Chapter 29: Potential business partner, Potential son-in-law
Reaver was stood on the balcony looking out over the newly rebuilt Bowerstone industry, his new factories were painted white with black brick detailing. Ones with large brick chimneys reaching high into the sky had the black bricks arranged to spell out Reaver's logo. Today Logan was coming to the factory to look at how a business works. Leaning on his cane Reaver peered down over the edge of the railing spotting a royal carriage stop just outside the courtyard, Logan stepped out which sent the crowds below into a frenzy of good manners and shock. Making his way through the crowds Logan looked up at the factory seeing his father on the balcony he waved to Reaver, with a suave smile Reaver tilted his head to the side indicating to come inside. Stepping into the factory Logan watched his father make his way down the walkways offering out his hand in a handshake.
"So, pleased you could make it your highness, not too busy being your sisters advisor?"
"No, it's fine Reaver ("keep it professional"), shall we discuss our business"
"But, of course, my office is right this way"
Pointing to the upper level with his cane Reaver started walking back upstairs peering over his shoulder briefly to make sure Logan was following. When they made it to Reaver's office his dad offered him a seat as Reaver walked around the wooden desk sitting in his big leather arm chair. He removed his hat placing it on the desk then rested his cane against the wall.
"So, what do you think? Impressive?"
"Heh, very. Sorry for calling you Reaver back there, I wanted to keep our meeting professional, not sure if you're totally comfortable with me referring to you as dad in public?"
"Don't apologise for using my name. It's up to you son, you and your sister are old enough to address me and your mother however you'd like. If you want to use my name I won't stop you, I won't be offended if you call me father or dad…. Although I'll have an issue if you use daddy or daddy-kins"
"Hahaha I'll tell Hannah that"
"Haha. Don't"
Reaver leant back in his chair looking out the window of his office, he then looked at his son shrugging off his coat rolling up his shirt sleeves Reaver dug out the books he keeps on this factory. Shifting forward in his seat Logan accepted the booking from his dad as Reaver span it around for Logan to read.
"Right, so to run a successful business you need…"
Reaver and Logan spent all day together, Reaver took his son through all the books and ledgers he has showing him all the tricks of the trade. They then walked around the different factories inspecting the working conditions, Reaver informed him of what to look out for such as workers who take too much time off sick and what kind of damage that does to the workload and overall production. By the end of the day Logan was knackered he learnt a lot in the space of a day and spending the day with his father made him happy.
"So, still want to join dad's business adventure?"
"Definitely!"
Reaver smiled, a real genuine smile that his son wanted to become part of Reaver industries. Back in his office Reaver pulled out a bottle of scotch he'd been saving for a special occasion, he poured himself a glass then Logan passing the glass to him he held it up.
"To a new business venture"
"To being part of the family business"
Reaver smirked into his glass as he took a sip of the smooth rich smoky whisky, the notion that him Reaver would be part of a family business made him smile. Logan took a sip enjoying the burning sensation as the whisky travelled down his throat. As father and son enjoyed a bottle of scotch together there was a knock at the office door. Reaver frowned at the door, no one is allowed to disturb him without insanely high authority, putting his hand up to Logan he made a 'ssh' gesture with his finger approaching the door. Reaver had his dragonstomper ready then he slowly opened the door a crack but visibly relaxed when he saw who it was. Logan saw his dad relax his arm that was holding his gun, Reaver turned to his son smiling.
"Who is it dad?"
Reaver pushed the door open revealing Major Finn, he clearly abused his power as Major to get up here.
"Abusing power already Benji?"
"What about you, mate. You greet everyone with your gun?"
"Only extra special people who turn up unannounced"
Reaver holstered his gun offering Ben to step into his office, Logan nudged his leg against the spare seat next to him.
"We were just celebrating, care for a glass?"
"Ye-yeah sure. What's the occasion? Learnt how to finally shoot straight?"
