Underground
“Enough!” Regulus barked. He’d spent the last forty-five minutes fantasising about how he was going to kill each and every sycophantic wizard and witch in the room with him. The room went silent instantly.
“I’ve listened to each proposal. And everyone one of you has lied. Some subtly. Others?” Regulus paused, his face a mask of suppressed fury. “How stupid do you think I am?” The room twitched. There was so much power waiting to explode within the cold marble walls. Regulus wondered idly what it would take to ignite it and blow this kingdom to pieces. “No. Don’t answer that.” He glared at some of the more senior members of the board. “I may be young. I may not have spent as much time in the business world as most of you. I am, as far as this region is concerned, the head of the family. And my word is law. Do you all understand that?” Another loaded silence.. “If you cannot be honest with me, then I will not trust you to work in the best interests of the family.” Pale faces stared back at him. Regulus could smell the fear. Good “Anyone who cannot, or will not, accept these facts will be terminated from the empire. Are we all clear?” The fear skyrocketed. Regulus wondered if this was how his parents had controlled their various businesses. ‘Probably.’ He thought dispassionately. ‘Mother will have been inside every head by now just to make sure they were all scared of her. Which is why they’ll believe me.’
Regulus surveyed the faces in front of him. He could see the calculations, the desperation, the fear. He loathed every single one of them.
“Lord Black.” A tremulous voice came from the back of the room.
“Speak.” Regulus commanded, taking in the petit middle aged witch, whose calculating black eyes displayed an intelligence he imagined most of the wizards in the room underestimated.
“When you say terminated?” She said, leaving the rest of the question open.
“Exactly.” Regulus replied deliberately oblique, yet noting the slight smile and dip of her head.
The rest of the room shuffled in place. He observed that the minority of younger wizards, still twenty or thirty years his senior, looked torn between desire to serve him and loyalty to their own immediate bloodline already in the room. ‘Ah. Nepotism at its finest.’ Regulis thought, fully aware of the irony of that statement, it was time to break them.
His voice low and measured, Regulus left an image in each mind. “You have a choice to make and communicate to me by the end of the day. My decision regarding your fate will be at my leisure and will be absolute.”
With that Regulus swept from the room. He really was furious at having been put in this position. Had his father done nothing for the last nineteen years? As for his mother, she had been too busy pandering to the whims of a megalomaniac to notice her own children let alone control their business interests in Eastern Europe. He growled softly to himself as he stalked the narrow spiral staircase that led from the boardroom at the top of the ornate tower to the main upper floors of the cathedral. Despite his fantasies he didn’t particularly want to kill anyone. They were certainly all corrupt, corpulent and contemptible creatures. He simply couldn’t be bothered to kill them. Then he would have to find new board members and start again. That was tiresome. And took more energy than he cared to use.
Still deliberating the possible consequences of his actions, Regulus arrived back at the room where he’d asked Pandora to wait, none the wiser.
“Any luck?” She asked, taking in the flushed cheeks and battle ready eyes which hardened at her questions. “I’ll take that as a no.” She said without waiting for an answer.
Regulus flopped into a chair and drained a glass of water before responding. “Two, maybe three, will resign. Another three will try to blackmail or coerce me. And the final six will cower because that’s the only thing they know how to do. I think my private conversations last night may have helped settle a few minds.” He closed his eyes briefly and drank more water. “That, however, is tomorrow's problem.” He opened his eyes and tilted his head. “What about you?”
Pandora let out a bubble of laughter. “Let’s go find todays.” she said, flowing to her feet. “I want to see more of this magnificent building,”
The rest of the morning was spent wandering through the main areas - both public and private. The builders had certainly been inspired by the gothic cathedrals of the muggle world. High vaulted ceilings soared above wide open spaces and compact alcoves alike. Black marble walls were adorned with paintings of heroes fighting dragons, more heroes using magic to take down trolls, and magnificent magic users building cities and empires of great wealth and wonder. Stately columns of carved stone held up the ceiling and split the main floor into different areas of commerce, each with its own statue of a Lord or Lady Black. Regulus was not surprised to see that his father’s was the first one encountered when entering the enormous hall. Bankers, merchants, socialites and enforcers moved through the space, in and out of the private offices, slithering and sashaying around the tourists who stood gaping at the sheer audacity of the place.
