Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men or anything associated with them…
A/N: Orcadia is not a real location. It comes purely from my imagination, so any similarities between it and any real island is purely coincidental. Sorry for the delay, and thanks to all those who reviewed! WARNING: Some mention of child abuse in this chapter. Nothing too graphic, but may be disturbing.
Chapter 15: Orcadia
The sun reached its zenith, while Kitty and Piotr enjoyed its warmth stationed on the lower deck of the Anna Marie. The sails groaned overhead as the strong southern wind filled them to their limits, and the riggings rattled. Piotr wrapped his strong arms around Kitty's waist and held her close as they looked over the railing and watched the waves break along the prow of the ship.
Kitty blew a long wisp of hair from her face. "Have you ever been to Orcadia, Piotr?"
"No, Katja," he said, shaking his head. "But Captain LeBeau has a manor on ze coast, I believe. He has told me about ze island in some detail. Why do you ask?"
"I've never been there before, but I've heard it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. Ororo told me some of her stories from when she sailed with Remy's father. She always says that Orcadia is her favorite destination even to this day."
Kitty relaxed into Piotr's arms and rested her head back onto his broad shoulder, then reached up to play with his hair, a faraway smile curving her lips. "I'll like to finally see the island."
"Hm." Piotr pulled her tighter to him. "You will have your chance, Katja. When we find ze necklace, I will purchase another ship, one zat will outshine ze Neptune's Pearl. We can sail around ze world and see places we have never seen. Would you like zat, love?"
Kitty turned around in his arms and smiled, as he gently stroked her hair. "I would, Piotr. I would like that very much…as long as I have you." Rising up on her toes, Kitty caressed his lips with hers.
From the helm, Rogue watched the gentle scene unfold below her and smiled. Kitty was in love and Piotr was a good man. She couldn't be happier for her friend, but watching them together made her ache, feeling a void that wasn't present before. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the majestic form of the Devil's Lust and sighed.
Wanda came up the ladder to the quarterdeck and moved to the railings. When she looked back to Rogue, she caught the look in her eyes as she stared out over the sea to the second galleon. Wanda studied her for a moment with a faint smile of amusement tugging at her mouth.
"What?" Rogue asked when she noticed the odd look on Wanda's face.
"Nothing, Captain," Wanda said, shaking her head. "I was just wondering how long this will go on?"
"What?" Rogue asked, tilting her head to the side in slight confusion.
Wanda pushed herself away from the railings and moved toward Rogue. With a smirk on her face, she asked, "How long are you going to deny this…him." Wanda motioned back to the Devil's Lust.
Rogue stiffened and narrowed her eyes. "Ah don't know what ya're talkin' about, sugah."
Wanda looked at her ruefully. "You don't?" She placed her hands on her hips and met Rogue's narrowed glare with one of her own.
"Wanda," Rogue shook her head. "Don't start with meh."
"You know, you're doing this to yourself. I've watched the two of you over the past few days, and you could be happy with him." Wanda sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It took me a while before I opened up to John. Hmph, he's not the easiest man to put up with, but you know that. Anyway, he was persistent and eventually I…well…realized that being away from him was hard. He makes me laugh…hell, he makes most people laugh, but he's a good man and I'm lucky that he loves me."
Wanda turned her back to Rogue and looked over to the Devil's Lust. "I miss him, Rogue. Sailing that galleon with him was wonderful, even though he can be irritating. He needs me more than you can imagine."
Rogue motioned for her navigator to take the helm and walked over to stand beside her friend. "Ah'm happy for ya, darlin'. John is a good man, but the situation between Remy and Ah is different. Can't ya see that?"
"No, Rogue, you're wrong. Remy needs you, too." Wanda placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder. "Let me tell you a story."
"You know that John spent some time in an Australian prison, right? Well, he was thrown in that prison for murdering a man…his own father."
