Cinderfella

Story: Cinderfella 2: A New Life

Chapter: 11 The Little Creatures

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Mature Readers only due to sexual situations and graphic sexual content

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How do you fight creatures you can't even see!? How do you find them?

The Little Creatures

I woke again next to Seth that following morning. Today we needed to begin a thorough search of this Jean Claude Ramiere's room. I rolled over to Seth who smiled at me instantly.

"Good morning," I greeted kissing him.

Seth smiled. "So far." He agreed. "Are we looking into what made Christian sick today?"

"We have to." I nodded, "We don't have a choice."

"Any ideas?" Seth asked.

"Not yet." I shook my head, "But we'll start this morning." Then I heard Seth's stomach growl. "After breakfast." I grinned rubbing his stomach affectionately.

"Thank God," Seth said as a prayer. Then he pulled me close. "But first," He grinned. "A little morning love."

I chuckled. "Morning, afternoon, evening...it's all good." I assured, kissing him.

I walked into the dining room, pleased to see my brother dressed and sitting at the head of the table. It just looked normal. Ella was still sitting with him, almost doting too much over Christian, but he didn't seem to mind a bit. Christian brightened as we came in.

"Hello, brothers," Christian greeted. He looked even better. Almost normal again physically.

"Christian," Seth touched Christian's shoulder. "It's good to see you up."

Christian nodded. "It's good to be seen at all."

I sat at the table. "This morning, Seth and I need to go through that man's belongings. Do you know where any paperwork he presented to you telling who he was, do you know where it is?"

Christian nodded. "I'll have my records keeper get it. But you know it can't be verified quickly."

I nodded. "It would take weeks to get a reply from Parisia. Their monarch may have sent him or didn't. But there could be something about it to give a clue."

Christian nodded. "Okay."

"What exactly was he offering A'Dore?" I asked.

Christian shrugged. "He was a trader he claimed. He wanted to open a store here and not only in A'Dore's capital, but other towns as well. He had many things from clothing to jewelry."

"Jewelry?" I repeated. "Was he wearing any jewelry?"

Ella nodded. "He wore several things. Really quite unique, I'd never seen some so secure. The prongs were tight holding stones in place."

"Metal jewelry could be a means to get poison or toxin to someone," I thought outloud. "But you didn't notice anything he had on?"

Christian shook his head. "I don't recall." He held his arm out with the healing scratch that was almost gone now between his shoulder and elbow, "But we had to be standing to get me here. His cut was near his wrist, and it bled a lot. Mine just broke the skin a little bit and hardly bled at all. A scrape, really."

Seth nodded. "That could explain why he got so much sicker faster."

"But it is deadly, even in a small amount," I said out loud in thought.

Christian nodded. "Apparently."

Later we entered what had been Jean Claude's room. Whatever this man had hopefully was still here. We had to find it. But we had to be careful, it could kill us, too. Seth and I began searching through his drawers on the bureau, his closet, his trunks of things carefully and cautiously. We saw the many pieces of jewelry he had brought. There was nothing suspicious about anything, but how would we know? It was a few hours later when Seth opened a little case.

"Erik," He said softly. "Look at this."

Coming over, he pointed to something I had seen before, but not often. It was a sort of metal bracelet a man would wear and did in Roma and Athena in the past. Wide and would slide on and fit snuggly. But what was unique was there was a portion of the bracelet with a piece of metal sticking out that was bent like it was bent accidently.

"This might be it." I nodded. "It looks like it was damaged and from the angle this...little blade thing extends, it should have gone toward Christian, but instead it went into man wearing it." I looked at it closer. "And there's a dark smudge." I looked at Seth. "Blood?"

Seth shrugged. Then he sat thinking. "I'm thinking...maybe he was set up as well."

"Who? Jean Claude?"

Seth nodded. "How else can you silence an assassination attempt if you have the assassin alive afterwards. Whomever wanted your family dead, not only wanted them dead, but the killer as well."

I shrugged a nod. "It will all be speculation until we know what we're dealing with." I sat by Seth, "We know of poisons. That knowledge has been around since ancient days, but this one...once delivered, it replicates in the body. Like it's alive and gets stronger." I looked at Seth. "I don't know any poisons that can be deadly if inhaled by someone. There are gases, but not just incubated and then inhaled by another."

"We're looking for a very smart person." Seth nodded. "To know something that will reproduce in the body and spread. They'd have to know about this..." he waved at the bracelet. "...stuff used and how it works."

I nodded. "I guess we'd better know, too."

Seth shook his head. "And how are we going to do that?"

I shrugged. "We'll need to see it." I wondered where I could find a magnifying glass. "We need a magnifier."

Seth nodded. "Will it be enough?" He asked. "These things are very, very small." He thought a moment. "Is there a way to magnify what the magnifier sees?"

I looked at Seth. "You mean magnify the magnification?"

Seth nodded. "Use a magnifier on what's magnified."

I shrugged. "We'll never know till we try." Then I smiled at him. Then I grinned bigger, "I married a very smart man." I said kissing him.

Seth grinned and blushed, "I don't know about that..." then he thought more, "...but it makes sense. Technically, we should be able to magnify the magnification of a magnification. There should be no limits if we can see what it is in focus."

