If one were to enter the gardens of Stonesalt Hall, the first thing noticeable would be the simple beauty of the place.
This is where the only child of Joffrey & Selene liked to spend her days.
It was a mildly bright day, a small hint of rain in the air but Nanny decided Tempest needed to be outside for a few hours. With the promise of a present later in the day from her father, Tempest allowed Nanny to lead her out to the gardens to play.
Bringing a few of her dolls along, Tempest placed herself at one of the small tables that had been set up in the garden for her use and began to pretend she was at afancy tea party. Nanny sat close by, having brought a book with her to keep herself occupied while keeping an eye on her young charge.
Tempest was thoroughly immensed in the game she’d created for herself, completely unaware of the trouble that was heading on swift wings in her direction.
A bee was flitting from flower to flower, collecting pollen to take back to the main hive. There were some flowers in a vase in the middle of the table Tempest was using and the bee decided to see how much pollen he could collect. He flew around her head a few times. Annoyed, Tempest swatted him away with her hand and continued her play. The bee, now angry that a two-legs, and an ugly two-legs at that had the nerve to take a swing at him, decided retaliation was in order. As the little girl was reaching for a tea cup, the bee quickly landed on her hand, driving it’s stinger deep into her wrist.
Like the storm from which she was named, Tempest dislodged the now dying bee from her body, screaming in rage and pain and threw it, where it landed on the table, wings barely flapping. Scowling, tears streaming down her cheeks, Tempest glared at the bee, Nanny hovering around her and asking her what was wrong. Tempest didn’t seem to hear, so focused on the bee as she was. Something….shifted….inside of her. A small curl of smoke rose from where the bee rested on the table. Not even a moment later, the bee exploded in a ball of flame, scaring Nanny into near fainting. Tempest nodded in satisfaction before the throbbing pain in her wrist finally caught her attention. She looked at her swollen arm, inhaled sharply and screamed at the top of her little lungs…
“I WANT MY DADDDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Just when Joffrey thought he might have some time to spend with his gorgeous wife Selene for a few hours before noon, to go pick up Tempest’s new white pony, he heard the blood curdling scream that was coming from the Castle Gardens. It was his daugher, and she was screaming out for him. Shocked by the sheer tone and the fact she could well be in danger, his metamorphosis was rapid, his black and blood veined wings exploding from his back, unfurling at incredible speed. There was no time to gather a horse and ride to her, no he took to the air instead, flapping his mammoth wings, the look of the demon of defeat written all over his face. He no longer looked like Joffrey, but the hell infused demon he truly was. Down far below, he could make out Nanny, who was near to fainting, and his daughter sitting at a tea party table with toys, screaming for all she was worth.
Joffrey swooped down into a clearing with his wings folding in behind him as he ran, not walked, to be at her side. Tempest was his one and only daughter, much loved, in fact he doted on the girl so much that it was a miracle that Selene got a look in some days. He even got reports on the child round the clock, for her safety was paramount to him. Joffrey knew that she was not a pure demon, but it was the fact she was created from the love of an angel and demon that made her all the more special.
Appearing just a couple of feet away, his wings now dissapearing behind him and his face returning to that of his usual self, he came down on bended knee by his daughter, staring into her tear filled eyes and asked her;
“Pumpkin, Daddy’s here. Who hurt my precious one? Who does Daddy need to kill?” He was looking around for the perpetrator, but only saw Nanny’s legs sticking out from a nearby hedge. Couldn’t have been her, she couldn’t hurt a fly. He spied the swollen mark on her arm, and then went to reach for her wrist. “Did something bite you? A bee? Shall I kill the Bee keeper? Hmm?”
<3>
Tempest knew just how to push all her father’s buttons and did it on a daily basis. If anyone had asked the Brax Family who ruled the roost, you can bet all eyes would be on little Tempest.
“Where’s my present?” she demanded.
“The present? Ah yes, the pretty pony. Yes, Daddy is picking that up for you right on Noon, Sweety, just like Daddy promised you.” Joffrey said, his voice dripping in sweetness, like you would hear from any parent trying to sooth a child’s temper. This was the nasty part of having a demon hybrid for a child. One minute she was sweetness and light, the next…was like something out of a horror film. Nothing in any books on parenting prepared him for his own daughter’s tantrums.
Hearing a rustle come from the bushes behind them, Joffrey realized that Nanny was still stuck in the hedge. He patted his daughter’s sore spot and then went to go help pull Nanny out of the garden hedge. It was a bit of a struggle, since Nanny was not a lightweight. When she was righted, she had leaves and things crawling in her hair, her hat was lopsided, and she appeared dazed.