"What?" Rogue asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"You see, his father was a strict man and was trying to raise John to be a great soldier. He was a harsh and unforgiving man. They were having dinner and his mother leaned over and told him a joke and John laughed. He only laughed. His father became enraged. You see, great soldiers don't laugh. And so he grabbed his wife to punish her for John's slight. John tried to stop him, but he knocked him away. And then his father threw his mother across the table and started choking her. John drew his dagger to stop him, and they fought. John was stabbed and when he regained his feet, it was too late. His mother was dead."
"Dear Gawd, Wanda. Ah didn't know," Rogue breathed.
"John has only told a few people the full story. When he saw his mother dead, John gave into his rage and killed his father on the spot after a long struggle. He was taken to the prison the next morning after refusing to run. You see, Rogue, John never knew love from his father and saw the one person who cherished him killed before his own eyes merely for laughter. It's amazing that he turned into the man we see today, but he is still fragile. He needs love and support. I didn't see it at first, but I know it now. Thanks to Remy and a few others, John has found his laughter again and shares it with others, but he needs someone to love him…Remy does, too." Wanda turned to look at Rogue with tears in her eyes.
"What are ya sayin', Wanda?"
"Rogue, has Remy ever told you about his mother?" Wanda asked.
Rogue took a step back from the railing and looked at her friend with a wary expression. "No."
"I probably shouldn't tell you this. The only reason I know this story of his past is because he shared it with John to help him move past the murder of his mother. You know that Remy was adopted by Jean-Luc LeBeau when he was very young, but before that he lived with his birth mother. They were poor and he never knew his real father. There was a time when something as simple as rotten cabbage had meant everything to him…had even been worth braving the severest of beatings just so that he could have a taste of it. His mother worked in a brothel and sold herself to support them, while Remy was hired out to local merchants for food." Wanda paused for a moment. "Maybe we should continue this in your cabin. This needs to stay between us."
Rogue looked behind her just in time to see the navigator' head whip forward. "Sure, sugah."
When they reached Rogue's cabin, Wanda took a seat on the edge of the bed while Rogue locked the door. "Wanda, Ah'm not sure ya should be tellin' meh this. If Remy wanted meh to know, he'd tell meh."
Wanda shook her head in denial. "No, that's just it. He won't tell you, but you need to know. Rogue, he doesn't believe he can be loved. You need to know why, so you can decide if you can be the one to help him. Otherwise, you need to tell him good-bye before you hurt him more."
Rogue sighed and took a seat next to Wanda. "Is it really that bad, darlin'?"
Wanda nodded. "Remy was about eleven and had been lugging water from the well to his mother's hovel. Three men had been riding by on horseback when his mother, being ever eager for money, had called out to them to ask if they'd like to spend some time in her bed. A man dressed in a brown and gold jacket had sneered at her and her dirty homespun rags. At least until his gaze fell to Remy."
Rogue gasped and put her hand to her mouth, shaking her head. "Oh no… Wanda. Tell meh it's not what Ah think."
"He asked how much for an hour with the boy, but it wasn't the man's question that shocked Remy the most. It was the calculating gleam in his mother's eyes. His mother looked to Remy and then back to the man and said, 'He's a virgin. Surely that's worth at least a silver coin.'" Wanda's face twisted into a horrified grimace, remembering the first time John had told her the story.
"When the man dismounted and paid his mother, the other two men laughed and offered to pay two bits when their friend was done. Remy's mother actually laughed along with them and accepted. When the first man reached for him, Remy swung his bucketful of water over the man, then beat him with it. The other two men came to help, and somewhere in the fighting, Remy grabbed the man's dagger. He stabbed without thought as to the repercussions…blinded by fear and anger."
"Mah Gawd. How…"
Wanda sighed. "When everything had settled again, Remy was covered in blood, standing over the bodies of the three men, and badly beaten. In true scavenger form, his mother searched their purses for more money, while the child gaped at her. Their deaths hadn't even fazed her. When she saw Remy staring at her in disbelief and horror, she said, 'What are you lookin' at, devil? I've sold myself for you enough times that it's only right that you pay for me for once.' She grabbed him by the hair and gave a yank as she smiled. 'And now that I know what you're worth, we'll be set.' That was the last straw, something broke inside him, and he started to hit her."
