Remington (Queen's Birds of Prey 5)

“Her name is Pixie. Please raise her as your own, as both her parents are dead. She needs good parents such as yourself.” The note wasn’t signed, but he knew it wasn’t from Rosemary. She could neither read nor write. Pulling the little blanket off Pixie, he laughed when he saw her markings. She was indeed fae.

~*~

Remi didn’t know what to think about the castle she was to live in with Harlin. It was cold and drafty. There didn’t seem to be any kind of indoor plumbing. Nor did she like that the kitchen wasn’t a part of the place, but a stone building out back that was much too small for her tastes.

“My lady? If you would allow me to see what you have in mind for this place, I can make it better. I can see that you’re upset.” She nodded to Snow, the faerie that had been following her around since she entered the building. “You are unhappy with it all?”

“Yes, that pretty much sums it up. There is nothing here to make it worth not ripping it down and starting over.” She knew she’d shocked the little creature, but she didn’t care. “How are we supposed to keep warm when the weather turns cold? None of the fireplaces have proper ventilation. There isn’t any way to go to the kitchen and grab a snack when I want. I’d have to walk out in the weather to not just get something to eat but to take a shit as well. Who designed this mess? A hermit that had no needs beyond a roof over his head?”

“I don’t know who that might be or who would be living here without your permission, my lady.” She growled and scared Snow more. “Just allow me to fix one thing for you, and we can work on the hermit. I will find him and set him out if that is what you wish.”

Thinking abou

t how explaining to her what a hermit was would take too long. Instead, she told her that she wanted electricity in the whole place. Snow only stared at her, and Remi had to count to ten five times before she could explain what she needed her to do.

“I want you to go to Piper and Grant’s castle. See how it’s made. Spend some time there getting a good picture of what I want. In fact, look around there and come back here and make this castle like theirs. That way, once we get that portion of it fixed up, we can work on the other things.”

Snow smiled, snapped her fingers, and left her. Remi went to find Harlin. It looked like he was having difficulty too.

“No, I’m not unhappy about the greenhouse. I’m not happy with the way it’s designed. You need to start over with this one, and we’ll begin again.” Whoever he was talking to was too small for her to see from where she was. Getting closer, she could see that there were two brownies sitting on the stone waiting for him to tell them what the hell he was talking about. He looked at her, and she could see his frustration all over his body. “I can’t make them understand me.”

“I can fix that.” She put out her hand, and they came to her. “There is a greenhouse behind Lord Grant’s home. Have you seen it?” They both nodded. “Good. I want you to make this one look like that one, with all the running water and walls here. Only larger. Ten times—”

Harlin interrupted her. “No, not ten times. The same size for now. That way, if it’s still not what I’m looking for, I can add on as we work. All right?” They disappeared the same way Snow had. “Is it going well for you? I have been out here for the last forty-five minutes trying to explain to them that this system no longer works for what we will be producing. I had no idea the faeries and the brownies were here to serve our kind, did you?”

“Not until today when Snow showed up with her crew. I didn’t have any more luck making her understand either. I sent her to Piper’s home to figure it out.” They were both laughing when he pulled her into his arms. “I did go over the handbook this morning. It’s like reading a book written in several languages, then translated into this one. It’s currently being worked on with my magic to go back to the original one and work from there. That should help me get a handle on what the hell it is that I’m working with.”

When Harlin kissed her, they walked hand in hand to the gardens behind their castle. It was magic too. Instead of using the land on one level, someone had stacked layer after layer of land atop one another to grow many things at one time. When there was a need for whatever was on the top, a person only had to touch that layer, and it would come to the ground level for you to pick from. There were saplings growing in the same kind of ground system too.

“You’d think if they were able to make this work, a simple thing like having running water and electricity would be an easy thing for them.” Harlin told her this had been the working system here forever. But to them, electricity and indoor plumbing were still new. “I suppose. I do remember when we had to learn how to put on clothing. It was a nightmare for a while. We never got the hang of wearing a corset. I thought them to be stupid, but society back then required women to be in one. We compromised on it, I guess you could say, and only made our bodies look like we were in one.”

