are in the flesh. Now we must figure out how to complete the three tasks in the next three months. That’s why the two of you are here to help us.”
Steven and Todd were no longer smiling, but took studying looks at the warriors, and looked at the sisters, trying to decide if they were pulling a prank on them. The sisters and the warriors were sitting patiently watching them, waiting for them to come to terms with this revelation.
Finally Todd spoke up, “You’re telling us that these men were the statue?” After the sisters all nodded their heads yes, he went on to say, “When can we get started? This could be quite difficult. Where is the codex? We need to start working on the tasks right away.”
Faye went to get up to get the codex, but Cenric held her back, giving her a questioning look. She said, “I’m getting the codex,” in a slightly pissy tone, not used to having to explain what she was doing and not liking it one bit. He let her go and she walked up to one of the beautiful paintings, and moved it aside to reveal a safe. She retrieved the codex from the safe and placed it on the coffee table so everyone could see it, and carefully turned to the section about the warriors and the tasks they must complete. Steven asked the sisters, since he was not yet ready to talk to the warriors, “Do they remember who cursed them and why? That could be a big clue.”
Todd stilled, particularly interested in the answer.
Mira looked to Warin, and he answered, “We cannot yet remember who cursed us, exactly, but we suspect it was our enemy, the Romans, trying to stop us from retaking our lands.”
Steven replied, “Then we must research everything we can find on Roman sorcery and lore. Knowing one’s enemy's capabilities and what drives them can be invaluable information.”
Todd looked over the codex and started to give a brief translation of the tasks to everyone. “Roughly, we have to find a talisman, a Roman talisman of resurrection, I believe. Next is a book, no, a spell maybe, of resurrection, then it refers to giving to the one who cursed them. I think it means to give the talisman and the spell of resurrection to the one who cursed them in the first place.”
Lyra asked, “So would we be looking for a grave of the one who cursed them to give him the talisman and
the spell? I mean, it’s been nearly two thousand years. The sorcerer is unlikely to still be alive. Oh, I hope we are not supposed to resurrect him. Yuck.”
Mira said, “I believe I read something several years ago about a talisman of resurrection, but I have not heard of the spell; that’s not really my field of interest. What about you all, are you familiar with the spell of resurrection?” They all murmured or shook their heads no. Each was thinking how they should proceed.
They all discussed ways to move forward until lunch, which they ate in the dining room. The warriors were wanting to be alone with their woman, and as lunch was coming to an end, the housekeeper came and whispered to Lyra her packages had arrived and were in each of the sister’s bedrooms as she requested. Lyra suggested they all retire for an hour before meeting back in the office to form a plan. Everyone was in agreement.
Steven and Todd were shown to bedrooms in a wing separate from the sisters’ bedrooms. Lyra asked her sisters and the warriors to come with her, telling them she had something for them. When they reached the hallway to their bedrooms, she said to the brothers, “I took the liberty of ordering some clothes for you. There are a few formal suits for each of you that will no doubt have to be altered, since we do not have time to have them custom-made, and a variety of casual clothes, clothes for almost every occasion. Oh, and all of the accessories, boots, shoes, watches, cufflinks, everything I could think of that you might need. Mira and Faye will help you two figure out what goes with what.” Then she took Dunstin to her bedroom to get some clothes on the man before she started groping him uncontrollably. Dunstin’s half-naked body had her senses on high alert; she felt flushed and needy with every move of his spectacularly sculpted body. If she had to spend much more time with him in his current state of undress, she was liable to do something to embarrass herself, like lean over and trace his chiseled abs with her tongue, and that just could not happen. She did not even like the man. He aggravated her on every level.