The Rise of the Fallen (The Angelic Wars Book 2) (11 page)

“
He gets bios of
every new employee from every safe-house and memorizes each person's
face and name. Crazy, isn't it?”

Chris mulled that over as
they walked and almost bumped into Chef as the group stopped
abruptly. He looked around, startled, and saw that they were standing
in front of an intimidating-looking door made of some sort of dark
wood. 'Office of Mr. Mahony' was inscribed on a gold plaque in red
letters.

Chris saw the judge look
at the name with a brief expression of amusement and then he stepped
forward and knocked on the door.

There was a long moment of
silence and then a deep, muted voice could be heard from inside,
calling for them to enter. Judge Hawkes opened the door, indicated
that they should all follow him, and stepped into the room.

The office was even larger
than the judge's office back at the Nest. Chris looked around
wide-eyed at the many statues perched on expensive-looking tables,
beautiful paintings in ornate frames and rich furnishings including
two couches, a heavy desk and one chair that appeared to be too
delicate to sit on. A large window facing west allowed sunlight to
blaze into the room. In front of it, barely visible in the glare, was
the large oak desk. Behind it sat someone who Chris assumed was the
leader of the castle.

Mr. Mahony was nothing
like Chris imagined him to be, especially after hearing his deep
voice from outside. He squinted against the glare to see the man
better.

He was slender, with small
features and beady, black eyes. His face was dominated by a long,
thin and rather hooked nose, which seemed to twitch as the group
walked in. When he stood up, Chris was further surprised to see that
he wasn't much taller than his own five feet, two inches. He was
wearing a black suit and tie, with a crisp white shirt underneath. He
looks, Chris thought, like a mortician.

“
Judge Hawkes!”
Mr. Mahony exclaimed as he rose from his chair. Chris noted that he
didn't call the judge Lord. He wondered why.

“
How lovely to see
you back in your ancestral home,” the small man continued as he
made his way around the desk. The judge walked forward and they met
in the middle of the room and shook hands briskly.

Mr. Mahony had what Chris
thought was an upper-class British accent. Strangely, he didn't sound
pleased. There was a hint of annoyance in his tone, while the judge's
expression was polite but cool. I don't think these two guys like
each other very much, Chris thought. That's strange.

“
Alan, how nice to
see you looking so well,” Judge Hawkes replied in a
business-like tone. “Valiant seems to be running smoothly.”

“
Naturally,”
Mr. Mahony said, sounding a little surprised. “I wouldn't have
it any other way.”

“
Yes, of course.”

The judge turned to look
at the trio watching from just inside the room.

“
I've already
arranged for rooms for my staff, Alan. But the four of us will need
accommodations as well. Chef you already know,” the two men
exchanged nods, “and these are my two wards. Natalie, whom
you've met once, and Mr. Christopher Wright. I will, of course, stay
in my usual suite.”

“
Certainly, your
honor,” Mr. Mahony said smoothly. His face displayed
irritation, but he simply walked back to his desk, picked up an
old-fashioned telephone and began dialing. Then he started making
arrangements. The judge waved the others forward.

“
So what do you
think of the old place, Christopher?” he asked kindly.

Chris smiled broadly. “I
love it, sir. I like old buildings and this one is...awesome. I can't
think of another word to describe it.”

Chris heard Natalie
chuckle beside him but the judge nodded seriously.

“
I agree. I'm often
rather taken aback when I return. For some reason, it always seems
larger than I remember. I haven't visited in many years,
unfortunately. It isn't exactly home, but my roots do run deep here.”

“
Your honor,”
Mr. Mahony said loudly from behind his desk. “Rooms have been
found for all of your party. As for your traditional suite, ah, it
will be ready in about an hour or so. I apologize for the delay, but
we have to move some, uh, possessions from those rooms to other
accommodations.”

Chris watched the judge's
face. The man clenched his jaw and his eyes narrowed, but his voice
was calm as he said, “Explain.”

Mr. Mahony seemed to be
caught flat-footed by the question.

