A Found Home (RNoodles & VikingWitch)

[VikingWitch]

The carriage rattled and bumped along the long, winding dirt road. The sun started to set on the horizon casting the sky in beautiful shades of pink, red, orange, and yellow. Cadenza sighed at the sight as she let her hand rest outside the window and skim through the air. At least the place had a lovely forest view. The light cast a lovely shade on her golden hair, almost making it look like it would catch fire. Her hand looked rather pale and frail as it moved through the air, and despite her age, she looked rather tired and sickly. It wasn't made much better by the news she received.

It had been a week since she received the letter from what looked like a lawyer firm. It all looked very official, especially with that certain red wax seal. It took a while to get through all the legal jargon before she got to the meat of the letter. Cadenza’s grandmother had died and left her entire estate to her only granddaughter. She remembered her grandmother Leyla, she had to stop visiting her often when she went to the academy. It was too far away from the manor. She had been twelve or thirteen at the time, but they corresponded by mail and sometimes visited for holidays.

Cadenza was shocked and rather sad when she read that news in particular. It was so sudden and she hadn’t heard anything from her parents about Leyla being ill. How many times had she promised to visit grandmother after she graduated? She was going to show off her degree and her magic skills. They were going to run the company together. They had plans! But the funny thing about life is that it happens when you’re busy making plans. Cadenza’s parents weren’t really an option to have the inheritance, because her dad, Leyla’s son, didn’t want to handle the company, and Cadenza’s mother, though she tried, didn’t quite have the same drive to do it either. They were left a considerable sum of money at least, they weren’t completely written out of the will. There was also a personal letter from her grandmother that had been folded into the official letter.

Cadenza took out the letter and read it through again. She must’ve read it one hundred times by now. The deeply creased folds would be evidenced enough of that:

My dear Cadenza,
I find this practice especially morbid, but I must admit even to myself that I’m getting on in years. I don’t know when you’ll receive this letter, hopefully not for a few more years at least. I want to say that I am terribly proud of you, those new photographs that your father keeps going on about are positively brilliant and you do look so beautiful and bright with that degree. You’ll do great things, I know it.
Moving on to something important. If you receive this letter it means that I have passed on and my lawyer has been so kind as to include it in the official letter, bequeathing you my entire estate. This includes my mansion, the company, and all property therein. I’m also leaving you my staff to get you better acquainted with the place and to help you run things until you get back on your feet. I know we had plans, my little songbird, but these things happen. If I don’t see you again before I pass, just know that I am so proud and so happy for you. I’ve never blamed you for your recent distance, I was young once too. I only wish I could see your face when you arrive.
With all my love,
Grandmother Leyla

Cadenza folded the letter back up and stuck it back in her pocket. She looked back up and gasped at the sight. She could barely remember the manor before and seeing it now took her breath away. The place looked well maintained at least, apart from the ivy growing up the sides. That was ok though, Cadenza remembered that grandmother loved the ivy and the flowers that bloomed. She wondered if she would be late for their blooms. The building itself looked like it was made from alabaster and the roof looked like it was covered in moss, something else that her grandmother didn’t mind. The building was huge and Cadenza honestly couldn’t remember how many rooms were in it. She did remember the greenhouse in the back and that the land that the manor resided on went on for many acres. She really should’ve visited more often.

The carriage stopped right outside the big double doors that had intricate designs of many plants and creatures all over them. The footman opened the door for her and Cadenza stepped out and stared up at the building. Cadenza didn’t quite look the part of an heiress yet. Her golden blonde hair was tied up in a high ponytail and she still wore her white blouse and black trousers. They were just easier to travel in. The sunlight still bounced off her grey eyes and the light was reflected in her warm smile. “It’s a lovely home for you, madame,” the driver said and nodded with a smile.

“It is,” Cadenza said. “Thank you, sir.”

They helped her pull out her luggage and lug it up the steps before they nodded to her and drove away. Cadenza took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. She supposed she should knock, the staff were still there after all and it did seem rude to just barge in and take over the place immediately. Cadenza knocked on the big doorknockers and waited patiently.

