The Crown & Key Series 3-Book Bundle by Clay Griffith

Author:Clay Griffith [Griffith, Clay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2016-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Fading sunlight turned the ribs of a ruined church into a grim shadow against the sky. The remnants of a medieval gatehouse hunched beside the road. The carriage rocked along a rough country lane as it approached the distant abbey on a piece of open ground amidst bare, wintry trees.

“Welcome to Warden Abbey,” Simon announced. “My childhood home.”

“How long ago was your childhood?” Kate asked, as the skeletal abbey grew nearer. A flock of night birds rose in a carpet and blotted out the sky briefly before settling into the scabrous forest.

Simon laughed a bit stiffly. “Don’t judge by the abbey church. It has been a ruin since the Tudors.”

The thought of Simon’s boyhood home being some crumbling wreck was too sad for Kate to contemplate. Then they rolled past the dead old church and came upon a large country home with lights blazing in the many windows. It was a heartening oasis in the darkening landscape. Warden Abbey retained the character of its medieval ecclesiastical past, with spires and even turrets on both ends of the front façade.

Simon had his hand on the carriage door for a long while as the vehicle rolled past low, untrimmed shrubbery and clattered up to the portico in the center of the house. A footman scurried out to meet the carriage.

“Good evening, Mr. Archer, sir. Welcome home.”

“Thank you, Nickerson.” Simon exited and handed out Kate. “How is your good wife, and your son?”

“Well, sir. Thank you.” The young footman grinned at the attention.

“Gratified to hear it.” Simon turned to meet the butler and housekeeper, who waited on the steps but were obviously so eager they would have come out if it had been proper. They were both fit and likely in their early forties.

“Good evening, sir.” The butler bowed. “Good to have you back.”

“Winston!” Simon grabbed the man’s hand and shook it so that the exertion created a slight wince of pain. “And Mrs. Winston. Thank you both for your efforts. The place looks splendid.”

The butler bowed and the housekeeper curtsied. The woman’s eyes were on Simon and she put a handkerchief to her face, suppressing tears. Winston turned to his wife kindly, and said, “Perhaps you should see to dinner.”

“Very well,” she muttered and hurried away.

“I’m sorry, sir.” Winston said. “She’s very upset about the incident with Mrs. Archer.”

Simon shook his head graciously and led Kate through the grand door. He stared around at the stone-walled entryway, open to the vaulted ceiling. A heavy iron chandelier glowed with a covey of lit candles. The vast foyer was dim and only slightly warmer than outside. The flagstones were rough and uneven.

“It seems rather spartan for a magician’s lair,” Kate said, as servants collected coats and hats. “Where are the skulls and jars of herbs and tomes of runic spells?”

“Warden Abbey was the home of the Archers. My mother’s family was distinctly unmagical, in all ways. I thought it sociable to confine my mystical activities to a room in the turret. Otherwise, this is a normal country home that used to be a medieval monastery.

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