I smiled even bigger. "Correction. You're not smart, you're a genius!"

Seth grinned as he rolled his eyes, "If you say so." He chuckled, "But who's holding them?"

"The magnifying glass? Who says anyone has to hold them at all?"

All this was just speculation. Until we knew this was it, that's all it was. But it had to be. I went to the palace craftsman. Explaining what we were trying to do was sort of challenging. We needed something small. A tall thing like a little pole that magnifying glass could be adjusted to focus to keep the glass steady and focus. Then glass could go closer or farther depending on what was seen or not seen. I made my request a demand and told him I needed it yesterday.

It was the next day when the craftsman came with what he'd made.

On a metal post, about a third of a centimeter high, there were these magnifying glasses that could be slid down and tightened with a screw in place and would hold steady. There were several that could be added above each other. We made a little base that whatever we needed to see could be placed. There was another problem we needed to work out. Placing it on the base would shadow whatever we looked at. Trial and error told us that elevating what was on the base would help. Reflected sunlight by using a little mirror would help us see whatever we looked at, but how far did we look? As much as we could. This took several days.

Putting some of my blood on the base of the magnifier, focusing the next magnifier I was surprised at what I saw. Then again. It was just unbelievable! Then again and again.

"God in Heaven!" I said reverently. "Seth, do you know what's in our blood?"

Seth shrugged. "Blood."

I grinned rubbing his face. "Yes, but did you know there are hundreds of little parts?"

"Parts? What parts?" Seth asked coming over.

I waved at what I called the Seer. "See for yourself. You may not look at me the same after you do."

Seth looked at me unsure, "Is it bad?"

I shrugged. "It's me."

Seth looked at the image, "Damn!!" But kept looking. "I thought it was liquid. Blood, I mean."

I shrugged. "It's so small, it just looks like liquid, but it moves, so it maybe in liquid. It's made of those little things."

Seth nodded. "My blood is like that?"

I smiled hold up the dagger I got mine by. "Do you really want to know? In order to find out, I'll need your blood."

Seth grinned and held his hand out to stop me. "Next time I cut myself, we'll look. Until then, I'm just assuming it is."

"Coward," I groused with a smile.

"So now what?"

"We look at that..." I pointed to the box with the bracelet, "...whatever it is."

Seth nodded. "I sent a letter to Royal Valley. Telling Grace what happened and why we're here. I said a coach got us to explain why ours is still there."

I nodded. "By the time it gets there, the passing of time makes more sense."

The door opened and Christian came in. "How's the investigation going?"

I chuckled. "Do you want to see?" I motioned to the Seer.

Christian looked at Seth. "Do I?"

Seth grinned and shrugged. "It'll open your eyes. Since you two share the same blood, you may be in for a shock."

Christian looked a little wary but leaned over to see through the glass. "God in Heaven!"

Seth chuckled. "Yes, he is your brother." He said to me.

"What...?" Christian looked at the blood, then back at what he'd seen. "...there are these things moving. What is that?"

I shrugged again. "Apparently, it's what makes my blood. And therefore yours, too." I frowned at the setting sun. "But we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see more. We're losing light."

Christian nodded. "What's your plan tomorrow?"

"We look at what it was that attacked you. See what we find and know more about what it is." I answered.

Christian smiled walking over to me. His arm came around me. "I know you will. I believe in you one hundred percent." He kissed me on the temple. Then looked at Seth. Christian grabbed Seth in a similar hug and kissed his temple. "You, too, Seth."

Seth smiled but pointed to me. "He's the brains. He knew what we needed to look for."

I shook my head. "Maybe, but you figured out how we could see it."

"Yea, but..." Seth started.

"Guys!" Christian chuckled. "I get it. You're both smart, but now you have a room full of nieces, nephews and your own children that would love to see you." Christian said moving us to the door with his arms around both our shoulders shoving us leaving no choice. "So, let's go get an early dinner. That's a royal order."

I grinned at him.

Christian jerked his head toward me at Seth. "He got to boss me around recently. Now I can do it back again."

When we came into the dining room Seth, and I were instantly surrounded by children! Toby was signing and Edward was hugging Seth's leg and I was being hugged by Ada and Ana. Thomas was grinning to the side, but he was there.

Seth chuckled as he lifted Edward. Seth was still the favorite uncle to Edward. I picked up Toby and watched as he signed almost too fast. But I saw something that caught my eye from what Toby was saying. I stopped everyone.

"Tell me again, Toby," I said looking at Toby closer. "Slower."

Toby sighed and started again. Uncle Deme came and gave me a note for me to give you.

"Uncle Deme? You mean Demetrius?" I repeated. "He was here?"

Toby nodded. A few hours ago. Then Toby looked a little concerned. Is Uncle Deme mad at you, Dad?

"No, he's not mad at me." I smiled at my son. "We're just not able to talk anymore."

Toby nodded. He said, to tell me what you need to know.

I looked at Seth who was smiling. "I knew he wouldn't be gone."

Seth nodded. "I'd say we did pretty well on our own."

I nodded. "We did." I looked at Toby, "Where's the note?"

In the nursery. Toby signed. I'll show you.

