When Royalty comes a'calling

Silky came into Roger's study and silently laid the envelope at his elbow, then slipped out before he could look up from his typing.

Finishing his thoughts on how the young faun Anita Larsen had named Flora Oakenwood was coming along in her adapting to the mundane world, he hit 'save' and closed up his folder on her.

Taking up the plain white envelope he looked it over, the return address was a post office box somewhere in eastern Europe, a part of the world he was only vaguely familiar with.

A quick slice with a letter opener later he found himself looking at a letter he had not expected to receive.

It read:

H.R.H. Henrietta Maria

Wolfsberg Palace

Wolfsberg, Romania

10 October 20XX

Mr. Roger Tate,

Dear Roger, we have decided to come to the United States to pay a visit to our mutual friend Anastasia Karloff.

During our visit we wish to see the library we have supported so generously and look forward to seeing how it is coming along.

We will be arriving during the evening of 20 October and plan on staying until 22 October when we will be returning home.

We look forward to making your acquaintance as we have heard so much about you.

Warm regards,

Henrietta Maria Regina.

Roger laid the brief letter down and picked up his phone.

Few moments later he heard Anna's mellifluous voice, "Roger, what a pleasant surprise! To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

"I got a letter today..."

"It wouldn't be from Romania would it?"

Roger cleared his throat and said quietly, " Funny you should say that, I take it you've also gotten a letter from Romania?"

Anna chuckled, "Yes, I did, just today as a matter of fact."

"You are coming up, aren't you?"

Anna said cheerfully, "Of course I'm coming up, I've got to make sure we can get a room or two for her, all ready to use."

"At our house, or the library?"

Anna paused, "Better to have rooms ready in both houses, the queen sometimes likes to 'rough it' by staying in less than palatial accommodations."

"Gotcha, when can we expect you?"

There was a pause of a few minutes then Anna replied, "Tomorrow evening about 6:30, is the earliest I could get."

"Works for me, I'll have Silky dust off your room but I won't tell Anita you're coming."

"Why ever not?"

Roger chuckled and replied, "If I tell her you're coming up, she won't get any sleep at all tonight and she'll be like a zombie tomorrow at school."

Anna laughed and remarked, "Well! We can't have that, can we? I'll see you all tomorrow evening!"

"Looking forward to it!" replied Roger and he hung up.

Glancing at his desk calendar, he saw they had a little over a week to prepare for Henrietta Maria's arrival.

Luckily the master bedroom was not in use, and neither were the two servants rooms on either side of it.

The only problem was possibly the en suite bathroom with its large scale fixtures all scaled for the former occupants of the house, a retired circus giant couple.

The Karloff Library still had some guest rooms complete with furnishings and those were all scaled for average sized people, no dangling feet whilst perched on the toilet issues there!

The main problem he saw was the Portland Science Fantasy Society and its weekly meetings being held at the library, how to keep them separated from the vampire queen Henrietta Maria and her people?

He and Anna would have to talk about this once she arrived tomorrow evening.

What would he tell Warren Johnson about her impending visit?

While Warren had already met Anna Karlsen the author, he did not know she was really Anastasia Karloff, a 262 year old vampire who had written under many different Nom de plumes down through the centuries.

He was still pondering his choices when Silky's tiny silver bell chimed.

Dinner was being served.

Toddling into the dining room, Roger was pleasantly surprised to see in addition to Warren, there was also Flora Oakenwood, the young faun.

Anita had decided months ago to undertake teaching the girl how to read and write and interact with humans.

Tonight's lesson seemed to be, 'dining with humans'.

Her logic being 'if she's going to live with us, she may as well learn a few things while she's at it.'.

Flora sat to Roger's left while Warren sat to his right

Freya as always, sat at the opposite end of the large table from Roger.

Surprisingly, Flora Oakenwood, was wearing a knee length pleated skirt and a short sleeved top.

Silky had insisted that she wear clothing while dining inside the house and to emphasize her point, she had presented Flora with the clothing she was wearing at the moment.

The denizens of Wolf Hills manor had learned not to argue with the diminutive house spirit, if she wanted things a certain way.

Roger glanced over at Warren who sat in mute astonishment at Flora's appearance.

Roger chuckled and asked him, "You've not seen Flora before?"

Warren shook his head and said quietly, "I've not seen her before, in fact I did not know her kind actually existed!"

He looked at Roger and murmured, "She's so pretty, I'm not sure of where to look without seeming to be rude!"

At the moment, Flora was listening to Anita who was seated to her left and quietly describing the whys and wherefores of indoor dining while showing her the different eating utensils considered necessary for civilized dining.

Roger cleared his throat and said, "Anita, why don't you take a moment to introduce Warren to Flora, he has yet to meet her."

Anita flushed slightly and said breathlessly, "Oh, Okay!"

She turned to Warren, "I'm sorry, I thought maybe you'd seen her already, that's why I didn't say anything!"

Warren smiled at Anita, "It's not a problem, I'm usually buried in the library computer system and probably missed her arrival."

Anita smiled and said pleasantly, "Warren, I'd like you to meet Flora Oakenwood, she's been living up near Samson's barn and corral."

Warren smiled and nodded at the young faun who blushed rather prettily.

Anita continued, "Flora, I'd like you to meet Warren Johnson, head librarian at the Karloff Research library and all around good guy!"

Flora flashed a dazzling smile at Warren and he flushed nearly scarlet as he stammered, "P, pleased to meet you, Flora."

Flora smiled at him and replied in a warm voice, "The pleasure's all mine."

Then she turned to Anita and whispered, "Did I say that right?"

Anita smiled at her charge and nodded a yes.

A few moments after he had recovered from meeting Flora Oakenwood, Warren said quietly to Roger, "She'll make quite the sight to see at Canterbury this summer."

Roger chuckled and replied, "Let's let her get a bit more used to humans before we spring her on Canterbury Faire, we've done enough damage already with Freya, Dena and your wolf, Astrid."

Warren laughed and remarked, "To say nothing of all the sprites now living in the area because of the hollow logs we've hung up in the trees for them."

Roger smiled, ever since Maribel the renfairy became a sprite adopter, she had become quite the activist for them and had pushed to get hidden shelters installed for the many sprites living near where Canterbury shire put up its faire each year.

After dinner Roger and Warren enjoyed a tankard of ale while sitting in the front parlour.

The giant wolvies were sprawled in front of the fireplace as usual, tonight Axel was not with his parents, he was upstairs with Flora and Anita in her room and his sister Astrid was within easy reach of Warren, in the event he wanted to scratch her behind her velvety ears.

Finishing off his tankard, Warren sighed and remarked, "There's nothing like a good ale to finish off a day!"

Roger set down his own tankard and said, "Anna Karlsen will be coming to stay for a few days, she'll be arriving tomorrow evening at six thirty and is going to help us prepare for a visit from one of our biggest sponsors, in fact the biggest of our sponsors!"

Warren raised an eyebrow and asked, "Does Anita know she's coming?"

Roger smiled and replied, "No, she does not. We agreed not to say anything tonight because Anita would be up most of the night and too excited to sleep."

Freya looked up from her book and asked, "Who did she say was comin' tae visit?"

"She didn't actually," replied Roger, "we both got letters from our visitor notifying us of her impending arrival. I called Anna to see if she had heard from our patron as well, turned out she had, hence her coming up here to help us prepare."

Roger smiled and continued, "To answer your question from earlier, our visitor will be Henrietta Maria."

Warren and Freya glanced at each other, then he asked, "Would this be the Henrietta Maria of legend?"

Leaning closer to Roger he said quietly, "The Vampire Queen herself?"

Only slightly surprised that Warren knew of her true nature, Roger replied,

"Yes, the one Anita doesn't know about, just like she doesn't know about Anna's true nature, although by now, she might've figured it out on her own."

"Anna's true nature? Is she also a ...?"

"Yes, she is, why else would the queen come a'calling?"

Warren let out his breath in a whoosh, then said, "Hoo Boy! That's quite a surprise. I'm wondering how the PSFS is going to react?"

Roger smiled grimly, "We, are not going to tell them, so they can't react. Besides, it's our building and facilities, we're only letting them use a small portion of it."

Warren chuckled and said, "Let's not forget Rule number two here."

At Freya's puzzled look, he explained, "Rule number two: No matter what you do, someone will complain about it."

Warren asked, "Is this going to be an official 'head of state' sort of a visit?"

Roger shrugged and replied, "Not sure really, her letter didn't sound real official. It was more like a polite 'Heads up, you've got company coming. Please tidy up a bit.' Kind of a letter. We'll know more once Anna gets here."

Looking thoughtful, Freya asked, "Whaur is she gonnae bide an' fur hoo lang?"

"It's going to be a short visit, three days tops. She wants to visit Anna first then inspect the library to see where her money has gone. We're going to prepare the master bedroom here and the master bedroom up at the mansion, just in case she wants to kip up there."

Roger shrugged, "Then again, she could just arrive in Los Angeles, visit Anna there then come up here...Like I said, we'll know more once Anna gets here."

The enormous grandfather clock in the front hallway began tolling the eleven o'clock hour.

Astrid raised her shaggy head from where she lay with her massive parents on the carpet, in front of the front parlour's fireplace with its ever present, cheery blaze.

Warren smiled at his furry companion, "You ready to head home now?"

Astrid's pink tongue lolled out of her mouth as she grinned at him and he chuckled,

"I'll take that as a 'yes'!"

A few minutes of saying good night and donning his coat later, Warren was trudging up the hill towards his small cottage behind the Karloff Research Library.

In one hand he held a lantern, his other hand was resting on the shoulders of Astrid, his giant wolf companion.

Roger took a few minutes to rinse out the tankards and place them in the dish rack before he filled a cup with fresh heavy cream for Silky to enjoy.

Placing the cup on the mantelpiece he said aloud, "Silky dear, as you may have already heard, we have company coming tomorrow evening. I will be picking her up at the airport at 6:30 P.M. and bringing her home, hopefully before 7:30 P.M. Her room will need to be dusted and aired out before she gets here. Have a good night, dear."

As he left the front parlour, he heard the faint rustling of silken clothing as Silky whisked away with her cup of fresh cream in hand.

At the top of the stairs Roger met Freya who took his hand and guided him into her room where they undressed and got ready for bed.

Sitting on the edge of her enormous bed, he looked up at his towering young companion.

Freya was sixteen now and nearly her adult height and build.

Standing eight foot nine inches tall and possessing Norse goddess looks, she was definitely an eyeful from any angle.

She smiled at him and flipped off the light in her room, leaving only the tiny night light still casting its feeble glow.

Roger scooted over to make room and soon, his gigantic young companion was lying in bed beside him.

Sleep soon claimed the two of them and they slipped into the land of Nod.

The next evening Roger and Freya stood together in the waiting room watching the incoming flight announcements and their incessant updates.

The one he was looking for was indicated as being on time and currently in the flight path, awaiting its turn to land.

Freya muttered, "It's bin a lang time since Ah've stuid in a waitin' room watchin' th' arrivals board."

Roger chuckled and remarked drily, "Yes, we've gotten a little spoiled of late with that plane of ours."

All around them people were surreptitiously taking photos of the towering girl dressed in her 'Portland Grunge finery' as Roger had once put it.

Freya had merely rolled her bright blue eyes at his comment, not wishing to dignify it with a reply.

She commented grimly, "Ah certainly dornt miss th' lines, ur bein' stared at an' havin' picters taken ay me withit askin' first."

"Sorry about that, dear. I'll make it up to you."

Freya smiled and replied cheerfully, "Ah'm countin' oan it!"

The board indicated that Anna's flight from Los Angeles had landed and would be at gate number 14 in ten minutes.

Threading their way through the crowd which parted almost magically at the approach of the young giantess, they made their way to the arrival gate number 14 and took up their position.

A few minutes later and the gates opened to the flow of passengers arriving from L.A.

The initial disgorgement of passengers soon ebbed and was now merely a trickle when two familiar figures appeared in the gateway.

Roger grinned, Anastasia Karloff AKA, Anna Karlsen popular author, had brought along her friend Sheila Ericcson office worker, and erstwhile claymore warrior.

Sheila and Anna broke into big smiles as they exited the gateway with carry on bags in tow.

Sheila grinned at Freya and said cheerfully, "When I was your age I heard this question a lot and I know I shouldn't ask, but, have you finished growing, yet?"

Freya grinned and hugged the flaxen haired, six foot six inches tall athletic beauty.

Anna swept into Roger's arms and they hugged warmly, her slender dancer's body snuggling into his arms.

They separated after a brief kiss and moments later, Roger was getting a bone creaking hug from Sheila, to which he replied, "Oof! You don't know your own strength, girl!"

Sheila grinned at him and said cheerfully, "Well, I don't get to see you all that often, so I have to make the hugs last!"

Roger just smiled and replied, "You are welcome to come visit anytime you know, we do have a room you can use any time you wish. In fact, your portmanteau is still in the room you stayed in, last time you were here."

"Really? I wondered where I'd left it!"

"Now you know, it's here with your clothes still in it."

Sheila grimaced, "Gawd, they're probably years out of date and are all musty by now."

She sighed and said, "Oh well, you'd think by now I would've learned to keep better track of my things."

Roger smiled and said, "Silky, our housekeeper has probably gone through your portmanteau and cleaned everything in it. She does that sort of thing you know."

"Silky?"

"A house spirit that lives with us now, you'll meet her soon enough."

"Okay."

With carry on bags in tow, the four of them exited the air terminal building and headed towards the nearest parking lot to get Roger's van.

Out of long habit, Roger strolled hand in hand with Freya while Anna and Sheila exchanged knowing glances and grinned at each other.

They knew a couple when they saw one, even if the couple in question refused to admit they were a couple; the signs were all there.

The only thing that was still missing, was the consummation of their relationship.

The van was easy enough to spot, it was one of those newer tall vans meant to be used as a cargo hauler but also made a splendid vehicle for a nearly nine foot tall young woman with its generous head and leg room.

Freya climbed into the driver's side while Roger held the side doors for their guests before he himself climbed into the passenger side.

Settling into his seat he smiled at the two and asked, "Ready?"

Anna grinned, "Of course we're ready."

She smiled and asked, "When did you start driving Freya?"

Freya replied, "Ah got me license jist efter me sixteenth birthday an' Ah dae most ay th' drivin' noo."

"Really now!"

Anna glanced at him and said, "First you let her do most of the flying, now it's most of the driving, what's next?"