Wanda stood and started to pace around the room. "His mother dragged him down to the village and left him on the street to fend for himself refusing to accept him anymore, denying that anyone could ever love such a child…spawned by the devil. That's where Jean-Luc found him." Wanda turned and looked at Rogue. "You see, Rogue, like John, Remy never knew love as a child and his own mother abandoned him to the streets. He's still haunted by her words and has trouble believing that anyone could love him. Then there was Bella… If you love him, tell him. He needs to hear it, Rogue. If you don't, then don't do this to him anymore."
Rogue had listened to Wanda's story, wide-eyed. "Ah think Ah need a drink."
Wanda flashed a lazy grin. "Rum for the lady pirate?"
Rogue pulled a bottle from her cabinet and popped the top, drinking the strong amber nectar straight from its container. "Poor Remy," she murmured softly.
"Listen, Rogue. What I've told you needs to stay in this room. It'll be the yardarm for me and John if Captain LeBeau learns that I've told you his secret."
"Don't worry, sugah," Rogue said as she walked to the large window and looked out to the Devil's Lust. "How could a mother treat her child like that?"
Rogue turned to lock eyes with Wanda. "Ah won't hurt him, Wanda. Ah swear it, but you know this is hard for meh. Gawd, it must be hard for him, too."
Wanda placed her hands on Rogue's shoulders. "Remy is not Joseph, Rogue. He needs you. Do you love him or not?"
"Ah do, Wanda. Gawd, help meh. Ah love Remy."
Port Royal harbor…
Joseph finished lowering the gangplank and started down the docks toward the Dark Ruby. He was still unnerved by his encounter with Essex and he was having second thoughts. He needed to get some answers and Bella was going to give them to him come Hell or high water.
Joseph marched aboard the ship and made his way to the large oak door leading to Bella's cabin. He entered the room with his arms folded over his chest. Bella's cabin was open and light, decorated in pale yellows and gold. Her blonde hair was striking against her darker, tanned skin. She looked like an angel, but Joseph suspected that those looks were definitely deceiving.
Her gown was a vivid, unnatural red that moved like blood on her body. She was dancing about the room with a satisfied air. Bella paused in her dancing as she saw him. "So y've done it."
Joseph shrugged nonchalantly. "Why did you want to bring Essex into this?"
Bella smiled as she crossed the room to stand beside him. She reached out to brush his hair back from his face. Her touch was as icy as her heart. "We need him."
Joseph cut a glare to her. "We don't need anything. You needed him. Why?"
She sighed as she continued to toy with his hair. "Now y' ask questions, love? Funny…y' didn't seem t' care before. What changed?"
"I don't like that man, Bella. He seemed so…empty. What will he do to LeBeau when he gets him? Do you even care?"
Bella smiled. "I know exactly what awaits Remy in Port-au-Prince. Essex won't kill him right away, don't worry. But why de concern, mon ami? Isn't he what's keepin' y' from what y' want? Besides, Remy 's my concern, amour. I have some plans f'r Captain LeBeau."
"Hmph."
Bella gave him a pretty, seductive pout. "Did y' tell Essex where t' find him?"
Joseph shifted uneasily. "Yeah…he's on his way. He should intercept the Devil's Lust sometime during the night. I don't like this, Bella."
Bella smiled and pressed herself close to him and pulled his head down to hers so that she could kiss him.
Joseph didn't respond. She pulled away from his lips with a curse, then shoved him back. "Leave."
He inclined his head to her and for once, was happy to be dismissed.
Aboard the Devil's Lust…
It was late in the evening and Remy was having difficulty focusing on sailing when the Anna Marie was never out of sight. Even in the darkness of night, he could see the lantern lights of the other galleon and hear the music and laughter floating on the wind. He was so close, yet still so far away. It was driving him slowly insane. He needed a distraction…something to take his mind off of Rogue. That's when he spotted Christian.