In the nursery he handed me the note. I frowned as I looked at it.

Enemies are not always in the past. Look at those around Christian and Ella's past. There's you answer.

I handed the note to Seth. "Not a lot of help."

Seth shook his head. "Is he saying that man wasn't from Parisia? He was from here in A'Dore?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I thought. "Christian's past, or Ella's?"

I showed Christian the note.

"Our past?" Christian frowned shaking his head. "But it mentions Ella. Which is it? My past? Her past? Our past?"

I grinned sadly. "That's the question, but the note does take the foreign question out." I shook my head. "Whatever threat there is, it's here in A'Dore."

Seth nodded. "We'd better tell Ella. She needs to know that she was named specifically in the threat."

Christian shook his head. "But everyone loves her. She's no threat to anyone!"

"But apparently you both share an enemy. Was there ever an enemy you both had?" I asked Christian.

He thought. "Not since we married."

"Okay, before you married?" Seth asked.

"No." Christian said quickly and then he frowned. "She did have that awful step-mother." Then he shuddered. "And those equally awful step-sisters."

I nodded. "Which you turned down and didn't marry." I pointed out. "Whatever happened to them?"

Christian shrugged. "They just disappeared." Then he shook his head. "I mean, they left, I suppose. Lady Tremaine was stripped of her title, the house was abandoned. We've not heard from or seen them since."

"Ask Ella, please," I said to my brother. "Maybe she can add to this story."

"I'll send her in." Christian nodded and left.

"You think it could be them? Were they smart like this thing is?" Seth pointed to the bracelet. "From the story they were petty and not that sharp and this is pretty complicated."

I shrugged. "I only saw them once. I wasn't even a teenager yet. We need to talk with Ella."

It was later when Ella came to the room Seth, and I were working.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Ella asked, but the concern was on her face.

I nodded. "Your step-mother and step-sisters...do you know where they are now?"

Ella shook her head. "They simply left right after Christian, and I became engaged. Eleanor Tremaine, that was my step-mother, Anastasia and Drusilla were my step-sisters, they went with her I presume." Then she looked at Seth and me closely. "Do you think they were behind this attack?" She was now very worried.

I went to her pulling her to chair to sit down. "This is all guess work so far. We have no proof, but we got a note from Demetrius. He named you as a target as well."

"I thought Demetrius and Dara were gone," Ella said.

I shrugged a nod. "Well, Demetrius doesn't always follow the rules." Then I smiled as she chuckled.

"Neither did Dara, or so she let me know," Ella smiled as she nodded. "Eleanor and her daughters were extremely cruel. Not just to me, but everyone they thought was beneath them...which pretty much covered all of A'Dore. They were motivated by greed, but I've not heard a word from or about them in over a decade. Why would they come back?"

"We don't know that they have." I stated again to be clear.

"But if they have, we still don't know whether or not they are responsible. We need to track where Jean Claude Remiere fits in this...plot." Seth reasoned.

"We'll have to let others know about the possibilities. Let the guards know about Drusilla, Anastasia, and Eleanor. Also, the surrounding townships need to know to look for them if they're here." I proposed as I more or less thought out loud. "They should all know there is a threat to the royal house and to be on the lookout. We'll have to give a description as well."

Ella shook her head. "Who knows if Eleanor even looks the same. She was going grey toward the end, even though she plucked the hairs before they got too many. After ten years, she could be completely grey. Both Drusilla and Anastasia could change, gained weight, which I have no doubt about Drusilla has as she was always eating. Or they could cut their hair or even dye it."

I nodded. "At least the towns will know to lookout. And if they are involved, they will know we're on to them." Then I threw my hands out. "They might not be involved at all! The threat is real. It almost cost Christian his life." I looked at Ella. "And yours and your children."

Ella paled at that. "Yes, of course." She smiled, but it was a tight smile, not one of a happy nature. "Anastasia was smart. Drusilla was just...her head was full of air just as her mouth was full of food. Eleanor was conniving. If they are behind this it will be Eleanor or Anastasia."

I placed a hand on Ella's hand. "I don't want to scare you, but you have a lot to lose. You need to be prepared."

Ella nodded again. "Of course." Then she smiled. "I'm a queen." She said almost haughty, but it was more in fun. "It would take a lot more to scare me. But we need to keep Christian out of danger and my children."

I grinned. "That's why we're here."

After Ella went back to check on hers, Seth's and my children, Seth came up behind me slipping his arms around me from behind resting his cheek again the top of my head.

"We can't forget we have a life in Royal Valley." Seth reminded me.

I nodded. "I haven't forgotten." I pulled his arms tighter around me. "We need to check on our business. We have good people working with us, but we should go back."

Seth nodded turning me around kissing me. "With that..." he pointed toward Christian's and Ella's room. "...doorway mirror thing, we can do it easily now, but we need to make sure no one will become suspicious if we come and go too quickly."

I shrugged. "We'll travel at night. We'll be there in the morning and leave again the following night."

"One day," Seth nodded. "We leave the boys here." That was not a question.

"They will stay here." I agreed. "The end of this week?"

Seth agreed. "How will we say we got there? Won't we need a horse or two at least?"

"And those horses have to leave, too." I nodded. "Even if we did camp at night getting there and back." I shrugged. "We'll think of something."

