Late at night Faustus stood by his bed watching his new, beautiful wife sleep on her side with little Judas snuggled against her side, she looked stunning wrapped up in his blood-colored sheets full of his child; it amazed him at how quickly his son had grown. So beautiful, the pair of them. The High Priest wanted to climb into bed with her and pull Thorn close to his chest but no, not yet, he had things to attend to in his study for the Church.
Faustus bent and pressed a kiss to Thorn's forehead before he left the room as quietly as he'd entered dressed only in his dark pants and dress shirt. Faustus was pleased to have Thorn in the house, her predilection for fire meant she heated everywhere she went subconsciously; he'd never known it to such an extent though. Faustus actually popped a button open.
As he descended the grand staircase Ostara suddenly launched up them at full speed, large hops that took two steps at a time. He didn't need to ask why though, Faustus saw what had her so terrified, all around him the house burned. In the split second Faustus blinked at it the fire doubled in size. His icy eyes went wide and the quickly growing fire spewed out smoke that stung them.
"Ostara, who did this?!"
He demanded but the black Hare didn't know and Faustus didn't wait for an answer, just plucked Ostara up and rested her on his shoulder as he turned and raced back upstairs. Caligari appeared from the smoke then and raced up with them. He was grey from soot and looked a little frazzled. The fire was raging too quickly, much too quickly; this wasn't an accident, someone was doing this!
In seconds Faustus was up the staircase and down the long hall into his bedroom where Thorn startled awake.
"What in Satan's name is going on?!" Thorn all but interrogated as she rubbed at her eyes; the sudden noise jolted Judas into consciousness and tears.
She pulled Judas close as she shuffled to the edge of the bed and shoved the covers away.
"The house is on fire." He said quickly as he helped Thorn up and wrapped her in his suit jacket that he pulled from the Ottoman, then went back for his cane. "Come along."
"We have to get out before I can put it out. It's too big."
Thorn didn't argue, she followed Faustus out of the bedroom with Judas in her arms but instead of turning towards the staircase – that she could see smoke rising from – Faustus guided her to the end of a long hallway. It was a dead end with nothing but an ornate vase of flowers sat there alone... or so Thorn had thought. Without pause Faustus pressed his hand firmly against the dark wall and it squeaked open.
"Full of surprises aren't you." She muttered as she followed him and the familiars around the vase and down a very rarely used – and fairly bloody dusty – staircase. Sconces lit as they moved, quick but not panicked steps. When they reached the bottom Judas got control of his tears and cuddled against Thorn's bosom. The quiet was quite welcome. The cold grey stone at the bottom of the stairs froze Thorn's and Faustus' bare feet but neither said anything about it as they almost jogged down an obscenely long hall. Caligari and Ostara stuck close to them, concern for the children evident.
Suddenly they found themselves at a solid brick wall and Thorn opened her mouth to grumble but it was for nothing as Faustus pushed it aside similar to how the last had moved. They marched up the few tiny steps behind the wall into a room Thorn quickly realised was the storage shed that lingered in the tree line that surrounded much of Father Blackwood's home.
Faustus burst out the shed door he and his wife looked up at the house, most of which was in flames. Thorn set Judas down on the grass and the fox and hare gathered around him; a little ring of protection. Warlock nor wife paid any attention to that though, they were too busy stood side by side as they began to chant quietly but determinedly. The fire actually started to die down as they cast their spell but not by much.
"Something is fighting us. I should be able to put this out on my own." Growled Thorn and Faustus' head snapped up to his wife.
"Stop! You let me do this."
Thorn's brow furrowed. "No, you need me, the fire is too big."
Faustus fixed his pregnant wife with a stern glare. "I will not have you put our child at risk with spell casting! This house is already lost, this is about preventing it from spreding to the woodland now."
Thorn just looked at him shocked, brow furrowed and emerald eyes sparkled in the moon and firelight.
"This is your home." She whispered as Faustus dropped his cane so he could better cast.
"It is a building, everything important is now outside."
