Another chapter of the tale of mystery.

FAMILY SECRETS

A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC

Chapter 56

As soon as William appeared the room quieted down. Both Howl and Suliman took a step forward to protect us. The room crackled with tension. For a long moment no moved or said anything. Then the moment broke. The boys were actively attacking each other. Only myself, Lettie, and Seus hesitated. Lettie stayed back to protect me. Seus and I hung back because of fear. We both knew what kind of man William was. We also knew how powerful he was. The man would be vengeful to say the least. For a moment our fear got the best of us. I am not proud of that fact, but it is true. My fear of William stopped me in my tracks. I found myself unable to move. Paralyzed by what might happen. It seemed that I wasn't quite the scary witch that I used to be.

Howl seemed to pick up on this. It made him even more enraged. His attacks intensified. I realized how personal he was taking things. He wanted that man's blood! Then again he had kidnapped our son and used that to get to me. Even without the rest of it it would be enough to send any husband over the edge. I don't know why it caught me off guard. I guess just wasn't used to seeing Howl like that. There was a gentleness about him that was gone. Something that I hadn't seen before. Not even when he was fighting the Witch's demon or even my Grandfather. He truly wanted that man's blood. He was willing to do anything to get it. I wasn't sure if I liked that side of Howl. It kind of scared me.

As I mentioned before I am not much of a fighter. Never really have been. Even in a non-magical fight. Sure, I will argue with you until I'm blue in the face, but I would provably never hit you! I just hate violence! I don't understand why one would want to harm another. I don't have a good grasp of tactics or attack spells for that matter. I may be powerful but hurting others was simply not in my nature. So, I can't describe to you what happened very well. Let's just say that it was messy and complicated. There were a few times in which I thought that William was going to win! Of course, there were five magicians actively trying to restrain him. The odds were not in his favor. Even if one of them wasn't good at fighting. He was going to lose this battle no matter what he did. He knew that as well as we did.

That didn't mean that he didn't try to make it hurt. He made it his mission to go after me. Attack after attack was sent my way. Each time he attacked me Howl responded with his own magic. A couple of times he got hurt trying to protect me. Not that he complained. He just kept going! It reminded me of how tough my husband really was. He would take any pain to protect his family. It reminded me that I made the right choice when I married him. I couldn't see myself being with anyone else.

Once it was clear that attacking me wouldn't help William win he turned on the people around us. He started firing attack spells indiscriminately into the crowd. Those were some of the times that William almost won! Everyone had to hurry and try to protect the crowd! That left us open for attack. The moment we scrambled to protect an onlooker he would fire an attack spell right at me. Which would force Howl again to protect me. Giving William the upper hand once more. I honestly thought that I was going to lose Howl! This is the how the fight went until William was worn down enough for me to seal him away. I used the same spell that I used on my Grandfather. A door opened before him then sucked him inside. William was so worn out that he couldn't fight the pull of my magic. He was gone in a forever. The battle was over.

I don't know where he went. Then again I didn't know where Grandfather had been sent to either. I do know that it was a place where he could harm no one else. That was part of my spell. I told my magic to send him to where he could harm no one ever again. It took care of the rest. That was how the nature of my magic. It was wild and untamed. Very much much different than Howl or any other wizard that I had met. Then again I was not normal to say the least. So it makes sense. I wouldn't know what happened to him. Not that I really cared so long as he could hurt no one ever again.

After the battle Howl limped over to me then asked if I was alright. I insisted. "I'm fine, Howl. Really I am." I looked at his leg. "What about yourself? Are you in pain?"

He smiled at me. "Nothing that a good healing spell can't fix. I'm just glad that you're alright. I was worried."

I was stunned by words. Howl rarely admitted that he was worried about anyone. Now he was telling me about how worried he was. I didn't know what to say. So I hugged him. It felt so good to be in his arms again. To feel his love wash over me. I was back with my family. I was safe. I could finally take a breath. It was wonderful!

We would have stayed like that for a long time if it wasn't for the crowd around us. They starting chanting Queen Latvia's name over and over again. I was taken aback when I realized that they were referring to me. I was not her. Nor was I was as powerful as her legend suggested. I just looked like her a bit, that's all. Not that they cared. As far as they were concerned I was the Queen and she had just saved them! I was at a loss for words. Then again it wasn't like I could convince them that I was someone else. After all, I could only understand every third word!

Instead of arguing Howl spirited us away. Once we were out of ear shot he told me to drop it. They wouldn't believe me anyway. It was better that we go. Something that I wholeheartedly agreed with. I was ready to leave this place and return home.

Next Chapter coming up!