"We should let Sam know, too." Seth said. "If he doesn't already about our sudden leaving."

"We'll send him a message, too." Then I grinned. "Should we let him know about the doorway?"

Seth thought. "It seems the more people know, the harder it will be to keep secret. And what about Toby? Grace can read signs. If he says he saw Ella yesterday and he's in Royal Valley when he says that..."

I frowned nodding. "It gets more complicated." I sighed. "The more things are easy, the more complicated it gets."

Looking at the blade from the bracelet, even with daylight it was hard to see what the little creatures were. Once we did, we saw there were a lot of different little creatures! Then again, there were a lot little creatures on our hands I swore I washed. Did again and there were still some creatures and other things! There were little things on everything alive and solid like boulders, but they were normally so small, we never saw them! I let the royal physician see them.

"What are these things?" The doctor asked. It was interesting to watch, just as I did, Seth and even Christian. You look, you see and then look at what you're looking at under the Seer to be sure you're looking at the right thing and then back again to see it again. "But how do you know which ones are which?"

"And from looking at many, there are little creatures that we have all the time." I said. I had other Seers made for seeing different things already in focus. I motioned for the doctor to follow me. "I've looked at my hand and Seth's hand up close. We walk around with little creatures all the time and other things." I put my hand under a Seer that we had focused so we could look at objects like the hand and other things. I put my hand in the stabilizer I'd made to keep it steady. "See for yourself."

The doctor looked and did the same thing again. Looked to be sure what he was looking at and back again. "You say they are always there?"

"On you, too, I imagine." I took the older man's hand and put his on the stabilizer. "See?"

The doctor was suddenly very worried. "I have more than you do!"

I chuckled. "And I washed my hands before you saw what you did on me."

"Three times!" Seth said with emphasis.

Then I motioned him to come with me to another Seer. "I've made drawings...sorry about the quality...of the little creatures I've seen on myself, Seth and Christian. I assume they've always been there. Probably since man came into being." I motioned to the Seer that held the blade from the bracelet. "But on here, there is another creature that was not on me or anyone else." I showed him the drawing I made so he would know what to look for.

The doctor looked and then frowned. "If I didn't know better, I'd think they were dying."

I nodded. "Some are moving better, but many are looking like they're dying. They need food as well as any other living thing. I suppose if they get none, they'll die."

Seth had followed us the whole time. "See the one where you added your blood to it."

"It's mostly hardened by now." I said but motioned to the doctor to come over.

The doctor nodded at what he saw. "The little parts of blood were attacked by these new little creatures." He looked at me. "This is what attacked Christian." Again, it wasn't a question. He understood it was fact having seen evidence.

"Yes." I nodded. "The little creatures thrived again." I shook my head. "It's also interesting how they reproduce."

"Why is that?" The doctor asked.

"There is no mating. They just...split." I held my hands together and parted them far apart and then I grinned at the doctor's surprised look. "And they did it a whole lot more in the blood."

He was reaching the same conclusions Seth and I had. "That's how they spread." The doctor nodded. "That's very efficient. So that's what happened with King Christian. They got in him, and they got in his blood, split and began spreading more and more."

"Right! The cut on the other man was deeper and he got more of them and spread faster. Christian got very few and it took longer affect him. It was still deadly; it just took longer." I nodded pleased with the doctor's grasp of what was happening and what had happened. "You hit the bull's eye."

The doctor nodded. "I've got to tell the others here. I don't work alone, you know?" He smiled.

"I know," I smiled back. "I can't name all these..." I waved at the creatures under the Seer. "...things. Or see what they do. We'll need names to keep up with them!"

The doctor chuckled and nodded. "I can see that. My colleagues are going to want to see these things for themselves." The doctor added.

"Bring them." I nodded. "They need to know about this small world we're carrying around." I waved at the Seers. "Of course, we can have more of these made so they can see themselves this small, small world. Perhaps even find something to fight it if needed."

"What about what you gave King Christian?" The doctor asked.

I looked at Seth but shook my head at the doctor. "It was a limited supply. It doesn't last long outside the vial. I'm afraid it's gone."

The doctor frowned. "Perhaps where you got it, there's more?" He asked hopefully. "Could we get some?"

Seth shook his head, "I think it was all they had."

The doctor nodded. "That's a pity. We could use it when a man is injured and has lost blood."

Seth shook his head. "I would be wary of that. The blood was surprising."

"Why?" The doctor asked. "Blood is blood, isn't it?"

"Not really," I shook my head. "I was stunned, too. It seems there are differences in blood. I have different things in my blood than Seth does. I don't know if that's true with every family, but Seth's blood is different. I was going to call my blood Kind A and Seth's Kind B, then I tested Christian's and had the same as I did. Now, Christian's blood and mine are the same, but is that true for every man? We'll need another way of telling what kind, perhaps Kind 1 and Kind 2. I also don't know if that's because we have the same parents, but it may not work man to man. It may be family to family. That doesn't work since Ella and Christian have different parents. Is their children a composite of the two of their parents? We'll have to see more and compare."

Seth grunted and stuck the finger I had gotten the blood from him in his mouth, "He tested mine four times."