Remy motioned for John and asked him to take the helm for a while. He then descended the ladder to the lower deck and took a seat on the deck next to Chris, ruffling the boy's hair.
"Hey, Captain!" Chris exclaimed as he looked up to Remy.
"What y' doin', petite?"
Chris leaned back rested his head on Remy's arm. "I was just wondering about the stars. I know we use them to stay on course, but I really don't know much about them." Chris turned to look at Remy. "You know how clouds can take shapes? Well, I can see shapes in the stars, too."
"Oui, petite. De shapes are called constellations. See dat one dere?" Remy pointed to the sky. "What does it look like t' y'?"
"Hmmm? It kinda looks like a man wearing a belt." Chris said and looked to Remy for approval.
"Oui…he's called Orion. Y' can see him from any place on de Earth. Y' want t' hear his story?"
Chris looked up at the constellation with awe and nodded his head.
"Orion was placed in de sky after he was killed by his lover, petite. He was a great hunter and de goddess Artemis fell in love with him. Her frere, Apollo, became jealous and tried t' have Orion killed. He placed a scorpion along his huntin' path, but de scorpion fled. When his plan failed, Apollo tried again. Orion was swimmin' in de ocean and Apollo placed a small beam of light on his back. He dared his sœur t' hit de tiny spot on de water. Never one t' pass up a challenge, Artemis killed her lover with a single arrow t' his back. His body washed up on de shore de next mornin'."
"Wow… that's a sad story." Chris leaned into Remy, but never took his eyes off the night sky.
"Sad…oui, mais love often ends with tears, petite. Y' have t' watch your back, non? Y' can be hurt most by de people y' trust and love." Remy sighed and placed his arm around the young boy.
"What about that one? It looks like a horseshoe." Chris asked, enjoying Remy's attention.
"Ah…dat's de Corona Borealis, de Northern Crown. It was placed in de sky to honor a princess named Ariadne. She helped a prince kill de minotaur after she fell in love with him, but he abandoned her."
Christian stood and looked into Remy's eyes with a sad frown. "Do all the stars have such sad stories, Captain?"
"Non," Remy shook his head. "Desole, petite."
Chris gave Remy a firm hug and smiled. "That's okay, Captain! Look! I'm making a new figure. Can you tell who it is?"
Remy picked up the small wooden pirate and smirked. It was a beautiful piece of work, and he was always amazed at the boy's skill. The small figurine was obviously a woman with long hair and petite frame. "Captain Darkholme, non?"
"Yeah! You got it in one guess! Does it really look like her?" Chris picked up his figure of Remy and held it close to Rogue's likeness. "I think you two look good together. Don't you?"
Remy shrugged and gave a half-hearted laugh. They sat there for a few more moments and stared up into the night sky, each lost in their own thoughts. Remy eventually noticed the pitch of the ship increase, and he looked out over the port railings. He saw the wind had picked up and the sea was turning choppy. Whitecaps showed here and there atop the dark waves. Farther out, the indigo line of the horizon seesawed a bit more distinctly. The galleon was so large that its rocking most of the time was nominal, but now he could feel its motion. Perhaps they were in for a gale.
Remy stood and motioned for Chris to follow as he climbed up to the helm and took the wheel from John. Then it happened. Remy heard the small gasp at his side as Chris saw the manifestation.
"Look!" The boy pointed, but Remy was already staring up at the sails in amazement.
Against a black and moonless sky with a wisp of fog, an eerie blue light danced along the spars and coated all the ship's sails. He looked to the Anna Marie and saw that they were also struck by the same phenomenon.
The ghostly illumination was as bright as lightning, but clung to the canvas, hanging stationary, only wafting on the night's haze. With a glow like blue flame, its brilliance illumined the humble faces of the crewmen on deck who were virtually silent with awe, marveling at the manifestation. Some blessed themselves with the sign of the Cross while others took off their caps and clutched them to their chests in superstitious reverence.
Then Remy noticed something. The strong wind had stopped. The Devil's Lust and Anna Marie were becalmed.
