Two months passed...
Could you imagine?
They arrived back to the capital house late in the evening. Did Cass want to wrap everything up and go directly back home? Yes, he did, but with Taniora burning a hole in his bag, he couldn’t do that anymore.
Not that he was blaming her. Wasn’t her fault that some fuckass demons messed with her eternal slumber, but that did mean that Cass had to do something to help her.
He received a warm welcome from Sam, with a more muted, but warm welcome from Byron. Sam hovered around Cass like he wanted to give the other man a hug, but didn’t. Byron appeared to be holding the back of Sam’s coat, and Sam didn’t seem to mind.
There was a moment of confusion as Sam glanced around and noticed that Lucian wasn’t with them. It appeared that he clearly went to the worst possible outcome, but Byron instead sniffed.
"He had to leave?" Byron asked and Cass nodded.
"He held on as long as he could." Cass said, his voice a little hollow. Byron nodded, while Sam still seemed mildly confused, but since both Byron and Cass knew what they were talking about, he dropped all care about it.
"So the dungeon went well?" He asked. That got a small smile from Cass.
"Well, ’well’ is one way to put it. I certainly left some demons weeping." Cass muttered. Edgar gave a soft laugh.
"We knew that dungeons helped Cass, we just had no idea how much they helped him." Edgar said and Sam frowned, before he nodded.
"Of course they help him. It’s practically his home. It’s like him going to that place underneath this mansion. It’s the same thing." Sam told the group and Cass blinked. Cass knew he wasn’t stupid, but why had he not considered that connection at all until Sam brought it up? Maybe it was because he had so much on his plate? Who knew?
Either way, Cass was glad that it was pointed out.
"You know what? I’m glad to know that. Anyway, we should head inside. I want to speak to Ser Hune and the nursery tree. I have someone I think they both would like to meet." Cass said. Edgar looked at Cass quizzically while Gideon gave a slow nod.
"You’re going to introduce them? Is that wise?" Gideon asked. Cass watched as Sam puffed up, ready to defend Cass. Cass made the move to start them in the direction of the front door so they weren’t hovering in front of the carriage anymore and so that the driver could leave. The others followed.
"Whether it is wise or not, I know that I can’t hide her from them, and it’s not like we can return her right away. We need to investigate the area where she was taken from, put in the footwork to see how it happened, and probably bribe a few people to rat out their superiors." Gideon did not like that last part.
"Bribing? Cass, that’s not appropriate." Gideon scolded and Cass tossed his head back and laughed.
"You’ve been unconsciously benefitting from my bribing of others this whole time. It works, and sometimes, I offer people a way to get their anger off of their chest in a healthy way, and they get money for it. It’s a win win." Cass told him, glancing back at Gideon’s scrunched up, but thoughtful expression. He clearly didn’t like what Cass was saying, but he remained silent after Cass made his point.
Edgar was also silent, his hat in his hand as he glanced around the grounds. He seemed to be sniffing, loudly. Cass could feel how Byron was stiffening with each sniff.
"Who was here?" Edgar asked. "This is a strange scent, but familiar. Byron?" Edgar turned to look at the other monster and Byron flinched.
"They um, want to remain a surprise? I promise you, I would never let anyone into the house that would harm you or Cass. Nor would the forest." Edgar’s shoulders didn’t fully relax at his words. Instead, he stared at Byron, his eyes narrowing.
"People are good liars." Edgar warned as Sam stepped ahead of Cass and opened the doors. Whoever had entered their home while they were gone had been waiting to greet them when they arrived.
"We aren’t people, Lord Vespertine." It was an unfamiliar voice, but as Cass turned, he found himself staring into faces that felt...familiar. They were still foreign, in many shades of white, brown, black, with even one person being a light pink shade. The dress they wore wasn’t quite right for the era that Cass had found himself in.
They wore clothes, of course, but they weren’t as tight on their bodies in the same way. They wore a lot more leathers, which were tight to the body, but they also wore feathery things. Their clothes weren’t spun from the same fabrics that Cass and the others were wearing. They were more...etherial. Probably made from plant and animal by-products. Cass was a little in awe of their clothing design and choices, honestly. The women who were with them didn’t wear dresses, instead favouring pants made of leather like Ser Hune.
Their ears were pointed, and pierced several times over. Lots of shiny, pretty gems hung from their ears, acting like little sun catchers. They all had different shapes to their eyes, different colours, and their facial structures were a little different.
However, Cass knew.
These people, with their long flowing hair, their eager smiles and easy comfort were fairies. Of course the forest let them in. There was no way that they wouldn’t.
It also didn’t take a genius to figure out who was directly related to Ser Hune here, especially since the couple that Cass thought might be Ser Hune’s parents or siblings hung near each other, grinning.
"Cassian." They greeted, before pulling the awkward man in for a hug, squeezing him tightly. "We’ve heard so much about you from the nursery tree, and Ailia. Oh, you’re as cute as Ailia warned. No wonder they were worried about you." The taller woman pulled back, her facial features similar to Ser Hune’s but in a slightly lighter shade. It was the man next to her that was darker, his eyes matching. It was the shock of silver hair that Ser Hune also had that told Cass that she was a blend of her parents, especially as Ser Hune’s eyes stared back at Cass from her Mom’s face.
