51 The Ghosts of the Watchtower

The interior of the watchtower was so dark that at first, Talia didn't see anything. It was only when Master Euclid reached behind the door to switch on a light did Talia see the interior.

"Oh my God!" Talia breathed.

The place was a pigsty! It had been turned into a catchall for anything and everything that needed to be out-of-sight and out-of-mind.

There were huge moving boxes stacked upon huge moving boxes, topped with round hat boxes and square gift boxes. There was broken furniture in disrepair, some of which was so destroyed it looked worthless.

Everything was covered in a thick layer of grey dust and looked as if it had suffered decades of neglect.

"This way, Your Grace." Master Euclid gestured over to the far side of the watchtower where a set of spiral stairs went straight up.

The two minion dwarves scampered between the boxes and furniture and happily began sprinting up the stairs. Talia and Cedric followed behind them with a bit more grace.

"There are six full floors of the watchtower."

"Oh my goodness. They're all filled with boxes and broken junk!" She gasped.

Master Euclid grinned. "We didn't know what to do with all of this stuff so they remained here until whoever owns this place decides what they want to do with it."

"The previous owner..." Talia trailed off. It was obvious that the previous owner didn't care about this stuff.

"The previous master didn't even know this stuff existed because he never bothered to look at much of anything. He just went over the accounting books in the office once a month when he came by to check on the status of the inn."

"I see." She coughed. With all the stair-climbing, the group had inadvertently stirred up age-old dust and it was starting to choke her airways.

Cedric tapped her on the arm. As she turned to him, he tied his handkerchief over her face and pressed a kiss to the front of the fabric where her lips would be.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He winked in response and they continued up the steps past all the boxes and broken junk until they reached the top of the watchtower.

As Talia climbed up to the very top, she found herself inside a square room that had huge glass windows on all sides.

"Oh wow!!!" She gasped as her eyes fell upon the panoramic view splayed out before her.

The village was covered in snow, but all the windows of the tiny houses below were glowing with amber light. Each house had a smoking chimney or two, merrily puffing along, keeping its inhabitants happy and warm.

There was life and idyllic contentment among the residents of the place that was obvious in the red wreaths they hung over their doorways and the small hanging seed trays that they left out for the tiny animals that still lived in the area.

The blue-green boughs of the cedars that ringed the valley were heavy with snow and icicles, and along the cliff face, dark stones jutted through the wintry ice and snowpack adding variety to the white and blue-green of the valley.

On the south side, beyond the train station, Talia could see the stubbles of a field in winter fallow. From what she had heard, this was part of Baron Leboeuf's land.

"What does the Baron grow in that field across Primrose valley?" Talia asked.

"It changes from year to year, Milady, as it goes through its rotation to keep the soil from being stripped." Master Euclid responded. "Last year, it was peas and beans. The year before that, it was cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts."

"I wonder what it will be this year."

Cedric's eyes crinkled. "Most likely tomatoes, eggplants and peppers."

"Too bad we don't really have a 'crop' per se, in Primrose valley." Talia looked out over the stubble field of white.

"Actually we do, Milady." Master Euclid informed. "Primrose Valley has a small coffee crop that the villagers tend and harvest on the Three Sisters mountainsides. There is also a small vineyard up there that grows amazing wine grapes."

Talia's eyes bulged. Now that was interesting!

Cedric took it all in with great interest, including Talia's reaction to the place.

He had originally only wanted to purchase the inn, but the price for the entire valley's public lands was so reasonable that he couldn't resist picking up the whole thing.

Being a landlord wasn't high on his list of priorities, especially for such a far-flung area in the middle of nowhere. He already owned plenty of high quality land in and around Faria.

For that matter, Talia also owned the entirety of Cerulea and she hadn't even seen any part of it. But Talia seemed interested in this place, and if this was what made her happy, he would have no issues with turning it into a family vacation spot for winter activities.

She was now not just the Countess of Cerulea, she was also the Land Baroness of Primrose Valley. Of course, being a Countess superseded the Baroness title but that was academic.

For a woman who had barely set foot upon Faria, she was a fairly wealthy landowner in her own rights.

After the survey of the inn, Talia and Cedric returned to the dinning hall.

It was lunch time and the place was packed with Duke Andre's men. They were mostly well-behaved, even with healthy servings of roast venison and many rounds of beer and ale.

"What do we have for lunch other than roast venison?" Cedric asked the server.

"Your Grace, we also have stewed chicken with root vegetables."

"I'll take some of that," Talia smiled. Hot stew sounded warm and filling to her.

"Very good. I'll have some of the roast." Cedric nodded and then turned to Talia. "After lunch, I have to go to the church and check out the illegal stash. If you feel up to it, you can come with me."

Talia shook her head. "I need to check on Devin and make sure he ate lunch."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan to do with all that liquor?"

Cedric grinned. "This inn has a huge cellar. It's mostly filled with food for the winter, but there is another cellar that nobody knows about."

"Where?" Her blue eyes danced.

"Under the watchtower is a cellar trap door. I noticed it when we were in the first floor and asked one of the dwarves. From what he tells me, it's mostly empty since nobody likes to go down there."

"Why not?"

"They think it's haunted."

Talia grimaced. "Do you really thing it's haunted?"

Cedric shrugged. "Maybe."

Talia squeezed her eyes shut with distaste.

He laughed. "But who cares. Once I fill that space with all the stash from the church cellar, the ghosts will keep the illegal liquor safe from prying eyes."

He smiled, both dimples showing with alacrity.

"You will find, My Love, that ghosts are amazing vault keepers because everyone is too scared to go past them. They're better than a padlock or even the three-headed Cerberus!"