 

[RNoodles]

That knock echoed into the stillness of the estate, of the home. Silence followed, spent in the shadow of the looming estate. Silence followed for some time until a bassy voice called out from the hedges, a low voice with a noble depth to it.

“Not a one will answer. The staff left some time ago.” From the bushes stepped an immense figure. He stood just over seven feet tall, then his horns pointed higher. He was a minotaur, with broad set shoulders of thick muscle and broad arms laced with scars. Short, light brown fur covered his body with a golden ring around one cracked horn. His body was more than twice as wide as she, he worked shirtless in rugged pants leading down to working boots. Those two broad pecs spanned his chest coming down to vaguely defined abs, a musculature formed from hard physical labor meant for physical labor more than for show. The scent of fresh grass lingered on him as he slowly approached, removing his gloves.

He gave a surprisingly gentle bow despite his size, making a subtle bovine snort as he took in the sight of her, and spoke again. “I am what is left of staff. I received word of your arrival. You are Cadenza.”

The groundskeeper spoke the question as if it were a statement, came bluntly. Trousers were held up by a thick leather belt, flecks of grass and leaves from his trimming still dotted his arms. He listened patiently to her, moved and hefted her luggage under one arm as if they weighed nothing at all.

 

[VikingWitch]

She waited a bit, a few minutes in fact as the knock echoed through the hallways behind the door. Cadenza jumped when she heard a voice behind her and turned to see a rather large figure approach her. She was a bit taken aback by the minotaur, he was quite an imposing sight, but perhaps not too out of place for a groundskeeper. She assumed that’s what he was by his appearance and the various debris around his form. Cadenza didn’t say anything until the minotaur lifted her luggage as though it were no lighter than a box of feathers. “Ah, I see,” she said quickly. “I suppose it wouldn’t be so rude to go in without them then.”

She slowly opened the door and looked inside at the manor. It didn’t seem ill kept at least, a bit dusty perhaps, but it seemed the groundskeeper tried his best to keep the place tidy. “Thank you…” she trailed off as he marched past her with her luggage and realized he hadn’t given her a name yet. “So sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

Cadenza didn’t really know what to do, especially now, the letter stated that the staff was also included in her inheritance. They had the right to leave of course, but they couldn’t have said something to her face? There wasn’t really anyone there to get her settled or anyone to guide her through these things now. Grandmother’s estate and her company were now in her hands and she didn’t even know where to start.

If she looked a bit overwhelmed, she didn’t bother to hide it. She stepped into the manor and looked around at the entrance, it was still so big and open and airy. Exactly how Leyla would like it. They made their way through the house and she looked around at everything. It hadn’t changed much, though the fireplaces were long put out, they would probably be tended to a bit later. The furniture looked a bit different at least, if not always plush and comfortable. The mansion rooms always had high ceilings and everything was huge. Cadenza remembered a particular phrase that her grandmother adopted from the younger kids that Cadenza brought around when she was a kid, "Go big or go home" and Leyla always referred to everything in her house as such. She didn't think there was a point in having a bunch of money if she wasn't going to make a few things bigger than necessary. The walls on the inside were also made out of the same material as the outside wall, so the rooms always had a warm glow from the lights on the walls and the fireplaces.

Now the place felt too big and too empty.

 

[RNoodles]

The minotaur’s heavy boots echoed in the cavernous halls, as did the deeper, bovine snort he made. His body turned to her, taking a bit of time to do so with her luggage securely held. He made a sweeping bow to her, in doing so the muscles of his body shown more. That same deep voice rumbled and carried with little effort, “my name is Andros. I am the groundskeeper. That staff that used to see to the hall’s upkeep became dismayed by debt leaked about the estate. I have ensured they set the house as it should before leaving.”

A letter had arrived earlier alerting the absent staff of Cadenza’s arrival, cared for by one solemn minotaur. Truth be told, part of his life went missing when Leyla passed away. There was a certain lemon teacake he had enjoyed when she inhabited the halls, it had been a long time since those teacakes had been made. The place felt incomplete without one of the family inhabiting it, and he had been looking forward to her arrival.