Roger grinned at the slender beauty and replied coyly, "Not sure yet, I'll think of something!"

She laughed and said, "I'm sure you will!"

As Freya maneuvered the van through traffic, Roger was able to turn nearly sideways in his seat to converse with Anna and Sheila.

"Does Anita know we're coming?" Anna asked.

"Nope, I thought I'd make it a surprise. If I had told her, she would've stayed up half the night and gone to school as a zombie today. I did promise her mom that I'd try to keep an eye on her so she doesn't stay up all night typing away."

Anna smiled and remarked with a grin, "We're writers, we're prone to doing that, and god help those who interfere when we're on a roll, 'cos we'll put them in a book and torment them in very creative ways!"

Roger laughed and said, "I hope I don't wind up as a bad guy in one of her books then."

"Why would that happen, If I may ask?"

"I sometimes run interference if I think some of her online 'friends' are getting a little too chummy with her. One 'friend' turned out to be a 30 year old guy with a history of stalking young women online. He seemed like he was too good to be true and I had him investigated, turned out I was right."

He shrugged, "I was in embassy security when I was a Marine, old habits die hard and I got hinky about the guy."

"Did she forgive you?"

"Once she saw the evidence she did, eventually."

Roger grinned, "Although I do admit I was being a bit of a worrywart, I shouldn't have worried too much...I'm sure Axel would've sorted that guy out pretty quickly."

Sheila's eyebrows went up, "Axel? Who's Axel?" she asked.

Anna grinned and replied, "Axel is her great guardian wolf companion and I can't wait to meet the big fluffball!"

"Great guardian wolf...As in the giant Jotun wolves, great guardian wolf variety?" Asked Sheila.

"That would be a yes!" replied Roger with a grin.

Sheila chuckled, "I remember meeting your 'Sasha', is he related?"

"Axel is Sasha's son and Astrid is her daughter. Astrid is living with Warren Johnson the head librarian."

Sheila smiled, "I want to meet them too!"

Freya called out, "Ye wullnae hae lang tae bide, we're almost haem!" as she signaled the turn to enter the road that eventually wound past their house.

A few minutes of wending their way along the woodsy tree lined street later, and the big house hove into view.

Anna smiled and said cheerfully, "There it is, my hidey hole."

Sheila muttered, "Is it just me, or is that pine tree even bigger than I remember?"

Roger replied, "No it's not just you, Freya gave it and several other trees, some sort of a potion a couple of years ago and well, you can see what happened."

Pulling into the drive way, Freya parked alongside Roger's tiny Japanese mini truck and shut off the van.

Hardly had Freya shut off the van when the front door opened and Anita came outside looking all flustered, she came down the stairs and went right up to Roger's side of the van.

So intent was she that she didn't even notice Anastasia and Sheila sitting in the back seats with smiles on their faces.

"What's gotten into Silky?" she exclaimed, "She's been scurrying around dusting and cleaning like a woman possessed all day. She put the wolvies outside and she's even got Dena's people scrambling about just trying to stay out of her way!"

She cried, "Even the sprites've all gone into hiding!"

Roger smiled at her and said calmly, "The word you're looking for is 'scurryfunge' It's that moment of hasty house cleaning when guests arrive unexpectedly, and there is only moments to tidy up before they come in."

Anita gaped and exclaimed in disbelief, "Seriously?! That's your reply? Ohhh...Wait'll I need a new bad guy to torment in my next book!"

Roger smiled and jerked his thumb towards the back seats, then he grinned.

Anita stole a glance in the back and said, "Oh, hi Anna!"

Then it hit her and she exclaimed, "Anna?! When did you get here...Sheila? You're here too?...What's going on?"

Anna opened her door and stepped out only to get nearly knocked over by the slightly built teenager in her enthusiasm.

"Anna, what brings you here?" Anita cried then she glanced over at the still grinning Roger and grumbled, "Someone, failed to mention you were coming!"

Anna smiled at Anita and said, "We had agreed not to tell you I was coming, we both know you would have stayed awake all night on a school night, and that, is not a good thing."

She grinned at the girl and said playfully, "So you can cancel the literary torments you were planing to do to poor Roger here."

Anita pouted and muttered, "Awww, and I had such good ones all ready to go!"

"Seriously now, "Anita asked, "What brings you up here, you haven't said anything about needing to escape L.A. For a breather?"

Anna smiled at her and said, "It's partly for business and partly for pleasure actually. Henrietta Maria is coming to visit and she wishes to see the library. She'll be staying only a couple of days and since we're not sure if she's going to want to stay in the library's special bedroom or down here in the master bedroom, we've decided to fix up both rooms, just in case."

Anita muttered, "Well, that certainly explains Silky's industriousness, she knew something was up."

A moment later Anita's eyes opened wide and she said hoarsely, "Wait a minute...You did say Henrietta Maria, didn't you?"

"Yes I did."

Anita visibly paled and whispered, "The legendary vampire queen Henrietta Maria?"

Anna nodded a yes.

Anita began muttering, "Oh my god, what will I wear, how will I act, what will I say...I've never met a real queen before, no wait, I have!...I need to practice my curtsy..."

Anna took her hand and murmured "Relax...Everything will be fine..."

Anita visibly relaxed and a little smile formed on her pretty face.

Everything would be fine.

Roger leaned close to Anna and muttered, "I see your little charm about the supernatural being no big deal is still in effect."

Anna murmured back, "Considering all she's seen lately from having acquired the sight, would it even be necessary any more?"

"Point taken."

Once inside the house, introductions were made.

Roger called out, "Silky dear, please come out, I have some friends to introduce you to."

Moments later, there was a soft rustling of pastel shaded silk garments and the diminutive house spirit known as the Silver Lady appeared.

She stood silently before them and Roger smiled, "Anna, Sheila, I'd like you to meet our housekeeper. We know her as Silky or The Silver Lady, she is a house spirit who never speaks. She takes very good care of us and our household and only asks that we leave her a cup of fresh cream on the mantelpiece as a thank you."

Silky smiled slightly and bowed slightly towards the two women.

"Silky, This is Anna Karlsen, her things are in guest bedroom number one. She stays here when she comes to Portland, either on business or for pleasure."

Anna smiled at her and bowed slightly.

"And this, is Sheila Ericcson, her things are in guest bedroom number two and like Anna, she stays here when she is in Portland."

Silky looked up at the tall, flaxen haired warrior and nodded her approval.

Roger smiled at Silky and said softly, "That will be all dear, thank you!"

Silky smiled slightly at him and whisked away with only the faint rustling of silken garments to mark her passage.

Sheila muttered, "Not much for talking is she?"

Roger smiled, "She is a former bean sidhe, her voice could deafen you. I heard it once, and that was more than enough for me!"

"Ah."

Anna looked around and finally said, "Someone is missing here...Dena usually shows up right about now."

Roger chuckled and said, "She's visiting family, one of her great X number of times, granddaughters just gave birth and she's gone to go see her latest descendant."

He grinned, "My bed's a little bit roomier for the moment."

Roger missed Anita rolling her eyes at his jest, she knew perfectly well that he and Freya often slept together and had been doing so since she was twelve.

The mystery was, why was she still a virgin?

Anna glanced around and said brightly, "Where is Axel? I want to meet him."

Anita grinned and said cheerfully, "He's likely out on the back porch with his parents, hiding from Silky."

Roger stepped to the back door, opened it and called out, "Come on in here you three!"

Moments later, Sasha's shaggy gray head peeked inside as she looked to see if the coast was clear.

After a moment, she slipped inside and trotted into the front parlour and its small cheery blaze, courtesy of Salamander.

Golden Eyes followed close behind with his oldest son, Axel bringing up the rear.

Anita called him to her and soon he was blissfully staring off into space while Anita gave him a good scratching.

When she was done she said to him, "Axel, I want you to meet Anna Karlsen, a very good friend of mine!"

Anna smiled at the huge young wolf and said cheerfully, "You, are positively gorgeous, you great big hunk of fuzzball!"

She happily dug her manicured hands into Axel's thick fur and scratched him thoroughly, receiving a shlurp in return.

Afterwards Anna smiled and said wistfully, "I lost my own doggie a few months ago."

She looked over a Roger and continued, "I had her for nearly eleven years until her kidneys gave out. The vet said she couldn't do anything for her, and I had her put to sleep."

Anna sighed, "Watching her die so peacefully really took it out of me, the poor girl probably thought she was just sleepy, she just closed her eyes and slipped away in my arms. I cried and cried just like I did when I was a little girl and I'd lost a kitten."

She said quietly, "I cried more over losing that big yellow mutt than I cried over many humans I have known over the years."

Roger murmured in reply, "You're not alone there my dear, I know I'm gonna cry when Sasha passes on. She and I have such a special bond between us and we both have the scars to prove it!"

He smiled at Anna and said softly, "You and I have a special bond too, for that matter."

Anna smiled at him and said wistfully, "I won't be the only girl crying at your funeral, I know Freya will be and that, is a certainty."

Moments later, the two were embraced in a warm, lingering hug.

A deeply affectionate hug that only they could share.

Anita's voice could be heard exclaiming, "Coolness, you brought your sword!"

Roger chuckled as he released Anna and said, "I wonder how often she's had to explain why she has a big ass sword with her?"

Anna smiled and remarked, "I hesitate to ask, I'm sure it has been a bunch of times."

"Now," she said, " tell me what is going on up at the library."

Roger smiled, "Tonight being a thursday, there is a meeting of the Portland Science Fantasy Society, which would explain the absence of Warren Johnson, the head librarian for us and the PSFS. Otherwise he'd be here with his own guardian wolf, Astrid who is also one of Sasha's pups and quite the charmer in her own right."

Anna grinned, "I'm already looking forward to meeting them both, especially the wolf!"

Roger smiled, "I think you'll like both of them. Warren is aware of Henrietta Maria's existence and I've made him aware of your own true nature as he is trustworthy and can keep a secret. We decided not to say anything to the PSFS, as we both feel that some of the members might overstep their bounds and cause problems."

Anna sighed and remarked, "Yes, I've run into a few those 'fans' as you put it. My publicist Josie once had to dismiss a girl that was working for her, as she was continually overstepping her bounds and using Josie's connections for her own personal gain."

Anna smiled and said, "Fortunately, as much as she tried to get close to me and hinted around, she didn't get to move in on me or learn of my hidey hole up here in Portland, otherwise she would have turned up here."

Roger chuckled and remarked, "Not to worry, Silky would have turned her away, she's quite protective of our house and those who live in it."

Anna smiled and said, "I can imagine."

She grinned at him and said, "I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to simply sit on you until you tell me your story, Roger dear."

He could only shrug and say, "Will it end up becoming a new novel of yours?"

Anna laughed and said coyly, "Never underestimate a writer's desire to tell a story, especially when it is mostly true!"

Roger grinned at her and retorted, "Have you gotten Sheila to tell you her story yet?"

"Actually, she's been writing her own story and so far, it is quite the tale from what I've seen of it."

Roger smiled and remarked, "The memories those ladies must have, they've witnessed a huge chunk of civilization's history and somehow survived all this time."

Anna smiled and said quietly, "Theirs is a form of immortality that cannot be duplicated. The skills, the knowledge and the source itself, are all gone now with no traces remaining."

"Even our queen seems almost like a callow youth by comparison to them and she's been around for millenia!"

Roger looked over at Anna and said, "What was the source of their power, did she ever tell you?"

"She's told me bits and pieces, but not the whole story. She says her old captain, a woman named Miria knows most of it. Apparently the creatures that provided the 'material' used to create the yoma have become extinct and they left no traces behind. According to Miria, their bodies decayed almost immediately after death, even their bones crumbled into fragments within hours."

Roger thought about her comment and muttered, "Hence no fossils left behind."

"Yep! No fossils."

The next day while Freya and Anita who went to school under protest, as she wanted to hang out with Anna instead of attending classes for the day.

Roger and Anna looked over the master bedroom in the house.

Anna looked the room over with a critical eye and finally said frankly, "Silky is good, I can't think of anything I'd change beyond putting up heavy curtains to keep out the sunlight."

Roger asked, "We have storm shutters, will those do instead?"

"Yes, those would work, can they be opened at night to let in the night air?"

"Of course, this house doesn't have central heat or air conditioning. It uses a passive air circulation system, much like the one up at your old house. Although I think they have a controlled climate system in the rare books vault."

Roger paused a moment, then asked, "Can she go out in the day like you do?"

Anna chuckled and replied, "I'm the only vampire who's crazy enough to venture outside during the day."

She grinned, "I do it by slathering myself with sun blocking lotions and wearing solar blocking clothing. Even then I limit my exposure to the ultra violet rays that really affect us. Our skin is really sensitive to that part of the spectrum, even artificial ultra violet lighting makes me uncomfortable. I try to avoid it if I can."

He smiled and said, "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

Anna chuckled and replied, "That would be safer, yes."

She paused a moment and said, "I expect her werewolf guards will have the final say on where she stays while she's visiting, after all, her safety is paramount to them."

Roger glanced over at her and said, "Can we expect one to show up then, as an advance party?"

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised one isn't here already." replied Anna.

There was a knock at the door and Anna remarked gaily, "Speak of the devil!"

Roger called out, "I'll get it!" and he hurried downstairs, getting to the door just ahead of Silky and the two wolvies.

Not surprisingly Anna was right beside him, her supernatural speed allowed her to easily keep up with him as he rushed downstairs.

Roger paused a moment, then opened the front door while encouraging Sasha to stay behind him.

Standing there was a young woman with an athletic build and iron grey hair, her eyes were an interesting yellow brown color.

Dressed in a neatly tailored dark gray pantsuit, she looked every inch like a security profesional on duty.

Sitting next to her was a bulky suitcase, her personal effects and equipment presumed Roger.

"May I help you?" He asked while keeping an elbow between the young woman and Sasha who was sniffing to catch her scent.

The young woman smiled and said, "Are you Roger Tate?"

Roger noted her accent and wondered where she was from.

"I am, and you are?" he replied.

She bowed slightly and said crisply, "I am Alexandra Wolf and I am here to make certain everything will be to the liking of my queen, Henrietta Maria."

Roger grinned and said cheerfully, "Of course you are, do come in and let Sasha meet you before she knocks me aside."

Taking up her bulky suitcase, Alexandra stepped across the threshold and stood still while getting the once over by Sasha and Goldeneyes.

