Free The Emerald Staff by Alison Pensy Page B

out there with
her, reading a book and sipping on a mug of hot buttered rum, no
doubt.
    He didn’t waste his time by checking upstairs
first. Instead he turned to his left and headed for the kitchen,
which led to his mother’s garden. As he approached the open kitchen
door, he could hear the bustle of servants moving pans and chopping
ingredients. An aroma wafted down the hall towards him; the
delicious smell made his mouth water. He realized then that he had
not eaten for some time and his stomach growled to remind of that
fact.
    He leaned quietly against the doorframe for a
moment, content to watch the servants bustle around the kitchen.
The kitchen was huge, not quite as big as the one in the castle,
but not far from it. Shiny copper pots hung from wrought iron racks
suspended above the table. Glass fronted cabinets lined one wall
and they were filled with some of the finest china in the land.
Along the other wall stood the wide-open fireplace with racks for
cooking meat, and next to that, was a big black cooking range.
    He could see the housekeeper discussing menus
with the cook at the other end of the kitchen and wandered over to
them. The housekeeper took a step back in surprise when she looked
up to see him approach, and a wide welcoming smile lit her
face.
    “Master Faen, what a lovely surprise. Oh,
your mother will be so excited to see you.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Forbes. Do you know where
she is?”
    “Oh, yes, Master Faen, she is out in her
garden. Said she had herbs to tend to.”
    Faen smiled and inclined his head before
making his way out of the kitchen heading for his mother’s
garden.
    Upon exiting the back of the house, he strode
past the enormous old tree that was surrounded by a carpet of
bluebells. It had limbs coming out of the trunk from every
conceivable angle. Huge tree limbs grew along the ground and the
look of them now sparked memories of the hours spent playing in its
branches when he was a child.
    He approached the archway of the walled
garden in silence and leaned against the cool brick.
    His father was right where he thought he
would be, relaxing in a high backed oak garden chair, reading. A
mug of steaming brew standing on a little table beside him. Faen
smiled. It felt good to be home. He turned his attention towards
his mother who was bending over a raised bed of herbs.
    Janessa blew a breath upwards to try and
dislodge an errant strand of hair that had escaped her immaculately
coiffed do and fallen onto her face. It didn’t work; the loose
strand flopped back onto her face a second later to continue
annoying her. Distracted, she forgot to take off her dirty gloves
before carefully pulling the strand of hair back and trying to tuck
it away, leaving a smudge along her cheek in the process. She took
hold of the miniature trowel again and continued her weeding. Her
husband diverted his gaze to look over the top of his reading
glasses and watched her for a moment. He gave her a wistful smile
and shook his head before returning his attention to his book.
    She couldn’t look more out of place in the
garden if she tried. She was dressed in all her usual finery. The
beautiful dress she wore was the color of a full-bodied Merlot,
with dainty matching slippers peeking out from under the hem of her
full skirt. She had on a bejeweled necklace that lay at her throat,
but the whole image was completely destroyed by the big white apron
tied about her waist that was smudged with dirt. Faen smiled, that
was his mother and he loved her dearly. The image brought back
memories of growing up, where he spent more time in her garden than
he did rubbing shoulders with fae society.
    At that moment, Janessa noticed him standing
in the archway and shrieked with delight, which made his father,
who was just putting the mug to his lips, jump and spill his
buttered rum down his clean white shirt.
    “Good grief, Nessa, are you trying to give me
a heart attack?” He gave her a mock scolding as he grabbed a cloth
from