Sheets had been thrown over much of the furniture to keep dust from collecting, and some rooms had been disassembled altogether with furniture cast to one side and shelves clothed up. Without checking to see if she followed, he ascended stone steps to the upstairs landing. While his body was relaxed his muscles appeared dense and thick, while in use the details were better brought out to her, more visible. There were a series of rooms, guest rooms and family, and Andros made his way to the master bedroom once inhabited by her grandmother.

Her things were set down. The room, like others, was clothed up to keep the furniture from being damaged. Spacious, colorful, adorned with art, the room had its own fireplace and master bath with a bed larger than king sized at the center. Arms crossed as the minotaur addressed her with a gruff snort, “do you intend to follow your grandmother’s trade? From the stories, I understand you know a great deal about magic and the magical.”

As he spoke he handed her a key ring with no less than thirty keys, each of their own shapes and sizes and hardly any labels to them, clanking loudly on a rusty ring.

 

[VikingWitch]

Cadenza followed the minotaur dutifully, but she didn’t really realize where she was going. Her eyes were kept lowered, only able to keep her eyes on his feet to keep following him. Finally, she raised her head to see where Andros had taken her and she froze at the door when she realized where she was and she couldn’t move in further. It was her grandmother’s room, everything was covered in sheets, but she could almost see how the room used to look before. It was always warm, colorful, and full of life but now it looked like the room was full of ghosts. She didn’t register what Andros said to her for a few seconds too long and she shook herself out of her shock. “Oh,” she started. “I mean, I… yes.”

She tried to get the words out but realizing that her grandmother was truly gone and would have to take over everything, it hit her like a landslide. It wasn’t fair, they had plans, they were going to run the business together, they were going to make it big, she was going to go travelling and have a beautiful life. Suddenly, Cadenza started to cough and wheeze violently. She reached into her pocket and quickly withdrew a handkerchief that she coughed into. After a few seconds of that, her nose running, and tears falling, she looked at the cloth and grimaced at the black dots that scattered across the white plain. She quickly folded it back up and tucked it into her pocket. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I haven’t been well these past few…”

She trailed off, had she ever been well? She had always been a sickly child, but it seemed to be getting worse in the past few weeks since she got the letter. Stress always exacerbated her condition. “I haven’t been well the past few weeks,” she said. “Yes, I’ll be taking over the company, though I’d have preferred it to have been done a different way.”

Without her grandmother and very little staff, she was on her own to figure everything out and she had no idea where to start. “Do I have to be in this room?” she asked. “It doesn’t really feel right for me to be here yet.”

Cadenza would prefer to earn the room first before she just takes over as the house's new lady. It felt insensitive and arrogant to do so.

 

[RNoodles]

Andros’s horned head tilted as she coughed, clear concern read in his eyes as she regarded him again. There was an attentiveness to his eyes, an unspoken clarity and deep caring behind them. The larger mintoaur was slower to act but deliberate in action, purpose behind each movement he made. He made a bovine snort in answer to her words, and with her request he lifted her luggage again without hesitation. “You do not have to be in this room. Come with me.”

Cadenza was led to the hall, the groundskeeper following her to the room she picked. The minotaur attempted to hold the door open for her but in doing so was in the way himself, inadvertently causing her to brush up to his bare chest to pass. Her items were set down and Andros filled the doorway. “I make breakfast at five, I keep your grandmother’s habit of brunch at eleven. You may join me for either, I would enjoy your company. Do you remember where everything in the house is?”

 

[VikingWitch]

Thankfully Andros was understanding of her reasoning and led her to a different room. She decided to stay in her usual room only a few doors down from Leyla’s old room. It was just as luxurious, if not a bit smaller than the master bedroom. This one was much better decorated to her tastes as well, still having the same dark and starry silk canopy and less artwork. There used to be a vase full of the roses that she loved so much. Now everything was draped in white sheets and sun-bleached walls held blank squares where portraits and paintings used to hang. Andros set down her luggage and then asked if she remembered where everything was. Cadenza shook her head. “Sorry, I really only remember the entrance hall and the greenhouse,” she said.