Her eyes were wide open in her amazement at the size of the wolvies that lived in the big house and she couldn't help smiling.

Roger said softly, "Feel free to give them an ear rub or a rump scratch, they'll be your best friends after that."

Alexandra did just that and received a shlurp for her troubles, that and traces of their fine undercoat clinging to her dark gray pantsuit.

Roger muttered, "Sorry about the fur, it's a never ending battle to stay on top of it."

Alexandra shrugged, "It comes with the territory I'm afraid."

Turning towards Anna, she said, "I would have been here yesterday, only I was in Los Angeles knocking on your door in vain. I was told to join you and advise you in matters of security in regards to our queen's up coming visit."

Anna grimaced and replied, "I apologize for that, had I known you were coming, I would have waited the day or so before coming up here."

Alexandra nodded and replied, "It's not a problem, I had come here a bit early to get things started, so no harm done."

Roger smiled at his guests and said, "Why don't you make yourselves comfortable in the front parlour while I brew up some tea and put together some nibblies."

Anna took her arm and said, "Come with me, the front parlour's this way."

Roger quickly assembled a tray of nibblies and doled out the tea while the water heated up.

From long practice, he hoisted the kettle from the flame just as it commenced to whistling.

Pouring the water into the tea pot, he turned off the burner and set the kettle back down.

Pausing a few moments, he took up the tray and went into the front parlour where he saw the two wolvies visiting with Alexandra who seemed enchanted by them.

She smiled at him as he set down the tray and asked, "Where did these amazing wolves come from? They are far larger than anything I have heard of!"

"They are Jotun great guardian wolves and came from Canada."

He gave Sasha an ear rub and said, "They came across the sea when the Jotuns left the old world to get away from the Norse peoples moving north as the ice retreated."

He smiled, "Sasha and I have quite the history between us, she saved my life during a dog attack and I saved her life when the owner of the dog tried to run her over. I got gut shot for interfering and Anna here saved my life as well."

Smiling at Anna Roger said, "I guess you could say Anna here and I also have a special relationship, in that that she gave me a 'rose kiss' by permission of the queen."

Alexandra set down her tea cup and said quietly, "That explains why I could scent Anna's blood on you, she gave you a 'rose kiss'. You two do have a very special relationship, if she thought enough of you to do that, as not every vampire has permission to bestow a 'rose kiss', it is a very precious thing she has given you, a precious thing indeed."

Roger smiled at Anna and remarked, "The fact that you're here is another example of Anna's generosity. It was Anna who donated the library buildings and the grounds so we could have the research library the queen is coming to visit.

"Not to say the queen herself hasn't been more than generous, the funds she has provided us helped get this house so that Freya could live in comfort during her stay in Portland. They helped us obtain the sea plane we use to travel in. The actual list of things she has helped us with is quite lengthy and not really pertinent to our present situation."

He grinned, "What do we need to do to make her stay enjoyable? Within our capacity of course."

Alexandra looked thoughtful and replied, "First off, we need to decide where she is going to stay."

Anna set down her tea cup and said, "We have two options, there is the master bedroom in this house. It has an ensuite bathroom and there are two servant's rooms immediately adjacent so any security personnel can respond very quickly in any emergency."

She smiled and remarked, "I can't imagine anyone wanting to disturb this house as it is very well protected. And not just by the wolvies you've met, there is also a silky, a house spirit and from what I've heard, she is no one to trifle with."

Roger said quietly, "There is also a spriggan standing guard at the behest of the Gealach of Tir na nOg, you might know her as Titania, queen of the fae."

Alexandra looked up from the note pad that she had been scribbling on and said, "I was not made aware of this, how is it you have a spriggan?"

Roger grinned, "This is probably a dumb question but, do you have the sight?"

Alexandra nodded a yes and said, "I am a werewolf bodyguard for the queen, of course I have the sight."

"This house and the library have become a sort of a nexus between the worlds. We acquired a spriggan after we had a couple of night gaunts visit us. While Freya and the wolvies drove them off, Titania felt we needed a spriggan to watch over us, and so he was placed up near Samson's corral."

"Samson?"

"Freya's big horse and we also have sprites. You don't see them at the moment because they are watching you to see if you are safe to be around. I imagine they can sense your true nature and are simply being cautious. Sprites are like that, they are cautious by nature."

"You have sprites living here? How many?"

Roger shrugged and replied, "Not really sure to be honest, I've not really tried to keep a count of them. Some of them are simply visiting from under the hill, some were born here while others came here from other parts of Oregon. Hundreds, I'd guess."

"Hundreds? Hoo Boy..."

"It's just a guess as not all of them stay inside with us, most of them live outside where they can eat the bugs that would eat our crops."

Roger smiled, "Would you like to meet some of them?"

Anna grinned and said, "Yes, I would!"

Roger grinned and called out, "All right kids, you can come out now, they're friendly!"

There was a whirring noise as of the beat of countless tiny wings and a tittering of sprites came swirling into the front parlour where they circled around lazily as they settled one by one on the recumbent forms of the two giant wolves dozing in front of the cheery fire.

Within a few moments, the snoozing wolvies took on the appearance of a spritely gathering place with dozens of tiny sprites snuggling into the deep fur of the gigantic wolves and making themselves at home.

Alexandra stifled a chuckle and muttered, "My goodness, remind me not to shift around them, they might decide to take up residence in my fur!"

Anna giggled and said gaily, "My god, they're so cute! I'm really having a fan girl moment right now, this is unbelievable!"

"This is coming from a being straight out of fantasy no less!" Remarked Roger with a grin.

He looked the clustered sprites over and said, "I don't see April, I wonder if she's out running with Sheila, or rather flitting about while Sheila runs?"

Alexandra perked up at his comment and asked, "Who is Sheila?"

Anna replied, "Sheila is a friend of mine and she happens to be a former claymore warrior."

"Whaaaat?!" cried Alexandra, "This would be the same Sheila who's met my queen?"

"Yes?!"

Alexandra closed her eyes for a moment and muttered, "I swear they set me up for this..."

"Who set you up?" asked Anna.

"My father, most likely." replied Alexandra "This is my first diplomatic mission where I'm in charge, how I handle this will greatly affect my career. I thought this would be a simple, pave the way for her majesty so she can enjoy her visit. I didn't expect all these variants to pop up!"

"Variants?"

"Practically everything I've seen since I got here!" she declared.

"The house itself, the giant wolves I wasn't told about, the silky or whatever she may be, a spriggan, all the sprites and now a claymore is thrown onto the pile? What next?" groaned Alexandra Wolf, young werewolf bodyguard for the vampire queen.

"A young faun named Flora Oakenwood and a wood wife named Dena Greenwood?"

"Seriously?"

Roger smiled at her and said softly, "You'll be fine and you'll meet the rest of our little family this evening when they're all here for dinner."

He grinned, "I was embassy security when I was in the Marines, I can help you over the rough patches."

Alexandra looked at him and said, "So, you've done this sort of thing before?"

"Yep, thinking on your feet is a prerequisite in embassy duty, 'cos you never know what the ambassador will do next or what head of state will decide to pay a call."

He grinned, "I could tell you stories!"

At that remark Anna gleefully pounced, "Not until you've told me your stories first!"

Roger grinned, "Yes, ma'am!"

He winked at Alexandra and in sotto voce said, "We'll talk more later!"

Anna just looked at him and said drily, "Mister Tate, did you honestly think I wouldn't hear that? Hello! Vampire hearing?"

Alexandra chuckled and said cheerfully, "You two really do have a special relationship, you certainly are good friends from your playful banter."

The front door opened and the wolvies perked up, their great ears swiveling back and forth to better catch any sound.

Sheila's voice called out, "It's just me and one tired out sprite child!"

Moments later, the towering blonde stepped into the front parlour wearing her running outfit which showed to great advantage her long, well muscled legs and lean, lithe body.

A superb athlete was Sheila Ericcson.

She held out her hand and in it lay the tiny form of little April, Roger's spritely companion. "I'm afraid I wore her out." she said.

She glanced at Alexandra and said, "Oh, hello, you're one of Henrietta Maria's bodyguards aren't you? Pleasure to meet you, I'm Sheila!"

Alexandra's yellow brown eyes opened wide and she said in surprise, "How'd you guess?"

Sheila smiled at the young woman and replied, "I can sense your aura, it is fairly complex as in right now, your human side is ascendant while your wolf side is hidden underneath, asleep if you will."

"How?!"

Sheila grinned, "It's a claymore thing, we can sense auras over distances, it helps us spot enemies or friends before we actually see them. Back in the day, reading yoma energy was a vital necessity as it could mean your survival in finding your quarry or avoiding a trap. It's a very long story actually and someday, it'll all get written down."

Sheila smiled and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm hitting the shower and changing into something drier."

Roger smiled and held out his hand while Sheila gently placed April's sleeping form in his outstretched hand.

He smiled at the tiny sprite lying in his hand and murmured, "You wore yourself out trying to hang with Sheila didn't you? She probably ran twenty miles while I only run about three."

Sheila leaned over and kissed Roger's forehead before whispering, "I ran twenty five, it was a good run."

A few moments later, April's wings fluttered a bit then she sat up in his hand and looked around before looking at Roger and saying, "Choclit?"

He laughed and said cheerfully, "Chocolate has amazing restorative powers, it will revitalize even the most worn out sprite within moments!"

He set April down on the coffee table before him and said, "I'll be right back, make nice with my guests while I'm away!"

As he left the room to fetch the small chocolate cannister he usually carried, he heard April's squeak of a voice say, "Hi! Ah'm April, an' ye ur?"

"Why hello there, April, I'm Anna, pleased to meet you!'

"And I'm Alexandra, pleased to meet you too!"

Returning moments later he asked, "Was she good while I was out?"

Anna chuckled and said, "Good as gold, after all, how much mischief could such a tiny cutie like April cause?"

Roger laughed as he sat down and opened up the small cannister before holding it out for April.

"Clearly, you two have not been around too many sprites in your time."

He said with a grin. "These 'little cuties' will prank the unwary by dropping little pebbles and twigs, or bits of leaf on someone they wish to pester."

He smiled while April chose a morsel of chocolate and sat cross legged on the coffee table to nosh on her sweet treat.

When the tiny sprite child was finished with her chocolatey treat, Roger said to her, "This evening we are going to be having a family meeting about a visitor who may be staying with us for a couple of days, ask your mom if she can attend so I can tell her about what not to do while our guest is with us. Okay?"

"Hokay!" was her squeak of a reply, then she flew off to Roger's room for a nap.

An hour later, Freya and Anita came home from school and Anita dashed upstairs to let out her giant wolf companion, Axel.

As they came back down stairs she could be heard, "Sorry Axel, I shouldn't have closed the door so you couldn't get out!"

Moments later, Freya came into the front parlour and Alexandra gaped at her height but almost before she could say anything, Axel came barging in, wanting to be introduced.

Anita was right behind him saying, "Axel! What is with you today?"

Her eyes lit on Alexandra's neatly dressed form and she said, "Woah, we have another visitor?"

Recovering quickly she said cheerfully, "Hello, I'm Anita and this big fuzzball is Axel, who is embarrassing me to no end!"

Alexandra smiled at the slightly built girl and said, "It's fine, he's just being friendly!" as she gently played with Axel's velvety ears.

Having introduced himself, Axel joined his enormous parents in repose upon the floor.

Alexandra said pleasantly, "Before I was so enthusiastically interrupted, my name is Alexandra Wolf and I'm here as an advance party consultant to better prepare you for her highness' visit in a few days."

"Oh, that, so it's really happening then?" replied a wide eye Anita Larsen, nascent author and companion to Axel, a giant wolf.

Roger chuckled and said, "Tonight after dinner, when everyone is here, and that includes your protege up in the oak tree. We will be having a meeting to discuss this."

He looked around, "Has anyone seen Dena at all? I know she just became a great X number of times, grandmother again, has she come back yet?"

Seeing no reactions Roger commented, "I'll take that as a 'no' then. Not a problem, she'll turn up when she's good and ready."

"Ur when she decides 'er bed needs warmin' up wi yer body agin." Muttered Freya to Roger's chagrin.

To which he remarked drily, "Yes, my bed has felt rather spacious of late, I'd almost forgotten what it's like to have my bed all to myself."

He glanced over at Alexandra and said, "You haven't met the main reason why we've all gathered here to begin with. Alexandra Wolf, I'd like you to meet Freya Sigurdsdottir my companion. Originally I was supposed to be acting in loco parentis for her parents, but over the years we have become something else entirely and it has been quite the adventure."

He smiled at Freya and said, "Freya, this is Alexandra Wolf, she is attached to her majesty's security forces, and more on that will be discussed this evening. For now, let's get better acquainted."

The huge grandfather clock in the front hall way tolled the five o'clock hour and Roger muttered, "Welp, I'd better see to our dinner plans then, Silky doesn't like surprises. If you'll excuse me?"

With that, he ambled into the kitchen to talk to Silky.

With him out of the room Anna grinned and said, "Okay ladies, I wanna hear all the details!"

She glanced at Anita and asked, "Who, is this protege he referred to?"

Anita drew breath to reply when Anna cried, "Wait!"

Then she quickly fished a small digital recorder out of her pocket and placed it on the low table, "Okay, you can talk now!"

Anita grinned and said cheerfully, "This is as much Freya's story as it is mine and of course, Roger plays a big part in it too."

"I know" Muttered Anna "And some day I'm gonna sit on him and make him talk!"

Anita laughed, "And I'll make the tea!"

For the next half hour or so, Anita with Freya's help recounted the story of how Flora Oakenwood came to live with them and was being taught how to interact with humans on a limited basis.

When they had finished telling the story, Anna shut off the recorder and said, "This place really has become a nexus between the worlds, small wonder her majesty wants to see it."

Alexandra remarked, "I see you've been able to expand the area through the acquisition of neighboring properties, would it be possible to further expand this way?"

Freya said quietly, "Ah'm nae sure. Ah ken thaur ur several vacant lots nearby 'at coods be connected, but Ah dunnae ken if they ur fur sale ur who owns them."

Alexandra nodded at Freya's remarks and jotted them down on her note pad.

She looked up and asked, "How big is this property as it stands right now?"

Freya replied, "Th' hoose an' lands comprise twenty seven acres. Th' library an' its groonds ur twenty five acres. Fifty twa acres aw taegether."

She grinned "Ah wooldnae min' dooblin' it!"