Aboard the Anna Marie, the scene was much the same. Kitty looked around and spotted Piotr standing near the mizzen mast, his head tilted back as he, too, gazed at the unearthly lights. He was very still, his angular features bathed in the strange blue glow.
For a moment, Kitty stared at the rugged captain, looming a head taller than the rest of the crew. Drawn to him, she detected a strange charge in the atmosphere that came before a tempest. It made the hairs on her arms and nape rise.
She looked up once more at the strange floating illumination. "What is it?" she whispered.
"St. Elmo's Fire." Rogue's voice answered from behind her.
Piotr turned to look at both Kitty and Rogue. "But what is it, where does it come from?"
"Nobody knows." Rogue looked at the sails warily in the darkness. She pulled out her spyglass and aimed it at the Devil's Lust. She spotted Remy and Chris standing at the helm of the galleon as awed as they were. He was completely unaware of her study. For a moment, he looked as large, remote, and forbidding as a rocky island in the middle of a cold, cold sea. He looked so hard, so tough, and so alone, she thought, though he stood surround by his most trusted crew.
"It's wondrous," Kitty breathed, drawing Rogue back to her own ship.
Rogue sighed. "They say the chance ta experience it only comes along once in a lifetime."
"R-really?"
"Yeah." Rogue stared up at the sails in guarded nonchalance. "Conditions have ta be just right. Even then, it never lasts."
"Oh." Kitty wrapped her arms around Piotr. A slight shift of the rocking deck set her slightly off balance; Piotr steadied her, and the strange lightning seemed to leap between them. "So, why is it called St. Elmo's Fire?"
"Patron saint of sailors," Rogue answered.
Kitty frowned and looked up at Piotr. "Is it dangerous? Could it not set the sails on fire?"
"No, Katja. Nothing like zat. It is an omen," he said, squeezing her in a protective embrace.
"Of what?"
Rogue's shrewd gaze scanned the dark skies. "Storm and trouble." Even as she uttered the ominous answer, the blue glow began to fade, gone in another heartbeat. The glow lingered a while longer on the Devil's Lust. Then the night sky returned to black.
"The barometer's been droppin' all day," Rogue added.
The reverent hush lingered all around the decks; the men watched the sky in silence, waiting to see if it might come back. Instead, the wind returned, rising with eerie speed. With a burst of humid air, it warned them all of its malicious intent, aggressively flapping the sails.
"Comin' up fast, Cap," Wanda called. "She'll be a gale soon."
Rogue sent Wanda a terse nod, then turned to Kitty and Piotr. "Kitty, ya should get below. Take Piotr with ya and see ta the sick deck. We'll need ta be ready for the storm and injuries. We need ta make our storm preparations. If it gets bad- and it could, this time of year- Piotr, take the rest of the crew down ta the lubbers' hold. It's the safest spot on the ship."
"Where will you be, Captain?"
"Up here," she replied, looking around the decks. Then she glanced up at the sails. "Up there, too, if it comes ta it."
"Rogue…Be careful."
"Don't worry." The wind ran through her hair as he walked back to the helm.
Rogue looked over to the Devil's Lust and saw that Remy was also preparing for the coming storm. Knowing Captain LeBeau, he would face the storm with a skeleton crew just as she planned to do. After all, why risk too many lives.
All through the onyx night, the storm had chased them, churning closer, bearing down until both captains decided they could not outrun this lion and gave the order to drop anchor.
Rogue had hoped the gale might blow itself out if she could stay ahead of it, but it was moving over the water at a wicked clip. They were going to have to stand and brace to take their lashes, battening down the hatches and taking in most of the sails.
The storm raged on throughout the night, a dark, cold battle.
When dawn came, its hard pewter light revealed leaden skies and waves like mountains on all sides. Rogue searched the seas, suddenly realizing that the Devil's Lust was gone. At some point during the night, they must have been pulled apart or…No. They were fine, just separated for the moment. Remy must be alright. But the fight was far from over. Indeed it was only then that the storm unleashed its full wrath, battering them from directly overhead – a beast of sixty knots with periods of even stronger gusts lasting up to five minutes each.
