The Reed Legacy
Chapter 9
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Longer author’s note - Some people
have been wondering just where the hell I came up with this storyline and how
it can pertain to the Card Captor Sakura series and manga.
I got my inspiration from can be found easily in Card Captor Sakura: Master of
the Clow, pages 40-43. Yes that is
Nadeshiko, but you’ll understand more later as the chapters progress.
Thanks everyone that replied to the
last chapter I posted, and now onto thory.ory.
Special thanks again goes to Dr. Megalomania for just inspiring me to
get another chapter out. Hopefully I
can use this as a bribe for the next chapter of her epic In This Tainted Soul,
Find Redemption. If you haven’t read it
yet, or the earlier stories, I suggest you do so. The stories are fantastic, and you’ll understand just why I’m
being shameless about begging for more.
See, see Dr. M? Shameless plug,
and it’s all for you.
Disclaimer-I can only lay claim to
Millie, various servants and assorted extras, and this storyline.
of this fiction.
f !sf !supportEmptyParas]>
Chapter 9- Pros ans and Wedding
Plans
When Millicent descended the
stairs, it was not more than eight minutes after leaving Clow’s room.
Clow smirked as she flounced into
the breakfast room, knowing she spelled herself into her morning gown.
in her haste to prove him wrong. Millie
had always been easy to provoke when she was younger, and she evidently still
was.
Not to say that Clow ’t a’t appreciate
her preparation, but good-natured teasing never hurt anyone.
“So nice of you to join us
Firefly.”n stn style="mso-spacerun: yes"> He needled.
Fuming, the auburn haired woman
slipped into a chair, ignoring Clow.
“Good morning Grandfather.”
Damien Reed chuckled; things were
progressing well with his charges.
Millicent, having grown up for the most part in the Reed household, was
as much his grandchild as Clow was.
“Good morning my dear.”
Reaching for a croissant, Millicent
felt something nudge her leg through her voluminous skirts, and then a blast of
hot air startled her.
“Clow! She’s got no knickers on under here!”
“KEROBEROS!”
gaze settled on the guardian’s owner.
“I didn’t do it!
Clow cried out in defense, just as shocked at Kero as Millicent was.
“Your guardian, your problem.”
straight. It was unseemly for this
behavior to come from a creation, regardless if it was given free thought and
thin boundaries.
“She has a point son, go discipline
your guardian and come back.” The elder
Reed agreed.
“Indeed…Come along Keroberos.”
the table.
“But Clow…” The feline interjected.
“No pudding if you continue your protesting.”
“If it’s your pudding, I don’t want
it.” Came the snappish comeback.
“You’re forbidden to leave the wine
cellar for today.”
“Aw, but Clow…” That was the
worst thing Clow could do to his guardian, deny him sunlight for the day and he
might learn to listen better.
“Move Keroberos.”
The yellow lion slunk out of the
room, followed by a very unhappy looking Clow.
“I’m sorry about that my
dear.” The Reed family head said as he
used his telekinesis to close the door behind the two going out.
“It’s alright, I was more startled
than anything. I really expected more
from him and his guardian.” Millicent
said as she settled back down in her seat.
“Keroberos is unruly with words, I
don’t understand it.”
The girl picked up a roll and
drenched the inside with butter and honey.
“I understand it all too well.
Clow gave him all the impulses and childishness that he wished he could
still act upon.”
Meanwhile, in the wine celler, Clow
was reciting an incantation. Weaving a
spell over the lion to change him.
Leaving the guardian to act and respond the same, but removing the
undesirable impulses of impetuous youth, the ones that are unacceptable in
public and married life.
When Clow finished the incantation,
he “felt” his creation and realized the intricate differences.
Kero wonevenever realize anything
was different, but Clow would, and it saddened and scared him.
change the makeup of a living creature, especially one close to him.
make something live, it was frightening.
The eccentric magician shuddered
with the thought that he could most likely do it with people as well.
power, never write the spell out. One
more thing to take to the grave. It was
just too dangerous; if it fell into the wrong hands it could change the course
of history.
When he returned to the breakfast
room, he looked grimmer than when he had left.
“Clow? Is everything alright?”
His fiancé asked, infinitely concerned.
All the young man could do was
shake his head no as he retook his seat.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No Millie, I’ll never want to talk
about it.”
“Oh, alright.”
pain, anger, and confusion rolling off him in waves.
“Are you alright though
Millie? Kero still isn’t used to you
being around, and it was my fault he acted the way he did.”
“I’m fine Clow.
“He’s alright, but he’ll never be
the same again.”
Damien frowned at that comment, but
refrained from asking for an explanation.
The remainder of breakfast was a
tense affair, until the morning mail arrived.
The silver salver the butler arrived with was overflowing with cards and
envelopes. Few were addressed to
Damien, and those being from his close-knit circle of friends and his
solicitor. The rest were addressed to
Clow.
The young bespectacled magician
gaped at the mound of paper in front of him.
Millicent, having been raised to become a wife took the pile and began
opening envelopes and sorting through things that required immediate attention,
and things that could wait a few hours.
“Clow,” the young woman said while
reading over various invitations. “I suggest you leave the woman things to me,
and go fix the problem.”
“The problem?”
around the problem he had just fixed and created for himself.
“Yes Clow,” Amber eyes caught his
gaze over the top of a card, “the problem.”
“Oh! Yes! The problem.
to do with magic, and leave the room completely, Clow bolted from his chair and
out of the room.
The younger Reed was glad to shut
himself in his room and pursue his favorite thing, creating a new card.
draw up and sign betrothal papers.
Legal work was best left to those
who could understand it, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and
Clow was desperate. As much as he and
Millicent fought, he couldn’t bear to see her on the arm of another man.
There weren’t many magical families
in England, even less in London proper, and of those families he recalled very
few that had males of marriageable age now.
A shudder worked its way down his spinehe rhe recalled one family.
odds for too many years to count. They
were cruel, and ugly down to their rotten black souls. But they were rich, far
richer than the Reeds, though only slightly less talented in the magical
arts. They would do anything; give
anything, to bring about the downfall of their rival. Including making a compact with deposed Frencbilibility.
The Deverford family, heirs of the
ducal lands of Cornwall, could trace their family back to before the Norman’s
even thought of crossing the Channel.
They had always been known as liars, cheats, and thieves.
for others.
Clow worked on agreagreement as
hard as he would work on his magic. He
would make sure Millie would never fall into their hands.
Hours later the whimsical magician
thundered down the stairs, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Millie!”
The soon to be Mrs. Reed ran out of
the study as fast as her satin slippered feet could take her.
Clow thrust the document and a
quill in her direction. “Sign it
quick. I need to get this to my
solicitor, post haste.”
Millie took the document to a side
table and signed her name with a flourish.
“You found a spell that can reverse time?”
“Better, I finished the card that
will transport me back in time.”
“Clow!
focal point on both ends or you’ll be lost in the time stream.”
Ocean blue bore into whiskey
sunlight as he grabbed her arms.
“Millie, if I don’t get this document there two weeks past, you won’t be
marrying me, you’ll be marrying Lucius Deverford, Duke of Cornwall.”
A tiny gasp and a widening of her
eyes wll Mll Millicent could manage in reaction.
The Duke, the Dark Duke, her Uncle
Sabastien had sold her to the devil himself.
“Do you understand why I have to
use the card now? I’ll never let him
get his hands on you, never! I swear
it.”
Millicent leaned into Clow’s broad
chest and soaked in a bit of his masculine strength. “I pledged myself to you when I was four Clow.
The dark haired man enfolded her
calming femininity into him. “I won’t
let it Firefly. I won’t let anything
come between us ever again. To ensure
that I have to go with this document.”
“Use me as your focal point.
than two blocks from the solicitor’s office.”
Clow kissed her briefly, not more
than a peck on the lips. “I’ll be back
soon, so you can pester me with all your female trivialities.”
“Clow!”
His eyes danced with laughter.
“Always.”
Clow lifted the leather cord his
key hung upon and spoke the incantation to release its full power, then tossed
the card in the air and pointed the staff at it. “Card of Clow, I command that you send me two weeks into the
past, to the day Millicent went to market!
Return!”
And with a swirl of golden power,
Clow was gone.
Millicent stood in the hall, pale
and shaking. Focal points require vast
amounts of magic to be able to remain constant. Time spells always sap magic quickly, and in mass quantity.
power left her cold and sick feeling.
She only hoped that he would remain in the past long enough for her to
recover some of her strength, or he might not be able to return.
Two weeks prior, at the market.
The Return card left Clow in an
alleyway some two blocks from the solicitor’s office, just as Millicent had
said.
He cautiously peeked around the
corner, taking care not to be spotted, as he wasn’t supposed to be here.
He spotted the Millie of two weeks
ago easily. She was the most beautiful
woman in town. Her mass of unruly hair
also helped make the identification.
What startled him most about her appearance was the swarm of ratty
looking street children clamoring around her.
She did not act as most highborn
ladies would and ignore them, or call for the constable to have them
removed. His Millie stood there and
handed out sweet treats and a few coins to every child.
baby, uncaring that the dirt that covered it was ruining her dress.
Millie and her throng of tiny
orphans marched into the tailor shop and marched out in new clothing.
got clothing, a hug, and money for a hot meal.
His heart melted at her loving
smile. She was so much better than he
was, and didn’t complain, much.
Shaking himself out of the daze,
Clow marched out of the alley and down the two blocks to the solicitor’s
office.
The assistant was all too eager to
show Clow directly into the office and close the door behind him.
Jonas Johnson Esq. had been the
Reed family lawyer for the past twenty years.
At nearly fifty-eight years old, he had served four generations of Reed
men. Seeing the fourth generation walk
in with purpose in his stride gave him hope that he would live to see the fifth
generation be born.
The Reeds may not have been as
powerful or influential as they had been in earlier years, but they were no
less kind or generous. They were the
kind of people you bent over backwards to help. Eccentric thouhey hey may be, they were a cut above the upper
crust.
“What can I do for you Mr. Reed?”
rise from his chair.
“Please, don’t get up on my
account. My business won’t take long.”
“What kind of business is it?”
“I came to give to you and register
with you, my betrothal agreement.”
“And who might be the lucky lady?”
“Millicent Suppinel.”
“It’s about damn time boy.”
Clow smiled.
lawyer and client. That was the only
reason Clow wasn’t offended.
Present time
Millicent sat in the study trying to regain her
composure. Sipping a cup of tea with
extra honey, she tried to go through the mound of invitations and calling
cards. The cold empty feeling that
accompanied the magic drain refused to leave her.
A knock came at the door to the drawing room.
“Come in.”
A servant opened the door and curtsied.
gentleman caller.”
“Ask him to leave a card and I will get back to
him. I am not up to sociable company
right now.” The soon to be Mistress of
the house said without looking up from the correspondence.
“Ma’am, he’s no’ the type ta take no fer an answer.”
“And who pray tell is this gentleman that wouldn’t
accept that answer froladylady?”
“Pardon the intrusion Mademoiselle Supinel, but I
felt that I must plead my case in person, rather than going through the usual
formalities that would take weeks to go around.”
Millie couldn’t help the gasp of surprise that came
when she saw who had darkened her doorstep.
Lucius Deverford, the Dark Duke himself stood in the doorway.
“Your Grace, your presence is unexpected.
introduced, and my fiancé is not home.”
She prayed the set down for his breech of etiquette would be enough to
have him leave for the time being.
The smoky gray eyes of the Duke seemed to penetrate
her soul with just a glance. It
unnerved her to no end.
“My dear, you are misinformed.
slight of hand Reed. Your Uncle assured
me that the court jester of magicians had no legal claim on you, and as your Uncle
is your guardian and has signed the papers binding you to me, I have come to
claim you.”
Another Chapter added. Sorry about the wait. The
next chapter may be longer in coming, I’m graduating in May and I have a lot of
work to do. Hopefully I’ll have the
next chapter done in a month, but no guarantees.
Ja ne!