Later that afternoon, I was lazing in bed with Cassie when Amanda knocked on my door. Obviously, she was staying with Lily, too - her grandfather was a worm, her father had been imprisoned in a nightmare dimension and, her brother had been turned into an infant. Cassie had just put me (and some of our new light bondage gear) through our paces, and I was curled up, half-asleep, luxuriating in her smell and her warmth.

"I can't wait to see the boys in two weeks," I murmured - that's when their spring formal was and, even if there was no St. Circe's anymore, lots of St. Circe's girls were getting invites. Cassie and I had each gotten half an invite from each of the boys - I guess they'd decided that we weren't keeping favorites anymore, and I was okay with that. Cassie was my favorite and Magnus and Liam could share second place - it was still a highly-favored place.

"Can't wait to show them all your little tongue tricks?" Cassie asked. We kissed, and I stared into her eyes, remembering how she'd almost yanked my hair out when I'd done my little symbols with my tongue, tracing them out right at the fleshy nub of her clit. I spent a lot of time thinking about new things to try and was getting good at coming up with tricks that would amplify and vary my oral and pudendal technique rather than immediately sending my lovers off into amaza-orgasm land.

"You think my tongue tricks are little?" I pouted.

She grabbed my butt and pulled me close. "No. Your tongue is adorable and little, just like the rest of you. Your tricks are huge."

"Am I more adorable than Val?"

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Way more adorable, babe. Still… I can't believe she wants to be a guy again."

"I know, right? I feel like I'll be destroying a work of art. But it's what she wants."

Just then, Amanda tapped on the door - we'd been quiet for a few minutes, and I hoped she hadn't been waiting outside for our hours of fun until we quieted down. I threw my robe on and unlocked the door from where I was, letting it swing open by itself in classic witch fashion.

"Hi, Amanda, what's… oh… hello?"

I still saw Amanda pretty frequently - I still taught for a few hours a day (lessons kept going even if the school didn't), plus I took turns with Amanda and a few other girls looking after Lucian. By all accounts, little Lucian looked to be all of about three months old and couldn't do much yet. If anything remained of my old tormentor, I didn't see it in his little baby face - no spark of malice, and the only recognition I got was the happy gurgle that Aunt Natalie was about to give him his bottle or read a book. I spent my turn a few hours a day (and night duty every third night), making sure he was entertained, clean, and fed, and so did Amanda. In any case, Amanda visiting was nothing new, but she'd come with a friend - a tall, thin guy with little twitching antennae and golden, gossamer wings folded at his back like a crinkly cape.

"Hi, Cassie… Natalie, this is…"

"Squire Arcuron Cetocenus," he said with a slight bow and no apparent qualms about introducing himself to two young women luxuriating in their bedchamber. His little silvered glasses glistened in the dim light. "I am bound, under contract, to the Bryce estate. Recently, certain conditions were met that triggered my legal response along certain matters of apportionment and bequeathal. To that end, I require the presence of all three issue of Rowan Bryce."

I rolled out of bed and padded over to him, cinching the sash of my pink kimono-style robe. "I am the 'issue' of Matthew and Matilda Warner…"

Arcuron offered a terse smile, flashing a pearl-white smile of razor-sharp teeth. "Insofar as magical obligations are involved, you are the issue of Rowan Bryce. If you wish to divest yourself of your inheritance, you may do so on your own terms, not mine. Shall we?"

"I have to go get Lucian," Amanda stated. "I think Emi's teaching him symbology."

Emi had taken an immediate liking to baby Lucian, and even Helena seemed to tolerate him pretty well (though it's possible that was just for Emi's sake). Emilia might have been a lesbian and a former boy, but she had a pretty robust set of maternal instincts, which I was happy to take advantage of. She was also surprisingly bright and decent at witchcraft, especially considering that she sounded about half that smart most of the time. "You can't teach a baby symbology," I said.

"I said she was teaching it. I don't think he's learning much," Amanda said. "Downstairs parlor?"

"Sounds good."

"I'm coming, too!" Cassie announced, and neither Amanada nor Arcuron objected.

We dressed and made our way to the downstairs parlor, temporarily evicting a group of girls working on one of my symbology projects. While we waited, Arcuron paced the room, examining the bookshelf, the wrought-iron light fixtures, the several marble statues, and even the wood paneling. With my permission, he poured himself a glass of brandy and then paced the length of the floor, stooping to trace a finger along the parquet of the main level. "Whoever designed this place has exquisite attention to detail," he stated, and his wings made a little shiver.

"As far as I know, Lily designed all of the house, aside from the more recent decor… and the half of the eastern edifice with a jacked up gable."

"Remarkable. This floor has the exact pattern of Litania's gilded court. I wonder when your mother saw it?"