"Hahaha you are a riot Mr. Finn. No, my son is going into business with yours truly"
Pouring a 3rd glass of scotch Reaver handed the glass to Finn as the Major took a seat next to Logan. The hero placed the bottle in the middle of the desk in case they need a top up.
"Brilliant! Have you told your sister?"
"No, not yet. Can you let me tell her Benjamin, I would prefer it if she heard it from me"
"I would prefer it if you'd stop using my full name. Ben is fine"
"Dad calls you Benji!"
"I can get away with it son because Benji has a soft spot for me, don't you?"
"Haha I think it's more I couldn't get you to stop even if I tried"
The three men enjoyed the talk over a bottle of scotch, Ben marvelled at the alcohol which inflated Reaver's ego. He explained it was a rare 25yr old scotch he obtained in Bloodstone, being mayor gave him special privileges. Ben couldn't help but ask about the dragonstomper, raising an eyebrow at him cautiously Reaver pulled his gun out aiming it at Finn then smiled spinning it around his finger holding the handle out to him. With wide eyes Ben carefully held the rare pistol, it reminded him of the master clockwork pistol but much more flamboyant and powerful much like Reaver.
"Only 6 in all of Albion"
"Hm, yes, 6 for a lucky few. Well not so lucky, I've killed 4 of them already"
"Harsh dad"
"What? In my youthful pirate days, it was kill or be killed"
"Your dad's right, it's a dog eat dog world out on the seas"
"I had a feeling I recognised your name from Bloodstone, Benji. You are indeed Ben Finn the young lad who came from a rather large family, brothers doing all kinds of wrong, so you thought you'd have a crack at it. Becoming an adventurer turned pirate until you met Swift"
"You know for someone who 'claims' he doesn't care, you sure know a lot about me… Reav"
"Now what did I say about using that name"
Logan reached between the pair sharing out the scotch between the three glasses trying to break their stare down they had going on. Reaver smiled at his son clinking his glass against his then Ben's.
"You know I mean nothing by it Benji"
"Uh-huh sure mate"
They continued talking about the weapons, Ben handed Reaver back his pistol which prompted Logan to ask about the guild rooms. Reaver briefly explained the rooms and the fact he decorated them. What Logan or Ben didn't realise it the guild is actually beneath Bowerlake connected to Reaver's mansion. Reaver finished his drink then reached for his coat he dug into one of his pockets pulling out a guild seal.
"Hey that looks like the one Hannah uses"
"That's because it is, well not this exact one but this is the original. Angelia made a few copies since the crawler attack. Only heroes can interact with it, but it does transport you to the guild rooms. How about it?"
"What? Right now?"
"Are we allowed dad?"
"Are you allowed? Who cares! You Logan are the son of two heroes and Ben you have as much skill to be called a hero if you're not one already *wink*"
"Careful mate, that sounded like a compliment"
"*sigh* Are you two coming or not"
Putting his coat back on grabbing his hat and cane Reaver held out the seal, he offered his arm to Logan and Ben. The two guys frowned at each other then at Reaver carefully grabbing his arm then all three of them were suddenly engulfed in a sea of blue. The lights faded revealing the guild rooms, Logan stumbled forward holding onto the edge of the map table to steady himself whereas Ben collapsed to his knees. Reaver shrugged his shoulders strolling off to explore the different rooms. Logan offered a hand to Ben pulling him to his feet then followed Reaver into one of the rooms, the weapons room.
"You could've warned us"
"And spoil the surprise!?"
Logan looked around seeing how clean and in order everything is.
"These are the rooms Hannah used for her rebellion, right?"
"Yes, but what she didn't know was these rooms do in fact connect to the old guild your mother used"
"Can we see the old guild?"
"*sigh* If you must, I will warn you it's not as stylishly decorated as these rooms"
"Dually noted dad"
Reaver walked back out to the map room moving to the achievements room, he smiled at the mass of trophies Hannah-Rose had collected in her few years of adventuring. He stepped down to the treasury section moving behind the chest there was a fake brick he pushed it in and a panel of the back wall shifted opening up. They walked into the pitch-black corridor but when Reaver stepped up behind them he lit up like he had a natural light beaming from him.
