Heart of Stone Ch. 10

"I never know until it's over." Mary lay with her arm over her breasts. "You manage to keep my attention focused elsewhere." She smiled slightly and moved her hand so that he could wash the dried blood from her shoulder.

"One day I will learn the limits of your skin well enough that I will remember them in moments of passion." He kissed her softly and began to paint the stinging ointment onto the two wounds. Mary whimpered and squirmed as the ointment found it's way into her shoulder puncture. "How did you know to bring this?" He asked.

"I use it anytime I get a cut." A little whimper escaped her lips. He moved behind her and cradled her body while the ointment sat on the wounds. The stinging pain left her tense in spite of his ministrations. "It works better than anything I've found, so when I was packing I just grabbed the jar." The initial sting faded, and she relaxed against him.

"I had no idea you found it so useful, my mother would be flattered." For a few minutes he just held her, his hands stroked softly over her bare skin. All too quickly he gently urged her to sit up. "I will return with clean water"

"Don't bother. I need to take a shower anyway." Mary kissed him softly and took the case and her robe into the bathroom. If the shower were larger, she would have invited him to join her. As it was the space seemed small, even to her. Mary pinned up her hair and washed quickly, making certain to clean all the ointment from both wounds before stepping out and drying off. She covered the puncture on her shoulder with a bandage and walked back out into the bedroom. She had expected to find Aiden waiting for her, but instead she found the room empty and a fresh blanket on the bed.

"Aiden?" She called, tying the sash of the robe.

"In the sitting room." She found him standing in front of the painting. His heavy brows were drawn together in deep concentration.

"What's wrong?" She stood next to him and tried to figure out what part of the image he was focused on.

"Did you realize there was a thought-form on these pages?" He turned his head, studying the image from a different angle.

"There is?" Mary's eyes went to the painted out circular shape on the parchment. Her heart sped up and she looked nervously over her shoulder. She moved closer to Aiden, hiding in the shelter of his wings. "Can you read it?"

"I can read parts of it." He shifted his angle of view again. "Whoever covered it was anxious for it to blend in, so he was perhaps too sparing with the paint." Aiden fell silent again and Mary was certain she was going to crawl out of her skin waiting for his pronouncement.

"Well?" She urged finally.

"I need a moment." He said softly. "Incomplete thought-forms are difficult to interpret." Mary fell silent again, trying to give him the time that he needed. The mantle clock seemed to tick louder and slower with each passing second.

"It is about you." Aiden said finally. "Well, to be accurate I should say that it is a message to you."

"Me?" Mary stood on her tiptoes, trying to see for herself.

"It talks about the unschooled Beeson girl, that can only be you because you are the first Beeson daughter in at least a hundred years."

"What's the message?" Mary was shifting from foot to foot. The part of her that found the idea of a message to her being written before she was even born and put into a painting that she might never see was battling with the part of her that was intensely curious to know more.

"It is strange." Aiden said. "It talks about someone called the Watcher Within the Knowledge and that he keeps a secret that he will tell only to you." He stood up straighter again. "The rest has been too obscured. I cannot tell you where this person is or who he is, or even what this secret may be."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Robbie and Mary returned from riding at a little after four. Mrs. Bennett was wearing a simple black dress with a white lace collar and cuffs when she greeted them in the back hall. She let Robbie know that the others had started arriving. He led Mary up the back stairs, past Rose and several maids she hadn't met before. Each was wearing the same black dress that Mrs. Bennett wore, and they wore starched white aprons as well.

Mary bathed and dressed and tried to keep her nerves under control. Aiden spent a few minutes with her after she first got out of the shower, but then he left her to get ready while he hunted. Finally, she was standing in front of the full-length mirror, her hair piled in curls on top of her head, her make-up perfect, the black silk spaghetti strap dress hugging the curves of her upper body. The hem of the full skirt fluttered just below her knees. She looked critically at the simple gold cross around her neck and decided to leave it there. In all the time she took to find the right dress she never considered what jewelery she would wear. She pulled on the short, nearly opaque shrug, stepped into her heels and walked out into the sitting room. To her surprise Robbie was waiting there with Aiden.