“
I beg your pardon?”
he said with confusion.

“
My suite has been
used by my family for generations, from when Valiant was first
constructed in fact. So explain why someone else's belongings would
be in my rooms.”

Mr. Mahony's unctuous
manner failed him under the judge's gaze.

“
Well, your honor,
you haven't been back to the castle in many years, almost a decade, I
believe. And it was thought a shame that such beautiful living
quarters should go to waste, so we decided to let someone suitable
use them. But they were always yours, of course,” he hastened
to add.

Chris listened to this
exchange in confusion. Why would they give the judge's rooms away?
This castle must have hundreds of them. Surely there weren't that
many people on staff, were there? Judge Hawkes' next statement threw
Chris off completely.

“
Mr. Mahony,
you
haven't moved into my ancestor's rooms, have you?” The mild
tone of his voice had a steely bite. “As I recall, you took
over the running of Valiant about ten years ago.” The judge
gestured at the office furnishings. “Around the same time you
decided to redecorate and send me an absurdly large bill, if I
recall. I indulged you at that time because you came strongly
recommended by your predecessor. It seems I may have been mistaken in
that indulgence.”

Chris found himself glaring at the
small man. This guy took over the judge's rooms? Who the hell did he
think he was? Chris suddenly realized what Mahony reminded him of; a
weasel.

“Well, your honor, you have to
see that someone in my position, that is to say, with the
responsibilities that I have had to shoulder, I needed accommodations
suitable to my station.” The man was dithering now, his tiny
eyes darting around the room, looking at anything but Judge Hawkes.

The judge pinched the bridge of his
nose and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Alan, Alan, Alan,” he said
in exasperation. “What am I going to do with you?” He
opened his eyes and pinned Mr. Mahony with a level look. “You
and I will discuss this at length later. But for now, we have to make
some important decisions. The Nest was breached and many of my people
are dead.”

There was a catch in his voice as he
continued. “Martin has been lost. If he had survived, he would
be taking over the running of Valiant and you, sir, would be out of a
job.”

Mr. Mahony gaped. “But, but,
I...”

“However,” the judge
continued over the man's objections, “because of your
experience, I will be keeping you on as my second in command. For
now. Valiant is my new base of operations. The Hawkes Nest will be
rebuilt, better and stronger than it was. But this castle is the most
secure building of all of our safe-houses and so we will settle in
here for the foreseeable future.”

There was a long moment of silence. The
four of them watched as Mr. Mahony visibly got himself in hand. He
took a breath, smoothed his lapels and nodded his acceptance.

“Very well, your honor,” he
said in a stilted but polite tone. “I may have overstepped my
authority here in your absence. Thank you for giving me another
chance.” He stepped away from the desk and then pointed at it.
“This office is now yours, as it always was. I will relocate to
a secondary office down the hall.”

At this point, there was a soft knock
on the door. Before Mr. Mahony could speak, the judge called out,
“Come in please.”

The smaller man's expression remained
neutral and he simply nodded in acknowledgment at the obvious change
in command. Chris was pleased at how quickly Judge Hawkes took over,
but he watched Mr. Mahony suspiciously, wondering if he had caved in
too easily.

The door opened and a young man with
long, bright red hair, wearing the usual suit, stepped tentatively
into the office. As he was about to speak to Mr. Mahony, the small
man shook his head and nodded at Judge Hawkes and the young man
turned to look at the judge, obviously confused.

“I'm in command of Valiant from
this moment, Mister...O'Donnell, isn't it?”

“Yes sir, m'lord,”
O'Donnell stuttered nervously. “Jamie O'Donnell. I was sent to
take your party to their quarters whenever they're ready.”

“Excellent.” The judge
looked pleased. “Valiant's staff is as efficient as ever. Chef,
Natalie, Christopher, why don't you follow this young man and settle
in. I'm sure your things have been brought up from the cars by now. I
know the flight was fairly dull, but none of us got enough rest, so
relax for a few hours and I'll arrange for a late dinner for all of
us.”

