A Birth day

Ruby looked at Minos then to Angus as he spoke about what had happened to them she listened and nodded to Angus but spoke to Minos " I'm with Angus we'll get you what we can for now and look into finding your treasure, even if we get some of it back its something at least" she said and looked to Angus as she spoke her last part " we'll both help out" she said smiling to him.as he told her together they would work it out between every one later . " total sense" she said smiling.

Aria looked at Marcus and smiled " we can help them too?" she said to Marcus wanting to help the Fae too. Placing down her word search she stood with Marcus as she watched the fae working.

"Certainly," Marcus said. "I wager there won't be any people here that would refuse to help. Why don't you and Ruby do the shopping for them."

"I think, from what I'm seeing Minos put on his list, the Fae are ready to try to restock their pantries and larders. Why don't I order a big shipment of jars and bottling equipment and a boatload of fresh herbs and fruit and vegetables and grains, and perhaps Ruby and Aria and maybe Kate would help them dry the herbs and jar the fruits and vegetables and grains to help them restock the foods in each stump. Oh, yes. There is that too, isn't there? Minos is showing me that they'll need to use some organic ingredients to make soaps and candles and lotions and potions and such, so it won't stop at food. There will be a ton of work to be done. I'm guessing neither of you two have done any making of any of those things, have you?"

"I've made soap and candles on advanced survival trainings," Marcus said, "but we didn't have a big call for lotions, I admit."

"I've done a lot of food preserving," Angus said. "And I made some soap once, but I bet neither of you two have done a lot of that have you, Ruby or Aria?"

"They're adventurous. They'll enjoy it," Marcus said, not feeling it was something they'd shy away from.

Ruby and Aria listened to Angus and smiled " oh thqat shoul;d be fun" Aria said and looked to Marcus as he spoke of not having made candles or lotions " nope but willing to learn" she said and Ruby nodded while she chuckled.

"I have seen it done " she said " and I did try once when I was with Suzzanne , she didn't pay the electricity so I had to made candles to put around the place for a while" she said looking to Angus " its not that hard, hardest is making sure the wick stays straight. " she said " we'll do the shopping for the Fae and grab a few kits and make some lotions."

"There's a trick to that," Marcus said. "Stick a weight of some sort on the bottom of the wick, unless you're using a jar. If you're using a jar, use a double sided sticker to stick the wick in the bottom of the jar. To make a taper, the wick string is dipped repeatedly so the wax builds up on the wick string. Wax is poured for a container candle, and that's where people have issues with getting the wick in the exact center, and then they have to keep it upright while the wax hardens. The easiest way to get the wick in the center is to measure it exactly to find the center and then make a little mark with a permanent marker. The way I kept the wick upright was improvising a way to make what candlemakers call a wick bar. I did it by taking a stick and cutting two notches in one side of the stick so I could put the stick across the top of the jar, right across the exact center. And then I cut a slot in the stick to wedge the wick into so that it would keep the wick upright at the top of the container. Problem solved. When the wax was dry, I removed the stick and trimmed the wick."

"Well, aren't you quite the handyman?" Angus laughed. "Note to self--buy candle making equipment--including wick bars. I can furnish fresh olive oil for lotions and soaps. And our hives here on the estate have been giving us quite a surplus of beeswax. That will be useful in candles and other products. I can donate some of that to the Fae as well so they can get a jump on their restocking tasks."

Ruby listened and took note of what Marcus said smiling " ah that's where I went wrong" she said then chuckled at Angus " agreed" she said " we can get to this in the morning, I'm sure Kate has some herbs we can dry and put in jars too." she said " oh and we can make jams and pickles too" she added and made a note of what they could pickle and make jams of.

Aria looked to Marcus and chuckled " um I hope you don't expect me to be any good at pickling and jarring " she said to him " I can cook but the other stuff , never done it before" she added with a chuckle. " but I guess I should learn if we going to have a pantry with pickled and jammed things in" she said looking to Ruby who smiled and nodded.

"I'll teach you how" she said smiling Aria nodded and sat back down on the couch. She looked at the sleeping babies and smiled.

"Jams, pickles, jellies, pestos, sauces, chutneys, catsups, mustards, nuts and nut butters, spiced apples or peaches or apricots, plain applesauce or applesauce with other fruits mixed in, sauerkraut, and the list goes on and on," Angus said.

"You're going to spearhead that, right?" Marcus asked.

"Certainly not," Angus said. "The Fae know what they like. They can spearhead it for us. I'll help if I'm needed, certainly, but I have no doubt they can manage to tell us the recipes themselves."