"Heave to!" Rogue bellowed, her clothes all soaked through. The driving rain reduced visibility to nothing.
The Anna Marie groaned as she pitched and rolled heavily, facing the storm under shortened sail. A couple of reefed topsails flew aloft to try to steady her, but soon her stay sails were shredded to ribbons. From there, they rode out the storm under bare poles.
Her anchors dug into the depths like fingers of a person clawing for purchase on the edge of a cliff. Rogue knew they had already been driven off course. Tomorrow she could figure out where the hell the wind had blown them to and find the Devil's Lust …if it was over by then.
Sheets of water sloshed across the deck, swells a few feet deep splashing in through the forward gun port. Still more water poured in over the leeward rail. Rogue saw that some of the hawse holes had come unplugged and roared at the men to plug them up again.
"This damned weather is getting the best of her pump, Captain!" Wanda yelled over the storm's howling as she received the report from belowdecks.
"Tell the carpenters ta get down there and check for any leaks!"
"Aye, Captain!"
"We got ta get the spars down!" Rogue ordered grimly. "They're puttin' too much pressure on the masts. Strike the topgallant and the topsail spars!"
Wanda and the bosun exchanged a grim glance, but they, too, knew it had to be done.
"Aye, Captain!"
The bosun relayed the order, and the bravest of his tars got their tools together and dutifully began climbing the shrouds. Rogue hated with all her heart to send any of her men aloft in this. Disassembling the spars from the masts was backbreaking work, even without the wind trying to peel a man off the rigging, and the foot-lines he stood upon soaked with seawater.
But if they didn't take those huge, heavy yardarms down, they risked being dismasted. The violent pitching of the ship was making all three of her masts bend. They had been massive trees once, after all, and could give somewhat in the wind, but the mighty crossbeams of the spars added so much weight to the top portions of the masts that they could snap in half and come crashing down on them. If that happened, they all would be at the mercy of the fierce Caribbean.
Watching her sailors ascend slowly and carefully much in contrast to their usual carefree speed, Rogue could not have been more proud of her crew. She stared at them as the weather dripped down her face. Any captain's heart would have lifted to see their men working in splendid unison, neat as clockwork, stout-hearted and very well trained. They held their posts without flinching or complaint; if one got into trouble, the nearest few rushed to help. No man, after all, could stand alone against the weather and the sea.
Hours later, the ship had stopped its tossing; the sea was clam. A steady drizzle of rain drummed the soaked planks and speckled the bank of stern windows, but by early afternoon, it appeared they had weathered the storm.
No sign of the Devil's Lust. It had been nearly thirty-six hours since the end of the storm and they were nearing the coast of Orcadia, but there still was no sign of Remy and his crew. The hurricane had blown the Anna Marie off course, but only cost them a half-day. There had been some debris in the sea after the storm, but Wanda was convinced that it was from their own galleon. In fact, Rogue had never seen Wanda so concerned and flustered as she was when they had discovered the absence of the Devil's Lust. She truly loved John.
Rogue had managed to convince herself that Remy was most likely already arrived at Orcadia, awaiting the arrival of the Anna Marie and probably just as worried about their welfare as she was about his. But as the steep cliffs of Orcadia came into view, Rogue's delusion dissolved. The Devil's Lust was nowhere to be seen.
Rogue ordered her men to lower a dingy so she and Piotr could examine the coast before giving leave to the crew. Every stroke of the oars dipping rhythmically into the grey-green waves lengthened the distance between her and her mighty gunship. Behind them, greedy seagulls circled the masts, clamoring for handouts. The sound of the ship's bell and the working crew's sea chanty faded as the pounding rhythm of the surf grew louder.
From the austere vastness of the ocean, they now arrived at a whole new landscape completely unknown to them…one where the air was fresh, where breakers pounded the stark black rocks that strewed the beach. Here and there the slamming waves curled upward into tall, dramatic plumes of flying foam.