With that Andros nodded and signaled for her to follow, no doubt to give her a grand tour. First was the floor that they were currently on, filled with the master bedroom and at least five other guest rooms all with en suite bathrooms and other more personal amenities. The rest of the rooms on the second floor consisted of a study and an office that used to be Leyla’s main areas of work. The office was stacked with old paperwork and books on business, marketing, and accounting. Things that Cadenza would no doubt need to go through. The study was more like a small library with a few shelves stacked with books, a large fireplace, a loveseat, and two overstuffed armchairs along with a tea table for each seat. There were a few other rooms, but they were quite blocked off for some reason. No doubt there was something left for Cadenza to figure out in the manor.

They went back down to the first floor that was a bit more expansive than the second. Of course, there was the entrance hall that branched off into the dining hall on the right that was made specifically for large events. Leyla always made time for holiday parties and even family birthdays if someone so wished. The table could seat at least sixty people and was made of dark ebony wood, along with the intricately carved chairs that looked like they were made with black briar branches. Despite that, the room usually looked warm and inviting with the fireplace at the far end and braziers usually being lit all around. All of them were doused and the room looked cold and empty.

The more she saw of the place, the more determined Cadenza became to fix the place up and return it to its former glory. The aura of death and grief hung around the place like a thick fog that refused to clear. She would clean and repair it until it was perfect, even if she had to do it herself. Next up was the living room on the left of the entrance hall. A larger room with an L-shaped couch and a few more overstuffed armchairs. Another fireplace was against the wall surrounded by the covered furniture with a large coffee table in the middle. When Cadenza was younger, the two used to take the cushions of the chairs and couch, grabbed as many blankets as possible, and made elaborate pillow forts that were castles, army forts, even a witch’s cabin. She smiled at the memory.

Then further down the hall was the kitchen, made for about three members of staff to work simultaneously with such a large dining hall it seemed a bit too small, but Leyla always prided herself on getting involved with the cooking so the space was far more intimate. It contained two ovens, two stoves, two farm sinks, and all kinds of cabinets for dishes and pots and pans. No doubt the famous tea kettle was packed away somewhere in one of them. The entire kitchen was covered in red and gold tiles and some fraying rugs lay limply on the floor.

Beyond that were a few more blocked-off rooms that neither she nor Andros remembered what they were, a puzzle for another time. At the back of the manor was a glass sunroom that opened out into the garden and the greenhouse, both looked like they’d fallen into disrepair, the glass definitely needed cleaning and the greenhouse looked a bit overrun. The garden at least looked well kept, being the groundskeeper, Andros was probably more adept at taking care of the garden than the manor. The hall turned off to loop back around to the entrance hall. On the other end of that hall was a poolhouse. It was a rather large pool with a few pool chairs around the edge. The pool was also in a state of neglect, a few of the glass windows were open letting a few leaves and other debris float in and fall in the pool. It basically looked like the sunroom except for the pool in the center of the room.

Before they reached the entrance hall again there was another door and Cadenza knew that the door led to “the tower”. It wasn’t much of one considering it only went up about the same height as the manor, but it was a cylindrical structure connected to the building, but it was also blocked off. Which seemed a bit odd or maybe not, since she knew the place existed but even when she was younger Cadenza had never seen the inside of the tower.

Finally, they came back around to the entrance hall and Cadenza sighed at how long they had been walking. “Looks like there are a few places I’ll have to look into a bit more thoroughly later on,” she said.

 

[RNoodles]

Andros led the tour with a fondness for the home. His weighty footsteps left wisps of grasses that collided with the dryer ones left from previous treks around the house. The place was well maintained from a structural standpoint: regular replacements were still being made and the place was well winterized without a leak in sight. It was clear that the place hadn’t had a proper housekeeper in ages. Dust built up in lesser used rooms, some curtains were sun faded on their outward facing side from months upon months of being left closed.

With her words he nodded, another subtle, bovine snort as he opened the door, intending to leave but lingering on the threshold. Gold sunlight contrasted the hard muscle of his body as the wind drew his grassy scent towards her. “I kept what I could in proper working order. It is a beautiful home that would do well with some love. I have work to continue, but call on my help if you need me. If I may ask, what do you intend to do next now that you are here?”