"What the hell?"
"Old guild, in the darkness a true hero will be able to light the way"
Walking ahead of Ben and Logan he took them through the narrow corridors until they reached the main room where Angelia would talk to Theresa.
"Is this where mum…"
"Planned Lucien's downfall with Theresa? Yes. Each of the heroes have been in this room"
"Even you? You left Bloodstone for this?"
"Haha, I didn't have much of a choice back then Benji, but that's a tale for another time. Yes, I was also down here. Angelia told me she found Hammer first then Garth then leaving the best until last"
Ben moved towards the table with scattered pages and books on it skimming a few sentences then looking back at Reaver.
"Are these?"
"Some of those are pages from Lucien's diary yes, some are from your mother Logan… But I would advise you not to read them"
"Why?"
"Your mother was a young adventurer, in every sense of the word… if you get my meaning *wink*"
"Huh? Oh… OH! Ew gross thanks for that dad. Hey, you said this is connected to the mansion how do you- "
"Take that corridor to the left follow it until you see a staircase. Pull the leaver on the wall"
"Thanks, I'm going to surprise mum"
"Ok son, see you up there shortly"
Logan grabbed a flaming torch from its housing in the wall using it to guide him through the darkness. When Logan disappeared Reaver looked at Ben who was reading a few pages on the table. When Finn finished reading he cleared his throat seemingly struggling with what he wants to ask.
"Benji, just spit it out man!"
"Ok *phew* Reaver, I love your daughter. When I first met her, she took my breath away, such a strong charismatic independent woman. In the coming years I've grown closer to her she's become my best friend and I couldn't think of living another minute without her. With that being said *deep breath* will you allow me to marry your daughter?"
Reaver frowned at the Major pulling a thinking pout turning around to pace the room a little bit, he was only winding him up he enjoyed torturing people especially his potential son-in-law.
"Hm I don't know"
"Is that all you've got to say? I don't know? Do you want me to prove myself in some way, I'll do it!"
"Major Finn, I'm joking! Of course, you have my blessing. You had it the moment you said Hannah is your best friend"
"Oh my- You git! Making me sweat over here"
"Hahaha got to keep you on your toes Benji boy"
With that the boys made their way to the mansion, Ben felt a huge wash of relief knowing Hannah's father was happy with his decision to marry Hannah. They walked up the steps into the mansion heading to the drawing room where they met Angelia and Logan who were talking about Logan's new business venture.
Chapter 30: Changes…
It has been 6 months since Logan had agreed to be Reaver's business partner, 6 months since Ben asked for Reaver's blessing to marry Hannah-Rose. Back on that day when they went into the mansion Reaver told Angelia the news, she was elated and kind of knew Ben was going to ask. She called it mothers intuition. Logan told Hannah soon after about him joining their father's business, at first Hannah worried she didn't want a different advisor fearing it'll be another Cartwright all over again. Angelia heard about Hannah's fears over the advisor, so she travelled to the castle to comfort her daughter.
"Hannah-Rose, what's wrong with your brother joining your father's business"
"Nothing, it's just I don't- "
"Want a Cartwright to advise you?"
"Ye-yea… I'm just scared mum"
"Is my hero daughter telling me she's scared? You are queen! You have a wonderful man by your side, you'll be fine"
"But you had all that mum and look what happened"
"Hannah-Rose, you are the queen. You don't have to hire an advisor, you can change the law that a royal family requires one"
Hannah-Rose was sat on the throne listening to her mother as she paced in front of her. When her mum mentioned changing the law Hannah sat up straight not thinking to just simply change the law.