"You are beautiful." Aiden said softly, his eyes sweeping over her from her head to her toes.

"He's right." Robbie said. She was surprised to see him wearing a tuxedo. "That dress is perfect for you."

"Thank you both." She felt a blush warm her cheeks. "I was worried it would be too much, or not enough."

"I thought you might still be a bit nervous, so I brought you something." He held up a platinum necklace in an Edwardian style. The pendant was made up of two wreaths, one smaller than the other, both were held together at the top by a diamond encrusted bow. The wreaths themselves were accented with diamonds and pearls with a single, larger diamond suspended in the center. The overall look of the pendant was lavish and fragile at the same time. "It was my mother's. She would wear it whenever she was especially nervous about a gathering. She always felt it brought her confidence. I was hoping you might wear it tonight, and whenever you feel the need."

Mary looked at the glittering pendant and shook her head slightly.

"I can't." She glanced at Aiden. "It's beautiful, but I couldn't take something like that from you."

"Why not? I have no children of my own, nor am I likely to at this stage of my life, and I've grown very fond of you over the past few weeks." He smiled, but Mary could tell that her refusal of his gift had hurt him.

"Because-" Mary searched for the right thing to say. She glanced at Aiden.

"Mary," Aiden moved closer to her, his hand rested lightly on her waist. "Females of my kind often mate outside of their clan of birth. When that happens they construct kinship ties within the new clan. You need those ties as well, child."

"I wouldn't be taking anything away from your family, would I?" Mary asked, walking forward. Robbie smiled.

"My mother was quite a collector. I have more than a few relatives who'll get far more than they deserve." He chuckled and unclasped the necklace and held it up. "May I?"

"Just a minute." She reached behind her neck and took off the gold cross and then turned around. Robbie clasped the chain around her neck. The pendant rested on her sternum so that the bottom of it barely grazed the hint of cleavage she was showing. She adjusted the collar of the shrug and turned to face the two men.

"What do you think?" She asked, a little smile on her lips.

"It suits you, dear one." Aiden stroked her cheek softly.

"He's right." Robbie smiled. "We should get down there, Veronica is probably waiting for us already."

"Are you sure you don't want to come now Aiden?" She asked, hesitating.

"Even if I wished to, I could not. My hunt earlier was not a success and you know I am less than pleasant when hunger overwhelms me." He kissed her forehead lightly. Mary nodded and walked out into the hall with Robbie and tried to keep her knees from shaking.

"How many of them stay here?" Mary walked a little more slowly than usual down the wide stairs.

"Everyone except for Andy and Nigel Pressman, they're the only two in the general area. Sometimes they stay as well, when we adjourn late." He opened the drawing room door and Mary stepped through to see a tiny, elderly woman accepting an equally tiny glass of sherry from Bennett. Her shockingly white hair was sharp contrast to the black dress she wore.

"You must be Mary Beeson." She set the glass aside and took Bennett's arm.

"Yes." Despite her best efforts, Mary's voice sounded uncertain.

"Robbie, what have you been telling this girl?" Even though she needed help to get up she moved across the floor lightly. Robbie took her hands and kissed her cheek lightly.

"Only good things, I assure you Veronica. She's just a bit nervous." Robbie answered. "How's Jackson doing these days?"

"Jackson is my husband." Veronica explained to Mary. "He's completely senile and enjoying every minute of it from what I can see. Almost makes me jealous sometimes. Enough about me, I'd like to know more about you." She took Mary's arm and led her to a quiet corner.

"Give me your hand." Veronica said. Mary held out her hand to the older woman. Mary felt Veronica's fragile skin and the vibration of power that pulsed just under it. The white eyebrows twitched and she smiled. "Now stop holding back." Mary did her best to relax.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"Robbie was right, you are quite something." A lively conversation could be heard just outside the door, Veronica smiled and let go of Mary's hand. "Be certain you let the others see it."

As if on cue, the rest of the group entered the room en masse, making Mary think of a chattering murder of crows. As a group, they fell silent and stared at her.

"My goodness," Veronica said. "I wasn't aware I was so fetching this evening, though I do thank you all for the compliment."