"Well, yes, there is that, and Aria has made a potion with Minos, so if the rest of the Fae can communicate in the same way, then there shouldn't be any problem. And while they're doing that, what, pray tell, will you be doing?"

"Preferably? Killing Priscilla," Angus replied seriously.

"Oh. And now I'm an assassin," Marcus sighed. "Somehow, when I joined the staff here, I did not think my job description would be so blooming fluid.'

"Well, there is that last job duty on every job description at the bottom that says 'Other duties as required,'" Angus said.

"Granted, but you might be pushing the envelope on that," Marcus said.

"Just to be clear," Angus said. "You're not the assassin. I am. I hope you're there to help me stay alive long enough to get her out of my children's lives once and for all."

"Well, I suggest you read Robert into any new plan you have to avoid a repeat of today."

"Yeah, I probably will have to," Angus sighed. "Not that I want to."

Ruby sat on a stool as Angus rattled off a long list of things " wow were not that good" she said but breathed out when he said the Fae would let them know what they wanted " well that's good " she said and chuckled looking at Marcus "oh so that's what that means." she said Aria chuckled too.

"hum, dad, bodyguard, ex wife rangier , assistant assassin " she said then chuckled "never knew you were a man of many talents, and I do mean many" she teased him with a smirk. She admired him for that and had seeing it back in New Orleans. " we'll make what they need Angus don't worry , candles and lotions too" she heard them talk about notifying Robert and she just looked at them both.

Minos gestured to Angus that if he intended to take Priscilla out, Minos wanted to go along. He wanted a part of it. Angus didn't underestimate for a moment that, despite his tiny size, Minos could well take Priscilla out himself if he so desired.

"Minos, I won't refuse your help, of course. However, will you just allow me to register just one concern? Its the same concern I register about Robert coming into a hot battle with us. He's one of the most capable fighters I've ever seen in my lifetime, but at the same time, I'm smart enough to know that every time one goes into a battle, there's a calculated risk someone isn't coming back. And of the wizards I know, Robert is very definitely more valuable to a lot more people than I am. And that's not a low self esteem remark. That's just fact. He is more valuable. In the same way, you are far, far more valuable than I am... Minos waved Angus's remarks away quickly and began gesturing to him quickly.

"I think I almost get the gist of that," Marcus said. "I'm getting the hang of this improvised Fae sign language you two are developing. What's h saying?"

"He's saying if we weren't here, in this moment to play our parts, his entire kingdom--a whole nation of tiny people--would have died and been lost forever. He sees no one any less or more important than anyone else. He said its far more important that we are all where we are called to be at the right moment."

"Here, here, Minos," Marcus said. "Wise words indeed."

Ruby moved over to Angus as Minos started talking to him she smiled as it was translated and nodded " agreed" she said and looked to Angus. Aria looked to Marcus and smiled " I agree too, very wise words from a very wise king" she said smiling to him feeling the same as the others about if they were to fight or let Angus fight with Marcus both women would wait for them to come home and if they didn't would understand it was their choice and duty .

" Aria sat back in her seat and smiled " I think right now we all need to wined down and just relax , its ben a tough day today" she said and looked to Angus " especially for one of us." Ruby moved to the kitchen and began making hot choleate and smores to go with it.

Once Ruby had the hot chocolate in mugs she sent it to every one " feel free to add what you want to give it a kick" she said to Angus and Marcus as she then sent over a plate of Smores to them.

"My turn. I have an idea," Marcus said. He went to the pantry and got out a bottle of amaretto and he poured some into his mug and to Angus's.

"Amaretto. What a great idea," Angus said. "How very Italian of you."

"Ruby? Aria?"

"If you haven't had it, its an almond flavored liquer. It's not very high proof, only 56. Its more about the almond flavor and the warmth," Angus said. "Its the same basic flavor as Italian amaretti cookies."

"When we finish our drink, we need to go get the girls," Marcus said. "We've got just enough time. to enjoy our drinks and the smores before we have to go. You know, we probably could get Jack to assign one of the grounds men to go get the girls daily, under the circumstances."

"I could, but I won't," Angus said. "I wont' take shortcuts with the safety of my kids. Besides, as skilled as the grounds men are, I think Robert's right that he won't ask anyone to do what he wouldn't do himself. I need to do this. I need to show the kids that if they're going to decide to be fighters, once you've taken a stand to put yourself on the firewall between good and evil, first, it's gonna get hot. And second, you stand, and you continue to stand. That's the job, and if you're not prepared to stand, then go work in a shop."

"Well, agreed to some extent, just make sure you're not falling on your sword for the wrong reason," Marcus said.