A quick trip by a porting bus took them to a mansion. A very simple Mansion but a mansion none the less. At the door waited the head butler, the four underbutlers- two to each side of the hall- and all of the maids were standing in two neat rows. The cooks and scullery maids were on one side while the gardening staff were on the other side of the main hall. Well, there was really only one hall but there was a spiral stairway that went up to the suites.

Each staff member had a name tag on but not a name, just a number and position that they were assigned to. They would be divided up between the new kings and queens. Each one wanted the 'good or at least the better' king and queen. All was ready for the new occupants so when the porting bus landed, the butler opened the doors to welcome them in.

When the kings and queens arrived at the door, the head butler spoke stiffly as he stepped aside to allow them in.

"Welcome to the porting mansion. I am the head butler. Each staff member has a name tag with their number and household position. Feel free to take any of the maids or one of us butlers to your suite where you wish to reside."

Neven frowned in distaste as he left the rattling old bus, he would've much preferred a carriage, more so with his own horses. Regardless they were here now and it seemed the staff had been somewhat prepared for their arrival. He stepped inside the mansion and dropped his bags, then pointed at one of the butlers. "You. Grab our bags and take them to our suite." he said bluntly, then turned to Abelia and talked to her in a more gentle tone, "He will take your bags, let us find our rooms with haste, and see if they are worthy accommodations." Hopefully the butler wasn't a blundering idiot and would quickly grab their bags and place them in the appropriate room.

@Aisling@WileyCoyote

@Eklispe

"I am the head butler, James. I stay with the mansion. All heads of staff will remain here. Which under butler would you prefer, sire. You will need to make a choice as to which one you wish before any of the staff will do anything more. Also you will need to give your own staff - which you will need to pick yourself- a name." The head butler spoke.

@Aisling
Blake arrived at the mansion. He was still calling himself Blake, both for Bessie and for himself. Although Ruomahl was his demonic name, and would remain so, he was certainly comfortable with the name Blake.

Blake hardly paid attention to the staff of servants at all. However, the head butler was saying something along the lines of they could do whatever they want.

"Get as many of your men as you need to get our things to our room," Blake said. "We'd like to see our room as well. And Bessie definitely needs a maid. And Bessie, if you're hungry, I'm sure they'll make anything you want. And I don't which butler you choose. They were hired for a reason, weren't they? And I don't have any names to them either. Call them Team Envy if you want to name them something so bad."

@ZB1996

"All right. Blake." she took a look at the butlers and pointed at one. "You are Samson. Please get our bags and take them to the room. After that you will chose several maids, couple couple cooks, several scullery maids. several gardeners. You know how many to choose to a household run smoothly. Just choose and add several extra. I want you and.... you to follow me." Bessie spoke kindly yet with plenty of authority in her voice.

She walked up to the bedrooms and she choose the green suite. Soon she had the maids unpacking their clothes.



Main Floor



Bedroom Suites

Blake entered the room that Bessie had chosen. She seemed to be better at this than he was. Perhaps she would end up dealing with this type of thing in the long-run. Perhaps she would end up as the real ruler.

"I have no idea what this place is," Blake said.

@ZB1996

"I think that this is where we will work out the details of the kingdom that we are going to get. Some things like the type of a castle, location of the castle, staffing, how we will make money, stuff like that. Being a king will be harder than what you might think it will be. Making decisions like taxes and levies- whatever that is- running the government.

Those kinds of things I can't even fathom. Perhaps you will want an advisor to assist you. There are so many servants running about that I am not sure who is who at the moment." Bessie chuckled as she watched the various things being put where she wanted them.

"You don't have to worry about the housework or cleaning. I'll take care of those kinds of things. However if you happen to see something that I missed, please let me know, ok?"

Neven sighed, "You are my #2." he said impatiently pointing at one of the butlers that looked half competent. "Take however many servants you need to make sure our needs are attended to, first off, grab our bags and take it to our room." he said haughtily, already leaving to his room before waiting to see if his orders would be obeyed. Neven stood in the middle of his suite and examined it. Well it wasn't too bad, at least for a temporary staying place. "Is this alright Abelia?" he asked his companion, eager to make sure she was pleased.

@Aisling@WileyCoyote

@Aisling

"I suppose you're right, Bessie," Blake said. "You're so wise, Bessie, even though you're so young. It compliments your loveliness. Speaking of advisors, I was hoping that I could get my old friends back. I'm sure they'd been willing to come to my kingdom. And I hope you don't mean to do the housework yourself. That's fit for our servants, and I wouldn't want you to be forced to do something that would put extra weight on your shoulders."

@ZB1996
Bessie smiled as she blushes. "Thank you Blake. Why wouldn't your friends help you? Especially since you are going to be a king soon. A Queen does not do housework. But I am a bit picky about having a clean surroundings. So I will train several of the maids who will be considered for head housekeeper and two assistants. It will be their responsibility to make sure that everything is properly cleaned. The butler and underbutler will need to know as well for they will be out and about the castle. They will report when there is a mess. The butler will oversee all of the household tasks including the gardners. I will interview them all and place them in a ranking in the area they prefer to work in.

That will keep me very busy, my dear King, for quite a while. Perhaps you would want to choose a scribe in the meantime. I will have a scribe to assist me. My personal maid and seamstress will be chosen as well....... perhaps I should sit down and make a list while they put the furniture where I want it." Bessie spoke as she walked over to a desk to find some paper.