Anna smiled and asked, "What would you do with all that land? That hundred and four plus acres?"

Freya grinned, "Wa, naethin' ay coorse. Ah'd remove aw th' fences an' lit nature hae its way!"

Roger's soft chuckle interrupted their gabfest and he said pleasantly, "I'm sure our more active trees would enjoy the leg room, they've moved around quite a bit since we took down most of the iron fencing between the properties."

He smiled at the young werewolf body guard and said, "We'll talk about this more tonight, we have much to discuss and if you have one of those digital recorders, I'd suggest bringing it along. I know Anna will be bringing hers!"

He set down the refilled tea pot and additional nibblies, then headed back to the kitchen.

That evening saw a larger than normal gathering at the table.

In addition to the family itself, there was Anna Karlsen, popular author of Gothic romance books and 262 year old vampire living on the QT.

Sheila Ericcson, towering flaxen haired beauty and former claymore warrior of indeterminate age, also living on the QT and lastly, Alexandra Wolf, a werewolf bodyguard come to assure that her majesty, Queen Henrietta Maria would not lack for her safety and comfort whilst visiting the Karloff research library near Portland, Oregon.

After they had eaten and the table was cleared of dishes and any empty tankards or glasses refilled.

Alexandra Wolf stood up and said, "For those of you I haven't been introduced to, my name is Alexandra Wolf and I am here to get things ready for her majesty Queen Henrietta Maria's visit here from October 20 th to the 22nd, it will be a brief stay for her to visit and inspect the Karloff research library as an interested patroness of the library and facilities and not, as a head of state.

"This meeting is to get to know all of you as both residents and interested persons. I will answer any questions as best I can and at the same time, get to know all of you a little bit better."

It was Warren who asked the first question, "On Thursday evenings, between the hours of 6:30 PM 'til around midnight, the Portland Science Fantasy Society holds its weekly meeting. Will this meeting need to be cancelled for that week due to her majesty's visit? I would presume so myself because of the nature of her visit and her being a head of state and all."

Alexandra pondered his question briefly and replied, "It might be for the best if the meeting was cancelled. For the comingling of her majesty's security staff and the club members could be problematic, if half the comments I've heard about 'fans' be true."

Warren smiled and commented, "Yes, they are more than likely true. I will notify the club that, that week's meeting will be cancelled due to the building needing to be inspected or something."

He grinned, "I'm sure they'll squawk, but they'll live."

Alexandra smiled and said, "Thank you, that'll make things a lot easier for all of us."

Warren nodded his head and smiled, "I'll be there of course, as I have keys to the building and all the library's rare book vaults, and I will be happy to show the queen around."

"Of course you will!" replied Alexandra with a wolfish grin.

Anita raised her hand, "What sort of outfits should we wear when meeting her majesty? I can't imagine casual wear will be appropriate."

"Business attire will be good enough, while she is a head of state even if most of the world is unaware of her realm, she is not visiting as a head of state."

Alexandra grinned, "Personally, I think she just wants to get out and relax a little bit. But, you didn't hear that from me."

Sheila asked, "Should I ask my old captain, Miria to come up here to meet with her majesty? I'm really here to help out Anna more than anything else and if she wishes to speak with a representative of us, Miria would be the best choice."

Alexandra was about to reply when Anna suddenly blurted out, "Oh snap! I almost forgot! I need to invite Tony Hopkins up here so he can pay his respects to the queen!"

She flushed slightly and muttered, "Sorry..."

Alexandra cleared her throat and replied, "To answer your question Sheila, it is not a state visit, rather it is a matter of her majesty wanting to see how the library is coming along. I don't suppose it would hurt to invite Miria, but it is not necessary."

Roger cleared his throat and remarked, "Getting back to an earlier item if I may. Warren, are you certain that some members of the PSFS won't decide to show up anyway, as rules don't seem to apply to some of them in particular?"

Warren frowned and muttered, "You have a point there, I've had members calling me on my phone at odd hours because they wanted to watch a movie or something, even though it was not a club night. What do you suggest?"

Roger grinned and said, "When I first met Anna, Freya and I went with her to look over her house. We had not gotten very far when Freya and I were almost begging to get away from her house as we both had a terrible sense of dread. Anna simply said, "I'm back!" and poof! It was gone, the sense of dread had vanished like a bad dream.

"It turned out Anna had placed a 'charm' on her house to protect it from vandalism and both Freya and I can attest to its effectiveness!"

Roger glanced at Anna and said, "Could you place a similar 'charm' on the library that would last just those few nights and not affect us?"

Anna thought for a few moments then replied, "I could place a 'charm' like you mentioned and yes, it would only last a few days at most because of its specifics. My original charm lasted so long because it was non specific, everyone got excluded except for me. I'll need a list of those exceptions to the exclusion charm before I work it. Is that acceptable?"

Roger smiled, "That would be wonderful, my dear."

Warren remarked drily, "Of course we could just lock the gate, most of the members aren't energetic enough to climb the fence and hike up the hill to get to the library."

Alexandra smiled and replied, "We'll go with that, rather than working up such an elaborate 'charm'!"

Anna looked over to see Anita scribbling rapidly in her notebook and asked, "Plot bunny hit you?"

Anita grinned at her mentor and said gaily, "Of course! This meeting is straight out of a fantasy story. In one room we have three humans, a claymore warrior practically as old as civilization itself, a 262 year old vampire... "

She winked at Anna and said, "I figured it out after I got the sight, as your charm got cancelled when I could see fae."

"A young werewolf bodyguard for the queen, a northern wood nymph and a tittering of sprites, the only one missing is our wood wife friend Dena."

She grinned at Alexandra, "Annd, the meeting is taking place in a house built for giants, a house that is watched over by a silky and guarded by three giant wolves and a spriggan!"

She sighed and said happily, "This house is like living in a dream, I have gotten so many great story ideas just from living here and seeing what goes on here."

Anna chuckled and remarked, "Small wonder you've been so busy with your writing of late. Given these kind of circumstances, I'd be pushing out story after story too!"

She grinned, "I like your term for a flock of sprites, a tittering is exactly right, as that is what it sounds like."

Anita smiled and said, "Roger came up with that one day as our wooly bug flock kinda took the term 'flock' already."

"Wooly bug flock?"

The slightly built teenager smiled and said, "These huge bugs that grow a really soft wool, I'll show you tomorrow!"

Alexandra cleared her throat and said, "Is there anything else we need to cover tonight as this meeting seems to have wandered off course?"

She glanced around the room momentarily and seeing no responses said, "Well then, I guess we covered most of it and we'll make adjustments as needs be. This meeting is adjourned."

Freya stood up and said to Alexandra, "Come wi' me an' Ah'll shaw ye th' master bedroom upstairs."

Moments later, the young werewolf and the young giantess had gone upstairs to view the master bedroom suite.

As they left Warren muttered, "Is she really a werewolf? I thought she'd be more...Scary?"

Anna chuckled at his comment and replied, "She doesn't have to be the scary one, her father Viktor, does that just fine."

Sheila smiled and commented, "I remember him, he got a little tense when I admitted to being the Sheila who had killed the last full blood yoma in Romania way back when."

Anna smiled at her towering friend and said, "Will that story be included in your book?"

"Of course! That and the story of how I met my husband when I was up north before the Scandis came."

She grinned at Anna, "You'd know the story as Beowulf, the Saxon bards who told it couldn't accept that a woman had killed the monster, so they changed a few things. The Jotun account is more accurate, as it mentions me by name and gets my gender correctly."

Anna muttered, "I haven't read that account...Yet!"

She glanced pointedly at Roger as she said that and continued, "Maybe if we had a couple more Jotun language speakers down here..."

Roger smiled and was about to reply when Freya and Alexandra came striding into the dining room.

Alexandra was talking, "I like the general layout of the master bedroom, we can install the storm shutters for daytime use and at night leave them open for air circulation. The servant's quarters are nicely placed and her guards would be only seconds away."

She smiled, "I still want to look at the master bedroom up at the library just to see how it measures up, security wise. But for right now, I'm leaning towards the master bedroom upstairs. Primarily, because with all the eyes and ears in this house, I can't see anything trying to attack it without major repercussions ensuing."

The huge grandfather clock tolled the midnight hour and Warren announced, "Well boys and girls, it is time for this one to go home as I have an early day tomorrow."

As he stood up, Astrid rose to her feet, her floofy tail wagging happily.

Warren smiled at Anna, Alexandra and Sheila, "Ladies, it was a real pleasure meeting you three. I bid you anon!"

With that, he put on his hooded cloak and took up his lantern while Anita got the door for him and Astrid, his giant wolf companion.

As they were leaving Alexandra muttered, "I wonder if I shouldn't tag along so I can look the library's master bedroom over?"

Anita grinned and said cheerfully, "If you do, I'll come with you and bring Axel with me for protection."

Alexandra looked at Anita and said, "What would you need protecting from around here?"

"Boggarts, we do get boggarts and an occasional night gaunt. They'll come after me because I can see them and that makes me fair game." Replied the slightly built girl.

Warren was standing outside and he said, "If you two are tagging along, I'd suggest you get going."

Anita grinned, "Let me grab my coat! Axel! We're going!"

She glanced at Roger, "Don't wait up, I don't know how long we'll be."

Moments later, the girl and her giant wolf were ready and heading out the door with the young werewolf in tow.

When all was quiet once more, Sheila commented, "How often do you get these boggarts and night gaunts that Anita commented about?"

Roger glanced over where Flora was sitting quietly, while enjoying the cheery fire in the front parlour.

"The last bad one was when Flora first got here, or I should say, shortly after she got here. One went after her one night and chased her down hill, almost to the house. Freya and our wolvies dealt with it while I brought her inside to tend to her injuries.

"Silky sent a message under the hill and Doctor Shannon joined up with an ER nurse neighbor of ours and the two patched Flora up real good."

He smiled, "It turned out our neighbor and Doctor Shannon knew each other from when Doctor Shannon worked in our local hospital's emergency room. There was a teary reunion and connections made and now Ildico our neighbor, regularly sends medical supplies under the hill via Hazel, a centaur courier we know."

"Annnnd that, is yet another story you owe me Roger Tate!" grumbled Anna Karlsen AKA Anastasia Karloff, 262 year old vampire and author of popular Gothic romance novels.

"Did you kill it?" asked Sheila.

"Not sure, Freya didn't get a real good look at it on account of the wolvies were working it over pretty good. I do know there wasn't any corpse to be disposed of the next morning, so I'm guessing it escaped, minus a few pounds of flesh and blood."

Roger looked at Sheila and said, "Interesting thing about the blood we found, it was a purplish color, not the usual red."

"Seriously?! It was a purplish color?" asked Sheila, a look of concern on her face.

"Okaaay, I'm seeing a serious look on your face, that purple colored blood meant something to you didn't it?"

Sheila sighed and remarked, "The yomas we fought so long ago had purple blood, that color blood was a dead giveaway that we were facing the creatures created by the organization."

"Are you suggesting that our night gaunt friend may have been a yoma? How could one have survived all these years like you did?"

Shrugging, Sheila replied, "To be honest, I have no idea. I do know the yomas were a parasitical worm that infected the brain of its host and caused all sorts of physical changes to the host's anatomy, including changing the color of its blood."

"Okay, so how do we confirm if it is a yoma?"

"Killing it and dissecting the brain is the only way to be sure." Replied Sheila in a matter of fact tone.

Roger said quietly, "That last attack was a couple of years ago and we now have a spriggan keeping watch up by the barn where Freya's big horse lives. It's been pretty quiet, night walker wise ever since."

Sheila relaxed and said, "Well, if you have a spriggan nearby, I doubt any night gaunt is going to be bothering you. However, If you guys start having these kind of troubles again, you be sure to let me know, I've got just the thing for night gaunts and boggarts."

Roger grinned at his charming guest and said, "I'll keep that in mind."

"You do that!"

Freya seeing an opening remarked, "Sae, ur we gonnae pit up th' st'rm shutters oan th' master bedroom windaes tha' moorns nicht?"

Roger thought for a moment then said, "We might as well, we usually start getting the house ready for winter around then anyway. Putting the storm shutters up a few days early won't hurt any."

Anna smiled and said, "I'd forgotten about storm shutters, my house down in L.A. Doesn't have them. Then again, winter down there is spelled with a lowercase 'w'."

"Up here, we capitalize it and address it as 'Sir!'." commented Roger with his trademark grin in place.

Freya snickered and said coyly, "Ye fowk dornt ken winter. It doesnae gie nearly as braw as it diz at me haem up in Canada."

Unable to resist, Roger asked his towering companion, "Do you walk around outside in just your underpanties, like you've done down here a few times?"

Without skipping a beat, Freya replied, "Ah did 'at coz me cheil was ootwith in the braw, wanderin' lost in th' snaw. Insteid ay bein' safe in me scratcher wi' me!"

Roger's near scarlet hue resulting from Freya's snappy come back brought forth a tittering among the ladies present.

Freya had really gotten in a good retort and they were enjoying his discomfiture.

"Thank God, Henri isn't here to enjoy this!" Muttered poor Roger.

Anna smiled and said, "And who, pray tell, is this Henri you speak of?"

"A charming rogue of my acquaintance, we've shared a few adventures together."

Anna quickly put up her hand and said, "This would be the Henri who helped you rescue the lamia family?"

"Yes"

"That does it, next time I come up here I'm going to be bringing my writing kit, 'cos I'm gonna need it, that and some of that wonderful herb tea your mom makes Freya!"

Freya smiled and said coyly, "'Tis nae problem, me mom aye has plenty oan hain an' Hazel can fetch some fur me onie time Ah need some maur."

When the grandfather clock tolled the half hour, Roger commented, "Welp, it's 12:30 AM and this one needs his beauty rest, as he has things to do in the morning."

Smiling at the trio of lovelies sitting at the table he said, "Good night all, and I'll see you in the morning."

There was a brief exchange of kisses between himself, Freya, Anna and Sheila then he went into the front parlour where Flora was curled up on the setee in peaceful slumber while the wolvies dozed nearby.

Not seeing any sense in waking her up to boot her out of the house, Roger smiled at the young faun sleeping so peacefully.

Taking an Afghan from the front parlour's small closet, he draped it over Flora's sleeping form and went up stairs to his own room.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, he felt a tiny presence insinuating itself into his bed.

He slipped an arm over his tiny bedmate and smiled in his sleep, Dena was back!