I didn't point out that Lily wasn't my actual mother - she was my mother witch, which was close enough. I wondered who Litania was and where her court might be, but I didn't get a chance to ask, because Amanda padded in with little Lucian just that moment. Lucian was half-asleep and sucking on a bottle but this, apparently, did not matter for Arcuron's work. With the three of us (plus Cassie) present, he produced a small folder and removed about a thousand pages of dense documentation from it - far more than it could have possibly held - arranging them in neat little piles across the marble coffee table. There were three sets of documents for me and two each for Amanda and Lucian. The lenses of Arcuron's silvered glasses glimmered in the light.

"Upon the… disturbance… one week ago, a clause in my bondage was triggered to investigate the potential disbursement of the estates of Byron and Rowan Bryce. Having concluded my investigation and subject it to audit, I, Quire Arcuron Cetocenus of the Gilded Order am authorized to allocate the estates of both gentlemen…"

"I wouldn't call the Bryces gentlemen," I said.

Arcuron was not phased. "Of both patriarchs, then." He adjusted his spectacles. "The distribution is such, according to warlock tradition: to each issue of Byron Bryce, an equal portion of investments and assets, divided among four issue, amounting to one hundred seventy-eight point three million dollars apiece. The entirety of the physical estate in Boston… acreage unknown… and its contents go to the eldest issue, Elizabeth Miranda Bryce, not currently present."

"Holy shit… Natalie, you're rich!" Cassie shook my shoulder.

Arcuron indicated which stacks of papers detailed these accounts and investments. "To each issue of Rowan Bryce goes an equal portion of investments and assets, divided among three issue, amounting to one hundred twelve point seven million dollars apiece. The entirety of the physical estate in 'Lewis and Clark' and 'Powell' counties in Montana, acreage approximately fourteen thousand two hundred fifteen, and its contents go to the eldest issue, Natalie Penelope Bryce."

Cassie hugged me from behind and whispered in my ear: "Holy shit… Natalie, you're super rich!"

I bit my lip and looked to Amanda and Lucian (whom she was cradling), worried that she might take exception to my inheriting a boatload of 'our' family's estate, including the sprawling Montana ranch that I had nothing but traumatic memories of. It's where I'd been taken after my St. Circe's graduation, where I'd wrested control from Rowan Bryce and forced his rapey friend to castrate himself, and where I'd fled in terror from the dark riders summoned to capture me. Amanda had grown up there - I knew she had at least some fond memories of the place and, unless her father had sold them out of spite, she still had some horses there, ready to ride the trails when their mistress returned.

"I…"

Amanda shushed me. "You saved the world, Natalie. You saved me from my shitty family. And you're my sister. We are sisters, right?"

"Of course!" I said. Cassie whisked a tissue to my face even before I realized I was tearing up. "I mean… when I said I wasn't Rowan's… he's not my father, but you're definitely my sister."

"Well…" Amanda huffed. "He's not my father either, then. Fuck him. I can still ride Brown Beauty and Starfire?"

I laughed. "They're your horses! I don't even want the damn estate…" I turned to Arcuron. "What did Elizabeth say about inheriting her father's estate?"

His wings shivered. "She was of… complicated and mixed reaction. There is little stewardship she can do on the estate, you see, for Miss Bryce…" he frowned - there were several Miss Bryces. "Specifically, Miss Elizabeth Bryce, is bound by certain substantial compulsions to serve Sky Lake Ranch and cannot leave to tend to her property…"

"Sky Lake Ranch, which I now own, correct?" I asked.

"No," Arcuron stated. "You must sign and seal the document first."

So we all signed our papers. Amanda and I had to sign for Lucian, obviously, but this was permissible since we were blood relatives. Then I tracked Lily down at the School of Starlight campus (under construction) for help with a contract, for I had a plan and nobody knew magical contracts better than Lily.

+++++

We rolled through the Bryce Estate, past little hills and copses of evergreen trees, the ground about us patchy with snow. In the distance, the Montana Rockies stood, gray and white-capped on the horizon, with little streams and rivers wending between the hills leading up to them. It was a beautiful countryside, and I wondered whether I might be able to live here. But simply driving down the road dredged up memories of barely-escaping the place, of barely escaping a lifetime of rape and servitude at the hands of Rowan Bryce… it was my estate, and I felt it in my bones, but I wondered whether I could ever sleep easily here. I guess I looked nervous, because Amanda squeezed my hand.

"It's okay. It's safe here now."

"Thanks," I said. "I know it's safe, and we're two badass witches…"

"I'm not."

I ruffled her hair, even though I knew it annoyed her. "Fine… a badass witch and a badass padawan witch. Okay?"