The three of them exchanged glances.
For some reason, the judge didn't want them to discuss the
confrontation with Askalon. Chris didn't know why, but he trusted
Judge Hawkes, now more than ever. If he thought they should keep the
incident to themselves, then that's what they would do.

Natalie and Chef both gave him fleeting
smiles and all of them thanked the judge for his thoughtfulness.

“Very well. Off you go. We'll
talk later.”

The young Mr. O'Donnell indicated that
they should follow him and they headed out of the room. The last
thing Chris heard the judge say was, “Now, Alan, let's see
about bringing some comfortable chairs into this museum, shall we?”

Chris grinned and followed the others
into the hallway.

“We've managed to find three
suites on the same floor and fairly near to each other,” their
guide said politely. “Lord Hawkes was correct. Your luggage has
been taken to your rooms and the beds all have fresh linen on them
now. Also, since we thought you might be tired after your trip, trays
of tea and biscuits will be waiting for you.”

“Very thoughtful, Jamie,”
Chef rumbled politely. “May we call you Jamie? Excellent.”
He smiled gently at the young man. “Once I settle in, I'll be
making my way down to the kitchens. Perhaps I can lend a hand. I
believe my old friend Frannie is still in charge down there, is she
not?”

Jamie looked both surprised and
pleased. “Yes sir, she is. You know her? Terrific. I'm sure
she'll be happy to see an old friend. She's a marvelous cook.”

“Well, she'd better be,”
Chef said with amusement. “I trained her, after all.”

Their young guide's eyes widened at
this revelation, but he made no comment.

The group turned a corner and were
walking down a wide hallway that was lined with statues on both
sides. Chris was fascinated by them.

There were several knights in armor.
There was a dragon, a monster that he couldn't identify that seemed
to have two heads merging into one (he grimaced with distaste) and
two angels. One was more cherub-like, fat and jolly with little
wings, wearing a toga and armed with a tiny bow. Chris snorted at it
in disgust and Natalie nudged him and grinned broadly.

“Not exactly true to life, is
it?” she asked, amused.

“No kidding. Now that one,”
he pointed ahead to a life-sized statue about ten yards in front of
them. “That's a little more realistic.”

The statue Chris had indicated was of a
female. But she was dressed in intricate armor, her arms tightly
muscled. She held a sword and shield and her wings stretched up high
behind her. Her expression was grim and her marble hair blew around
her as if she stood in a high wind.

“Ah yes. That one is called
Defiance, sir,” their guide said helpfully. “She's my
favorite, actually.”

“Cool.” Chris looked
closely at Jamie for the first time and realized just how young he
really was. He can't be more than sixteen or seventeen, Chris
thought. Wow, they hire them young here. Their eyes met and the other
young man looked away quickly, as if fearing he was being impolite.

Near the end of the hallway, a
staircase led up to the left and they followed Jamie up to another
corridor. The walls on both sides were painted with murals.

There were landscapes and rolling
hills. A hunt was taking place on one wall, horsemen leaping over low
walls and hounds baying as they followed the scent of a fox. Chris
looked around curiously for their prey and was amused to see that
further down the mural, a young lady was strolling innocently along a
country lane carrying a basket. A length of furry, red tail was
peeking out and when he saw it, Chris had to laugh out loud.

The others stared at him curiously, but
he couldn't stop laughing. Chris simply pointed at the painting and,
once Chef and Natalie figured out what he was laughing at, joined in.
Jamie just stood and grinned.

“I had the same reaction when I
first saw that, sir,” the young man said. “You could
stand here for hours and not run out of things to discover in these
murals.” He pointed across the hall at the other mural and the
group turned to see what he was pointing at.

There were lakes and rolling hills,
little forests and small streams meandering through the painting. But
Jamie was indicating a concealed nook beside a tiny waterfall. There,
several friends were having a picnic. A checkered blanket was laid
out, a basket full of goodies next to it, and the friends were
chatting amiably. What made it humorous was that the group consisted
of a badger, a rabbit, two squirrels and a doe. The doe was wearing a
kerchief and glasses.