Beyond the craggy beaches, alive with all their watery motion, mysterious green hills beckoned, sculpted in smoothly undulant curves, with even more mysterious valleys between them. The late spring weather was not promising, true. Rogue's first view of Orcadia ahead was bleak and overcast, its desolate beauty whispering of grief and bloodshed, ancient heartbreak; but when the sun broke through the heavy, piled clouds and etched everything with a glimmer of gold, she could suddenly feel the magic on these shores. She half expected to see mermaids twirling through the waves.
At last they reached the dock. Piotr and Rogue walked along the beach and surveyed the local outpost before signaling back to the ship, calling the crew for leave. From the local authority stationed at the dock, they learned that the Devil's Lust had not docked in Orcadia for nearly a year, but Remy did have a manor not far from the coast. Piotr and Rogue decided to leave news for Remy and wait for his arrival at his family's estate. From there, they could continue their search for the necklace and bring this journey to an end.
Kitty, Wanda, and Kurt joined the two captains at the outpost where they rented horses to take them to the manor. Within an hour, Piotr stopped his horse at a pair of tall wrought-iron gates.
"According to ze directions, zis should be ze place."
They rode up a long graveled drive, but when the 'house' came into view, Rogue's jaw dropped.
"Rogue…it's a castle!" Kitty blurted out, wide-eyed.
A real castle! There were brooding towers and formidable walls hewn from timeworn gray stone. Irregular additions jutted this way and that, made by various owners over the centuries. But the most recent bit was the main block in the center. Through the skill of some cunning architect, a large neo-gothic house built in front of the ancient keep somehow pulled the whole pile together, a castle-fortress fantasy with a crenellated portico above the massive front doors and matching towers framing the front face. The trim around the tall, narrow windows was fresh and white; not a weed grew out of place. It was as impeccably kept as the spotless decks of the Devil's Lust. The place was pure Remy.
When they approached the castle, they saw that the stern gothic fantasy was tempered by a hint of Classical ease, as if to assure the viewer that, inside, the home was graced with every luxury.
When they came to a halt in the sprawling courtyard, half a dozen servants came running. Rogue couldn't tell the footmen from the grooms, though she guessed that the fellow in black was the butler, and the round lady with apple cheeks must be the chief care-taker.
"We are sorry, but the master is not present at the moment. Can we help you?" The butler stepped forward.
"We are travelin' with Remy, but got separated. Could we wait for him here? He should be arrivin' shortly." Rogue asked.
"Ah! That child never lets me know when he's comin'! How can I be expected to keep everything in order when he always surprises me like this!" The woman exclaimed and marched back into the manor, throwing her arms in the air and barking orders to the other servants.
The butler cleared his throat. "You'll have to excuse, Mrs. Danvers. We do not often receive guests here. You may call me Reeves. You say master LeBeau will be arriving shortly?"
"Da…we were sailing here together when a storm blew in separating us." Piotr said, taking Kitty by the hand.
Reeves opened the front door wide and stepped aside in a low bow. "Then, please, make yourself at home. If you need anything, just ask."
The great hall was stunning, with its dark, carved wood, stained glass, and wondrous age-old tapestries; its gleaming flagstone diamond squares of white and bluish gray; its soaring corbelled ceilings painted white, and the cozy inglenook with fireplace taller that Rogue was.
"Shiver me timbers," Kurt whispered, and the whole staff burst out laughing.
They settled into various rooms and began to acquaintance themselves with the layout of the castle and go over the plans for the search. They decide to wait three days for Remy before continuing the without him. Rogue and Wanda did not want to consider the possibility of Remy's continued absence and refused to dwell on the possibilities that could foretell. In their minds, the Devil's Lust would arrive…it was just a matter of time.
A/N: Okay, the next chapter will show what happened to the Devil's Lust and what Essex has planned. I think we have about 5 more chapters left. Maybe make it an even 20? Thanks again for your patience with this chapter!