The next morning after disentangling himself from Dena's tiny form, taking a quick shower and getting dressed.

Roger followed the scent of fresh coffee and sizzling bacon downstairs and encountered Alexandra, Anita and Flora sitting in the breakfast nook noshing on Silky's cooking.

Freya was already up, breakfasted and upstairs putting up the storm shutters on the master bedroom, its en suite bathroom and the adjoining servant's rooms.

Hardly had he entered the kitchen when Silky handed him a plate laden with bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and a bowl of grits, still steaming hot.

Setting them next to Flora, he dosed up a generous mug of coffee with cream and sat down beside the beautiful young faun.

Roger smiled at the young ladies and said to Alexandra, "Was the master bedroom at the library to your liking?"

Alexandra smiled and replied, "It is a very nice bedroom suite, I must admit. However, this house is, in my opinion the more secure location and if I were in charge of security, I would prefer my queen was staying here where I feel she would be safer and would likely enjoy her visit even more."

Sipping at her coffee she concluded, "I will make my report to my father and let him make that call."

She glanced at Roger and said, "Still, we should prepare the library's master bedroom suite as if she was going to stay there, just in case she decides to stay there to show her security detail, she's still the queen."

Roger chuckled and remarked, "Heads of state can be like that sometimes. I don't envy you your position, embassy security was crazy enough as it was."

"How so?" asked Alexandra.

Roger smiled at a memory then replied, "Ambassadors are political appointees, not professional diplomats. Much of our staff was diplomatic corps professionals, they were the ones who kept the ambassador out of hot water and for the most part, it worked nicely.

"The ambassador's family were our biggest headaches, the brats or the haughty spouse could be real nuisances, especially if they got into trouble while in country."

Alexandra smiled and remarked, "It's probably a good thing we're from a country that doesn't officially exist!"

Roger chuckled at her remark and said, "True that. Although I'm thinking your father will prefer to have her at the library where she won't have to leave the building to inspect the library's collections. We'll prepare both locations anyway, for just in case."

They had largely finished eating when Dena strode into the kitchen all bright eyed and bushy tailed.

In her squeak of a voice she cried, "Guid morn a'fowk!" her bright blue eyes lit on Alexandra and she said, "Och, awrite. Ah'm Dena Greenwood an' ye ur?"

Alexandra's yellow brown eyes widened and she gasped, "Oh my goodness!"

She laughed and said cheerfully, "My name is Alexandra Wolf, forgive my reaction as I've never seen a woodwife before and you caught me by surprise."

She looked over at Roger and Anita, "You did mention you had a woodwife living with you, this is she?"

Anita shrugged and replied, "Dena is as much a part of this family as any one of us. To be honest she was only briefly mentioned as I believe the queen already knows of her living here. I know Anna, or to be more accurate, Anastasia sends letters to your queen on a regular basis to keep her informed of events here in the new world. If she hadn't mentioned Dena, I'd be surprised to tell you the truth."

Dena squinted at Alexandra for a few moments then commented,"Yoo're th' first skin shifter Ah've seen in a lang, lang time. Ah didnae ken onie ay yer kin' waur haur in th' noo warld."

Apparently unconcerned, Dena went about rounding up her own breakfast while Alexandra replied, "I'm here to assist in getting everything ready for a visit from my queen Henrietta Maria. I live in Romania mostly, although I wouldn't mind coming here to visit occasionally."

Without batting a lash Dena handed her plate to Roger and he put it on the table while she hopped up on the bench between Roger and Flora, then she hopped up onto the table itself where she sat cross legged while she ate.

Her position was clearly insinuated between Roger and Flora Oakenwood, thus letting the others know Roger was hers when Freya wasn't around.

Pausing in her eating Dena asked, "Hoo lang is th' queen gonnae be stayin' haur?"

Roger cleared his throat and replied, "Just a few days actually. Her letter mentioned October 20th to the 22nd as the dates for her visit."

He reached out his index finger, gently touched Dena's lovely nose and said, "And before you go there my tiny bedbug. You weren't here when the letter arrived and that, is why you didn't know she was coming."

Swallowing her food Dena asked another question.

"Whaur is she gonnae bide?"

"We have two choices, our own master bedroom upstairs or the master bedroom up at the library itself." replied Roger.

Anita smiled at the tiny wood elf and said, "We're going to play it safe and prepare both rooms for her stay."

Dena asked, "Dae ye want me fowk tae help tidy up?"

Alexandra glanced at Roger and he said with a grin, "Dena's people take care of the library complex buildings in exchange for being allowed to live there. Don't worry, you'll never even know they are there."

Roger smiled at Dena and said, "If they wouldn't mind, yes."

Dena rolled her bright blue eyes and retorted, "As if they woods object! They'll dae whit Ah teel them tae dae!"

She turned her head and whistled surprisingly loudly for one so small.

A moment later, a little brown skinned man clad all in brown appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

He bowed towards Dena and said, "Ye whistled ma'am?"

Dena smiled at the tiny brown man and said, "We hae a queen comin' tae visit an' she main bide in th' master suite. Please prepaur it fur 'er bide, thenk ye."

He bowed again, said "As ye wish!" and seemingly vanished back into thin air.

Dena grinned and said, " 'twas nae trooble at'all!"

Alexandra laughed and exclaimed, "Woah, that was easy. Do your people also take care of this house?"

Dena smiled and replied, "Thes hoose is Silky's domain. It is hers tae tak' caur ay, me fowk tak' caur ay th' library buildings."

"Ah"

At that moment, Anna strode into the kitchen with Sheila right behind her.

Anna was talking on her phone and was winding up her phone call from the sound of it.

"That's right Tony, she'll be arriving about the 20th, I would suggest you get here by the 19th just to make sure you're on time. As you are one of her youngest subjects, she will likely want to see how you are adapting. I have been keeping her abreast of your progress but, she might want to hear what you have to say."

She paused a moment and said, "We have a place already set up for you, don't you worry about that."

She laughed and said, "Good night Tony, I'll see you when you get here!"

Putting away her phone, she smiled at everyone and said, "Good morning everyone."

Roger asked, "Who was that you seemed to be inviting up here?"

Anna picked up a plate and began serving herself while saying.

"That was Anthony Hopkins the vampire, not the actor. He lives near me in that he is in the Van Nuys area, while I am in the old Hollywood area. Our territories do butt up together in places, but since both of us now get our blood via the blood bank, it is not a problem."

Sitting down at the table she continued while dosing her coffee with cream and sugar.

"Tony is a fledgling in that he was transitioned less than ten years ago. This makes me his elder and no, I did not transition him. He was already transitioned when I met him via Sheila."

With that remark, all eyes went to Sheila who was herself sitting down with a small plate loaded with little more than a scoop of cottage cheese, a half peach and a cup of coffee.

Sheila smiled at everyone and said, "He tried to put the bite on me while I was out running. It never occured to him that I could knock him out with my fists and after I knocked him out, I called Anna and asked what she wanted me to do with him."

Sheila sipped her coffee and said, "Anastasia wanted to meet him so I carried him to my house and tied him up securely. Anastasia came out and we three had a little chat, he agreed to becoming her fledgling and it was while teaching him about the customs and courtesies of being a vampire that the queen got involved as well as us."

Sheila winked at Roger and said, "It was about that time that we met your friend George Bryce and subsequently, Helen met you."

Roger chuckled and remarked, "That was quite the party we had in old Algeria!"

"So I've heard," remarked Sheila "and how is, George doing these days?"

Roger grinned, "He and Mia are now the proud parents of four children and two of her sisters are now married and raising their own children. In fact, we are overdue for a visit to Arizona to see how they are doing."

Alexandra paused in her eating and asked Sheila, "You are a former claymore warrior, am I right?"

At Sheila's affirmative nod, she asked, "Is there any chance I could spar with you in hand to hand combat? I'm really curious to see just how fast one of you claymores would be in a fight."

"Just how far are you planning to take this 'sparring exercise' you're proposing?" asked Sheila.

Alexandra smiled and replied, "Just enough to see if half the stories are true, to be honest. None of the queen's guards have ever tangled with one of you, but we have all been told your combat skills are unmatched."

Sheila chuckled and replied, "Well, there's not that many of us still around and we don't go around starting trouble. We may be as you say, unmatched but a soldier with a rifle could still kill one of us from a distance, if they could hit one of us.."

Looking puzzled Alexandra asked, "How would you avoid getting shot by a soldier with a rifle?"

Sheila merely smiled at the young werewolf bodyguard and replied, "We can sense things, auras, energy fields around a body, life force if you will. That was how I knew Tony was stalking me the night I met him, I sensed his intent and lured him closer by bending over to tie my running shoe and when he got too close to miss, I clocked him."

She grinned at Alexandra's expression of skepticism and said, "The best of us could sense your queen's reaction when she got the news of a rogue Renfield attack on Anastasia here. She sensed her heightened anger and when she took off from Romania to come here, we knew she was airborne by the speed of her aura's movement."

Alexandra glanced over at Anna and saw her nodding in agreement with Sheila's remarks.

Sheila grinned, "Still wish to spar with me?"

Alexandra smiled at the towering blonde and said, "Yes, I do."

"Bare hands or with weapons of our choice?"

Roger cleared his throat and said, "If it's all the same to both of you, I'd rather you didn't use weapons, other than the ones you were born with."

Sheila grinned, "Afraid I'll hurt her, or worse?"

"Actually I am, I've seen you working out with that big sword of yours. Hell, you even cut up most of a year's supply of firewood in a matter of moments without breaking a sweat."

Sheila grinned, "You've gotta admit it was fun cutting up those dead trees like I did."

She smiled at Alexandra and said, "We'll go with bare hands only and I'll allow you to shift, if you think it will help."

Roger commented, "So when does this 'love fest' between you two begin?"

Alexandra shrugged and said, "I'm ready whenever she is."

Glancing at Sheila, Roger said, "How about you?"

She grinned, "I'm always ready, although Alex here might want to wait until her breakfast has had a little time to digest, so she doesn't get sick from strenuous exercise right after a meal."

"As if!" taunted Alexandra.

Sheila merely smiled and was about to retort when Roger said quietly, "No tussling in the house is allowed, Silky will have both of your asses on a silver platter if you two start thrashing around in here. Don't let her size and appearance fool you, she is quite powerful in her own right."

A short time later they were outside the house grinning at each other.

Roger had quickly laid out a large circle for them to spar in and he was now standing nearby watching them square off.

Alexandra began by rushing at Sheila in a blur of motion only to find herself flat on her back seeing tiny stars.

Sheila had deftly sidestepped her attack, stretched out a leg to catch her foot and simply slapped the back of her head, causing her to tumble head over heels.

Leaping to her feet Alexandra rushed her again, coming in low to duck beneath her defenses and again, she ended up seeing tiny stars.

Rising to her feet, she was caught flat footed when Sheila, in a stunning burst of speed, simply scooped her up and sent her flying, only to have her land in a dusty heap, just outside the circle's edge.

Alexandra got up once more and stood there eyeing her towering opponent.

Ignoring the presence of Roger she took off her gym suit and began shifting while Anita took a video of her shifting form for 'research purposes'.

During her shifting ordeal, Roger idly noted that unlike a true wolf, Alexandra only had two teats, instead of eight, he would add that little detail to his notes on supernatural beings.

Soon, in her place stood a sturdy young female wolf with iron grey fur and yellow brown eyes.

In her wolf form she grinned, her fangs and claws were her deadliest weapons and while she had yet to kill in her service to the queen, she was trained to do so, quickly and cleanly.

Sheila merely stood with a smile on her pretty face, Alexandra was clearly not the first werewolf she had faced in battle down through the long centuries as she appeared utterly unconcerned.

Roger watched and idly played with one of Sasha's velvety ears.

To Sasha, Alexandra was little larger than one of her pups and nothing to be concerned about, her long tongue lolled as enjoyed her human's attention.

Alexandra suddenly leaped, her form an iron grey blur as she hurled herself at Sheila with jaws wide for the fatal bite.

In mid air she felt an iron grip take hold of the scruff of her neck and she found herself dangling helplessly as Sheila held her up with one hand.

Sheila murmured, "I can do this all day, by the way."

Alexandra struggled to break free but to no avail until finally, she heaved the lupine equivalent of a sigh and hung limply in Sheila's iron grip, admitting defeat.

Sheila set her down gently and said graciously, "You did far better than you know, no mortal human could have withstood your attacks."

Shifting back to her human form, Alexandra put her gym suit back on and said, "I had heard that you warriors can move far faster than any human and today, I learned that the rumors are indeed, true."

Sheila grinned at her youthful opponent and said cheerfully, "I had fun, the only time I ever get challenged physically is when I'm among my sisters. Sparring with you while you're here, will be fun."

Alexandra grinned and replied, "Will you teach me a few things?"

"Of course!"

"When do we start?"

"We already did, today was just an evaluation, tomorrow I'll get serious."

Alexandra smiled, bowed towards Sheila and said, "I look forward to my lessons, senpai."

For the next few days Anna coached Anita and Flora on their curtsy and how to properly address Henrietta Maria.

Even if it was not a state visit, courtly protocols would still be observed.

Dena's little army of wood elves had gone over the master bedroom suite up at the library until it gleamed.

Silky fretted about what she would make for the queen, even though she drank only blood, freely given by one of her carefully chosen feeders.

Silky still wanted to make a good impression.

With little else to do, Alexandra and Sheila sparred daily as a part of her training.

As amiable as Sheila was, she took her duties seriously and worked the young werewolf without mercy.

Alexandra thrived under the pressure of being trained by one of the former claymores, she was learning ways of fighting unknown to her peers, ways of fighting that may save her life someday.

She also learned about reading auras and how to sense hostile intent at a distance, another skill that promised to come in handy someday.

At 7:30 P.M. the 18th of October, Freya, Anna and Sheila were waiting at gate 14 of Portland International airport.

Tony Hopkins would be arriving from Van Nuys, CA on the 7:45 P.M. Flight which was on time, according to the glowing screen up on the wall.

The three of them ignored the looks they were getting from passersby, while most of the looks were directed at Freya, Sheila garnered her own share of appreciative glances as did Anna.

The three of them being highly attractive women, admiring glances were just a fact of life.

At 7:50 the gate opened and the usual stream of passengers flowed into the reception area to be scooped up by waiting friends, family or designated drivers.

As the flood dwindled to a trickle, a nondescript looking, pale skinned man somewhat over six feet tall with sandy blonde hair emerged from the crowd, his carry on luggage in tow.