Cass wasn’t quite sure what to say in this moment, or how to act. It took him a second to gather himself.
"I’m glad that you were able to make it. When did you arrive?" Cass asked. She grinned, reaching out and squeezing Cass’ shoulders.
"We arrived two days after you had left for the dungeon. We’ve been working with the human you hired to get more places set up for others who are coming. We wanted to arrive earlier to speak to the nursery tree first before we encouraged any other couples who wanted to conceive to come here." Her words didn’t surprise Cass. Instead, he felt his body relax, a soft smile touching his lips.
"That’s very thoughtful of you." Cass said. "Of course, we are happy to help. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask Mr. Collins or Sam. While Sam is more of my personal aid, he can also help." Cass offered. He noticed a small shift on the others around Ser Hune’s Mom, an uneasiness that Cass picked up on.
"You trust him?" One of them piped up, they were a soft cream tone that reminded Cass of Edgar, funnily enough. Cass nodded.
"Yes, I do. Sam may be not who he says he is, but he’s very loyal. As I am his Master, he is loyal to those like me." Cass told them plainly. "He’s not the sort to betray me. We’ve already hammered out any hint of insubordination. He’d die without me." Cass told them plainly. That was something they understood.
The fairies relaxed, nodding at Cass’ words. Ser Hune’s Mom hummed quietly.
"So you are his nursery tree? His forest?" She asked and Sam nodded, piping up from the behind Cass, Byron at his side.
"Yes." Sam said, before hesitating. "But I also have no intention to betray Byron either." He said, his cheeks flushing. Byron looked like he was glowing at the public declaration while Ser Hune’s Mom chuckled.
"Trying to get on our good side, hmm?" She asked and Sam froze. "Good. Keep it up. We accept bribes." She said, winking at Cass and smiling. She had clearly overheard their conversation. "What were you wanting to show Ailia? Is it something we can’t see?" They asked and Cass could tell that the fairies were a curious bunch.
Ser Hune must be an outlier since the rest of them were huddling around, peeking over each other’s shoulders to get a good view of Cass.
Edgar stepped forward, placing a hand on Cass’ back protectively.
"We’ve just come in from a rather long trip that Cass did a lot of the heavy lifting on. Is it alright if we retire quickly to change into clothes we haven’t been traveling in and freshen up a bit?" He asked and Cass turned to look at Edgar. There wasn’t any anger in his expression or his tone, but he was drawing a firm line. A protective one.
Cass was a little surprised, as were the fairies, before they grinned.
"Ah, please, of course! We were just too excited by the prospect that we could meet you that when the carriage pulled in, we didn’t even stop to think how you were feeling. We’ll grab Ailia and bring her down. Should we go directly to the nursery tree or a waiting room?" Ser Hune’s Mom asked. Cass hesitated for a moment.
"I think a waiting room is smarter. I am not sure how you will take this. While I believe personally it is nothing negative, I don’t want to upset the nursery tree if I can avoid it." Cass told them. That only seemed to interest them more.
"Understood. While you continue to interest us, we’ll wait. Don’t make us wait for too long, alright?" She gave a wink, glancing towards the two other men Cass was with and Cass felt his face warm.
Ah. She had caught on, even if Edgar wasn’t exactly being subtle. Cass was just used to the person being obvious about their relationship being Lucian. Edgar gently pushed Cass towards the stairs, smiling at the fairies as they passed. They were on the second flight up when Edgar spoke.
"They seem very nice." Edgar told him. "I like them, but I think they are rather nosy." Edgar said. Cass glanced at Edgar and his rather serious expression and laughed.
"You like them, but think they are nosy?" Cass repeated. He nodded and Gideon was the one who spoke next.
"Eddie, you are part of some of one of the nosiest families around. I don’t think you should be commenting on Cass’ family that way." Gideon pointed out. Edgar flushed.
"Well, I’m not like that! Mostly. And there is also nothing wrong with having a lot of information at your fingertips. I was just saying that if you don’t draw a line, they’ll walk all over it." Edgar muttered, embarrassed that both Cass and Gideon were teaming up on him.
"I don’t disagree." Cass told him, smiling. "I’ll figure it out. I’m also not used to having a mother or aunt figure around. Just big sisters." Cass told them. Byron chuckled, and Cass nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been so quiet that Cass forgot he had come with them.
"You’re going to be pushed over." Byron told him with an open kind of affection that Cass hadn’t seen from the man before. "It’ll be fine. They aren’t malicious, especially towards you. They’ll take to your boundaries well. They’ve been talking nonstop about how worried they are about you, and how you didn’t have a ’proper’ upbringing." Byron paused. "It does appear that the nursery tree told them a lot about you. Not to everyone, but to the Matron. She might pull you aside to speak to you about it." That could have made Cass mad, but it didn’t.
They were the nursery tree. If they thought that it was a good idea to tell her, Cass would trust them.