Marriage is Murder

Archangel dropped the dead rat on Kate's empty plate. Khaat looked at bit disgusted, but Kate, understanding the eagle's thinking, stroked his head and thanked him for the gift and a job well done, telling him he was free to rid the house of any more he found. She offered the rat to him as a snack, just asking him to take it elsewhere to eat. He gladly picked it up and flew off with it again.

"Kate, do train him not to bring them to the table," Robert said. "I realise its a gift, but..."

"I'll work on it," she laughed.

"I promised to show Khaat where she is," Brian said. "If you'll all give us a few minutes for me to show her the basics. I know moms and dads all have a lot to do today anyway." Brian helped Khaat up and took her on a short tour of the very basics. How to get from the dining room to the great hall, to the kitchen, to their quarters, and the little sitting room on the second floor, next to their quarters, that almost no one used but Khaat simply because the room was so small. She had always liked the room, almost as her one favorite place in the entire house. And it was immediately across the hall from the room her father used as an office and a potions lab.

Kieran saw them putting their gifts under the tree. He caught up with Khaat and whispered in her ear. She looked at him, wide eyed. He nodded.

"Can I?" she signed. He nodded.

"Take Brian with you," he said.

"Take me where?" Brian frowned.

"To see her Christmas gifts from Fi and me," Kieran smiled.

"Um...its not Christmas yet," Brian said.

"They wont mind"

"Who won't mind?"

"The gifts," Kieran laughed. He accio'd their coats. "You're going to the barn."

"We are? Um...Okay," Brian said. He helped her with her coat and apparated her to the barn with him. They walked through the enormous barn and then they saaw it. Two stalls side by side--one with a pair of hippogryffs, and the other with a pair of beautiful white pegasuses. Brian was stunned. "Your parents are going to be out here all day tomorrow now," he laughed. "They'll be riding."

"Riding?"

"Sure. Wanna go?" he asked. She nodded. He saddled the two peguses and helped her up onto the mare while he mounted the stallion. "Follow close! Don't get far away. And hang on tight." He led the winged horses out of the barn and gave her the simple instructions to get the horses to fly. They leaped up into the sky, and Khaat was amazed. It was wonderful--with an incredible view.

"Thank you," Brian smiled, pleased.

"They're beautiful," Khaat signed.

"Shall we leave them saddled for you?" Brian asked. "We've never had winged horses before. Maybe you'd like to go flying, two at a time? Khaat and I won't be gone long. Its entirely too cold for her to be up in the winter air too long. And its not safe for her to be flying until she really remembers how to do it. Of course, the hippogryffs could use an outing so two of you could take the peguses and the other two could take the hippogryffs if you want. Its not like there aren't plenty of people to watch the kids for you for awhile. It would be a good time for you to have some romance at Christmas That might be hard to find tomorrow."

Brian welcomed the thought of the spiced wine to warm up with. They'd enjoyed the flying but he didn't want Khaat to catch cold. Khaat was tiring quickly. The trip from Venice, the tour of the house, the flying--it was a lot for someone who was recovering.

Michael was adding a little kindling to the Yule Log when Brian brought Khaat into the Great Hall for some of the hot spiced wine. Michael poured them both mugs of wine while Brian found her a place on one of the leather sofas in front of the fire. Brian took her coat and gave her the mug of wine. Michael covered her legs with a tan chenille throw.

"You're overdoing just a little, Sweetheart," he said gently. "Take a rest now. The staff just fed the kids their lunch, and they're going to shortcut their naps a bit so that they'll go to sleep on time tonight." She nodded. It was good thinking. She tasted the wine. It was wonderful. It warmed her up from the inside out. It was nice.

Brian put the coats away and then joined her on the sofa.

"Do you need help getting your closet emptied?" Michael offered to Brian.

"I think I'll do that after the kids are in bed tonight," Brian grinned. "It really is a lot of fun to see them surprised with having a lot of new things under the tree in the morning."

"Well, let me know, and I'll help you."

"Thank you, Michael."

"Yes, there's plenty," Michael said. "Its in the kettle over the fire. The mugs are there. There are plenty of garnishes. You can add what you want." There were glasses of cinnamon sticks, peppermint sticks, rock candy sticks, mini marshmallows, slices of fruit--anything that the kitchen staff had thought people might be interested in. There was also a plate of Angus's sweet bread crackers with cheese and fruit, and a plate of assorted Christmas cookies and candies.

Michael saw Khaat had fallen asleep on Brian's shoulder, and that Brian seemed to be perfectly content just sitting and watching the fire. Michael took Khaat's mug and set it aside.

"Is she alright? Really?" Michael asked him.

"She's wonderful," Brian smiled softly.

"That's not what I meant," Michael laughed gently. "I meant her health."

"She's better every day."

"How is she coping without her memory? Honestly."

"It frustrates her sometimes, but the lack of speech frustrates her more," Brian said.

"Did she get a chance to shop for the holidays?"

"Yes. We did that, and I think she's happy with what she bought."

"She looks tired," Michael said.

"I'm pushing her pretty hard--at her request."

"Well, we'll be eating dinner soon. She ought to go to bed early. The kids are going to be up early."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. What are we doing for dinner?"

"The very traditional Italian Christmas feast of the seven fishes. There will be more food than you can all deal with--even Jack," Michael laughed. "Angus got a mammoth load of fresh seafood from Edward."