“M’lord…little Tempest blew up a bee…there was nothing I could do. How did I end up in the hedge?”
“First flare up, huh? I should have known. She is getting her powers, clearly. Remind me to fire proof her room.”
The Nanny nodded, picking out a caterpillar from her ear, while Joffrey turned back to attend to his daughter. He picked up one of the teddy bears and had it walk across the table to her, making it appear to talk, throwing his voice.
“Prince Pooh bear…makes all the pain in your wrist go away.” He then lowered it to appear to kiss her arm over and over, in an effort to cheer her up “Mwah Mwah Mwah.” Joffrey then pulled the bear back and tossed it over his shoulder for Nanny to catch. He gave his daughter another big smile and said. “Aren’t I the best daddy in the whole land?” He was so hopeful.
<3>
“Prince Pooh bear…makes all the pain in your wrist go away.” he stated en falsetto, making the bear kiss her arm. “Mwah Mwah Mwah.”
“I don’t want a pony. I want an elephant. A bright blue one.” She stated in a voice that could melt steel. For a 7 year old, that was surprising. She crossed her arms over her chest, wincing a little as she pressed against her wrist.
She glared at her father, causing his hair to stand on end.
Joffrey could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on its end, and he had such a perplexed look on his face. How on earth was he going to make a blue elephant appear out of the air? He was a demon, not Bo Bo the Clown. Racking his brains, he was panting, as though he was going to hyperventilate. Then he remembered, Nanny kept with her a bag of holdings. It had so many wonderful things in it, that he used to beg her to take out his favorite toys when he was little. He held up a finger to his daughter and said;
“Wait…just a moment, Sweetheart.”
Turning quickly, he ran over to Nanny, who was now sitting down fanning herself.
“The Bag….let me borrow it a second.”
‘What do you want with the bag? I don’t keep elephants in there, not even blue ones.”
“No no….I have an idea.”
With that, Nanny shrugged and handed over the bag, which he madly started to rummage through, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, till he came across what he knew to be, what he needed. Dropping the bag in Nanny’s lap, he kept his back to his daughter, and fiddled…and then he started to make an odd sound.
~Pffffft….Pfffffft….Pfffft….Pfffft….tie tie squeak tie tie squeak…Pfffft…Pfffft…Pfffft….Pfffft…tie tie squeak tie tie tie.~
Every few minutes, he would steal a glance at his daughter, and then go back to working on his creation.
~Pffffft….Pfffffft….Pfffft….Pfffft….tie tie squeak tie tie squeak…Pfffft…Pfffft…Pfffft….Pfffft…tie tie squeak tie tie tie.~
Almost out of breath, Joffrey finally turned around and presented the blue elephant to Tempest….a balloon…elephant, that happened to be bright blue.
“TAH DAH!”
<3>
He started fiddling with something in his hands, weird noises echoing back to Tempest as she waited to see what her father was doing. He finally turned, out of breath…with a bright blue elephant balloon between his hands.
“TAH DAH!” her father exclaimed.
Seeing the bright blue elephant in her father’s hands, Tempest smile was like the brightest of suns.
“Thank you, Daddy! I love it!” she giggled, throwing her arms around her father’s neck and kissing his cheek. “I wonder if there are any sweets.”
With her elephant in her arms, she skipped down the garden’s path toward the castle, leaving behind a bewildered Nanny and a very much relieved father.
“You organized a white pony for her, didn’t you?’
“Oh…Hell…the pony. I did. Noon too. Don’t I feel like a right prat.”
“You spoil her too much, you know that. I didn’t go giving you everything you screamed for. When you took a shine to the wet nurse with the big boobs, and made grabby hands at her…”
“I was fifteen…”
“Still…not like I was going to let you sink your teeth into her…you have to admit, you were a bit old for that.”
“Not from where I was standing.”
The Nanny sighed, and then holstered her bag on her shoulder, the fairy tale book under her arm. She gave Joffrey’s arm a pat.
“She may be that sweet little girl you always wanted, but dear, you need to be firm with her. I have already seen how she treats her own mother, surely you have had words over it.”
Joffrey sighed and nodded, he knew Nanny was right. He made a vow to himself, to be a bit tougher next time. How long that would last though, remained to be seen. “Guess I better go tell the stable master, to send the white pony to the glue factory. Either that, or we are having stew a la hoof.” Joffrey then pushed himself off the tree, and strolled back towards the house.
<3>