The main house was huge, practically a castle, but built in the style of a ranch retreat: towering, steepled roofs with huge ponderosa beams, a sturdy stone edifice, and huge windows dominating the front of the house. I could feel the wards around the place, just as I'd felt the wards when we'd passed through. They were dormant now, and were likely kept dormant most of the time - even a psychopath like Rowan Bryce couldn't afford to kill his household staff with careless wards. Only the true caster of a ward was protected from its effects, and everybody under his or her protection merely had a greatly reduced chance of setting them off. But small chances add up if you cross the ward field daily. As the mistress of the estate, I could activate them any time I wanted to - I noted that it was a better defensive position than St. Circe's had been. If I had my way, we'd make the new school a lot safer. In any case, the wards of my estate were quiescent.

Amanda nudged me out of my reverie. "We have to go inside, Nat." Little Lucian reached for the knocker, a brassy ring held by an intricate gargoyle, and he started to fuss when his reach proved far too short to grasp it. "Shh… it's okay. We're going inside."

I took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

The main hallway was huge and airy. I'd only been inside it twice, and one of those times I'd been wrapped up like a mummy in magical bindings. Our entrance was so unexpected, it startled a maid, who gasped and dropped the platter she was carrying all over the floor - cloth napkins and silverware mostly. They clattered and skittered across the floor and she cursed to herself.

"S-sorry," she muttered, not bothering to make eye contact. "I didn't know Lady Katherine had guests…"

"Lady Katherine?" I said. "She doesn't."

"We're her children," Amanda added.

The woman squinted and then gasped. "Miss Amanda? I hardly recognized you… you look so young!"

"It's a long story… Valerie, is it?"

"Valencia," the maid curtsied, clearly pleased that Amanda had almost got it right. "Shall I get your mother?"

"Please get Elizabeth," I said. "From the staff?"

"The scullery maid?" Valencia tutted. "She hasn't been herself lately, you know. Lady Katherine demoted her - not fit for personal service, she said, if she was going to be so sullen and unreliable…"

"Just get her, please."

We waited at the hearth for a bit, a great sunken area just beyond the main entrance. Broad floor-to-ceiling windows to either side of the fireplace opened to a vista of a mountain lake shimmering with the reflection of ponderosa pines. Amanda sat down and made herself at home - it had actually been her home for many years, after all - propping Lucian in front of a pillow and playing with him as we waited. We heard the tap-tap-tap-tap of maids mincing across the stone floor, and Valencia arrived with a very sullen Elizabeth Bryce a moment later.

They'd been working her hard - her brief, almost-fetish maid's uniform was visibly worn, her hair done up in an unkempt bun. There were blisters on her slim fingers, and her ice-blue eyes stared daggers into the floor. But her expression quickly shifted when she looked up and saw who we were - especially recognizing me, something like hope flickered across her vision.

"Are you… you wanted to speak with me?" she said, her soft voice lilting up in pitch.

"Speak when you're spoken to, Elizabeth," Valencia said.

I waved her off. "None of that - this is my house now. I have the contract, I have the magical control, and I say each of us speaks her mind and her piece…" and little Lucian gurgled, so I added, "or his piece."

"Your house?" Elizabeth and Valencia said at once.

I nodded. "My house. Elizabeth, Arcuron Cetocenus told me he already spoke with you about your father's estate in Boston?"

Elizabeth nodded. "He did, miss…"

"Just Natalie."

"He did, Natalie. But I haven't been able to see to it." She looked to me hopefully, but couldn't maintain more than a second of eye contact - even with many of her old memories and personality traits back, that St. Circe's 'little' conditioning was strong. "I'm not allowed to leave the house… and… well, the compulsion's not as strong as before, but I have to do what the others say, and Lady Katherine will punish me if I don't obey…"

"A little obeys her betters," Valencia said automatically. Jesus, Rowan had done a number on his staff. I was glad I'd shuttled him off to a nightmare dimension. If his soul hadn't been consumed by now, he was surely stark raving mad… and a more deserving victim I could not think up.

"Yes… well… here's my problem, Elizabeth… do you prefer Elizabeth? Liz?"

"Eliza," she said. "Thanks."

I nodded. "Here's my problem, Eliza… this is my estate now, but I don't want it. Your father's estate is yours now, but you can't go there. What I propose is that we swap… you see, your compulsions are tied to this estate, and I probably could help you overcome them in time. But it would be far easier to just place you in control. All of the compulsions swap over to you - as the mistress of the estate, whatever you tell yourself to do, you'll be compelled to do… which is what you already want to do. And, in time, even that will fade." I opened my little briefcase - small and slim like me, burnished leather with little golden clasps and a silver lily stamped on the front… I thought it was very professional, even if Val had scoffed at it. I removed the contract and handed it to Eliza who, brow adorably furrowed, worked over the language.

"This isn't a trick?" she said, tears brimming in her eyes.