"Mum you're a genius! That's it I'll change the law"
Hannah sprang out of the throne embracing her mum in a tight hug then scurried off to ask Jasper to draft up a law change. Smiling shaking her head Angelia left Hannah to it making her way back to the mansion. Using her old fast travel Angelia appeared outside the mansion doors using her key to let herself in being greeted by Treacle. She gave her dog fusses then dropped her satchel off by the nearest char knowing the staff will pick it up and put it in her room. Back to 6 months later, Angelia walked through the main ball room playing a couple of keys on the piano, she stopped when her stomach felt odd. She sat down at the piano feeling a little woozy, Treacle whimpered at her mistress.
"I'm ok Treacle, *phew* really I oh, am… Oh no I'm not…"
Angelia felt sick then she knew she was going to actually vomit, she quickly ran to the nearest bathroom. When the puking subsided, she rinsed her mouth out with water then looked at herself in the mirror.
"I haven't eaten anything bad, have I?"
Suddenly the penny dropped she widened her eyes as she listed her other symptoms.
"Oh, not again!"
Angelia ran to the front reception grabbing her satchel, she didn't have any potion left ("dammit"), slinging her bag over her shoulder Angelia ran outside grabbing her map using fast travel to take her to the potion shop in Bowerstone. Once outside the shop Angelia told Treacle to stay as she stepped inside the shop, the owner greeted her as Angelia grabbed the potion she was after. The shop keeper was about to go into a long speech about how to use it, but Angelia cut him short throwing him the money then headed outside.
"Come on Treacle let's head back"
Reappearing outside the mansion, Angelia ran through ignoring the baffled looks from some of the staff. She locked herself in their ensuite to their bedroom pouring some potion liquid into a cup then used her own 'sample'. As the mixture sat on the side Angelia perched on the edge of the bathtub biting her nails. Then before she knew it a couple of minutes had passed, she felt queasy as she inspected the liquid.
"Ooh no… I'm pregnant"
Treacle followed her mistress into the bathroom, when Angelia inspected the pink liquid the dog tilted her head to the side giving her owner a quizzical look. Angelia frowned at the liquid then rose an eyebrow at her dog.
"What? Don't give me that look. I thought I was done with children, it took years of ah-hem before I was pregnant with Hannah-Rose and Logan. And I thought that was because of my future vision from Theresa? Aw Treacle, my kids are all grown up. Am I ready for this?"
The dog woofed at her mistress happily wagging her tail excitedly.
"Yes, I know I missed out on seeing my babies grow up, but do I deserve another chance? Oh avo! What about Reaver!? Oh, balls how is he going to react? *sigh* I need to calm down"
Angelia washed away the liquid tidying up the bathroom making her way to the drawing room, as she passed a member of staff she requested a cup of tea. With her tea in one hand, Angelia rested her other hand on her non-existent belly humming a soft tune with her eyes closed. Fortune telling's and visions aside maybe Angelia and Reaver did deserve another chance at being parents, she smiled softly as she hummed to the new tiny life growing inside of her with Treacle curled up by her feet. When she finished her tea, there was a knock at the door, a butler stepped through.
"My lady, you have two visitors; The queen and Major Finn"
"Oh? By all means allow them through, thank you"
"You are most welcome my lady"
The butler held the door open doing a bow offering his arm out allowing them entry into the drawing room. Hannah-Rose walked through first with a big smile on her face shortly followed by Ben.
"Hey mum"
"Hi Hannah… Ben, what brings you here?"
"We did have an announcement to make, but where is Logan and dad?"
"Bowerstone Industrial, where else?"
"Oh, ok"
"Come sit, you can tell me. I promise to be just as surprised later on"
Ben and Hannah joined Angelia on the sofas surrounding a fireplace in the drawing room, Angelia requested more tea then turned her attention to her daughter. Angelia had a feeling she knew what the announcement was, since 6 months ago Ben asked for Reaver's blessing. Hannah was holding Ben's hand tightly as they had a catch up about their recent travels to Aurora, they only got back yesterday.
"Hannah-Rose, you're stalling. What's the news?"
Ben had a crooked grin growing on his face as he looked at Angelia then Hannah who was excited, but nervous.