I smiled at Seth. "Sorry."

Seth grinned. "Kiss it later?"

"You got it," I chuckled. I was pleased that the doctor didn't find it odd we said it to each other.

The doctor sighed. "This is opening a whole new world on medicine."

I chuckled. "Yep, the more we know, the more complicated it gets." Then I leaned closer to the doctor. "Our views on what's clean and what's not is going to change a lot, too."

The elderly doctor nodded. "I'd say so," He rubbed his hands together like he was trying to rid things he'd seen away by rubbing them away.

"Now we have to get A'Dore ready to combat a visible enemy as well as the very small and invisible enemy." Seth said. "We've got a long way to go."

With a plan...if you call it a plan...in place, Seth and I realized we need to see our sons. We hadn't neglected them, but we missed them, and I know they missed us.

We came in the nursery to find Edward and Toby playing with Dennis sitting nearby.

"Uncle Seth!!" Edward was delighted to see his favorite uncle and toddled over to Seth grabbing a leg.

"Hi, Edward!" Seth grinned picking up our nephew.

Toby reached up for me and began signing fast again. I watched, trying to keep up. He had worked out a short version of words and sentences, but if you've been away a while, like Seth and I had been, it was a challenge to keep up.

"The boy's a chatterbox." Seth chuckled as he watched Toby sign, "For a little boy who doesn't talk, he has a lot to say."

"He's just telling us what we've missed," I chuckled kissing Toby and hugging him. "All of it, I think." I got most of what he said and pieced together the rest. "Yes, we're staying a while." I answered his question. "You don't mind, do you?"

Toby shook his head and signed. I miss Grace.

I nodded. "I know she misses you, too. We'll be home one day. Right now, we're doing something very important and can't leave yet." I put Toby down and picked up Dennis. "Hi, Dennis!"

"Hi!" Dennis said. Clear as a bell. Okay, it was a simple word, but anyone would understand it. "Aun' Ella?" He looked around as he looked for his aunt. "No juice!" He said irritated.

I grinned at our son. "We'll have to do something about that, but they don't have the vineyard in the backyard like we do. The nearest vineyard here is several miles away. I'll find you some juice."

Seth smiled at that. "He loves grape juice. We'll have to watch him when he discovers wine."

I grinned. "We have a few years yet." I kissed Dennis and put him down to resume playing. "I worry that he'll say something about traveling like we are."

Seth nodded. "We'll just have to be careful. He's getting very talkative."

"Too bad we can't ask Demetrius for help." I muttered.

Seth looked puzzled and then looked slyly. "We can't, but they can." He pointed to our sons. "Perhaps if Toby called Demetrius..."

I shrugged. "We might have to, to protect the secret."

At the end of the week, it will have been a few weeks we had left Royal Valley. Seth and I stepped through the doorway mirror back to our home.

Seth grinned. "I like this way of travel! I'm not tired at all."

I chuckled looking back at my brother and Ella on the other side. "We'll be back tonight." I said to them.

"We'll be here." Christian smiled and waved.

Touching the crystal, Seth's and my reflections appeared. It was a mirror again.

Seth touched the frame of the mirror. "Too bad we don't have one for Sam and Terry."

"As far as we were told, these are the only two that exist." I grinned taking Seth's hand leading him down the stairs. "Maybe someday, everyone will have one of these to travel anywhere."

Seth chuckled. "Where are we going?"

I shrugged. "It was a long trip. Don't you need a bath after all that traveling?"

Seth laughed at that. "I guess a bath before bed is a good idea."

"The kids are a thousand miles away. We're alone in our home." I said pulling him close as we made our way into the bedroom. "This is almost a vacation or even a honeymoon, just you and me." I said leading him into the bathroom. "I'll light the tank."

The convenience of having hot water was great, but it still had to heat up.

"Who's there?" We heard the cross voice.

Seth and I were both startled to see Gabe.

"Erik! Seth! I didn't hear you come in!" Gabe said as he recognized us. "When did you get here? Better yet, how did you get here? I didn't see anyone ride up."

This was our first problem with the travel means. "We just got here," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Grace said you left to handle an emergency in A'Dore. I, and some of the people in town were watching the house for you. Not that we have that many thieves here...but travelers..." Gabe said puzzled and then shook his head. "I was downstairs. I didn't hear you until just now."

"Here it comes," Seth sighed. He shook his head. "He has to know."

"I guess we have to let some know," I said to Seth sadly. I rose and walked to Gabe. "If we tell you. You and one or two more can know. Can we trust you not to tell a soul?" Then I looked at Gabe closer and as firmly as I could. "I mean no one can know."

Gabe nodded. "You know you can. I wouldn't tell anyone. I swear, but this doesn't necessarily sound good. What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "Until a few minutes ago. Seth and I were in A'Dore."

Gabe heard us, but his mind wasn't excepting what we said at first. "But...how..." then he smiled. "It was magic, wasn't it? You said you had a fairy godfather. He did this?"

I nodded. "He made it possible. Now, we're going to go back tonight. We'll be back in A'Dore this evening."

Gabe was now smiling grandly now. "That's amazing!"

"Gabe," Seth said coming closer. "You promised."

Gabe nodded, "And I'll keep it."

