Giles awoke, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He was momentarily confused as to where he was. Then he recalled the long flight across the Atlantic and their arrival at Buffy’s home in London. He shook his head as he pondered the implications of what he had learned on their arrival. “Well, I guess we couldn’t be in a safer location, seeing as Belgrave has a lot of foreign dignitaries coming and going. The security must be impeccable.” He stood and stretched, walking to the window and glancing out. He noticed that his room overlooked the garden between the main house and the Mews. A glimmer of light below him caught his eye and he glanced down, spotting the shimmer of dim lighting playing over water. “They have a pool…” he muttered to himself. Giles turned to his bag and dug through it, before remembering that he hadn’t thought to pack a swimming suit. “Bugger. I wonder…” he trailed off as he began opening doors and drawers, thinking it might be a futile search, until he found a pair of swim trunks, still with the store tags attached, laying in a dresser drawer. “Old fashioned manners and blue-blooded guesting etiquette…” he chuckled to himself, “it’s good to be back in England amongst people with proper manners.” He donned the trunks and slipped into the towelling robe that he had found hanging on the back of the ensuite door. Opening his door, he quietly made his way down the hall to the stairs, and then down to the main floor. Pausing in entrance hall, he determined to find the rear stairs on his way back, as it was impolite, as a guest, to wander the house in his robe.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anya lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Even though it had been a long and tiring trip, she was having trouble sleeping. Her mind kept going over Xander’s recent behaviour. She was having trouble reconciling the man she loved and the strange person who had seemingly replaced him. Ever since the attacks on Giles and themselves back in Sunnydale he had been acting really strange, almost like he was trying to hide something. She sat up with a start. “Not hiding something,” she thought, “It is as if he had regressed back to the insensitive idiot he had been in high school.” She shook her head, thinking for a moment. “Not only insensitive, but very insecure. I bet he’s scared of what’s happening.”
Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, she noticed that it was just past five in the morning. Shrugging to herself she slipped out of bed and dressed. The sun would be up soon and there was no point in staying in bed. She wondered if anyone else was up, maybe Giles was awake, she needed to tell him what she thought was happening with Xander. She missed having his warm body lying next to her, which more than likely had contributed to her inability to sleep. “How did Elvara know that I had banned Xander from my bed because of his attitude?” Anya asked herself as she slipped out the door and wander down the hall in the opposite direction she had come from last night. Finding the rear staircase, she followed it downstairs and paused beside a glass door. Glancing in, her jaw dropped open and she stared appreciatively.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Giles stripped off the towelling robe, laid it on one of the chairs and dived into the clear water of the swimming pool, managing nearly a whole length before surfacing. It was early, the clock on the wall showing just after 5 in the morning, and he was half awake, the jetlag having thrown his internal clock completely out of whack. He was hoping that the swim would wake him up properly to face the day. He needed something, besides the whiskey he would have had if he was home. The last few days had been one shock right after the other, and ending up in this luxury mansion was just the icing on the cake.
The great glass doors that led into the enclosed garden slid open and Haakon came into the pool room. Giles knew the man shared the Mews house across the back garden with Elvara and her daughters, and he assumed that is where the two young men stayed as well. There was something almost preternatural about the man, although Spike had mentioned that he felt completely human. Giles observed quietly as the dark-haired Viking made his way across the tiled floor, dropping his own towelling robe across one of the tables before diving into the water.