"What are you going to do first, my dear King?"

Penelope set her bag down briskly in front of the waitstaff and gave the mansion a once over. It wasn't particularly grand but it was obvious someone had made preperations for their arrival and that was fair enough for her after spending so much time cooped up in the academy.

She left Neven to select the attendants he desired and only let her eyes and ears trail back to the others when he spoke to her again. He wanted to see their rooms and albeit somewhat overwhelmed she was curious to see where she'd be staying as well. Turning to a female in the line up she handed the girl her handbag and a gave cheery smile

"Will you be my personal attendant?" She asked. The woman probably didn't have a choice, but she had no intention of forcing her to join her if she would have rathered joining Bessie and Blake. She would have waited for her response however Never was in a rush to view their living quarters, and as he turned to leave she turned on her heels and trailed off behind him.

Again she couldn't say she was impressed by their suite but it was certainly better than the school apartments, and for that she was grateful.

"Yes, this will do fine" she assured him of her satisfaction with a wide grin before making her way over to a plush sitting chair and sinking heavily into the cushions. "Do you know how long we'll be here.." A thought struck her then, one she should have had ages ago. "..or where "here" even is?"

@Aisling

"Yes, that's what I was thinking," Blake said. "Since they're my friends, of course they'll help. I hope choosing my friends as advisors will be a problem. It never seems to work out for humans. I wonder if my kingdom will be close by. It's a strange thought, that I will have a kingdom of my own. Oh, I think you should choose the scribe as well. I'd probably choose any fool that could write. I hope you aren't too stressed by these duties you're assigning yourself."

Neven shrugged, "Presumably we'll be here until all the legalities are worked out, but how long that takes is beyond me. Not sure where we are either, we seem to be in some sort of country residence, doubtless one of the servants knows." Neven said dismissively. "Though I do wonder how our personal section will be assigned." he mused quietly to himself. He would have to make sure he was given his full share. Hopefully they would know better than to baby him by now, he'd gone though enough of that at the academy.

"Oh..I see" peneleope stood then and strolled over to a large double paned window in the seating area. Pulling back the curtain she could see the view overlooked a small courtyard and there she kept here eyes fixated on the water swishing intracately in a marble fountain.

"Our personal section?" She questioned. She understood the implication of leaving with Neven, but the purpose of the arrangemen was still unclear to her at that time. "Of this estate?" She asked warily.

Neven turned to Abelia somewhat amused, "Of course not, I'm referring to our kingdom of course. Owning a mere portion of this building would be disrespectful to ones of our standing." He said haughtily. "Until that's decided and we are summoned I suppose we are to do whatever we wish, which is fine by me." Neven then jumped on the bed and lay on the covers yawning briefly before closing his eyes. The ride over here on that pesky carriage had been exhausting, restraining himself from yelling at the driver every time they bounced up and down. Ah well, things would be set right soon.

"Our..kingdom?" She repeated back to him. Whatever would she need a kingdom for? And weren't kingdoms normally given to next of kin? She wasn't even sure where she was let alone how anything in this strange place could be called her own. She turned to face him then, armed with a barrage of questions ready to fire off, but he'd sunk into the bed rather comfortably by then, and instead she found herself tracing the features of his resting face with her eyes. If she could focus on that she could ignore the panic in her chest. She was so desperate to leave the school she hadn't cared before where they went at the time. Now, finally free, she couldn't help but long for home.

Neven on the other hand seemed so very content with it all. Since their first dance and up until now, Penelope found herself leeching from the peace he always seemed to be at. His calmness eased her nerves and urged her to play along a bit longer.

Neven replied quietly, "Why yes. We'd hardly be royalty without a kingdom to rule." He opened his eyes somewhat crankily when he heard a knock on the door and quickly rose to answer it. "About time." He said when he heard the news and looked back at Abelia. "Feel free to accompany me or rest at your leisure, it seems we'll be discussing our lands." Neven said simply and left, making progress with long strides to the meeting room. They'd best be respectful and grant him a reasonable section of land, he'd accept nothing short of the best for Abelia and himself.

@Aisling

"If you wish to daydream I can't stop you," Blake said. "However, it is not a dream that you are now my queen, and with you at my side I will rule my kingdom, apparently. And if you wish to change your name, I will support you."

Then Blake heard the knocking at the door, and saw the butler open it. It was apparent that he had to see someone for something regarding his kingdom, but the details were vague. Whatever the case, it was something he had to attend to. Even if he was to be titled king, it was in name only that he ruled. Above him was his father, and above his father was Hades. Blake could not safely be said to rule while either of them continued to watch over him.

"You stay here Bessie, I will attend to this," Blake said. "Now messenger-boy, take me to this meeting hall, as I haven't a clue of what you speak of."

The messenger boy nodded and hurried to the meeting room on the first floor. Who else but Mictlantecuhtli was there.
He had a sour look on his face as he stood at the table.

"Good day, Young Kings. I am to run this house but not your kingdoms. You are higher than I yet lower than Hades. This will be a testing grounds for human and demon relationship. You will be called The Young King and will be seperate from the other kingdoms.

On the table are two sets of maps. Each of you may look at the maps. They are the same. I am only here to answer your questions, take your tithes to Hades and find what resources that you need."