Judith (Queen's Birds of Prey 3)

Going back to his office, he started looking over some of the paperwork from the last few days. Duncan needed to get some work done, or he’d not have things finished up in the coming year. Excitement was making him lazy, he thought with a grin.

Not only did he run several businesses, but Duncan also had an exceptionally good portfolio. His mom, in seeing the future, had told him what to buy and how much it would be worth. Even without the stash his mom had left him, Duncan made enough money on other ventures that he was able to not touch the gems and gold and live on what he made now.

Deep in thought of what he was reading, when his phone rang, he picked it up without looking at the caller identification. As soon as he heard the heavy breathing on the other end, he closed his eyes and waited for the man to start spewing his rhetoric to him.

“If one of them damned kids comes anywhere near my property, I’m going to shoot first, then I’m going to sue you. I told you when you got that stupid idea in your head, I wasn’t going to tolerate it.” Duncan said nothing. “You hear me, young man? I’m not joking with you at all. I see one foot on my side—”

“I have six thousand acres here, Mr. Bloom. I’m willing to bet my life on the fact that not one person will step anywhere close to your place.” Mr. Bloom had been a pain in his backside from the moment Duncan had started renovating the castle to its original form. Bloom told him he’d be keeping an eye on it. “You do that. In the meantime, Merry Christmas, you old goat.” Duncan then hung up.

Normally he would never have spoken to a human like he had with Mr. Bloom. But there were times when Duncan despaired of ever having the man just relax on his side of the property line. He’d even invited the grouch over for the party, and he’d heard an earful about that too. Christ, there just wasn’t any way to please the buzzard.

At almost midnight, Duncan got up to stretch. He didn’t need to sleep, so he would roam the halls late at night and make plans. He had always thought he had the best ideas when he was the only one around. Stopping in front of the large painting of his parents, Duncan wondered what his mother had been thinking when she’d had to sit so close to his sire.

The painter had captured his mother’s pain quite well. The hand on her shoulder, the one his sire had put on her, was clenched deeply into Mom’s flesh. Duncan always wondered if Mom had been bruised by the grip at her shoulder. Knowing it would have been something she carried for at least a few hours made him hate his sire all the more. Duncan had heard all the stories about his sire and was glad he’d died before he was born.

The next row of paintings brought him to the grandparents. Lord and Lady Beswick had been his mother’s parents. He knew a little about them, but not too much. Duncan also thought they were still alive someplace. If only, he thought, if only I could contact them and let them know I am alive and well.

Just as he was turning from the painting, something moved at the corner of his eye. Duncan turned in that direction slowly. Whatever it had been, or in this case whoever it had been, was still standing in the long hall in front of the very picture he had been looking at. When the specter smiled at him, his knees simply went out on him, and he fell to his ass.

“Mom?” She nodded at him, then pointed to her parents. “What are you...? How are you here?”

“I visit you on occasion. I thought today of all days I’d speak to you, son. I wish for you to find them—your grandparents on my side. They are alive and have been living poorly in a ramshackle place. You need to find them. Bring them here.” He said he would. “I mean, for the wedding. I would like for you and Jude to find them and bring them here for the wedding. You know just where they are, Duncan. We visited them there when you and Mary and I went on a little adventure.”

“The cottage?” She moved closer to him as she nodded. “Mom, if you’ve been here before, why haven’t you ever let me see you? I would have given anything to have seen you. I’ve missed you every day I’ve been alone.”

“You talk to me. That has been enough—for now, at least. Mercy will tell you great stories about me, but do not let her be sad. She’s hard enough to live around, I would think, without her being all sad and despondent. She is and always will be the best person I know to help you with finding them.” Duncan said he’d contact her today. “Good. Also, I want you to stop talking to me every day. You’re beginning to repeat yourself, and I’d rather you weren’t committed when you have my grandchildren about. You will have them, will you not?”

“I think we should leave that up to Judith. Don’t you?” His mother laughed. It made him smile that he would know her laughter anywhere. Mother laughed like a braying jackass, as Mercy had said about her. “Mom, I miss you so much. I know the birds do as well. Can you come to see them while they’re here?”

“I cannot, my heart. I cannot. It would be painful for me to see them and not be able to hug them as women. They saved my life and my kingdom more times than I think there are numbers. Oh, how I wish I could touch them once more. To take the memories of seeing them back with me.”

Mom turned away from him before she asked him to come with her. He followed his mom’s ghost to the bottom of the stairs. While standing in the living room, she moved to the fireplace. It was just on the tip of his tongue to tell her to be careful of the flames when she spoke to him again.

“See that stone there? I wish for you to push it hard when they arrive here. First thing, all right, my son? This is all for my birds, Duncan. I have come here today so that you could show them this chamber and allow them to take what I have collected for them.” He asked her if he should go, as well. “Yes, that would be lovely. I want you to know I did not suffer much when the stones began to fall on me. Hardly at all, as a matter of fact. Because I wanted to be a part of your life in some way, I have left a gift to my eagle and the others. Once you all are inside, you’ll understand why this fireplace was never harmed in the collapse of the castle.”

He noticed that she was beginning to fade,

and he asked her once more to come back when the birds were there. Instead of answering him, he felt all her love pass though him when she left him, her ghost going through his body.

“Oh, Mother. I have loved you so much. I love you more with each passing day.”

He sat there in the hallway and cried for his loss. Yes, he thought to himself, he could understand why she’d not want to hurt her birds like this. It was almost too much for him to bear himself.

Chapter 2

Jude landed on the perch she’d claimed as her own all those centuries ago and looked around. Her eagle, larger than life, could see well beyond what even binoculars could see with a human hand. The waterways looked much like they had all those years ago. Minus, of course, the boats and ships that would be out daily.

The queen had boats too, she only just remembered. They would go out daily with their nets and bring back bounties of fish and other creatures. Turtles were her favorite once she got past the heavy shell. There were other things she remembered too. Things that until this moment had been all but forgotten.

“Hello.” She turned slowly and looked at the man before her. She hadn’t any idea who he was, and when he approached her perch, he stayed far enough away that she couldn’t kill him if he made a sudden move. “I’ve been awaiting your arrival. If you wish to talk to me, I can understand you as well as Mother did.”

“Your mother? I’m afraid I don’t know who your mother is, sir.” He moved just a little closer to her, and instead of being in front of her now, he was looking out over the turret much as she’d been doing when he spoke to her. “Perhaps if you explained who your mother is, it will jog a memory, and I’ll know who you are.” There was something about him that touched a memory, but she didn’t have it long enough to put a face to who he might be.

“The work on the castle is coming along nicely. It helped me that there was plenty enough magic for me to tap into when I started working.” He looked at her. “Do you suppose it would be possible for you to be a woman now? I’ve enjoyed speaking to you, Judith, but I would also like to see your other half. If you don’t mind.”

Hopping down to the flat surface of the roofless room, she shifted even before her feet touched the stone beneath her. Keeping her distance from him, just in the event he wanted to harm her, she reached out to any of the other birds to tell them where she was. Mercy told her he was safe. Sure, easy for her to say—she wasn’t up in the turret with him.

“Mercy said you are trustworthy. I’m not so sure yet, so I’d keep my distance. I don’t have time to fuck around with you today. Besides, I think there is something wrong with you that you’re not frightened of my bird. So? What’s the matter with you?”