Faustus spoke without looking at her but still the words brought a tear to her emerald orbs more than all the smoke ever could. She just stood there and watched her husband control the fire as best he could. The flames glowed an aggressive orange and lingered in the large arched windows like a pleased ghost that had just chased out the new residents. In a way it was beautiful, an oil painting of destruction and loss.
This hadn't been an accident, both man and wife watched as the house of Blackwood crumbled and fell. Thorn felt Caligari brush against her leg but she didn't look down, couldn't take her eyes from the fire. Her whole body itched to help, fire was her playing, she could control it but Faustus was right, they couldn't risk the baby. A noise that didn't belong caught her attention then and her head snapped away from her husband to the west to see a shadow partially lit by the blaze; just enough to reveal the shadow as a man in a suit.
"Found our arsonist."
Thorn took a single step away and Faustus verbally forced her to a halt, voice authoritative as always.
"Don't you dare!"
"I can get him-" Blackwood cut her off.
"You are not leaving my side! You'll do as you're told and obey your husband. Stay right where you are."
Thorn raised an eyebrow as he continued to control the dying fire. Had the circumstances been different Thorn would have launched Faustus at a tree but she understood why he was being the way he was - his house had just been set ablaze with his wife and son inside and now his pregnant wife wanted to follow the man who'd just tried to kill them. No, she couldn't do that to Faustus and Judas, and so Thorn just stood there and watched it all burn. Strange how fire was one of the most beautiful yet destructive things in existence, a dragon had been angered and the house of Blackwood was already lost. The warm glow caressed her face as she accepted the destruction before her. Twenty minutes ago she'd been asleep with the child who'd become her son snuggled close, now she was stood outside being coated in a layer of soot while her husband lost his home.
~X~
When the fire was out and the orange sun had risen Faustus and Thorn walked through the charred remains of his home, their expressions stoic and hard. Only a little over a third of the once great house remained standing, the rest wasn't much more than smouldering rubble trapped within the trees.
"Why would someone do this?" Thorn asked as she pulled Judas closer to her chest, a silent but protective action. "Who would do this?"
The dark-haired warlock sighed deeply as he stared at the debris rather than glancing up to his wife a few meters away.
"I am High Priest, that brings enemies." Was his only response.
"You have been the leader of our coven for a decade and a half, why now? By all accounts this doesn't make sense."
"Nor do the minds of arsonists." Finally he looked up at her and extended an arm out for her. "Come here, my love."
She obeyed, of course she did. Thorn had to step over or around bits of broken brick or burnt wood which proved to be no easy task with Judas in her arms, but she made it to her husband who instantly took her into his strong arms; the smell of smoke lingered on him.
"I know what you're thinking and it's not true, my Dark Angel." He assured. "None of this is because of you."
Thorn nodded but she didn't believe him. "I don't like coincidences, Faustus, they're suspicious."
Faustus couldn't argue with that really, it was a code to live by.
"Indeed, my love, but still, this isn't your fault. I promise you-" he rested a hand on her belly "-I will find who did this, and I will make them suffer in hellfire. No one endangers my wife and children."
Had the situation not been serious Thorn would have delighted in Faustus' authoritative voice; it was part of what made him attractive.
"I don't doubt you will, darling." Thorn rose up on her toes and pressed her lips to the High Priest's own for a chased kiss. "At least we answered the question of where to live."
Faustus grumbled in the back of his throat, the question of what to do with her ancestral home had been brought up on more than one occasion.
"Yes, this isn't worth rebuilding." Faustus kicked a brick with his foot.
Thorn chuckled. "I took your name, we're keeping my home as Mortimer Manor."
"But of course, my Dark Angel. You should go there though, settle Judas in. I'll remain here and salvage what I can."
"I can help you." She offered politely with a gentle smile but he'd not have his pregnant wife rummaging around in the debris.
"Not necessary, my love. Don't trouble yourself."
Only a little reluctantly did Thorn nod and obey her husband's wishes; Judas had started to become heavy in her arms.
"I love you."
"And I you. GO on, you should rest, Thorn."
Thorn didn't like being sidelined but the thought of sitting down really did sound rather good to her in that moment. Back at Mortimer Manor she'd be able to put the boy down for a nap and have Caligari watch over him while she had a much needed rest and contacted her Uncle Kylian.
"Alright, Faustus. If that's what you want. I'm going to go ward my home against fire, never thought I of all people would need to do that."
Faustus fixed her with a glare. "You're-"
She cut him off. "Suppose to be refraining from intense spell casting, yes, I know, both you and Zelda Spellman have made that perfectly clear, thank you. However, I could ward in my sleep, it isn't strenuous in the slightest." She flashed him a smile. "Worry not, Faustus, I'll be fine."
Thorn pressed one more kiss to his lips then traipsed out of the rubble and away. Faustus stood there a moment looking at her until she vanished from sight and it was just him alone in the ruins; he stared at them instead. He might have grown up in that house and it may have been his home but he wasn't as pained as most would have expected. Houses could be replaced and memories were stored in his head. His wife and children were safe, that was the important thing; Thorn, Judas and their unborn child.
Using his cane Faustus prodded at the rubble to turn over bits of brick and burnt wood, smoke still rose from some sections but otherwise all that remained of the fire was chard debris and a thick layer of ash that tried to dominate his lungs. He stood in what had once been the kitchen bit not two feet from his side sat the claw-footed tub that had fallen through from the level above that no longer existed. The bath had been filled with bits of dusty brick and mortar but Faustus hardly even noticed, he just wandered through the remnants with an unreadable expression. Occasionally he'd have to sidestep something but soon he reached what had been his study. Eight and a half hours earlier Faustus had papers and items in there all safe and sound, he hoped they'd stayed that way or at least be salvageable.
As he searched through the mess and ash he couldn't help but be reminded of the Solstice when Kylian Gethic had told his niece of the old wives tale about The Pearl; thick ash that lingered in the air like a curse.
Unfortunately for the High Priest most of his papers were gone as was to be expected but certain things had been kept safe from the lick of flames by binders or the fact they'd been in his desk drawers; these things he grabbed quickly and stacked into a neat pile on the desk while his cane rested against the chard wood. Once the singed pieces of paper were neat Faustus brushed rubble out of the way with his polished leather shoe and sat down so he could shuffle underneath his large desk on his back, filthy but necessary.
"Reveal." He said simply but with purpose and the once sheer desk showed a break in the wood before a tiny door popped open. "Excellent, it's undamaged."
From the small space Faustus carefully reached in and took a solid black book; a Grimoire. He easily rose to his feet and set the Grimoire on top of the pile only to see Ostara sat quietly beside the stack. He quickly started to brush himself clean of the ash and dust.
"You are supposed to be watching over Judas with Caligari. Why are you here, Ostara?"
The Hare let out a little clucking noise and Faustus nodded almost nonchalantly.
"When I saw you charge up the stairs, I assumed you'd seen more than just the fire." A small hum-like sound left the familiar's mouth as he freed himself from the last of the brick dust. "Masculine magic is of little use to me, Ostara. Thorn saw a man flee while the house burnt. Did you see what this man looked like?" Ostara ground her teeth. "Do not snap at me!" Faustus commanded and the hare pulled in on herself ever so slightly. "And what do you mean someone was in my study?" Little noises continued to leave her as she spoke and Blackwood listened intently as he retrieved his cane and the stack of books. "So, this man was looking for something. The fire started in the hallway which would make sense if they hid to avoid you and Caligari." Ostara let out another tiny hum as she jumped the distance from the desk to Faustus' shoulder. "Hmm? Yes, accidental. If one is looking for something it is usually not a good idea to burn the hiding place to the ground." Faustus mused aloud; another hum from the familiar. "Good idea, Ostara. I'll have the family heads gathered together tonight."
Father Faustus Blackwood would find out who did this and he'd do far more than excommunicate them or strip them of their powers, he'd fucking kill them! Make them beg for death. He wouldn't do it because they'd burnt down his home, no, that was just a building, it wasn't because they'd tried to steal from him, it wasn't even because they'd nearly destroyed the Blackwood family Grimoire. No, it was because his family had been in that house. Thorn and his son had been asleep, had he not gone downstairs when he did they might have died. That was why the perpetrator would suffer pain worse than the anger of the Dark Lord.