"Forgive us." A man of about sixty stepped forward, his smile was genuinely warm and welcoming. He held out his hands and Mary offered hers. "I think we were all a bit surprised at how lovely you are. I'm Quentin Phillips."

"I'm pleased to meet you." Mary said, noticing the differences in the vibration she was feeling. It was a bit stronger, but there was something else too.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. If our host doesn't mind I'll make the introductions." He offered his arm and Mary took it.

He introduced her to David Milbourne first. Her intended dinner companion seemed uncertain how to react and to Mary that didn't bode well. He looked from Andy to Robbie and then to Quentin, he was polite, but didn't warm to her. Mary wondered if he was even more nervous than she was. Most of the others were split in exactly the way she had imagined. Andy greeted her coldly, as did Stuart, Alex and Ron. Ramona Ramsay, Nigel Pressman, and Gordon Barnett greeted her with genuine warmth. Caroline Finch -- Mary learned that she had dropped the 'Griffon' from her name -- was a conundrum. She kept her distance from Mary, but only because Andy seemed to be glaring at her the entire time.

Once the introductions were complete, Mary felt more at ease and she began to notice more about the others. The ones who were members of the group wore only black, except for the men's white shirts. Their companions and spouses wore at least a splash of bright color. The companions seemed to have their own little clique and apart from introductions they largely ignored Mary.

"It's all rather overwhelming your first time isn't it?" Ramona appeared at Mary's elbow. Ramona was one of those women whose age was impossible to tell from a casual glance. Her short, dark hair and fine features suggested that she was perhaps in her mid-thirties. The wisdom in her eyes gave a different impression.

"Is it that obvious?" Mary felt a blush heat her cheeks.

"Well, that depends on who you ask. My particular skill is reading and directing emotional energy, so, to me, yes." Mary laughed and so did Ramona.

"Robbie mentioned that everyone had different skills, but he didn't tell me what those skills were." Mary felt herself starting to relax. The rest of the group had fallen into polite "cocktail party" conversation and she no longer felt like she was the center of attention.

"Of course not, Robbie's a dear but there are times he would forget his head if it weren't always on his shoulders." Another easy laugh between the women. Mary could almost ignore the glances Andy's faction were casting her way from time to time. "Veronica and Caroline deal with all things temporal, past, present and even a bit of the future sometimes, though unfortunately for Caroline she has never been able to see her own future very well. Quentin and I are empaths. Alex and Ron exert some control over the elements, meaning earth, wind, fire and water. Neither of them is very powerful though so maybe I should say influence instead of control. Nigel and Gordon are herbalists."

"You mean as in healing herbs?" Mary asked.

"Not quite. Certain combinations can add and extra boost to the will of the practitioner." Ramona took a full glass from Rose's tray.

"Seems as if I have more reading to do." Mary handed her empty glass to one of the maids she hadn't met.

"Don't worry about it, magic is like medicine. You could set out to read everything written on the subject and never get there because there's just too much material. Each family has built their library around their own particular skill." Ramona sipped her wine and continued. "Robbie and David are alchemists, though from what I understand the whole 'base metals into gold' idea was abandoned long ago. Stuart and Andy are lexicians, word snobs is what I call them. For them it's all about syllables and structures and the feeling behind it goes out the window."

"It seems I'm out of place." Mary glanced around as she said it, and caught Caroline looking at her as if she wanted to come over and say something.

"No, your family is kind of the glue that holds the whole enterprise together. Without your unifying power our abilities can't reach their full potential." Mary's eyes widened. "You'll learn how." Ramona assured her. Mary noticed that Caroline was making her way over to where she was standing. She almost made it before Andy's wife Jean intercepted her and shooed her back to the other side of the room.

"I don't mean to ask you to gossip, but what's going on there?" Mary asked.

"That's not gossip, it's common knowledge. You know about why Esme was for sale?" Ramona asked.

"The bad marriage?" Mary responded.

"Are you two discussing Caroline's marriage?" Veronica asked.

"Yes." Ramona answered. "Were we being that obvious?"

"No, but I did see her almost escape from that harpy Andy calls a wife. Then when I heard Mary mention marriage I put two and two together." She turned to Mary. "I thought you knew the story of that mess."