"It's ok, love. Tell your mum, we'll tell Reaver and Logan later"
"*sigh* Ok, yeah. Mum… We're engaged!"
Angelia sprang from her seat with the biggest smile ever, Treacle even leapt up thinking something was wrong but when she saw the excited atmosphere she wagged her tail barking happily. Angelia approached the two giving them a hug, Hannah returned the hug whereas Ben was a little caught off guard but soon returned it smiling brightly.
"So… How did it happen? When did it happen?"
Hannah looked at Ben who shrugged his shoulders flashing his cheeky crooked grin he laced his fingers behind his head leaning back in his seat.
"Go on, tell her"
"It was very sweet and romantic. He asked me a couple of days ago when we were in Aurora. I promised Kalin I would return every few months to check the city of Aurora and make sure everyone was happy. As Ben is my travelling companion he naturally came with me, it was one night he out of the blue asked me if I wanted to go to the overlook. It's when you first arrive in Aurora near the temple there's a back path that goes high up which is private and secluded overlooking the whole city and desert. It was up there he asked, he surprised me with rare Aurorean red flowers and as my hand grasped the bouquet I felt a hard-square box, that was the ring box. With the box in my hand he got down on one knee and asked me if I'd marry him"
"Aaw Major Finn! That's soo romantic, good job! Reaver will be impressed, so let's see the ring then"
Hannah held out her hand showing off her engagement ring, it had a massive rare diamond nestled with smaller rare diamonds surrounding the traditional circle-cut diamond clasped in a white gold ring. Angelia inspected the diamonds, it was near perfect clarity with no imperfections and when the light reflected off it the stones shone in multiple colours.
"Mr Finn, you chose wisely. The ring is breath-taking. Where did you find these diamonds? Not your usual Bowerstone jewellery store purchase"
"Ah, no it isn't. Even Hannah doesn't know this"
"That's because I haven't asked, yet. But since my mum is inquiring how did you get these diamonds?"
"Well, firstly it is one diamond. I had it commissioned into a large stone with multiple smaller ones surrounding it. Secondly, I got it from Aurora with the help of Reaver and Logan"
"Wow, so everyone knew but me?"
"That's kind of the point Hannah sweetie. Ben asked for your father's blessing 6 months ago"
"Actually, that's all you knew too Angelia. After that day I asked for Reaver's and Logan's help to find a rare diamond I read about in the shifting sands in Aurora"
"Sneaky gits! I knew something was up they said they went to Aurora to do more business training"
"Yeah, they were helping me. That diamond is also known as the desert sunrise, I'm guessing it got that name for the perfect clarity and bright colours it displays when light reflects off it"
"Regardless Ben, I'm just glad you got that stone safely with Reaver and Logan by your side I'm sure you three didn't get into 'too' much trouble"
Ben didn't say anything he reached for his cup of tea taking a sip smirking into his cup avoiding eye contact from his fiancée and future mother-in-law.
"Angelia, my love, you know me all too well. Of course, Benji, Logan and myself got into trouble. Where's the fun in playing it safe?"
The three turned their heads looking at the doorway to see Reaver stood there with a big grin on his face with Logan stood behind him rolling his eyes.
"Reaver. As your wife and loving mother to your children, you don't half make it difficult when you gloat about putting your son and future son-in-law in danger"
"Oh? Future son-in-law, so you've finally asked her Benji boy? I was wondering why you were dragging your feet"
"I wasn't dragging my feet! I was waiting for the right time, Reavie"
The girls sniggered as Ben seriously played with fire, he knows Reaver hates nicknames only Angelia can just about get away with it.
"*sigh* Alas there you go again offending me with your ridiculous nicknames"
"Thing is mate. Since I'm going to be your son-in-law you can't do much, now can you? Don't think your daughter would approve if you messed with her future hubby, hm?"
"Ha! The man fights dirty, I like it! Psh fine! I'll allow your stupid nickname"
"Thanks, Reavie"
"*sigh* Times were so much simpler when I could just shoot people, no questions asked"