He smiled when he saw Anna and Sheila standing there and he gaped at Freya's size.

Anna grinned and said, "Hey stranger! How're things in Van Nuys?"

The man grinned and replied, "About the same as always, the bats are quiet and that's always good."

The two of them embraced fondly and after a brief kiss they separated and Anna said, "This is Freya, our hostess, we will be staying at her place for the next few days."

The man grinned at Freya and said, "Pleased to meet you."

"This is Tony, he is my fledgling, and even though I had nothing to do with his condition, I'm teaching him how to survive in this crazy old world."

Freya smiled and replied, "It's a pleasure tae meit ye."

Tony grinned and said, "That's quite the accent you have there, are all Scottish girls so tall?"

Freya laughed and replied, "Ah'm nae Scottish, Ah'm a Jotun frae Canada."

"Ah, are all Jotun girls so tall?"

Freya smiled and said gaily, "Ah'm nae sae taa as me sister in law, she's almost ten feit taa."

Tony's eyes widened and he said, "Holy...That's pretty tall, you're like a giant out of legend!"

"We ur giants it ay legend, we're knoon as th' Jotnar, th' Frost giants."

Tony could only chuckle and comment, "After all I've seen in the last ten years, why would encountering another mythical being, be any surprise?"

They quickly left the airport and after negotiating Portland's traffic, then wending their way along the windy roads near Wolf Hills Manor, as the house was now called.

They arrived at the house.

Tony looked up at the looming house and muttered, "This is a pretty big house, why's it so big, heightwise?"

Freya replied, "Th' hoose was built fur a retired circus giant couple an' was scaled fur their heights. Aw th' floors hae high ceilings an' th' master bathroom has everythin' made tae their size."

Anna smiled and said, "It has about the same number of bedrooms as my house in L.A., it's just scaled up."

She grinned, "It's also my hidey hole for when L.A. Gets to be a bit much."

Tony chuckled and commented, "I like my anonymity, thank you. You and Sheila are about my only visitors these days."

When Freya opened the front door, Sasha and Golden eyes were there and they gave the astonished Tony, the lupine once over, during which he said hesitantly, "They won't bite will they? I had no idea wolves could get so huge!"

Roger grinned at the fledgling vampire and said amiably, "They won't bite if you don't give them reason to."

He chuckled and said, "You must be Tony, Anna's told us about you, welcome to our home."

As the two men shook hands, Tony squinted at Roger and said quietly, "There's something about you, something in your presence, I can't quite put a finger on it but it's there."

Anna slipped an arm through Roger's and said, "Roger and I share a special bond in that I gave him a 'rose kiss' several years ago in order to save his life. What you're sensing is the effects of my 'rose kiss' on him."

Roger smiled and said, "We're bonded for life, my life that is."

Tony cleared his throat and asked, "I have something that needs to be kept cold, will that be a problem?"

Roger grinned, "Not a bit, we put a small refrigerator in your room, you can put your food supply in that."

Anna took his arm and said, "Come with me, I'll take you to your room, it's right down this hallway."

Anna led Tony to his room while Roger filled a tankard with ale and toddled into the front parlour with its cheery blaze.

Sitting down in his red leather chair he took a sup and said to Warren, "We have another guest, he is a fledgling under Anastasia's tutelage and his name is Tony."

Warren looked up from his book and said, "A fledgling?"

"Yes, fledgling. Apparently, that's what newly turned vampires are called. Anna has taken him under her wing so to speak, and she is teaching him the finer points of immortal vampire 'life', if you will."

Warren shrugged and asked, "So how long is he staying here?"

"Just a few days, he's here to pay his respects to the queen then it's back to Van Nuys and his warehouse job."

Warren looked over at Roger and said in surprise, "He has a job, as in a daily grind kind of a job?"

Roger grinned and replied, "Shocked that an immortal would have to work?"

Warren nodded and said, "Yes, actually, I am."

Roger laughed and said, "Tony is still in our age bracket even though he stopped aging, just about ten years ago when he transitioned. He hasn't accumulated a fortune yet where he can afford not to have to work like the rest of us. Although I'm certain Anna is showing him how to invest his money for the long term."

Warren just grinned and took another sup from his tankard.

There was a faint rustling of spritely wings when Anna brought Tony into the front parlour and said to him, "This is the front parlour, this and the kitchen are the two places where you're most likely to find people in this house."

Roger heard a faint whirring sound and moments later, tiny April sat on his shoulder and squeaked, "Who's he?"

Tony gaped and said, "Am I seeing an insect girl on your shoulder?"

A tiny "Hmph!" was heard as April took exception to Tony's use of the term 'insect girl'.

Roger chuckled and said, "April is a sprite, she may have insect like wings but she is no bug and she does understand English."

He smiled at the tiny sprite child and said softly, "Be nice April, Tony is a guest of this house and that means no pranking him, okay?"

Taking the hint, Tony said softly, "I'm sorry if I offended you, I've never seen anyone like you before."

At that, April stood up and said, "Me name is April an' Ah was born in Roger's bedroom durin' th' month ay April, hence me name!"

Tony executed a courtly bow and said pleasantly, "It is a great pleasure to meet you miss April, a pleasure indeed."

April smiled at Tony and replied, "'Tis a pleasure tae meit ye too." Then she flew up to the clustered other sprites all enjoying the warmth of the front parlour and its perpetual cheery blaze.

Tony looked around and finally said softly, "Jeeeze, how many of them are there?"

Roger replied, "Not sure really, some of them live here year round and some are just visiting from under the hills. They live on the insects that would eat our crops otherwise and they are quite welcome, they also warn us if bad things come to cause mischief."

Tony put on a question face and asked, "What did you mean by 'under the hills'?"

Roger smiled, "Not too far from here is a hollow hill, it's an outpost of old Albion and this house and lands are connected to it. These sprites came from there and some have stayed on."

Anna smiled at Tony and said, "Think of them as being somewhat like our bats."

Tony chuckled and remarked, "I gotta admit, sprites are a heckuva lot cuter than our bats, and they can talk back to you."

A soft tittering could be heard from the clustered sprites perched along the narrow ledge just below the ceiling of the front parlour. Evidently they liked his comment and were remarking amongst themselves about it.

Anna smiled and said to Warren, "Warren, this is Tony Hopkins, he is my fledgling and he is here to pay his respects to our queen."

"Tony, this is Warren Johnson, he is the head librarian here and he will be showing our queen where everything goes."

The two men shook hands and mutual "Pleased to meet you's!" were exchanged.

Clad in her security detail outfit Alexandra entered the parlour with Anita and Flora right behind her.

Moments later, Freya and Sheila joined them.

Not wanting to be left out, and to the amazement of Tony, Dena strode in and snuggled into Roger's lap while Silky stood in the door way listening in.

Alexandra looked everyone over and after clearing her throat, said, "Tomorrow, the advance party for the queen's security detail will be arriving. They will be taking over from me so as of now, whatever I had decided may be overidden by one of my superiors."

She smiled and said, "I did send them my recommendations and did mention what we had already done to prepare for her arrival and her stay."

She said, "I'm going to apologize in advance if they turn everything upside down and ignore our efforts. It's nothing personal, it just is. The safety and security of our queen is paramount and any personal feelings in this matter, do not matter."

She smiled, "I thank you for your efforts and I hope they are noted and appreciated."

Grinning at everyone there she concluded, "As for me, I enjoyed my stay here and would love to be able to come and visit again, my schedule permitting."

Taking off her clip on tie, Alexandra declared, "Now that I'm off duty, I want an ale! That ale you guys have been drinking smells great, with the hints of honey and pine and heather, it's gotta be tasty!"

Roger and Warren laughed and Roger said, "Warren, pour the lady a tankard willya, I've got a lapful of Dena right now and can't move."

Warren grinned and said to Alexandra, "You've got a good nose for ales, what you've been smelling is a heather ale Roger gets from up north. Freya's great uncle Old Harald has a tavern and he sends firkins of his ales down here via a centaur courier we've come to rely on, his name is Hazel or so I'm told."

Alexandra smiled at Warren and said, "So your told?"

"Yep, so I'm told. Lacking the sight, I haven't seen him although I have benefitted from his diligence."

"Ah."

Warren was about to leave the parlour to fill a tankard for Alexandra when he saw Silky standing there, silent as always and in her silken gloved hands, a foaming jack of heather ale.

Warren smiled at the small house spirit, took the proffered flagon of ale and presented it to the young werewolf body guard with a cherubic smile on his rotund face.

"Enjoy!" he said with a grin as he took up his own tankard.

It was at that point that Tony could no longer contain his curiosity and he said, "Where did the tiny girl come from, and the girl with the horns, is she for real?"

He glanced around, "Is this house for real? I came up here to pay my respects to my queen and I find myself looking at bird sized sprites, the biggest girl I've ever seen, a girl that doesn't talk, a girl that could sleep in a dresser drawer and a girl with horns, what gives?"

Anita came to his rescue by saying, "This house has become a nexus between the worlds. The sprites, Silky, Dena and Flora are all 'neighbors', ordinarily you would never see them and would scarcely notice their passing by. Dena came down with Sasha, the sprites started coming here after Roger spent several of our months in the fae hospital under the hill. Silky joined us not long after that and she doesn't talk because she was a banshee, her voice is deafening. Flora is a northern forest nymph and not to be confused with the goatlike fauns from the Mediterranean region."

At the mention of her name, Flora stepped forward and Tony got his first real look at her.

This particular evening she was wearing a flirty short pleated skirt in a Highland Scottish tartan and a short sleeved, low cut white top. Her luxurious dark tresses scarcely controlled by a hair ribbon. She smiled at him, her lustrous dark eyes twinkling in merriment with a hint of mischief.

A simple yet devastating combination as it emphasized her long, delicate, deer like legs and dainty hooves.

Tony could only stare at Flora's loveliness.

When he found his voice he whispered, "Damn, how could any mortal girl compete with her! She's beautiful!"

Anita smiled and said cheerfully, "So Prince Oberon has noticed, only Titania makes it a point to converse with her to keep him from pursuing her."

Tony looked thoughtful and finally said, "Titania...Isn't she a fairy queen or something?"

Anita laughed and replied, "She is the queen of the fae, her realm is old Albion and it is known as Tir na nOg, the land of eternal youth or summer."

Smiling, she said, "This house and lands are in a way, a part of her domain and under her protection."

Tony mulled over her comments and said, "Do you think she'll object to our queen coming here?"

Anita shrugged slightly and replied, "I don't see why she would, to her we are all mortals regardless of our life situations. Even the claymores are young to her and the rest of the fae."

"Woah, I never thought of it that way. Aside from Sheila, the queen is the oldest, most powerful person I've met and if even she seems young to Titania, she must be incredibly ancient." Muttered Tony.

The next morning, a black Mercedes-Benz passenger van arrived and disgorged several bulky men, all wearing the dark gray suits that signified 'security detail' to anyone in the know.

Alexandra Wolf dressed in her own dark gray suit greeted them in a formal manner.

"It is good to see you father. Everyone is inside, come with me and I'll introduce you."

With their gear in tow, the bulky men followed Alexandra inside the house built for a giant.

The sight that greeted Viktor Wolf's yellowish eyes was Anastasia Karloff sitting in a breakfast nook, clad in pajamas, sipping on fresh coffee and noshing on a plate of eggs and sausages while sitting across from her was the tall claymore known as Sheila Ericcson.

He was about to speak when the sight of the massive alpha wolf couple calmly surveying him stilled his tongue.

Alexandra's voice intruded in his thoughts, "That's the guardian wolf couple that live here, the male is named Golden eyes and the female is named Sasha."

Viktor murmured in reply, "I had no idea they were so big, by that I mean I saw your report but failed to realize your description of them was to be taken seriously."

"If it's any comfort to you father, I had a hard time believing they were real myself."

Anastasia smiled at him and said, "Good morning Viktor, if you haven't eaten I can make you an omelette and some sausages, while you pour yourself some coffee."

Viktor flushed and said quietly, "It would not be appropriate for an elder to cook food for a servant, no matter what his rank may be."

Anastasia waved her hand dismissively and said, "Oh pish tosh, this isn't the hidden realm. We do things differently here and I enjoy cooking while I am here."

She glanced at the four other bulky men looming behind Viktor and said cheerfully, "Go into the dining room and take your seats, Anna's kitchen is now open for business!"

After a moment's hesitation on their part, Viktor murmured, "It's fine, do as she asks."

There was the soft sounds of bulky men shuffling into the dining room followed by the muted scraping of chair legs on the parquet floor and the faint creakings of said chairs, taking the weight of said bulky men.

Moments later, a slightly built young woman came in and placed coffee mugs before each of them with a cheery, "The coffee will be here in just moment, cream and sugar is right in front of you."

Seconds after she had breezed back into the kitchen, a different young woman came out bearing two coffee pots.

As she walked about the table pouring their coffee, they couldn't help noticing her curved horns and the soft clopping of her cloven hooves was unmistakable, they were being served coffee by a northern wood nymph!

Hardly had the bulky men recovered from their experience when Anastasia herself came out of the kitchen, her lithe arms laden with plates of food.

She quickly set the plates down and smiled at the bulky men.

"Enjoy!" she said, then scurried back into the kitchen.

The men exchanged sidelong glances until one of them muttered, "What just happened? An elder making food for servants?"

Viktor was about to comment when the front door opened and the two giant wolves looked up from their dozing in anticipation.

He heard a man's voice exclaim, "Anna, I keep telling you, you are a guest here!"

He also heard Anastasia's reply, "Here! Take this plate and go eat with the rest of the boys, more coffee will be right out, now...Shoo!"

Moments later, Roger came into the dining room with a plate in one hand and a brimming coffee mug in the other.

Setting his food down he smiled at the bulky men and said cheerfully, "You must be Alexandra's people, welcome to our house. I'm Roger Tate by the way."

Viktor smiled at Roger and replied, "I am Viktor Wolf, Alexandra's father."

He glanced meaningfully towards the kitchen and murmured, "Is she always..."

Roger chuckled and said quietly, "Yes, she is, just accept it."

Anna's voice called out, "I can hear you guys, hello! Supernatural hearing?"

Roger grinned and retorted, "If you'd act like a proper guest, we wouldn't be talking about you!"

Moments later, Anastasia appeared with a coffee pot in one hand and a spatula in the other.

