A Birth day

Ruby nodded " yes she was, and well seems you do" she said and stood next to him when he asked about why he'd been summoned again she hung her head " no not for this but.. " she gave a sigh" I slipped again" I felt useless and let myself be put back in that dark place again" she said and looked at him " I have a place we can go, Caprices study, its quiet and peaceful " she said walking him inside leaving the others with Kate.

Aria jolted to her feet as her senses told her something had entered Angus's room. Opening the door she stood in the doorway there by the bed she saw a figure, the more she looked the more she saw , it was a woman " hi, Caprice I'm betting, I'm Aria, not sure if you can hear me though but he's being watched over by Marcus and myself." she said and smiled but didn't get close as she waited for the others to arrive.

Jeffrey followed Ruby into Caprice's study.

"You slipped?" he asked. "That sounds to me like you see some of this confidence as perhaps not as genuine or real as you would like and that sometimes you're just pretending to be confident. I hope that isn't actually the case because if that's true, then you still have a good deal of work to do. The confidence and strength need to be genuine or all you'll be doing is a theatrical performance, and no one can maintain that for long. So what happened?"

Caprice looked at Aria and listened to her and nodded slightly. She floated over to Angus, looked down at him for a moment, and she laid just two fingers in the center of Angus's forehead for a moment, and faded away.

"Not sure where she went," Marcus was saying to Robert softly as they came in from Edward's balcony that had faced the backyard.

"Yeah, well, Kate and Edward are coming back inside, so she must not be out there anymore," Robert yawned. "Seems like my coffee isn't doing me much good, nor the cold air because I'm getting sleepy."

"Well, maybe you and Nigel should sleep while its quiet. We'll wake you if you're needed," Marcus said.

Ruby looked to Jeffery and sighed " we'd been sailing and the ship was destroyed by something, our magic was blocked, I was knocked out and Angus hurt , when I came too we were on a beach thanks to Angus" she said " It was Panic , a feeling of not being able to help, but I did" she said " I made a spear that Aria used to catch a fish but I couldn't help worry about Angus he was severely hurt then they had to operate on him as muggles would because even their magic was blocked." she rattled on then paused realizing she was talking fast.

Aria watched as the ghost of Caprice touched Angus then faded leaving her stood stunned " wow, okay?" she heard the others and moved to the window " Hey guys, Caprice was just here!" she called down to them " she touched Angus then poof, might want to check on him" she moved away from the window and looked back at Angus again.

"Listen to yourself," Jeffrey said. "You're panicking right now. Why? It sounds like those were some extraordinary circumstances, but you all survived. Angus was hurt, and that could provoke some anxiety. But you all pitched in and made the best of things until help came, which was certainly the right thing to do. Were you having some panic attacks beforehand? Or was it just today's shipwreck? And where is Angus? It sounds like he's been tended properly. So what's going on with you?"

"We know," Kate called back to Aria. "We saw her go inside. I'm coming. She's certainly not going to hurt him. Kate and Edward came upstairs and went very quietly inside. "Well, she's gone now," Kate said. "Maybe she was just checking on him." Kate went over to Angus and touched his forehead very lightly. "Ah. I see," she said. "She touched him, didn't she? On the forehead. She's managed to cast a type of a spell. Interesting. She's put in a block on his third eye. It looks very much like she does not want Priscilla to be able to reach him right now. That means, unfortunately, he probably won't be able to see or hear Caprice either for the time being, but that's the exact sort of loving sacrifice I would expect her to make for him. She's protecting him."

"She's protecting his sleep," Edward to Aria, "so that voodoo woman can't torment him tonight. Good for Caprice. That would be entirely like her. She was always, always there for him whenever he had some sort of bumps or bruises or illness, so it does not surprise me that she's here for him tonight."

Ruby listened to Jeffery and shook her head " no everything was going good , these panic's are new, my magic hasn't come back ether" she took a slow deep breath and focused on breathing " Angus is upstairs, Aria and I got back here first and I managed to get the room and bed set up for him before they arrived, I feel its the knowing this woman can harm him when ever she wants that makes me angry but panicked that I can't do much to stop it and others have to do it for me, yet I know that's how families and good close friends work" she said then looked at him " my head feels like its in a vice right now."

Aria saw them enter and Kate head to Angus " Right on the money" she said standing at the foot of Angus's bed "Well that's good, he'll get a good sleep and mend" she chuckled " maybe she used all her energy doing that, so she's now regenerating?" she asked not quit understanding it herself.

"Probably," Edward concurred with Aria.

"I honestly don't think so," Kate said. "I felt a very determined sort of emotion from her. It reminds me of when a parent takes a strong defensive stand and says 'you can come and challenge me all you want but leave my child alone."

"Well, that would be her right at the core of who she was," Edward said. "She was one of the fiercest fighters I've ever met, and I've seen a lot of them in my lifetime. A fighter is one thing but a true warrior is quite another, and she wasn't just a fighter. She was an absolute warrior."

"I honestly think she was a seer, and she was probing his thoughts for information on Priscilla," Kate said. "If she got enough information, she might very well have gone to find her."

"Kate, could Priscilla harm her?"

"I don't know. I'm not familiar with all of the nuances of folk magic," Kate replied. "Iya might know, though. I'm not sure we could protect her even if Priscilla could harm her. That gets into other realms and things that are very difficult for us to reach. For now, we might have to just trust that Caprice knows what she's doing."