As they walked, Regulus told Pandora the family legends behind each painting and statue. Most of which were quite different to what was written on the pamphlet available at the front door. Pandora’s family, the Rosiers, had their part to play in some of the tales, as did many of the other noble wizarding families. The ruthless, winner takes all, only the family matters, approaches were common themes. Pandora noted. No wonder Regulus was as he was.
The tour continued. At one point Pandora had seen Lilly with Sirius and James, but said nothing to Regulus. He was undoubtedly aware and chosen to ignore them. It was the easiest, and safest, thing to do. At some point the pair had walked behind a painting and into a plain office, filled with ledgers and a mezzanine level around three walls.
“Good. It’s still here.” Regulus murmured. Pandora tilted her head questioningly. “All the accounts. Only the Lord and their most trusted vassals have access to this room. I wasn’t sure if that included me yet. If I wasn't granted access we would have walked past the painting and still be looking for the door.”
“But you’ve been Lord Black for almost a year now.”
“Yes. But not everything gets released. Depends on whether or not enough of the most powerful wizards of each area believe the person to be the rightful head of the family.” Regulus let his gaze linger on the shelves and shelves of hidden magic, deeds and misdeeds. He wondered if his mother had ever been in here. His father had reveled in all the power it gave him over the wizarding world.
“Why did you show me this?” Pandora asked quietly. She had not seen this in any of her dreams. So far Regulus had been following paths she had envisioned and could help navigate. But this was new and the look of hunger on his thin pale face scared her.
“I need someone I trust to know about this place. Now you have been in here, I should be able to bypass the wards so you can return should it be required.” Regulus said, his tone devoid of the warmth it had had outside.
“What are you planning Regulus?”
Regulus said nothing. His plan had been scuppered by the sight of James and his friends in the main hall. He had really hoped they had been and gone while he was wrangling his chiefs. Still scanning the documents Regulus felt a stab of recognition. With a wave of his hand he summoned a simply-bound ledger to the desk and sat down to read it. Pandora waited patiently, senses also roaming the shelves, though keeping a wary distance so as not to disturb the myriad of wards laced through the room. A few minutes later, Regulus closed the ledger and sent it back to its place on the shelves, wards remaining intact. He had confirmed his suspicions. It was time to act. With a nod at Pandora, Regulus led the way back outside. To the casual observer it looked as though the attractive young couple had been standing chatting about the painting on the wall for only a handful of minutes before moving on to the next piece.
“Where to now?” Pandora asked
“Shall we explore the lower levels? There used to be several hidden exits out onto the streets further down the hill.”
Pandora smiled, eyes bright with adventure. “Lead the way young Lord.” She said with a flourish and danced around the statue of yet another Lord Black.
——
James watched Regulus lead Pandora out through one of the restricted doorways. Sirius had managed to charm their way into the awe inspiring main hall, much to Willow’s amusement Examining some of the statues and paintings James had reached the conclusion that the security team had decided that Sirius was a distant cousin on holidays with friends so he had a right to be in the public building, though perhaps not in the corridor they had entered from.
James nudged Sirius in the ribs. “What’s back there?” He asked waving his hand in the general direction he had seen Regulus disappear.
Sirius turned and looked. “Family offices and then corridors leading to family and guest quarters.” He answered before returning his gaze to the painting in front of them. “Well now I know why I was let in. I bear a striking resemblance to this incredibly handsome man riding a dragon.”
James laughed, happy to see Sirius’s ego back where it belonged.
“And before you ask. Yes it is where acceptable members of the extended family stay when visiting the city. The head of the family and their entourage stay in another wing.”
“So why is Regulus staying at our hotel?” James mused.
“He is? Oh I kinda assumed he’d be here. How do you know?” Sirius gave James a suspicious glare.