Around her supple body was tied a gaily decorated apron that had "Kiss the cook!" embroidered across the chest area.

With a smile on her elfin face, she breezed about the dining room table topping up any coffee mugs that needed a refill.

When she got to Roger, she paused to refill his coffee mug then kissed him on his forehead as a token of her affection.

Smiling at him she said, "You know I like to play the charming hostess when I come up here. My own house is so big and so empty, even I get spooky sometimes at night. Here, there is so much going on and so much warmth in this house, I can't help feeling at home here."

She grinned at Viktor and said cheerfully, "I'll bet you never heard any other vampire admitting to getting spooked at times. I have a vivid imagination, where else would my stories come from?"

Viktor smiled at Anastasia and replied, "And you would be right, I have never heard a vampire admitting to getting spooked at night. I have seen fear in a vampire's eyes when they were called before her Majesty, but they would never admit to getting 'spooked'."

After their impromptu breakfast, Alexandra led her father's security detail throughout the house first, then they went up to the library complex where she introduced Viktor and company to Warren Johnson, then showed them the security measures she had already undertaken in anticipation of the library being chosen for the queen's visit.

To her delight, her stern and seemingly aloof father smiled after they were finished looking over Alexandra's efforts and said, "You were very thorough, daughter mine. Good work!"

He smiled and said, "Of course, her Majesty may just decide she wants to sleep in a tent just to test us, bear that in mind when dealing with capricious monarchs, my dear."

Alexandra smiled back and remarked, "Roger had already alluded to me that heads of state can be exasperating, and their families can be even worse!"

Viktor chuckled and muttered, "Perhaps it is a good thing that vampires cannot bear children, they can only make fledglings."

He glanced at Alexandra and asked, "This Roger, do you like him?"

Alexandra smiled and replied, "I do like him, although he belongs to someone else, even if he doesn't know it yet."

"Oh? How so?"

"You haven't seen Freya yet, she is the Jotnar girl he lives with. They have a close bond, a very close bond."

"I see"

"He also received a 'rose kiss' from Anastasia and a wood wife has laid claim to him."

Viktor chuckled at her comment and remarked, "What better way to entrap a man than by surrounding him with beauty, he'll never miss his freedom!"

That afternoon Viktor and company saw Freya for the first time.

They had taken over the dining room and had laid out satellite photos of the library complex, the house and the adjoining properties.

Viktor was assigning areas of responsibility to each of his team members when Freya came into the house with a big grin on her pretty face.

She briefly stopped in the kitchen to grab a snack then headed into the dining room, only to stop short and say in surprise, "Och, hello. Who ur ye an' when did ye gie haur?"

As one, the werewolf security detail looked up at her towering height and Norse goddess looks and gaped.

Alexandra came to their rescue by saying, "Hi Freya! This is my dad and his security team, they're here to make sure the queen will be safe during her visit tomorrow."

The bulky men mumbled their greetings and Freya glanced at the mosaic formed by the satellite photos they'd covered the table with.

She smiled and commented, "Th' trees sure hae moved since we first moved haur a few years ago!"

At her offhand remark, Viktor scowled and said, "What did you mean by moved?"

He looked down at the mosaic and asked, "Which trees have moved?"

Freya merely shrugged and replied, "Some ay th' trees can move if they feel loch it. Since we removed some ay th' iron fencin', mony ay th' cabre spirits moved tae gie themselves mair room tae graw."

She reached out and touched several places on the mosaic, "These places waur overgroon an' ance we removed th' fences, th' trees spreid it tae gie themselves room."

She smiled at the glowering werewolf and said gaily, ''tis naethin' tae be concerned abit, th' trees wullnae bite!"

She strode from the dining room leaving the werewolf security detail wondering about what surprises this odd household would spring on them next.

Minutes after the hour of midnite had tolled on the large grandfather clock in the front hall.

A large Mercedes-Benz passenger van pulled into the driveway first and disgorged a squad of security personnel who took up a defensive perimeter.

Moments later, a large Mercedes-Benz limousine pulled into the perimeter and stopped.

Lastly, another Mercedes-Benz passenger van pulled in behind the limousine and parked so as to prevent any more vehicles from entering the driveway.

This van disgorged the queen's personal staff who quickly took their places along side the limousine.

The front door to the house once built for a giant opened and Anastasia Karloff wearing a crisply tailored tuxedo with distinctly feminine touches came down the steps.

Taking his place next to her was Tony Hopkins, wearing his best suit and putting on a brave face.

Immediately behind her were Anita and Flora wearing matching tuxedo outfits as well.

Emerging from the house were Sheila, Freya, Roger, Dena and Warren Johnson.

A tittering of sprites whirled out of the house and formed a lazily circling assemblage high over their heads.

Slipping between the humans, the four gigantic wolves of Wolf Hills Manor took up their positions calmly.

After a pregnant pause, one of the foot men opened the door to the limousine and bowed.

The other footman offered his hand to the small, auburn haired woman who emerged from the limousine's interior.

The queen had arrived.

Straightening up to her full height of barely five feet, the small woman looked the house over and smiled.

She looked at Anastasia and Tony and said, "You look well."

Tony bowed and Anna curtsied in unison and Anastasia replied, "As do you, your highness!"

Henrietta-Maria smiled and took Tony's hand as she asked, "And how is one of our favorite fledglings, coming along?"

Tony could only smile at her and reply, "I think I'm doing okay your highness, Anna here has shown me how to set up my own bloodbank account and some of my investments have started paying well, so I can start building my fortune."

The queen smiled at his remarks and said, "Keep us posted on how you are doing. Your letter writing skills are improving with each letter you write us and we look forward to reading them."

Had Tony been able to blush, he would have turned a deep scarlet hue at her remarks.

Letting go of his hand, she turned her attention to the two young women standing just behind Anastasia and Tony.

Her violet eyes took in Flora's exotic beauty and she said, "It has been a very long while since we last saw a northern wood nymph, you must be Flora. Anna has written to us about you, for once her writing skills have fallen short of describing your true beauty properly.

Flora flushed and curtsied perfectly to hide her nearly scarlet face.

Next, the diminutive queen looked at Anita, who was the same height as she.

Henrietta-Maria smiled at the slightly built girl and said gaily, "We like you already, you're the same height as us! You must be Anita Larsen, Anna has told us good things about you and we do like your writing style, your perspective on things is refreshing."

Anita turned nearly scarlet as she executed a perfect curtsy and stammered, "Y, your praise is more than I deserve, your highness!"

When she was standing straight again, Anastasia smiled at her protege and said, "I've taken the liberty of sending her majesty some of your books for her reading pleasure."

Henrietta-Maria took the two of them by the hand and said, "You simply must introduce us to these people we see standing before us."

Anita cleared her throat and gestured towards Roger and Freya, "These two are Roger Tate and Freya Sigurdsdottir, they are essentially the lord and lady of this house and are the reason why all of us are gathered here tonight."

Freya curtsied and Roger bowed deeply at the mention of their names and the queen smiled as she remarked, "We have been looking forward to making your acquaintance Mr. Tate, Anna has told us much about you and we are interested in meeting the man who received a 'rose kiss' and inspired such affection from my favorite author."

Roger's sun darkened face flushed redly at her remarks and he replied drily, "And I hope I do not disappoint you, by not living up to the legends surrounding me."

She smiled at Freya and said, "In all our long years, we had never expected to be meeting a true daughter of the northlands. While Anna has written to tell us of you and your achievements, she did not tell us you were such a big, beautiful girl! You are truly impressive in person and we look forward to becoming better acquainted."

Freya flushed a lovely shade of red and said,"Ah thenk ye fur yoor kind words yer Majesty."

Smiling, Anita gestured towards Warren and said, "This gentleman is Warren Johnson, the head librarian at the museum's research library, he will be leading the way while you visit the library."

The queen smiled at Warren and said, "We look forward to learning more about this library and we are certain our scholars are eagerly anticipating their gaining access to the archives."

Warren smiled and replied, "I hope your Majesty will enjoy seeing our library as much as I will enjoy showing you about. Just as we are looking forward to gaining access to your library as well."

Anita cleared her throat again and said, "The ladies are, Sheila Ericcson, a friend of the family's and Dena Greenwood, a wood wife. Inside the house we have a house spirit we call Silky, by the silken garments she wears, she is rarely seen, even by us."

The queen smiled and said, "We are acquainted with Miss Ericcson as we have met her and her name is mentioned several times in our archives."

She grinned, "Much like we said before, we had not expected to be meeting one of the fair folk of legend. Anna had mentioned you, but neglected to relate how adorable you are Miss Greenwood, and we look forward to becoming better acquainted."

Dena flashed a dazzling smile as she curtsied and replied gaily, "An' Anna dinnae tell us ay hoo lovely you were, your Majesty!"

The queen smirked and suppressed a giggle before saying coyly, "We can see how you became so beloved by all who know you, Dena Greenwood."

Next, Anita pointed out the lazily circling sprites and said, "These are our sprites, they live here, although some may be vistors from under the hill."

She grinned, "And last, but certainly not least are our wolvies, they are Golden Eyes and his mate Sasha and the two younger ones are Axel, my companion wolf and Astrid, Warren's companion wolf."

The queen smiled and said gaily, "Their fur looks so inviting, we look forward to meeting them once we have changed into an outfit less easily mussed by an affectionate giant wolf."

Anita laughed and replied cheerfully, "Our sprites love clustering on their bodies when they are snoozing in the front parlour where Salamander lives."

At that moment, tiny April whizzed from the circlet of sprites and hovered in front of Henrietta-Maria with a smile on her tiny face, her wings a blur.

The queen's violet eyes opened wide as April executed a perfect curtsy while in mid air, then said in her squeak of a voice, "Welcome tae uir haem, yoor Majesty!"

The queen laughed and said gaily, foregoing the 'royal we' for the moment. "I don't think I have ever had a more delightful welcoming!"

Henrietta-Maria smiled at all of them and said, "We look forward to becoming better acquainted with each and every one of you."

With the introductions completed, Henrietta-Maria was given a tour of the house and grounds of the property after she had changed into a less formal outfit, one more likely to withstand an encounter with a friendly giant wolf or a tittering of sprites.

After going through most of the house, the last stop was the front parlour with its usual assortment of gigantic wolves and insect winged sprites all snuggled in their deep fur.

She smiled at seeing the front parlour with its ever present cheery blaze provided by the fat salamander living amongst the glowing coals in the fireplace.

"What a homey, welcoming feeling one gets in here." she said.

Roger smiled at her comment and replied, "This is the hearth and home I always dreamed of when I was a young boy living in the foster care system."

She smiled and said, "Anna has remarked to me of feeling at home here. Is it true she has her own room here?"

Roger grinned, "Yes ma'am, it is true. This is her hidey hole for when Los Angeles gets to be too much of a good thing."

He looked at the queen and said frankly, "Anna saved my life and for that, she will always be welcome in my house and home, regardless of whom I am living with. The bond we share is a very pure form of love, it is a love that will never diminish, tarnish or perish."

Henrietta-Maria sighed and said softly, "What a romantic sentiment you shared with me, Anna has not related to me the true nature of your relationship."

Grinning roguishly she said, "We shall have to chide her for not telling us of this sentiment you two share."

Roger chuckled and said, "Don't be too hard on the girl your highness, we've never actually discussed our relationship, we just enjoy it without trying to analyze it."

The vampire queen chuckled and said, "You do realize the woman you just referred to as a 'girl' is more than seven times your age, do you not?"

Roger shrugged and said, "She may be as you said, more than seven times my age. But she still looks at the world through the eyes of a young woman out having an adventure, far be it from me to rain on her parade!"

The queen laughed and said, "And that, young man, is why we enjoy her books so. She is experiencing the life we cannot with our responsibilities and duties. No other vampire of our acquaintance has tried experimenting with creams and clothing options to venture out under the noon day sun."

At the insistence of Viktor Wolf, the queen and her entourage rode in the small fleet of Mercedes-Benz sedans and passenger vans up to the library complex.

There, Henrietta-Maria was installed in the security of the master bedroom suite where she composed herself for a good day's sleep, after her long flight.

Lest anyone from the PSFS disturb her majesty's repose, in addition to the official notice of that week's meeting being held at an alternate location.

The driveway's heavy wrought iron gate was securely padlocked and a sign posted on it giving the address and directions to the alternate meeting location.

In spite of the advance notice given at the previous week's meeting, posted on the web page and the sign hanging in plain sight on the closed and locked gate.

The club telephone's message in box quickly filled up with inquiries and complaints about the temporarily relocated meeting.

Warren finished checking the messages, sighed and muttered, "Rule number two, no matter what you do, someone will complain about it."

Anastasia chuckled at his remark and said, "My publicist has often said that, especially after any sort of book signing events. There was always that few who just had to complain."

Warren smiled at the author of popular Gothic romance books and not so secret vampire and said, "The club I used to belong to was lousy with complainers, one in particular was a real pain in the ass. Her name was Cheryl and she just had to stick her considerable nose into everything. She was forever cozying up to any author who would put up with her, in the hopes of moving in on them and basking in the glory of knowing them."

"Was she about five feet tall, with broad hips and frizzy hair that was poorly tinted a purplish sort of color? Did she wear long skirts, owlish looking glasses and was always dropping names?"

Warren started laughing and said, "I take it you've met her then?"

"Oh yes, I've met her, she used to work for my publicist and she was doing exactly what you just said. Forever dropping names and hints about wanting to move in on me. Thing is, I live in a restored Queen Anne mansion high above old Hollywood and while it does have a lot of room for room mates if I wanted any. I just wasn't interested in having her living under the same roof as me for many reasons we don't need to discuss. My publicist finally let her go because she was using Josie's connections to further her own agenda, and Josie didn't like that."

Warren shrugged and said, "No doubt she's landed on her feet somewhere and is scheming on someone, or some thing, else."

With the setting of the sun, the night dwelling visitors staying at the library complex began to stir.

Anastasia, Tony Hopkins and Warren greeted her Majesty as she emerged from the bedroom reserved for her.

Henrietta-Maria smiled at the three and said, "Good evening, we trust all is in order?"

She glanced at her head of security and he smiled slightly as he nodded his head and said, "All is in order your Majesty, here and at home as well."

She smiled at the news and said, "That is good to hear, we dislike unwelcome news before our breakfast."

Her major domo, a tiny woman of somewhat feral aspect, dressed in a beautifully tailored suit curtsied and announced, "Your breakfast awaits, your Majesty, come with me."