Seth nodded and then brightened. "Maybe he could help us." Seth said to me. "He could take two horses from the stable and bring them here."

I nodded. "Then when we leave again tonight, take them back!" I smiled at Gabe. "We want to avoid questions about our coming and going so quickly."

Gabe nodded. "Sure. I'll do it now!" He was about to leave, "Do I get to tell Zeke?"

I shrugged a nod. "Well, we might need additional help, so sure, but he swears as you did, tell no one else."

Gabe nodded. "I swear!" Then he ran out of our room.

Seth shook his head watching Gabe run out. "I hope this will be a good thing."

"We can only hope." I said smiling at Seth, "But I did marry a very smart man."

Seth grinned and then faked a surprised look. "You married another man!?" Even the look of shock was pretty good.

"You could almost convince me. You should join a traveling theatrical group." I chuckled as I shut and locked the door. There were people coming in the house, so I wanted to sure we weren't interrupted. Then turned back to Seth.

"You are a very smart man, Seth," I said walking toward him.

Seth smiled as my arms went around him. "I'm glad you think so."

"I know so," I said kissing him gently and as often as we did, it never lost its impact. "A very handsome man." My hands went to his waistline where I began pulling his shirt tail out and my hands traveled up his stomach to his chest. Our kiss became more as the drive and hunger seemed to build as it always did. "I love you, Seth." His arms brought me closer even more.

"We make a good team," Seth grinned. "I love you, too."

"Yeah, we do."

Now we had allies in Royal Valley. I did worry a little about others knowing we traveled this way, but we didn't tell them how. Soon we heard the knock on the door.

"I put two horses in the stable," Gabe's voice said. "I borrowed them from the livery. I'll put them back tomorrow."

I opened the door. "Won't someone notice they're gone?"

Gabe shrugged. "A horse is a horse. Deacon is the guy in charge of the livery. There were a dozen, I don't think they'll be missed. If they are, they will be looked for as if they got away." He grinned as he bounced. "I sort of left the stall door open. They'll assume they wandered off." He hugged me. "Can we see you tomorrow before you leave?"

I looked at Seth who shrugged. I nodded to Gabe. "Sure. Why don't you and Zeke come for dinner?"

Gabe nodded. "We'd love to." Then as he was about to walk away he turned back, "I'd love to. Zeke's cooking hasn't improved that much and tomorrow's his night to cook." He grinned and walked out.

Seth and I sunk into the steaming water and let the hot water work its magic. Before long, it was more than apparent we'd been tense for a long time and were getting tired in the water. Getting out was harder than getting in. We collapsed into our bed. Having missed it for a while. The bed was magically made, so it was very comfortable.

We hadn't told anyone else we were coming, so Seth and I were awakened as we heard a scream and something china or glass shatter on the wooden floor.

Seth and I both sat up to see Grace holding her chest as she stared at us.

"You've come back!" She said almost breathlessly. "Are the boys back, too?" She asked looking back in the direction of our sons' room.

Seth held his hand up before she went to confirm it herself, "No, Grace, they're still in A'Dore."

"We had to travel very fast," I truthfully explained. "We wouldn't do that to them. We felt we needed to check on everyone here. We're sorry we startled you."

Grace nodded gasping. "No, that's fine. I was just surprised, that's all. Are things okay in A'Dore?"

I shook my head. "No. In fact, we're only here for a day. This day. We're leaving again tonight."

Grace frowned. "If I can ask...what happened to make you leave so quickly?"

Seth nodded. "It's no secret. Someone tried to kill Erik's brother Christian."

Grace's eyes widened hearing the news. "You said tried, they didn't succeed then." She said more in hope.

"No." Seth grinned. "It seems Erik's and my quick trip saved his life."

Grace shook her head, "From what I've heard everyone loves Christian. And Ella!"

"Not everyone, it seems," I said sourly. "That's why we have to go back. It's not over."

"And probably won't be for a while," Seth added.

Grace nodded and then saw we were not dressed as we were both bare-chested. "Well, I'll let you dress...or whatever...sleep more if you need to." She started to leave. "Sorry about the vase."

I chuckled. "It can be replaced."

Seth grinned. "I could do with some of your great hotcakes. If I ask nicely?"

Grace smiled. "For my boys, no problem. I'll begin making them as soon as I get downstairs." Then she left.

Everyone at the vineyard and winery were glad to see Seth and I had returned and understood that we couldn't stay. The news spread fast through Royal Valley. I made sure the woman I put in charge was okay with what she had to do. I knew she would be. This was not just Seth's and my business. It was Royal Valley's income. Seth saw the vineyard was well managed with the new grapes we'd planted, and the new wine was going well. That evening we had both Gabriel and Ezekiel as dinner guests.

Ezekiel leaned forward and asked quietly. "You guys are traveling back to A'Dore tonight?" He was watching to see where Grace was.

Seth nodded chuckling. "If you leave here now and we left now, we'd be in A'Dore long before you got home."

I leaned in, too. "No one can know."

Gabriel jabbed his husband, "I told you that."

Ezekiel frowned. "I know. They're the ones traveling this way, they know, why can't I talk to them about it?" He smiled at us. "A thousand miles in an instant! That's incredible!" He said in a loud whisper.