I traipsed over and hugged her. In my two-inch heels, petite Eliza Bryce and I were almost exactly the same height. "I helped you get yourself back," I said. "And I'm going to keep helping you get control of your life again. You're my auntie now, and I'm going to do right by you."

"I sign here?"

I nodded and handed her a witch's needle from my hair. "And blot in blood. I've already done my part on the left. Now you complete it, and this whole estate is yours and the one in Boston is mine, and you can do whatever you like here…"

Eliza signed her name, blotted the page, and blinked. "Did… did it work?"

Already, though, she could feel that it had. There was a subtle shift in the magical energy around us. The connection that I felt with the wards built into the bones of the estate faded… it was still there, and it was still strong. I was family, after all. But it no longer felt like an extension of my own magical essence. Even the other maid, Valencia, seemed to sense something different in the air. She bit her lip and cast her dark eyes over to Eliza, watching to see what would happen.

"Can I still ride my horses here?" Amanda asked.

Eliza shot her a strange expression. Everybody around here ordered her around, so she wasn't used to requests at all. Her face alit with happiness and she nodded vigorously, her dark hair spilling out of its bun, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. "Yes! Yes, of course! Any of you can come here any time… any time you like… oh my god… I… I can't believe it! This is really real?"

I nodded and hugged her again. "As real as witchcraft."

"Then there's something I have to do." Eliza set her jaw and glanced toward the big redwood staircase. "Valencia, can you please fetch the butler and the footmen?"

Valencia thought over her words. "All of them, um… Lady Elizabeth?"

"Just Eliza," she said. "Yes. Please assemble all of them."

What did Eliza do for her first order of business as Lady of the House, you might ask? She gathered all of the able-bodied men of the household and had them evict Katherine Bryce tout suite. I wondered how Amanda would react to her mother getting booted from the family home, but she took it with aplomb. Katherine Bryce wasn't a monster like Rowan had been, but neither was she a good person. She'd done wrong by her children, and there was little love lost between them. In fact, a smile crept up her sweet face as her mother's many possessions were carried out the front door and tossed onto the lawn.

"Get… get your fucking hands off me, boy! Somebody, please tell me what's going on? What am I supposed to do?" Katherine screamed as they dragged her from the place.

What would become of her? I didn't know and I didn't particularly care - she was a mediocre witch, but even a mediocre witch has little trouble making her way in the world. I'm sure she'd land on her feet. Well… she landed on her ass when the footmen pushed her out, but I'm sure she'd land on her feet eventually. Maybe she'd even be humbled by her lesson and be able to reconcile with her children. Though, I suspect, any such reconciliation would take years to accomplish.

Afterward, Eliza invited us to eat with her, and we gathered in the big dining hall, just the three of us and little Lucian occupying one small end of a banquet table that could seat two dozen. Eliza, still in her worn maid's uniform, was tickled pink to be sitting at the head of the table. Already, I was having buyer's remorse… it was a very nice house an a very nice estate. If I avoided the bits of the house that invoked bad memories, I'd still have twenty thousand square feet of mansion to enjoy. Oh well - it was Eliza's now, and I'm sure Byron's manse was every bit as impressive as his son's.

Eliza's eyes rolled back as she crunched on a buttered croissant. "I've been eating that bland glop for sixteen years, Natalie. Sixteen years! This… wow… food is good."

"With your inheritance, you can afford to eat whatever you like," I said. "And, with your family pedigree, we can get you started with magic lessons, too. There's a lot of magic about this place, and you won't be in full command until you're a witch. Maybe we can schedule lessons on the days we come over for horseback riding?"

"We?" Amanda said, bouncing in her seat.

I shrugged. "It sounds fun, and Auntie Eliza has a great big ranch." I wiped my mouth and steepled my fingers. "I have another, more serious ask, too. Answer however you like - I'm not holding anything over your head to force it. Every offer and request I've made stands, regardless. But, as you can see, and in keeping with family tradition, our little brother has undergone a bit of a regression. Once school starts up again, Amanda and I are going to have full schedules…" Actually, I had no idea whether Amanda wanted to continue her studies as a twelve year-old, and she'd given no indication one way or the other. At this point, she didn't want for options. But she didn't butt in, so I continued… "Little Lucian is a full-time job and then some. Since you're family… I understand if it's no, but a very wise woman indicated you might… um…"

"Are you asking me to be Lucian's mother?"

I took a deep breath. "Well… if you want to put it like that…"

"Of course! I've always wanted to be a mother… but I never got to… first, it was my career, and then Rowan got his hooks into me… I'd love to, and you can visit whenever you want, and we can… yes! You're serious?"

"As serious as witchcraft."

My Bryce family reunion had gone about as well as it could have, but it wasn't the only family reunion I'd have to deal with: I was still a Warner, even if not by blood anymore.

OvidLemma

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