The queen smiled and asked the three, "Care to join me in breakfast?"

Warren, Tony and Anastasia smiled and followed the queen into a parlour that had been hastily converted into a dining room.

Standing in their prospective places were Roger, Freya, Sheila, Dena, Flora and Anita.

Awaiting the queen's pleasure were her personal staff, all in their proper places.

The dining table was covered with white linen and the place settings were laid with great care.

Warren idly noted that all the linen, the tableware and all the China had Henrietta-Maria's royal crest on it and he briefly wondered what it must be worth?

The queen took her seat and as she was seated, her major domo nodded and her guests took their seats.

Moments later, servants came into the dining room bearing trays laden with dishes which were placed before the guests.

Three more servants entered the room and took their places alongside the vampires that were present.

Each of these servants bore a small silver tray with a snifter that was filled with a reddish liquid and covered by a linen cloth.

Placing the small trays before the vampires, the servant standing beside her Majesty said, "Your breakfast, fresh from my vein your highness. Please enjoy!"

Henrietta-Maria smiled at the robust, slightly plump young woman with fair skin, black hair and rosy cheeks and said, "Thank you Natasha, we shall. Now go eat your own breakfast to replenish what you have given me."

Natasha smiled as she curtsied along with the other two blood servants and they silently left the breakfast room.

The queen uncovered her snifter of fresh blood, still warm from Natasha's vein and briefly savored the aroma of Natasha's blood before raising it in salute, while the rest followed suit.

Smiling at everyone she said, "It is not often we venture outside our borders and on a whim at that. We thank you for your generous hospitality on such a short notice and look forward to seeing this marvelous library in its entirety. To your health, ladies and gentlemen!"

The queen raised the snifter to her well formed lips, took a sip and smiled.

Natasha's family had served her faithfully for generations, the blood of those who worked the land and tilled the soil seemed to be richer and fuller flavored than the blood of those who lived more sedentary lives.

She glanced over at her two vampiric guests and saw that they too, were savoring the offerings of her blood servants.

Anastasia's face had a wistful look as she savored each sip from her snifter and Tony's face was one of blissful serenity.

Clearly he had yet to taste such a rare vintage as a royal blood servant's blood.

He too, was sipping slowly so as not to rush the experience of dining at the royal table with his queen.

The queen smiled at her other guests and said, "Is everything to your liking?"

"Everything is perfect, your majesty." replied Roger.

Anita smiled and said gaily, "I feel like I am inside one of Anastasia's novels, and I sooo wish I could take notes on everything I am experiencing!"

Henrietta-Maria smiled at Anita and asked, "How long have you known the truth about our dear Anastasia and us, in general?"

Anita dabbed at her lips with her napkin and replied,"Since Titania gave me the sight, your highness. Once that happened, the charm Anna had placed on me no longer worked. I can and do incorporate some of what I have seen into my stories but since they are written as fantasy stories, no one takes them seriously."

She sighed and commented, "I've had people complain that my depiction of the fae isn't accurate, that spriggans don't look like a pile of rocks until they're needed. Sprites don't eat insects and gather in 'titterings' as Roger once put it and that they love to eat chocolate. I could never reply that I live with sprites and that is what I've seen and heard them do. I wear clothes made by the Silver Lady from woolybug wool.

"Or say that I've seen our house spirit change the wall paper and the flooring in a room by whispering to it and waving her hand over it.

"Who would believe that I've conversed with the Gealach of Tir na nOg while her husband was lusting after my best friend, or that I am right this very moment, speaking to the queen of all vampires, while sitting at her breakfast table!"

She grinned and said gaily, "Speaking of my friend, with so many people now getting into cosplay, Flora and I can go out shopping and so long as her legs and hooves are concealed, no one is the wiser. They just think she is some babe wearing a cosplay outfit. Although, if someone tried touching her horns, they'd quickly regret their decision."

The queen smiled and said, "We should hope so! Such rude behavior must not be tolerated, it sets a bad example."

Glancing at Warren, she asked, "What are your thoughts on all this, you live here, what have you seen?"

Warren set down his fork and replied,"I lack the sight your Majesty, so I don't attract any of the 'neighbors' who would cause me mischief, although in addition to the sprig of mistletoe over my door way, I do place a little cantrip made of holly and ivy on my front door during winter solstice season. Astrid my wolf companion, protects me from any night gaunts or boggarts who might attack me as I walk home at night after an evening at the house."

He smiled and said wistfully, "I have enjoyed meeting fae royalty at Freya's annual winter solstice events. It seems they like to come into our world and visit with us, as this house and lands are an outpost of old Albion and by visiting us, she retains her claim on this area by right of prior claim, or so I'm told."

He chuckled and said, "It really gets lively around here during Samhain. We carve jack o'lanterns and the kitchen down at the house gets very busy with all the baking going on to make treats for any visitors.

"Some of the Faire folk come to play traditional music and dance as our visitors enjoy mingling with the living and the non fae. During the night when the worlds intermingle, it gets rather interesting."

"By 'Faire folk' do you mean fae?"

Warren smiled and replied, "No, your highness, I meant people who work at the Canterbury shire Renaissance Faire held during July each year. During Samhain we open the gates to the library and set up tables and chairs out on the front lawn for the guests.

"A stage is put up and our musicians, singers and dancers perform to Celtic music."

He grinned, "I manage an ale stand that serves Jotnar ale brought down special from Canada by a centaur courier of our acquaintance, of course he gets a generous tankard of Old Harald's finest fall harvest ale and some of Silky's cooking, for his troubles."

The queen smiled and said, "It sounds rather interesting all these Pagan holidays being observed right under the noses of the church. How times have changed! At the risk of being dreary, we recall times when the very mention of the old ways could bring on the inquisitors, with their armies and their awful ways!"

"Unfortunately, in this country there are still those who long for a return of the days when the church was feared by all under her power. The days when burnings at the stake was considered quality entertainment and the victims were rated by how they faced their impending fiery doom." Remarked Roger Tate.

A momentary frown shadowed the queen's placid face and she said, "Must you be so dreary at our breakfast?"

Roger bowed in his seat and replied, "My apologies your Majesty, my inner 'rough man who stands ready in the night to visit harm upon those who would threaten the ones I love', does come to the surface now and again."

He smiled and said, "It's not quite the way George Orwell put it, but it works for me!"

The queen asked Sheila, "You're not hungry? As strong as you are, shouldn't you have more of an appetite?"

Sheila dabbed at her lips and replied, "Due to the peculiarities of my warrior make up your Majesty, I have little need for food or water. It is a condition common to us and is a result of our hybridization."

She smiled and quipped, "In short, we eat like the proverbial birds of yore!"

Henrietta-Maria smiled and said, "And yet each of you are so strong and have such an efficient metabolism, while the young giantess seated next to you seems to be making up for what you don't eat."

Freya flushed as only an eight foot nine inch tall 16 year old girl could do and she replied,"Ah cannae help me appetite yer Majesty, it is hoo Ah am."

Smiling at Freya's reply, the queen asked Tony, "Mister Hopkins, you seem to be quite fascinated with Miss Sigurdsdottir, care to share with us your thoughts?"

Looking a bit sheepish at her remarks, Tony replied, "I can't help being fascinated by Freya your Highness. While I have heard of the Jotuns and seen them on the news, I just never expected to see such an attractive one in person."

He smiled at Sheila and said with a wink of his eye, "I am sorry Sheila, until yesterday, you were the biggest, most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Sadly, I must inform you that Freya here has taken your place in that regard, I hope you'll forgive me."

Sheila looked at him with a stifled grin and said drily, "While you are getting better at being smooth with the ladies, you're still a couple of millenia too young to make time with me. Nice try though!"

Freya smiled at Tony's remarks and said, "Ah'm nae nearly as bonnie as me stoatin grandmother was. Alfriede the Fair, noo she was th' stoatin beauty ay th' Jotnar!"

Roger smiled at her remarks and said, "Don't sell yourself short, my dear. Those who knew your great grandmother have told me that you are her very image come to life."

"'Tis true, Ah kent Alfriede th' Fair an' Freya haur looks jist loch 'er." Piped up Dena Greenwood who at that point, hopped up on the table and stood in her stocking feet, herself being all of two feet tall and indeterminate age.

Dena smiled at Freya and said, "Watchin' ye graw up was jist loch watchin' 'er graw up. An' jist loch Ah did wi' 'er, Ah will watch ower yer grandchildren an' aw."

Tony gaped at the curvy little woodelf and spluttered, "You don't look a day over twenty-five, how old are you?"

Even Roger flinched at his breach of etiquette and muttered, "You were doing so good up 'til now."

Anastasia's reaction was near instantaneous, "Sit boy!"

Tony suddenly went rigid and could only stare straight ahead and blink.

Anastasia's voice frostily said, "Did you forget yourself and your place? Did you forget everything I've tried to force through that thick skull of yours? Do you not see our queen sitting to your left? Clearly you need more training, shall I hand you over to the queen's staff to further your education?"

To everyone's surprise the queen chuckled and said, "That won't be neccessary dear, although if Tony so desires, he is welcome to come home with us, as are all of our children."

She smiled and remarked, "We must say that was a most interesting use of the command 'sit boy!', it certainly is effective."

She waved her royal hand and said, "We release you."

Tony visibly slumped briefly before he caught himself and sat up straight again and tried not to gasp for air.

He looked over at his queen, bowed in his seat and said, "Forgive me your Majesty, my breach of etiquette was inexcusable and my only defense is, being a fledgling I easily forget that others I may meet may be far older than they appear and queries about their age are considered quite rude."

He then bowed towards Dena and said, "I am sorry if I offended you and I humbly apologize."

To his relief Dena grinned and said gaily, "Nae offense taken, we woodwi'es age verra slowly an' hae lang li'es. Ah main be a stoatin mony times ower grandmother, but Ah'm still considered yoong amang me kin'."

Tony said quietly, "I never would have guessed that. Then again, I never would have believed all the changes in my life over the last few years. First, there was the becoming a vampire and adjusting to that, then there was meeting a woman who looks no older than about twenty five, yet turned out to be older than civilisation itself apparently. Through her I met my elder, who treats me better than I deserve sometimes, next I meet my queen and learn I am part of a hidden realm."

He smiled, "At this very moment, I am sitting in a huge mansion, now a library. Having breakfast with my queen and my elder and with us is a beautiful giantess, an adorable wood elf, a northern wood nymph, not to be confused with a faun!" He winked at Flora and said, "And three normal humans."

Warren chuckled and said, "If we were 'normal' humans, we would not be here. 'We' would be holding down mundane jobs, living in our mundane houses with our mundane spouses and mundane whelps, drinking mundane beer and watching mundane television."

He gestured at Anita and said, "This girl here is incredibly creative, if she's not cranking out yet another book, she's making clothing for herself and for Flora. Somehow, someway this very get together will find its way into a story and when Faire season comes around, she throws herself into her role as a wandering poetess ever ready to take on the Puritans and beat them at their own game!"

Warren smiled at the slightly built teenager and said, "I would be proud to call her my own!"

Anita smiled and said happily, "Warren is such a Teddy bear to me, he and Roger have become the father and uncle figures I never had and for that, I am grateful. I'll admit I've gotten a little big headed sometimes and needed to be reined in, Roger's been pretty good at that without being real obvious about it. He's protected me from a few real creeps that had me fooled but they didn't fool Roger, and Warren always has a safe place for me at Faire for when the lurkers get a little too bold. I know Maribel the Ren Fairy often camps out near his booth for that very reason."

Warren smiled and said with a grin, "Truth be told, Maribel likes hanging out with Astrid my guardian wolf companion. Like Anita said, the lurkers give that wolf a wide berth, especially when she's looking right at them like she's on to them."

Anastasia smiled and chimed in with, "I first met Anita at a book signing event. She was wearing a beautiful Goth loli outfit of her own making and was very polite, albeit a bit shy, which I did appreciate as some fans can get quite pushy and obnoxious. It turned out she was a classmate of Freya's and Roger, ever the gallant invited her and her mom to join us for coffee.

"We got to talking about writing and she showed me some of her work. I saw some real, raw talent in her efforts and decided to take her under my wing."

Anastasia grinned, "Now, she's a published author with several titles in print, we've collaborated on a couple of books and there may be a movie deal in the works. And that, your highness is why I took the liberty of sending you some of her books."

The queen smiled and said, "Despite the concerns of our sometimes stuffy security chief, who always has our best interests at heart, we have greatly enjoyed this somewhat informal breakfast. We have not shared a table with such an eclectic assemblage of people in many years, and it has been most refreshing."

She smiled and with a twinkle in her violet eyes, she said, "As ruler of the hidden realm, we have the power to bestow upon each of you the right of free passage to our lands and to place you under our personal protection. No other vampire of any rank would dare to feed upon or attack any of you."

She dabbed at her well formed lips and said, "Please remain seated, we will come to you."

She bit her own lips as she stood and with her lips well blooded she stepped over to Anita first.

Anita looked up at the diminutive vampire queen and a moment later Henrietta-Maria's lips met hers in a tender kiss, covering Anita's lips with her royal blood.

Anita flushed redly and the queen said softly, "Wait a few moments before you lick your lips, what you're feeling is the 'rose kiss' taking effect. My rose kiss will extend your life and you will know good health throughout your life, it will also mark you as being under my protection and an honorary citizen of my realm."

One by one, she went to each of her non vampire, non fae guests and kissed them in turn.

She stopped at Roger, smiled and said, "You've already had a rose kiss, Anastasia bestowed one on you with our permission."

She kissed him on his cheek instead.

After breakfast, Warren, Anastasia, Anita and Freya led the queen and her escorts on a lengthy tour of the research library while Roger and the others returned to the big house.

With Flora, Sheila and Dena in tow, or rather while Dena sat perched on his shoulders with Flora's dainty hooves softly clip clopping along side him, Roger entered the house.

At Silky's questioning look, Roger pointed to the ruddy lip print on his cheek and said, "The queen was bestowing 'rose kisses' to her non fae, non vampire guests. You may sense that something is now slightly different about Warren, Anita and Freya, it is nothing to be concerned about dear.

"A rose kiss given by the queen will bestow a longer, healthier life upon its recipient. It also marks them as being under the protection of the queen and grants them honorary citizenship of her realm."

At his remarks, Silky smiled slightly and pointed towards the front parlour and its ever present, cheery blaze.

Roger had visitors.

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