January 1070

The new year came and went on the road.

All in all our journey south from York to Berkhamsted took us two weeks. Lucille didn't really engage me in conversation for the rest of our trip, and I was happy to go along with that. In fact, the only time we really talked outside of interactions like "are you ready to go" or "grab that bag" was when we were an hour out from Berkhamsted.

"How do you plan to get inside?" I asked Lucille. "I'm going to need both of the horses and I doubt you'll want the guards to see you with me."

"The fewer questions, the better," she agreed. "I think that, once we come within sight of the walls, I'll dismount and walk the rest of the way. It's daytime; the gates should be open."

"And if they're not?" I asked.

"Then I suppose I shall have to climb a wall," she said, as if that was the easiest thing in the world.

Vampires, man. So unfair.

"Alright. It's your head," I said.

It took us the better part of an hour to crest around Berkhamsted Forest and come up on the town itself. Lucille dismounted, and then started trudging in the horses' hoofsteps, making her way through seven to eight inches of snow. She quickly fell behind, but I glanced back over my shoulder every once in a while to make sure centaurs hadn't kidnapped her or something. Then I crossed the moat, reached the north gate, nodded to the guards standing just inside, and entered Berkhamsted.

A very large part of me wanted to just go home, turn the heating magic back on, and spend the rest of the day in a properly heated home reading and relaxing. However, I needed to meet a few people first, not to mention return the horses. So instead, I went to the castle.

Passing off the horses to the stablehands and making it clear that they weren't my horses and were instead loans from Robert didn't take long, and I spent a little longer in the stables checking over Shadowfax and making sure he was fine. John evidently must've gotten him moved in while I was gone. Once that was done I shook the snow off my duster, knocked the slurry off my boots, and headed off in the direction of John's chapel.

I think I must've come near the end of a service, because while the chapel was empty John was moving around putting things away. He glanced up idly as the door opened, looked away, then paused and looked back at me a moment later.

"Hey," I said, walking over to one of the middle pews and then slumping down with a sigh.

"Harry," he said, surprised. "You're back. And well."

"Well is relative," I replied. Two weeks of riding hadn't done my ribs any favors, and while I was fairly confident I wouldn't suffer any long term consequences on account of being a wizard, I was definitely not getting on a horse again. "Thanks for taking care of Shadowfax."

"Your horse? It was no problem, but you should thank the stablehands more than me." He moved to sit on the pew across from me and looked at me seriously. "Were you successful?"

"Yes."

"And the coin is…"

"On it's way to the Vatican," I said. "One of my… allies who is fully aware of the dangers is handling that."

"Was anyone hurt, killed?" he asked.

"Just Cerdic," I said with a sigh. "I tried to give him a chance, but he didn't take it. We had to kill him."

"That is unfortunate, and I will pray for his soul, but it is good and… surprising that a victory was achieved so bloodlessly, especially in the case of one such as Ursiel," he said.

"We got lucky," I said bluntly. "And you can probably expect a lot of questions from Robert and probably William as well when they get back."

John paused. "How much did you tell them?"

"Enough to get my point across. Fallen angel coming to kill them, bound to Cerdic, really powerful. I didn't mention the Order or the Coins at all."

"That is good," he said with a nod. "Ignorance is often the best way to avoid temptation."

"That was my reasoning," I said. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"The Lady Lucille left for London around the time you vanished. I find the timing curious, particularly in light of the passage we read," he said.

"I can neither confirm nor deny her involvement in anything that happened," I said. "And I think you should take the given reason at face value."

John looked at me for a few moments, and then slowly nodded. "Very well." He was silent for another few moments, then asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

I paused in the process of getting up, his tone sounding somewhat off. "What do you mean?"

John gave me a somewhat incredulous look. "Harry, in a matter of weeks you found and defeated a potent Fallen without any deaths or even injuries. This is after you were given guidance from the Almighty, or an archangel. As far as I'm concerned you've just performed a miracle."

I slowly sat back down, feeling uncomfortable. "I… really don't think that's warranted. And I'd rather you not spread that around; I don't need that kind of attention."

John nodded approvingly and said, "As you wish, but the point stands. I was afraid I'd sent you off to your death. From what little I've heard you certainly acted like it."

"Did Elfleda talk to you?" I asked.

"Remonstrated would be the better word," he said.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. "Look, just… ugh. Fine. I'll think about it."

John nodded solemnly.

"Where is she, anyway? The library?" I asked.

"Perhaps," he said. "I wouldn't know."

"Alright," I said, getting up with a sigh. "Talk to you later."

I started with the library, since that seemed to be her usual abode. I didn't feel a dip in temperature as I approached however, and a quick check inside confirmed that Elfleda was not there. Neither was Eva. Swing and a miss.

My next guess was her room. The air did start getting colder as I moved through the halls, but as I came to the hallway where Elfleda's room was, I heard music. It was a mix of strumming and humming, like someone was playing a string instrument and humming or singing along. I slowed down so that my boots didn't echo as loudly against the floor and tracked the sounds to Elfleda's door.

It sounded good. Really good. I wasn't sure what the standards for professional musicians was in this day and age, but I was pretty sure they weren't better than what I was hearing.

I listened for another few seconds and then, reluctantly, knocked on her door.

The strumming cut off. "Who is it?" Elfleda asked, her voice muffled by the door but still clearly annoyed.

"It's Harry. Can I come in?" I asked.

There was absolute silence for a few seconds, and then a strained, almost hesitant voice said, "You may as well."

I frowned and slowly opened the door, wondering if I was about to walk in on her naked or something. The reality turned out to be far more mundane. I opened the door and walked in to find her fully clothed, sitting on her bed, with a lute in hand.

I furrowed my brow and looked around. "What about this is supposed to be embarrassing?" I asked hesitantly.

Elfleda huffed and set the lute down. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Close the door, please."

I did so, then moved to lean against the dresser in the room. "Okay," I said, not getting what was going on.

Elfleda sighed and glanced at the lute, then looked back at me. "The lute is for you. I was planning it as a surprise for an appropriate moment, but…"

"Okay," I said again, still not getting it.

"Ugh," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Well, you're back. That's good. Were you victorious, one less demonic bear in the world?"

"Yeah, dealt with that a few weeks ago," I said.

Elfleda arched an eyebrow. "A few weeks ago," she said slowly. "And you couldn't have informed me earlier?"

I frowned. "How?"

She looked at me as if I were an idiot. "By owl," she said slowly.

I blinked. "Oh. Right. That." I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Honestly, I just forgot."

"You forgot," she said.

"To be fair, I don't have a messenger owl. I just borrow one as necessary."

Elfleda let out a long sigh, then shifted over on the bed and patted the spot next to her. I looked at her, then the bed, then her, then slowly got up and went over.

"How's Eva?" I asked.

"Nervous and worried," Elfleda said. "We had to go and buy her another layer of clothes to handle the transfiguration."

"Oh. But no one's found out?"

"No, thankfully," she said. "Will you be resuming the lessons tomorrow? Or will you be leaving again?"

"I don't plan on leaving the house for a week for any other reason than to get food and water," I said. "And I don't plan to leave Berkhamsted again until the snow thaws."

"You didn't plan to leave earlier, and yet you did," she pointed out.

"That was a major emergency. I can't really account for those," I said.

Elfleda sighed. "Do you have to deal with them yourself?"

"Yes."

She sighed again. "You're so frustrating." She looked my way. "Will you be staying for supper?"

"Probably not, unfortunately," I said. "Two weeks on the road in the dead of winter has been a decidedly unfun experience. I want to go home, bundle up in furs, and stop aggravating my cracked ribs."

Elfleda frowned in concern. "Your ribs are cracked?"

"Giant demon bear slammed me into the ground," I said. "I'm lucky he didn't snap my spine."

If that happened though, this time around, I was going to Titania. Screw my complete lack of interaction with her, I was not going to deal with Mab, especially not over a broken back, not again.

Elfleda sighed. "First an arm, now your ribs. Is it normal for you to get injured this frequently?"

I thought back over the past fifteen years of my life, then glanced over my body. "Seems so."

She shook her head. "One day, I should ask you where all your scars come from."

"One day, I might tell you," I said.

I went home soon after, moving Shadowfax from the castle stables to my stable in the process. I brought out some oats and an apple for him, avoided biting fingers, and then went back inside my house. I lit the fireplace, started preparing supper, and restarted the heat circulation enchantments, bringing them back into order where they were a bit erratic. Most of the kinks had been worked out over the past month, but there were still occasional fluctuations I needed to manually account for, and I hadn't stress-tested it for spring or summer yet. I'd be fiddling with the currents for a while yet.

After I'd eaten, I went upstairs to go to bed. I took off my duster and hung it over the back of my chair, right next to where my sword rested.

Wait.

I blinked, looking at the sword that shouldn't have been there. My sword, last I saw it, was downstairs, made of silver, wasn't quite as long or wide, and was in a scabbard. This sword was five feet long, heavy, shaped like a broadsword, made of steel, and completely naked.

Oh yeah, one last trivial detail. Worked right into the base of the blade, just above the guard, was a single rusty nail.

I looked straight up at the ceiling and asked, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Author's Note: As Jonas Salk said, "The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more."