Chapter 52: Spirits in the Cellar
After Talia checked on Devin, who seemed to be happy enough playing with Anna and Portia, she headed over to the watchtower.
Ghosts be damned. If she couldn't get any sleep this night, she would be the ghost!
With a dozen of her own people, Talia began clearing out the first floor of the watchtower.
"That's broken. Throw it into the junk pile. Anything broken goes to the junk pile, I don't care what it is."
"What's in that box? Blankets?" She knelt to inspect the handiwork. "Looks like handmade quilts. Take it out and wash it all, then hand them out to whoever needs them."
"Yes, Milady."
"Dishes? Pots? Serveware? Take them to the kitchen and ask the cooks if they can use it." She dispersed another group.
"Books? Hmmm." Talia thought for a moment. "Is there a library that these can go to?"
"There are built-in book shelves in the sitting room for guests, Your Grace but they are currently being used to hold knick-knacks."
"Can the knick-knacks share the space with the books?"
"We can certainly try to rearrange it, Milady."
"Dust these books well and take them there." With a gesture, she dispatched another group.
"What in the world is this?" Talia looked at a bulky thing in the corner.
"That is a loom, Milady."
"Does it look like it's still useable?"
"Yes Milady. Someone has kept it very well maintained."
Talia nodded. "Find a place for it. Maybe someone will be able to use it again."
"Yes, Milady."
"What's in here? Clothes?"
"Yes, Milady. It looks like clothes from a long long time ago. Period pieces that should belong in a museum."
"My goodness." She pulled out a pale blue dress. "This is truly gorgeous, but it's so old and fragile, there is no way anyone can wear this."
One of the ladies fingered the material. "This is a very old and fragile wedding dress. It needs to be washed and arranged on a mannequin as a display, but that's about all that can be done with it."
"What about the rest of this lace stuff?" She indicated the remaining clothing.
"They've fallen apart, Milady." The woman pulled out sections and pieces that had deteriorated to scraps. "There is nothing we can do to salvage it."
"Take it out and put it in the junk pile to be disposed of."
By the time they reached the back of the room, there was not much more other than a large trunk filled with heavy weapons. One of the male dwarves pulled out rusty swords and maces, grimacing with regret.
"These were mighty fine weapons, once upon a time."
"Is it salvageable?" Talia asked.
He nodded. "But it will take a lot of work."
Talia shrugged. "Take the entire trunk and do what you can to recover them. At the very least, they would make good wall hangings and decorations."
"Yes, Milady."
Once all the clutter had been taken out, the room turned out to be a fairly decent size, three times that of a normal bedroom within the inn.
She had a cleanup crew enter with soapy buckets and mops to give it a thorough cleaning. While they cleaned the first floor, Talia opened the trap door and descended into the cellar with another group of workers.
As Master Euclid had stated, the cellar was mostly empty save for a few unidentifiable odds and ends which she had the workers haul out and dispose of.
Then she called in another crew to clean out the cellar with more hot water and soap until the place was free of dust and critters.
"Get a ladder in here. I want the ceiling washed too." She pointed at all the spider webs that were hanging above on the ceiling.
It was roughly at this time that Cedric reappeared with his men, dragging and pulling small wagons of crates through the hallways and into the watchtower.
"Ugh, Baby! I just mopped the floors!" Talia scowled as the wagons tracked in dirt and dust from the outside.
Cedric laughed and kissed her nose. "It's alright. I'll have the men mop it again when they're done.
There was so much contraband coming in from the church cellar that it took the men several hours of hauling before the church cellar was completely emptied.
The crates took up the entirety of the watchtower cellar. Stacked on top of one another, they went all the way up to the top of the ceiling with only small aisles to walk between the walls of crates.
By this time, Talia had located a nice large king sized bed and had arranged it in an appropriate location over a thick braided rug which covered most of the floor.
One of the maids had also located a small child's bed for Devin and that too was brought into the room and placed in a comfortable warm location.
"Is this where we will be sleeping for the night?" Cedric eyed the bed.
Talia glanced over at him. "Only if you turn into a big furry teddy bear so I can have something warm to hug."
Cedric laughed. "My woman is so demanding. Am I just being used for my body?"
"When it's this cold? ABSOLUTELY!" She growled.
Cedric laughed again. "I think I can locate a nice little pot belly stove to keep us warm in here."
Talia nodded and looked around. "It seems cozy enough, although I don't think this space was ever used as a bedroom."
"It wasn't." Cedric laughed again. "This had always been just a watchtower, with the sentries on duty stationed within these rooms."
"And the cellar?" She looked down towards the corner of the now-hidden trap door.
"Did you see the iron anchors on the walls?" Cedric raised an eyebrow. "At one point, it was the dungeon that was used to temporarily hold dangerous criminals until it was time to either let them go or execute them at the center of town square."
"How grizzly." Talia grimaced. "No wonder that cellar was considered haunted."
Cedric laughed. "Now that we have filled it with cases and cases of liquor, there are plenty of spirits to join any ghosts that are still around."
He looked at the ceiling.
"What about the five floors above us?"
"They're still filled with things." Talia sighed. "I will tackle those floors when there is more time. For today, we just need to get our bedroom in order."
By dinnertime, their bedroom had been completely set up and was finally usable. Hand in hand, Talia and Cedric made their way to the dining hall.
Cecil and the Duke of Voltaire were already seated at the head table, having a boisterous heated discussion about something that seemed extremely important.
"Ah! There you are Cedric, Talia!" Cecil called out and waved for them to join him. "Say, what do you think. Should the Imperial Pack open up and allow the vampires to live with us?"
"Say what?" Cedric stared at his brother.
"The Duke of Voltaire and I are having a friendly sparring discussion regarding vampires and werewolves. You know. The usual hot-button debate."
Cedric sighed. Cecil's position had always been very clear. He had insisted on keeping vampires out of Faria for various reasons, most of which were rooted in ancient dark mythos.
For him and Andre Kossova to be tongue-dueling must mean the Duke was in favor of allowing vampires to cohabitate with werewolves.
He turned to Andre. "So. Pray tell. What are your thoughts on vampires?"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone