Dearly Beloved - Chapter Thirty (Patreon)

The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

Chapter Thirty

I awoke.

I was on a hard stone floor. Chains rattled when I moved my arms, and as I tried to stand, I could feel more chains held me there as well.

"Father!" I yelled. "You're ruining a thousand dollar tailored suit! Release me now, and I can explain!"

It was dark. I mean, really dark. Even with my new enhanced eyesight, I could barely make out that I was chained to some kind of table. I remembered that table. It was the ritual altar of the White Court.

Father was a fan of rituals. If there was something he wanted, more than likely, he had a ritual to get it for him.

I'd been stupid to assume I could just waltz in without my own protection. I'd taken Father at his word, and under the rules of being a guest, I should not have been detained. Apparently, the rules of being his daughter outweighed the rules of the guest: stupid mistake, Lara.

My phone buzzed. It was on the altar. I tried to go over to it, but it was, of course, just out of reach.

I giggled suddenly. But it wasn't out of reach of my voice. Father had made a mistake. Best not to tip my hand too soon, however. I wanted to see what he had in mind. If I escaped too soon, I'd never know what he'd intended.

The cuffs were functional—rusted steel. I sighed, so old school, my Father.

I had a few means of getting out of this, but they would mean pain and damage to my gorgeous body. I wanted to see what his intentions were before I took any actions.

Plus, I wanted to test Elise's allegiance. I suspected Father did this without her consent. But by now, she had to know I was down here. I wondered if she would be loyal to him or to me. I knew if it appeared he had the upper hand, she would probably throw in with him, but I wanted to make absolutely sure before I annihilated both of them.

Lara had battled her Father for years to become head of the family. They had a constant back-and-forth tussle over Domination, and Lara had come out on top years ago after making him a puppet. If the puppet could bite, I needed to know for future reference. House Raith probably wouldn't survive the complete removal, or death, of its patriarch at this particular moment in time, but I had friends in high places that could take him out in an instant if needed.

The question was, which friend should I reach out to?

This occupied my mind a bit as I heard people enter. I could see my Father approaching with an honest to god Torch, with Elise by his side. This was disappointing, I'd really hoped she wasn't in league with him, but it appeared this was a coup attempt.

"Chained to the table, really?" I said, holding up my hands.

He shrugged. "Until you can tell me, honestly, who you are I can not grant you access to Raith family personal information. It's just a precaution, so you can drop the disguise any time."

"It's not a disguise," I said. "I'm sure you can sense the 'family curse.'"

"It's a very clever disguise, but disguise nonetheless. You did not enter Lara's code into the pin pad upon entry, and Lara knows absolutely that must be done with each and every visit."

Dammit. I knew that. Sighing, I dug deep into Lara's memories.

"Do you have the pin pad handy? I can enter it now."

Confused, he nodded and set a small device on the table in front of me. I pressed a series of ten buttons, and the light flashed green 'access granted.'

He frowned. "That makes no sense. Why didn't you enter it when you came through?"

I sighed. I wasn't going to pull the wool over the old coot's eyes anyway.

"You are correct, I'm not Lara, not completely. Though I am as complete a Lara as anyone else."

"Where is my daughter?"

"It's a long story. Now that I've entered the correct PIN let's go back upstairs. You must know you can't keep me in here for long, Father, these cuffs are ancient, and I could have been out of them in a few minutes."

He shrugged, pulling out a key. "Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways." He tossed the key to me, and I clumsily unlocked my hands and ankles."

Rubbing my skin and trying to get the blood flowing, I said: "Shall we go back up to the house?"

"Let's walk along the beach. I feel the need for fresh air."

So we walked, and I told them about the events that had me currently stuck in his daughter's body and with her memories.

The day was cool, and overcast. Gray clouds hung low in the sky, hinting at the promise of rain or snow later in the day. Wind tousled my hair and clothes as we walked, and several times I had to raise my voice to be heard.

We stopped after I finished my dissertation.

"So, you're Harry Dresden."

"Sort of, but not really," I said. "I was Harry, but the longer I'm in Lara, the more I become her."

"And she took your body. Not the other way around."

"No, I asked her for help. She took advantage of the situation to relieve herself of the curse of the White Court."

"You willingly allowed a white court vampire to access your mind. A Wizard's mind at that. You didn't think that was exceedingly stupid?"

That hurt. I started to walk again, back in the direction we'd come.

"So, what will you do now?"

I shrugged. "Oh, you know, be more stupid."

"Look, Harry…or, Lara, as I suppose you are now. I didn't intend to offend you."

"Offense taken."

"You have to see that was a mistake, now, don't you?"

"Honestly?"

He nodded, genuinely curious.

"It might have been the best thing that happened to me."

He smiled. "You enjoy being a woman so much?"

I started walking again. "It's not the being female part, though that is a pleasant surprise. It's more…"

"You enjoy the wealth of the Raith Family, of course."

"Who wouldn't?" I chuckled. "But no, Harry's last raid was the vault of Hades, and let me tell you, it paid off, bigly."

"Ugh, I detest that word."

"Regardless, Harry might not have had the billions of Raith Industries, but he was very wealthy with zero future responsibility managing it."

"I see."

"So the money is nice, but Lara is a busy gal, so…yeah."

"So why do you find this life so attractive when obviously my daughter rejected it so soundly."

"I took my daughter to the park yesterday. She called me 'Mommy.' It was, nice."

"Nicer than her calling you daddy?"

"Maybe a little. I realized that is where my priority is now, that is what I want to do. I want to raise my daughter in a loving environment."

"Which is practically the antithesis of being a White Court Vampire. Love has no place in our vocabulary."

"Come off it, pops. You have three daughters and one son."

"One living son. After I killed the others. And three living daughters, two of which are enthralled to me."

I glanced at Elise, who shrugged.

"Yes, but you can't tell me you don't feel love for them."

"I feel protective. I feel determined. I feel the need to have a legacy, even in my declining years of what has been an exceedingly long life."

"Well, I love my daughter. I love my pe…Karrin Murphy. I love my brother Thomas Raith. I loved being at the helm of Raith industries and directing things. And, Father mine, I could probably love you if you'd stop chaining me to tables."

"Inconsequential, child. Who you love or not love is of no consequence."

"That's where you're wrong. The meaning of Life is Relationship. It isn't how much physical wealth you assemble, or how many helicopters you have, or if you have the latest car. It's about who you choose to share your time on Earth with, and the meaningful manner in which you spend that time."

He thought about that a few moments as we walked.

"Wise words, Wizard."

I chuckled. "I'm a Wizard no longer."

"And there's no chance that 'Harry' might return and reclaim his life?"

"Who knows," I said as we made our way back into the Deeps. "He certainly didn't seem interested when last we talked."

"You slipped when you referred to Miss Murphy."

I pressed the button for the elevator. "Did I?"

"You almost referred to her as your pet. You've enthralled her, haven't you?"

"Harry enthralled her before I did."

"But you didn't dispel the enthrallment. You've enhanced it."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

He gathered me into an embrace then. "That's my daughter."

I smelled his cologne and the ever-present aroma of pipe tobacco. I hugged him back, wincing.

As we exited the top, I said: "So are we going to talk about Inari?"

He shook his head. "I appreciate your honesty, but no. Until I can talk to my actual daughter in whatever vessel she might be in, I refuse to divulge any more family information than you already have. I won't take any steps to interfere; as you can tell, Lara has essentially taken over the family, which is now your role that your choosing to accept. But until I know the permanency of this situation, I won't risk any of my direct family."

"That's fair."

"I will ask, on your honor as Harry, and as my daughter's stand-in, please do not investigate for yourself. She has chosen a path where she wants some privacy at the moment, and once things have settled with 'Harry', we can consider what family steps to take."

"Well, back 'atcha then, Pops. I won't take any steps if you promise not to take any steps either. I liked Inari, and I don't want you taking her out either."

He gave a wry grin. "It is agreed, Wizard."

"Not a wizard," I said, smiling.

"Agreed, Daughter."

"Thank you."

Elise walked me back to the Estate Limo after Father had departed.

"Gee, thanks for the backup."

"Oh, we've all been chained to the table a time or three," Elisa said. "At least he didn't whip you this time."

"True."

"You know when push comes to shove, I got your back 'Sis.'"

"I hope so," I said.

She giggled. "It's hard to believe Harry Dresden is in there."

"I feel less and less Harry with each passing day."

She nodded. "Well, take care of yourself, whoever you are."

"You too, darling."

We grasped hands, and then she let go. I got into the limo.

As we drove back to my Helicopter, I sighed and poured Champagne. Crazy, mixed-up, twisted family. But it was now my family, and as twisted as it was, it was nice to finally have one. Harry had been an orphan for most of his life.

I wondered where he might be and what he might be enduring. I also fretted over Molly and Susan.

"Where too, Miss Raith?"

I sighed. "Penthouse, Malcolm."

"Of course, Miss. Is there anything I should arrange to be waiting for you when you get there?"

"No, just take me home."

"Very well, Miss."

He fired up the engines, and a few moments later we lifted off.

I watched as the estate fell away into the gathering darkness.