Giles took a deep, unneeded breath. The man’s entire body was almost completely covered in tattoos. He looked like the sort of person Dawn would have a poster of on her walls, but Giles didn’t think any wanna-be pop star would carry the tattoos of the Temple at Uppsala on his body. Giles felt a ripple of jealousy tear through his body. Everything he, as Ripper, had wanted to be, this man was. He had to be a powerful Mage in his own right to carry the Goddess’ mark, and here he was, working for Buffy, serving Elvara. Giles knew he was going to have to reconsider his first impressions.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Anya’s eyes followed the man’s every move, his muscles rippling under his skin as he used his great strength against the strong current at the end of the pool that a swim-gym had been installed in. She was decidedly enjoying the view. Glancing over at Giles, she wasn’t sure if he knew she was there, but Haakon certainly did. He had stared at her hard before diving into the pool. Anya knew she was with Xander, even if she had banned him from her bed, but she did appreciate the sight of a finely toned body. The man had an eight-pack, never mind a six-pack! His physique could be used to give anatomy lectures or even as the model for classical nude sculptures. Anya licked her lips. She would never upset Buffy or Elvara by poaching, they wouldn’t need any help from a vengeance demon to hurt her if she did, but she knew they wouldn’t mind if she appreciated his fine form. Taking a deep breath, she noticed the scents of freshly brewed coffee and baking bread floating on the air, and she turned towards where they were coming from.
Following the smell, she made her way to huge kitchen where Elvara was already busy, despite the clock reading only half past five.
“Coffee’s fresh, if that’s what you’re after,” a voice called out from the back of the room.
Anya poured herself a mug before going over to say hello.
Elvara was inside the huge walk-in freezer, sorting out great cardboard boxes of meat that were piled high on the floor. Plastic chests lined the walls, all carefully marked with their contents. Sirloins, stewing beef, venison roasts, whole chickens as well as breasts. It was like walking into a meat shop. Elvara herself was heaving another box onto a shelf. It read ‘Rib Roasts (Beef)’. “Did you sleep well?” she asked Anya, squatting down to check another box against a list that was attached to a clipboard. Her hair slipped from the messy bun it had been pinned in, covering her face completely. It actually brushed the floor when she was on her knees, it was so long.
“As well as to be expected, thank you. Is there anything I can do to help?” Any asked. “There seems to be a lot of stuff.”
“I’m fine, thanks” Elvara smiled, taking the sting out of her refusal. “This lot just came down from the estate at Midmar. We have our own farm there; it supplies all of the meat for the house.” She placed huge gammons and packs of sausages onto the appropriate shelves. “I thought with all the extra guests we have, as well as the carnivores, I had better stock up. Those boys can eat their way through half a bovine when they’re left to it, and Methos loves a home cooked roast. She counted out packets of blood and put them into a set of baskets, making sure they were clearly marked.
The job seemed finished as Elvara picked up the empty and flattened cardboard boxes and made her way out of the freezer. Slipping off the jacket she had been wearing, and putting the gloves up on a shelf, she hooked the clipboard onto a peg before stacking the cardboard neatly nearby. She twisted her hair up again, and pinned it back. As she did so, Anya’s attention was drawn to the tattoos on Elvara’s back and shoulders. The halter-necked dress she was wearing, framing them perfectly.
“You’re temple marked!” Anya exclaimed.
Elvara turned to look at Anya, straight in the eye. “You know what they mean, not many do.” It was a statement rather than a question.
Anya just nodded, the normally outspoken woman almost too shocked to speak. “No wonder your daughters are so serene and nothing surprised you.” With her usual lack of tact, she blurted out, “What rank?”
Elvara moved the straps of her dress aside and there, hidden beneath them, were the full spread of moons as well as the tree of life.
Anya gasped, and said “D’Hoffryn wondered where the High Priestess had hidden herself. He wanted to offer you vengeance against the Watcher’s you know.”
“I knew, but it wouldn’t have been right.” A pleading look entered Elvara’s eyes. “Please don’t say anything to the young witches or the boy. They wouldn’t understand.”
Anya nodded, “I won’t say a word, but can I ask you something?”
“Anything Aud.” Elvara smiled as she used Anya’s original name.
“Haakon, does he give really good orgasms?” Anya asked in her forthright manner.
Elvara burst out laughing. “Oh yes, he certainly does.” She was still laughing when the two swimmers joined them in the kitchen.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Once again, a warm thanks to Jamies_Lady for her input and ideas.