A Birth day

"But that's exactly Angus' point, is it not?" Robert said. "He means exactly what he says. He can shoulder a lot, and most of it without complaint or explanation. Daniella, he has not complained about the pain and discomfort from this one time, nor has he quit working to find a way to protect his family, but..."

They were interrupted by a noise, a rumble of thunder from inside the office, despite the fact that they were indoors. And then, up from Marcus's pocket, Minos flew into the air. Marcus was wide eyed, and so was Angus. They had had no idea Minos was there. And Minos looked very different today. He was wearing shining red and gold, and he was wearing a royal red cloak and a crown, and today, he carried a scepter. He wanted no mistake about who he was. He landed on Daniella's desk, and Angus already knew. He could see it as plain as day that Minos was furious.

Trying to remember some semblance of protocol, Angus got to his feet, as did Marcus.

"Your Majesty," Angus said quietly. "This is Minister Daniella Sardou, Minister of Magic for France, Daniella. This is King Minos. He is the king of the fairy kingdom where we live. It appears he wants to speak to you."

"Well met, King Minos," Daniella said respectfully, knowing how important it was to not offend a Fae king or queen. "By all means, speak."

Minos drew out a scroll of paper, and he hung it in the air. Then he used magic to quickly inscribe glowing words on the scroll. The room was silent for a few minutes while Minos wrote. When he was finished, he signed the scroll with a flourish, stamped it with his own signet ring, and he handed it to Daniella.

Daniella read the scroll, and the more she read, the more tense she became. That concerned Robert and Angus,

"Was this part of your plan, too, Robert?" Daniella asked.

"Who am I to command a king, Daniella?" Robert asked. "Minos makes his own choices."

"Well, perhaps you should read this, then," she said, handing the little scroll to Robert. Robert read it, not expecting that Minos would do what he did.

"It's a proclamation," he told the others, and he read it to them. It told how a good portion of his family and subjects had been killed by humans, leaving him, his wife, his children and the rest of his subjects to die. Without the help of Angus and his family, their entire kingdom would have been lost. The proclamation made the Donohue family an honorary Fae family, and made Angus an official ambassador to the Fae kingdom. The proclamation stated clearly that any action taken against any member of the Donohue family would be considered an act of war against the Fae people.

"Oh, boy," Angus said softly, feeling more pressure now than ever.

"Right," Marcus said. "And, it also means that Minos thinks he has enough pull with other Fae kingdoms to mount a significant defense. As for whether he has to process it through other channels, I would have no idea. The Fae society goes back far longer than our human governmental systems, so I don't know if they follow the same rules or not. He must have some sort of authority of his own, though, to be able to do it."

"I have seen and heard enough," Daniella sighed. "Thank you for your input and your strong defense of Angus. You are truly a good friend to him. I daresay the bruises and marks were a strong testimony in and of themselves. I will turn a blind eye to this, this time, but don't count on my friendship to wipe out any future events. Make sure you have considered your actions well next time, Angus. I do not want to have to meet like this again."

"Understood," Angus said, as Minos flew over to him. Angus gave Minos a proper bow, and Minos smiled and then disappeared into Angus's suit jacket pocket. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Daniella," Robert said.

"You're welcome," she smiled.

"Let's go home," Robert said, motioning to them, knowing they would need to go to the atrium doors before the protection spells on the ministry would allow them to port home.

"I have a rare, top shelf 20 year old firewhiskey looking for a reason to be opened," Marcus said. "This might work as good as any."

"Indeed it would," Robert agreed. When Aria said how handsome Marcus looked, he smiled.

"Thank you, and you look quite lovely. I should have told you earlier but I must admit I was trying to figure out if Angus and I might end up as cellmates or not," he teased.

"Do I have to repeat that performance for Lee?" Angus asked.

"I don't have that worked out yet, so I honestly don't know," Robert said. "We should be able to port from here." He ported them all back, right to the front porch of the duplex. As they all went inside, Marcus went upstairs to get the bottle of firewhiskey he had tucked in the back of his closet.

Robert went to the fireplace and opened the floo to Nigel.

"We're back. Any good?" Robert asked.

"Well, maybe, yes," Nigel said. "Lee's response to me was, and I quote, 'What voodoo shop?" So he clearly is not irked by putting a dent in Priscilla's livelihood. You're good there. And--that potion you tinkered with early this morning is holding up under our testing. You might have done it. You'll need to see if your boy is willing to give it a go either this afternoon or tonight. Tonight would be a fairer test, but you advise him as you like. So far, though, the seers in New York that we're testing it with have had their powers significantly reduced while under its effects. If it gives Angus any relief at all, then we can tinker with dosages and whatnot."

"Good. Thank you, Nigel."

"Oh, and for some reason, your Fae friend was entirely right, though I don't entirely get it. Adding the puree of strawberries and rhubarb dramatically improve the results. Thank him for me."

"I will. I'll come get some in a bit."

"I'll bring it. Your cook promised me a proper roast supper, so I'm coming over there," Nigel said, and I'm giving my team the rest of the day and the night off."

"Good. I'll see you in a bit, then," Robert said. He closed the floo. "We have a potion for you and Anise to try tonight, Angus. It might block Priscilla while you sleep. Maybe."

"Me too," Angus told Ruby. He hadn't actually been sure he would be getting home today. Marcus went upstairs to get changed and to get some comfortable clothes for Angus while Robert was there to stay with Angus. While everyone else was changing, Robert went over and touched Angus's forehead. He cast a pain relief spell for him and add just a very slight touch of a spell to ease Angus's rattled nerves.

"Better?" Robert asked.

"Yes. Thanks," Angus said. Minos left Angus' pocket, and Angus looked at him. "Thanks for coming to my rescue, Minos." Minos waved it aside. In Mino's mind, compared to all that Angus and Ruby and all the others had done for them and continued to do for the Fae on a daily basis, Mino's written words were nothing in comparison.

"Angus, I do need to see Anise's bruises," Robert said. "Why don't you send her over when she gets home today, and I'll check it for her and get it out of the way?"

"That's fine," Angus said.

"Oh, and that reminds me. Mickey did tell me he's fixing a big roast supper. There will be plenty. We'll send some over to you lot tonight, so you can take a night off from cooking. You've had a long day. I think that you could all use a quiet evening."

"Agreed. Thank you," Angus said, "Tell him thanks for me, would you?"

"Of course," Robert said, as Marcus came down in jeans, and he had a change of clothes for Angus with him, and the bottle of firewhiskey. Angus took the clothes and went into the bathroom and changed, sending his suit back upstairs, while Marcus opened the firewhiskey and poured a glass for everyone.

"Firewhiskey for one and all," Marcus said, passing around the glasses. "Found this in my travels in Ireland several years ago, and the brand is a good one, I think. This has a warmer, almost sweeter flavor. I like it a lot."