View from the Mountain, pt 3

"So, Aadi and Jordan are coming to the wedding," Miranda said.

They were making their way along the gently twisting path up the mountain. The rain had started a little after they'd left Mill Lane, but Aadi had insisted they take umbrellas. Rain, Aadi said, was as common to Henford as Bohemian Rhapsody was at a karaoke night. 

"That's good," Mariah replied, distracted. She'd managed to get a handle on her feelings. Alright, so maybe her insecurities were writhing like a pit of snakes, but she had put a lid over that damn pit and the snakes were staying down under it. Mostly. 

"I told Aadi I'd pay for the plane tickets and hotel and all," Miranda went on. "They tried to refuse, but really, they can't afford it, and I can. So, why shouldn't I pay. I mean, they can't come if I don't. So I will. Simple. Right? Right. I'm right."

Mariah nodded her agreement. Of course, she knew all this already, but she let her lover ramble. Miranda was clearly trying to distract herself from her own fears and doubts.  We all have our ways of dealing with things, Mariah thought.

Soon, the rumbling sound of a waterfall, cascading down the higher slopes of the mountain, filled the silence. The path turned gently to reveal a clearing, with a small cottage and sheds surrounded by a low stone wall that Mariah realized with a start were the ruins of some older structure. 

A man, neatly dressed, his long hair falling in waves around a calm face, stepped out to meet them.

"Welcome," the man said courteously. 

"Are, are you Lucius Tempest?" Miranda asked.

"So they call me," Lucius nodded.

"I'm... I'm Miranda," she continued. "Miranda Silveroak-Goth... Gwen... Gwen Silveroak, is my mother. Well, she's married to my mother, and they both raised me so..."

"Miranda?" Lucius's face warmed with a wide smile. "Truly? Look at you! A woman grown. It seems only yesterday a child played by the riverside."

"This is Mariah," Miranda said. "We're getting married."

"Welcome, Mariah," Lucius said warmly. "You are both most welcome here. Please, I have a warm fire and fresh bread inside. I may even have some cider left. Will you join me?"

"Yes," Miranda laughed. "Yes, please."

-------------------

The inside of the cottage was, as promised, warm thanks in large part to the fire burning in the antique wood-burning stove. The bread, thickly sliced and topped with a mixture of honey and butter, was so freshly baked as to still be warm and delicious. 

A grey tabby cat had given them a considering look with imperious eyes before disappearing deeper into the cottage with a disdainful flick of the tail. 

To Mariah's surprise, a familiar small blue fairy had flit into the room, accepted her own smaller slice of bread with butter and honey, and now sat on the kitchen shelves watching them. 

"Of course, Bluebell has told me stories about you," Lucius was saying as he refilled their mugs of cider. "About you both... and about Gwen and Cassandra. Still, the last time I saw you, you were just a girl. Can it have been so long ago?"

"Well, I'm twenty-one now," Miranda said.

"Twenty-one?" Lucius laughed. "I remember when Gwen was twenty... toddling about Glimmerbrook Watch and just at the age of asking 'why' about everything... but of course, I forget you were born in the mortal world and grew with the passing of days and the turning of seasons."

"Right, the whole 'time is different in Glimmerbrook' thing," Mariah mused.

"... and for old immortals like me," Lucius nodded. "Even living in the mortal world, like I do, I've lived so long that the days and years tend to blur together."

"Is that... I mean," Miranda started, then blurted out. "I've never met you. Now you're saying you saw me playing the river... but never... not once?"

"Gwen made it clear that she didn't want me to be involved," Lucius said, a little sadly. "Bluebell kept me informed and yes, from time to time, I would look in on her and later on your mother and you. Still, I kept my distance."

"Like the night the vampires came to kill us?!" Miranda snapped. "You sure kept your distance then too. Why didn't you do anything!?"

"I watched over you all, for years," Lucius said firmly. "Stroud and his Dark Court knew I was here, knew I was watching. So, we watched each other, the draugr and I. We watched you, and we waited. There is nothing so patient, Miranda, as old immortals. 

"Still, even a witch cannot be in two places at once. That night Stroud and his followers attacked, I was not here," Lucius continued. "Gwen had, by then, reached the fullness of her strength. Your mother had fully embraced her own power, and you... you were beginning to grow into your own. The three of you were on the verge of becoming the new Guardians of Glimmerbrook Watch. The Witches' Council believed my protection could be spared. 

"I was called away, to investigate a serious matter in the Great Western Desert. It proved more... challenging... than any of us expected." Lucius seemed to study his mug of cider intently for a moment. "In my absence, Stroud took his opportunity. Perhaps he would have moved anyway, determined as he was to prevent the restoration of the Guardians. It didn't matter. When you all needed me, I wasn't there.

"When I found out what happened, I was prepared to march into Forgotten Hollow and burn Stroud Manor, and all within, to the ground." Lucius's voice remained calm and even, but Mariah saw his knuckles go white against the ceramic mug in his hands. "I was... restrained. The Council did not want to risk open war with the Dark Court. I was reminded that you... all of you... had survived. Vengeance was your right, not mine... and vengeance you justly had. Still, I would have spared you the pain of it, had I been allowed."

He took a long, slow breath and drank his cider. 

"I'm sorry," Miranda said softly.

"You have no cause to be," Lucius said with a sigh. "It is I who should ask you for forgiveness... but I cannot even do that. I know I don't deserve it."

"Well, I forgive you anyway," Miranda said. "You should talk to Gwen. It's been twenty-five years. That's long enough, even for immortals."

"'Tis but a few seasons for immortals," Lucius smiled sadly.