He was still laughing when they came upon Basil and his mom. They were holding a bundle, and Remi wondered what they were doing. It wasn’t until the baby started fussing that she realized they had a baby with them. Basil handed the little girl to her, then asked them to have a seat. He explained what had happened last night and how he was going to raise the little girl with Alma.

“That’s wonderful. I wonder where she came from.” Remi put her hand on the little girl’s heart and found out everything she could about her. Looking up at the older couple, she was so happy she could help them with this. “Mother Earth said you are to raise her. She’s the one that put her in your bed so you’d find her. Pixie’s parents are indeed dead. They were killed by her for misdeeds done to her kind. I do know the child was considered an innocent and has been given all that was left behind by her parents. There wasn’t much left. There is a house not far from where we are, and that is yours to keep her in. Mother Earth is hoping you’ll wish to take on other children like this one that only needs good and loving parents to show them right from wrong. I have to say this is sort of freaking me out, the kind of shit I’m getting from a single touch.”

They all laughed, and she looked at the little girl. There wasn’t an ounce of meanness in her from her parents. While she knew the reason they had gotten this little girl now, Remi saw no reason for her new parents to know. Pixie’s biological parents deserved to die and so much more, but she’d not been in charge of that part of Pixie’s life.

They all played with her. She seemed to be about three months old and was enjoying the attention she was getting. It wasn’t until Harlin took Pixie in his arms that she realized this was going to be his little sister. Remi glanced at Alma when she cleared her throat.

“I was worried you’d not take it well to have a sister so young.” Harlin said he didn’t care so long as she was happy. “I am too. Thank you for that, son. I am very happy. We’ve been looking for ourselves a home close to you, but if the one this child has is close, I see no reason for us not to enjoy it. Don’t you think?”

Basil kissed Alma on the mouth when she turned to him. “I think it’s a splendid idea, my dear. Splendid. We’ll have all the makings of a big family before too much longer, and this little one will be able to play with her niece or nephew when they come along.”

Again, Remi hadn’t thought of that. Putting her hand over her still flat belly, she thought of her own child growing up around here. It had been a wonderful place for her, and she was sure that Harlin had had a good life here as well. Snow joined them just as they were deciding they were in need of something to eat. The lunch hour had long since passed.

“I believe I have it, my lady. Yes, I think so.” They were headed to the house when both of the brownies Harlin had been working with caught up with them. “I’ll show them the house, Jack and Jill, then I will let you show them the greenhouse. This is a wonderful day, I think, to have someone so interested in what can be done again.” Snow looked at Basil. “I am sorry, my lord. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. But you have been ill for a very long time.”

“No need to be sorry, Snow. I know I let things slide. I’m better now, and I’m hoping you can find someone to help me bring my home with my mate up to standards too.” She said she knew just the person. “Good. No time like the present if you ask me. Let us go and see the house. I’m excited to see what changes have been made to it.”

Remi was almost too afraid to look. When it was pointed out that the kitchen building was going to be used for storage, she headed there first. It had walls now, thick ones. There were several lights around, and she could see that shelving had been added to hold things.

“There is power, what it is called, running to the building now. There is room for many things to be put inside to keep fresh. I spoke with Mandy at the other house, and she explained to me how to make it so that fresh things would not freeze, but things that needed to be frozen will be taken care of that way. Magic is very nice for something like this, she told me, or we’d have to have many such buildings to keep things around for eating.” Remi told her she liked that idea. “I’m glad, my lady. It was very good of you to send me to the other house. I was able to learn a great deal from there.”

Walking into the back of the castle, they were stepping into what she thought of as a mudroom. There were shelves on each side of the wall, and it looked to her like someone had mentioned that shoes could be placed under the small bench. She was happy to see her shoes there and that someone had shined them up for her. They left that area to step into the kitchen.

“This is it, Snow. I can see me working in here.” She walked around the room, touching the surfaces that were as smooth as stone. Remi realized that they were stones and that they had been used instead of anything else to work from.

In the center of the room was a long butcher’s block, made of wood of every kind she’d ever seen. Remi knew it was from her sister, Blaze, and cherished it all the more for her thoughtfulness.