"I did, but I was wondering why she's so tied to Andy." Mary said.

"She's been staying with him since she moved out of Grantham House, unfortunately Andy thinks of anyone living under his roof as his personal property." Veronica ended with a derisive snort. It was becoming clear to Mary that this group might have been unified in a common purpose, but there were some deep divisions between them personally.

"The sad part is that Caroline believes she needs him." Ramona added.

"Dinner is served." Bennett announced. Everyone found their companions and made their way into the dining room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dinner was easily the most lavish meal Mary could have imagined. Six courses that were artfully plated, perfectly prepared and in most cases composed of foods combined in ways she never would have expected. Her companion's conversation was less than sparkling, though he did manage to knock his wineglass over in her general direction and accuse her of clumsiness. Luckily it was nearly empty at the time. She spent most of the evening talking with Gordon about herbs, music and gardening. Mary was surprised to learn it was a hobby he had taken up only recently. Apparently the herbs he used had to be gathered from natural places at certain times of day or night and certain rituals had to be adhered to.

Once the dessert plates had been taken away Bennett opened the dining room doors and announced that the meeting would begin in twenty minutes in the library, and that other guests were welcome to use the drawing room for as long as they liked. Bennett stopped Mary as she was leaving the dining room. Robbie waited with her until everyone else had filed out.

"Aiden is waiting in my office, I thought the two of you might like to enter together, and have a few minutes alone in the bargain." His smile was reassuring.

"Quiet sounds like a little bit of heaven right now." Mary said.

"I can tell you they're all impressed, even the ones who are trying not to let it show." Robbie said.

"Maybe, but that was the easy part. All I had to do was be polite." Mary laughed quietly, hoping to dispel some of her nervousness. "Which door is it?"

"Follow Bennett. I keep it locked during these gatherings. I'll knock to let you know we're all gathered. See you soon." He touched her arm lightly and walked down the hall. Mary turned to Bennett and he let her into Robbie's office. She had seen it briefly on the tour he had given her of the house. It was the same unusual but pleasing blend of the very modern and the antique that she had seen in all the rooms he spent a great deal of time in. This one leaned more toward the modern. Aiden rose as soon as she entered.

"That door," Bennett pointed to a door on the right side of the room. "leads to the library. At the moment, it's bolted from this side. Mr. Barnaby asked that I lock the outer door behind myself, if you're comfortable with that, Miss."

"Yes, that's fine. Thank you Bennett." Mary waited for the butler to close the door, then walked too meet Aiden as he crossed the room to her. His arms and wings wrapped around her and Mary hid against his chest for several long, quiet minutes.

"Come, let me hold you for awhile." He sat down again and let Mary arrange her dress so that she could settle against his chest. Just being close to him made her feel better. He stroked her carefully, almost hesitantly, because of the silk dress.

"Were you able to eat?" She asked, her voice only barely above a whisper.

"Yes." He kissed the top of her head. Mary shivered pleasantly and pressed closer against him. "What are the others like?"

Mary told him about her conversations with the others and what she thought of them. Mostly though, they were both silent.

"Are you nervous?" Mary asked.

"I would not say nervous. I dislike feeling like I am on display, like I am nothing more than a new beast in a menagerie, but I see no other way to do this."

"No one will think of you as an animal." Mary looked up into his eyes.

"I am not human." He reminded her gently.

"I know that, but you're not an animal either." Mary responded.

"In your world there is nothing between the two, at least not anymore. One is either human or one is less than human." His arms tightened around her. Mary wanted to tell him that the others wouldn't see him as less than human, but she knew that wasn't entirely true. There were some in the group who would never think of him that way and there were others who might never think of him as anything else.

"I never saw you as less than human." She said finally. "I can't be the only one in the world who thinks that way." She felt him smile against her head.

"No, you never did." He held her gaze for a long moment. A knock at the door shattered that moment. He kissed her lightly. "We should go."

"I can tell Robbie you've changed your mind, if you want." She stood again.

"No, child. This must be faced, and it is better faced now than postponed." He rose and followed her.