"Well," Jeffrey said, "I have no clue about your magic. It seems to me that there's something missing from what you're saying. This is not the first time that this woman has struck out at Angus but you're just panicking today? That makes no sense. You're not looking at something. Frankly, you don't need to be his bodyguard. He already has one, and that seems to be more his specialty than yours. You have strengths, certainly, but you don't need to have that one too. And, honestly, from what I've seen, Angus isn't powerless himself. He is very capable of protecting himself. And you're already a member of Robert's fighters, so you're already part of the crew that is fighting against the Geldings. You can't make them stop. That's unrealistic. After all, Robert's been trying to do that very thing for over 40 years. And you already know all of this, and you knew it before today. So what exactly happened in the last day or so that made you start to panic again? Something new, more recent."

Aria listened to then talking and chuckled " makes sense" she said simply and let them talk more about what Caprice could be up to around Angus and Pricilla " well I for one am glad she stopped that witch messing with his head " she said " but if she has gone after her , hope she kicks her butt." Aria said and folded her arms across her chest. Hearing Iya's name she looked at Kate " why don't we ask her?" she said " ah but its late she'd be sleeping , best leave it till morning" she suggested " oh he didn't even flitch when she touched him" she said looking towards Robert as she spoke.

Ruby sat with Jeffery and thought about what had happened that day to make her panic as bad as she had " seeing Angus looking wiped out and injured, the glass sticking out of his shoulder like a reminder that they had been so close." she stood up and looked out the window she smelt the fragrance from one of the flowers and took a deep breath in and slowly let it out " your right, that's the past , I have kids to think about and a husband who needs me to be strong for them more than him." she turned and sat back down. " I still feel though I should come to your clinic once a month just to re-enforce what you helped me with" she said .

"It is late," Kate nodded. "This house is still unusually uprooted. They'll probably settle soon. We can call Iya in the morning."

"He wouldn't have moved when she touched him. It doesn't generally feel the same when a spirit touches us as when someone physically touches us," Edward explained. "He probably didn't feel it."

"It begs the question though as to why she closed his third eye unless she believes he may have some small abilities himself," Kate said.

"Well, Sybil Trelawny believed he did," Edward shrugged. "When he took divination. her scores showed he really could not send any sort of energies, at least not at that time, but she believed he was capable of receiving and had actually somehow done so on some of her divination tests. He thought it was all a bunch of codswallop, but I suppose there's no reason why he couldn't have inherited something from Caprice and her side of the family. I just never gave that any thought."

"Well, and if he does have some abilities that he hasn't ever acknowledged, it might be part of what makes him vulnerable to Priscilla. It would be worth looking at," Kate said. "Either way, I think he's safe tonight. So, I think I'll go try to get Robert to at least doze a little even if he doesnt actually come to bed. If I manage to do that, our room is the very first door on the left when you get to the top of the stairs. Goodnight." She turned and left, going to find Robert.

"You know Angus has a dangerous job," Jeffrey said. "and to some extent some of these things come with the territory. Didn't you say that Jess is in the same boat with Jack? Perhaps you need to talk to her from time to time. Maybe her ability to simply accept it as part of life might be healthy for you. Maybe she has some good perspectives on it. You know you're welcome to come back to the clinic whenever you choose. Perhaps this is as good a time as any. After all, Angus is being looked after. Maybe you should come and stay a day or two and settle this and then just come to stay anchored. It's your choice, though. Do not make the mistake, though, if you do come, of not leaving him a note. That did not go well for you last time."

Aria looked at Edward and nodded " ah of course" she said but listened to them talk more. Feeling the room was full she moved to the doorway and stood quiet then spoke softly to Marcus " I'll be downstairs" she said then kissed his cheek gently " I don't need to be here when you are all her, I'll put the pot on for coffee and tea all round." she said and headed down to the kitchen where Rosaria was cleaning up and preparing the breakfast for the morning.

Ruby sat back down and listened to Jeffery nodding as he spoke to her " I will come with you and nope I will not forget the note" she said with a chuckle " learned that from last time, I don't want him to feel this is his fault, because its not, help now is better than a complete breakdown later." she said " ether way its late, I'm sure you want to freshen up , there are spare rooms if your staying" she said " or if you want to head back I'll write the note and we can go."

"That's fine. You really should turn in, though, and get some sleep," Marcus told her. "It's been a damned long day." When she left, Marcus heard the boys coming back finally from Evan's. He stepped out in the hall, and Sam and Victor stopped by to check on Angus's condition before they went to bed. Then, satisfied, they headed for bed themselves.

"No, I won't be staying," Jeffrey said. "I need to get back. I have several new patients, and I can't leave for long. Winter weather seems to cause some people a lot of symptoms. I'll just wait here for you."

Edward settled in to just sit and stay for awhile with Angus and Marcus. Simone stopped by and brought him a large mug of fresh herbal tea, got a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes for the next day.

"You staying the night?" she asked him softly.

"I don't know. Maybe. if I'm needed," Edward said. "Caprice was here, and she was here for a reason."

"That psychiatrist friend of Ruby's is here," Simone said.

"Well, good. Maybe she'll untangle some of her thinking," Edward said. "Caprice says she likes you."

"I'm sure I would have liked her too," Simone smiled, kissing him. "Come to bed if you can, and if I can be of any help, don't hesitate to wake me."

"Of course. Goodnight, my dear," he said. She left and it got quiet again with just Marcus and Edward in the room with Angus.