James held up a hand. “Don’t glare at me. Saw him returning from a run or something this morning,” James said innocently as an image of Regulis flushed and sweaty seared through his brain and into his groin. James struggled to stifle a moan. Merlin. His libido was developing a mind of its own. Not good.
“Curious. Didn’t realise my brother was the exercising type. Wonder if his fiance knows.”
“Knows what?” Remus asked joining them as they walked to another larger than life painting.
“That Regulus exercises.” Sirius responded absently caught up in the sweeping colours and textures before him.
Remus raised at brow at James who shook his head very slightly. “It’s good to exercise. How do you think I keep my amazing physique?” Remus rumbled good humoured.
James could almost see the cogs whirring in Sirius's head. “Down boy. You can test each other's physical prowess later tonight.”
Sirius nodded mutely. Maybe he could ride Remus like a dragon or tie him to a roof and …. “Ouch!” He exclaimed rubbing the back of his head.
“You’re drooling.” Remus whispered so seductively even James found himself going weak at the knees.
“Moving on.” James announced to no one in particular and left the lovers to find Lily. At least that had been his intention, until he found himself standing in the shadows down near the door he had seen Regulus go through. A witch busy reading a roll of parchment waved her wand at the door and walked through without looking up. A moment later James slipped in behind her. As with most of the building he had seen so far, everything was grey-veined black marble, but unlike the main hall, this corridor had sconces of endless flame between wooden doors which James assumed lead to different offices and meeting rooms.
Fascinated James wandered through the corridors. He came to a set of stairs, with one set leading up and the other leading down. Hearing voices coming from behind him, James hurried down to the next level. The walls were no longer marble, but still a hard, dark stone, with a faint blue light coming from somewhere in the shadows above him. Curious, James drifted through the lower level. There were a few arched doorways, though no doors that he could see, leading into empty chambers with stone benches along one wall. ‘Holding cells.’ James thought ‘But holding what?’ There were no signs of life anywhere. No sounds. No dust. No air currents, though the air smelt relatively fresh. He continued on.
Another set of stairs. Narrower and darker this time. James paused. Were there voices coming from down there? Ignoring the consequences curiosity is said to have on cats, James descended carefully. “Luminos” he muttered and a small ball of yellow light appeared in the palm of his hand. James grinned to himself. ‘Thanks Beautiful.’ He thought and floated the light close to the floor so it didn’t interfere with his vision. This passage was made from rough hewn rock, with a musty tang ino the air. James was surprised. The Gringotts bank in London had a vast network of underground vaults for their clients, with the most secure several miles down. He thought that here there would have been similar with more underground levels. Unless those were located in a different part of the citadel and these ones intended for other, less savory purposes. James shuddered. He wasn’t sure he wanted to think about what went on down here. Despite that he was still really curious to see where the passage led and kept on exploring, taking random passages until he was thoroughly lost.
—
“Bloody hell. Where’s he going now?” Sirius muttered. Her spotted James disappearing through one of the great halls rear doors and gathering the others headed after him. Now they were relying on Remus to follow his scent.
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere.” Tara murmured. “This place is a creepy crazy maze. I’m sure it’s full of evil ghosts.”
As if on cue a scream came from somewhere off to their left, followed by a mirthless cackle. Willow shivered. “Do we want to know?” She asked.
Sirius shook his head. “Not particularly. Let’s just find James and get out of here.” He said, and continued walking.
A few minutes later Willow stopped abruptly, causing Lily to run into her. “Does anyone hear that?” Willow asked head tilted slightly.
Remus closed his eyes and focused on extending his supernatural hearing. “A Sibilant hiss. A swish of scales on stone.” He murmured.
“Yes.” Willow whispered fearfully. “Just like the voice I followed that sent us to Cornwall.”
Remus opened his eyes. “It's coming from the same direction as James.”
“You lead. We’ll follow.” Lily said. “I’ll even break into a jog if needed.”
Remus gave a low chuckle, Lily's dislike of running was well known. and took off at an easy pace.