Seth chuckled. "It is!" Seth said in an equally loud whisper.

Grace, before she left that evening said her goodbyes. "You don't know when you're coming back, do you?"

I shook my head. "We won't be able to until this is solved."

She nodded. "Well, come back. We all miss you." Then she smiled. "I'll bet Toby and Dennis are fine."

Seth chuckled. "They love having their cousins to play with."

She laughed. "They really don't have that here, do they? I just miss their happy faces." Then she kissed us. "I'm gathering you'll be gone when I get here in the morning."

Seth and I nodded. "We will be." I said. "Leaving early would give us more light during the day on horseback."

"Be safe." Then she turned to leave but stopped. "When the four of you are away like this. There's not a lot to do, but I'll find something." Then she left.

We waited a few hours and then went up in the attic. Knowing we were alone in the house, we activated the mirror and stepped through to A'Dore.

Christian grinned as we stepped in his and Ella's bedroom. "Long trip?" He chuckled.

I laughed back. "You're a wise king, Christian. You don't have to be a wiseass."

Christian laughed heartily. "The perks of being a king." He said getting up and hugging us both. He looked at me. "And you're getting a bad mouth." He shook his finger at me.

"Send me to the rack," I said simply.

We began investigating more the next morning. Notices had been sent out about what happened and that we were looking for someone that tried to kill the king to all the townships in A'Dore. They were even going into Blethos and the Creids. Well, the Creids had been asked to be involved with assassinating Seth's mother, the Queen of Blethos, even though they had been framed and had done nothing in that attempt, they needed to be involved in the notification. We had some of our more experienced guards go looking for traces of Eleanor, Drusilla, and Anastasia. They were more skilled at asking people and finding out the truth, some that were hidden truths.

Ella informed us more about her stepfamily. "There were originally three step-sisters. Drusilla, Anastasia, and Lucille, but Lucille was not very strong physically. She died two years after moving into the house." She smiled. "She was the one that named me Cinderella. The story only tells of the two sisters." She shook her head. "I sort of wished they had remained in A'Dore."

Christian frowned. "Why? They were cruel to you."

Ella nodded. "But we'd know where they are."

I grinned tightly at my sister-in-law. "We'll find them, Ella," I assured.

Further study of the small, small world we only recently found was fascinating! Dr. Warren, the royal physician, was equally interested and often shared his knowledge with Seth and me.

He grinned at he saw again the wonders of human blood. "I wonder how far we can go."

Seth looked up. "How far we can go...you think there's something even smaller?"

Dr. Warren nodded. "We won't know until we see it." He said logically. "I've added some more magnifiers to this Seer. I've found some interesting things about what we assumed was as small as we could get, only to find out it wasn't!" He waved at what we'd come up with to see this small world. "What we saw were these little things that make our blood. Now I've found there are smaller things in those little things! It's amazing!" He nodded as he looked again. "And those little red things aren't alone in what makes our blood!"

I grinned. Dr. Warren was a true man of science. His attention never wavered. "I'm glad we made life more interesting for you, Doc." I chuckled.

The doctor smiled at me. "I believe you would make an excellent doctor, Prince Erik."

Seth grinned. "He did save a lot of lives in Royal Valley and Christian."

The doctor nodded. "Your use of ice to deal with the measles was brilliant. We need to come up with a way to make more ice instead of just storing it." He looked at the icebox we had now in the area we were working. "Putting blood in these iceboxes was also brilliant."

"Actually, that was Seth's idea," I grinned. "My husband is brilliant."

Seth pinked a little, "Well, it made sense. We put food in iceboxes to keep them fresh longer, it just seemed logical to do the same for blood."

The doctor nodded. "This is going to open a whole new side to medicine! We'll have teams of men working on these small creatures." Then he walked over to another Seer. "I've found other little creatures. There are millions of them and all kinds! This..." he pointed to a Seer. "...is from a man that got sick after he'd had sex, unwisely, with someone."

Coming over I peered at what was on the glass below. I recognized the blood and other things, but a new creature was there. "This is from having sex? I've heard of illness spread after sex in some cases, but it this it?"

"It may only be one of several. The person said he felt fine until he did. That was the only difference for him." The doctor explained. He shook his head. "I know that with every illness, we're going to find another bunch of creatures."

I sighed. "I just wished we could find three large creatures." I said thinking of Ella's stepmother and stepsisters.

Seth came over embracing me, "We will."

It was another week or so before a man came riding hard through the streets. Once inside the castle walls, he quickly dismounted and came into the palace. I was with Christian at the moment in the throne room.

"Sire," The man said bowing instantly. "I have news."

Christian nodded. "Speak."

"I have learned that Eleanor Tremaine has passed away," The man reported.

"This is confirmed?" Christian asked.

"About three years ago, Sire." The man said, "Drusilla has married and lives in Italia, but Anastasia has been seen in A'Dore's capital a few weeks ago." He handed Christian the papers that had the information on it.

Christian frowned taking the pages. "Okay. Any word about Jean Claude? Who he was or if he's even connected? Is he even connected to Anastasia at all?"

The man shook his head. "Not yet, Sire. We will keep looking." He promised and left the throne room.

I touched my brother, "We don't know that Anastasia is connected to Jean Claude."

"But we know Jean Claude tried to kill me," Christian said as he walked and thought. "I can't shake the idea that Ella's step sister is involved. How Jean Claude was roped in to deliver these...things to my family." He shook his head and looked at me. "He had some nice things. I mean, they were real! The jewels he had were real. Real emeralds, diamonds, and rubies. Real silks and satin. Real gold. If he wasn't what he said he was, how did he get these things? And he had them just to get to me...to Ella? Someone gave money to get this done. And I mean a lot of money. There were thousands of gold pieces worth of gems. Who would put up that kind of money to seek revenge on Ella?"

I shrugged. "Many people will stop at nothing to get revenge," I explained. "Take the Thornes. Neither Arthur nor his two children gave a thought about their soul when they killed. Arthur was just greedy, but Deena, she was the cruelest of them. She knew how to hurt a man, squeezing Seth's man orbs until they nearly burst. And Anastasia is female, so..."

Christian winced when I mentioned Seth nearly having his male orbs squeezed and his hand went to his own beneath his pants. Every man knew how much that could hurt if only being hit lightly, it would hurt! "But women are the beautiful, gentle and the fairer gender!"

I grinned shaking my head. "There, dear brother, I will disagree with you there, men are fairer to me. Women are the more cunning and more devious. And cruel! They are lionesses, the true killers." Then I noticed something and smiled. Sure, we had a crisis, but at the end of the day, he was my brother! He had been my big brother, Prince Charming and now king, but always my friend. I grinned as I touched his hair below his right temple in his sideburn. His hair, like mine was cut short, but always well-groomed black locks that waved a little when they got too long. There was something I'd never seen before. Christian backed away a little, but not far. "Oh, my god!!"

"What?" Christian asked me sounding irritated as all brothers can be.

"You have a gray hair!" I smiled even broader.

"I do not!" But his hand came up to cover his sideburn.

"You do, too!" I laughed at him as he looked a little terrified. "Oh, come on, Christian. Dad got his first gray hair in his mid-thirties! That's you now." I walked closer, but Christian was now backing away. "I'll pluck it out and show you!"

"No!" Christian was now smiling, but now backing away faster with his hand up to stop me. "Don't touch me!"

There were others in the throne room, advisors, arbitrators, and scribes who were smiling as we were acting like brothers. We always did. Little boys sometimes.

"I'm king, damn it!" Christian stated now almost running from me, circling the throne room. "I'll call the guards! Don't think I won't!"

I wasn't worried a bit. It made me laugh. "Call them and then they can also see the gray hair." I continued to grin as I kept coming toward him.

"You keep away from me!" Christian was laughing now. "I don't believe you!" He stopped. "This is not king-like behavior!"

I nodded. "No, but it is little brother behavior, though. For me." I said still grinning as he took off through the throne room and out the door. I smiled at the others in the room. "He'll be right back." The other men were now openly laughing now as I went to see where my brother went. His boots clomping told me in which direction down the marble corridor. At the moment, the only one in crisis was Christian, so I wasn't running. I took my time, knowing the direction what room he was ending in. The communal room. Entering I saw Ella smiling. Christian had apparently asked her if it was true. She held his head steady as she looked.

"Well, hold still, honey." Ella said shaking her head but looking at his right sideburn. Then I grinned as she took her fingers and sifted, then yanked.

"Ow!" Christian let out and grabbed his head.

"Now you don't have a gray hair." Ella said smiling holding the gray hair for him to see.

"The fairer gender strikes again." I chuckled as I walked over to them and instantly attacked on the leg by Toby. Looking down my face brightened. "Hi, Toby!" I reached down and picked my happy son up.

What's the matter with Uncle Christian? Toby asked me.

"He just found a gray hair." I told him.

"I did not," Christian growled. "You found the gray hair." He turned to me, but he was still smiling.

"And I'm grateful I did." I said walking over and hugging Christian. "There will be a few more soon. In fact, I've heard when you pluck one, two replace it!"

Christian groaned. "Oh, great."

"Want this one?" Ella asked chuckling and handed me the hair.

I shook my head. "I'll grow my own, thanks," But I took it anyway.

Seth came in with Dennis and Edward. Dennis was being held by Seth and Edward was giggling as he hung on to a leg as Seth walked. "Hi, Christian!" Then he looked at us and our faces. "What'd I miss?"

I held the gray hair to Seth. "Christian's first gray hair."

Seth smiled at the hair. "The king's growing up," He grinned at his brother-in-law.

Christian frowned. "You're next to get one! Wait till it happens to you. It won't be so funny then!"

I grinned hugging Christian again. "We won't love you any less."

"In fact," Ella smiled. "Your father was very handsome with his gray, just as I know you will be."

Then Christian's smile faded. "I needed to see you. This is fun, but..." He said to Ella. "I've always told you what was happening. Anastasia was seen in our city. Eleanor is dead. She died about three years ago. Drusilla lives in Italia."

Ella nodded. "You think it was Anastasia that attacked you?"

I walked toward her. "We don't know, but you need to be aware."

Seth heard and nodded. "We'll find out. I promise."