The Mysterious M! 13 Days Left

"No, I think not," Braxton said without giving her request much thought.

"What if he wants to see one?" Brae asked.

"There's plenty of time for that when he's older," Braxton replied.

"Why do you spoil my silly?" Nel said, Braxton was legit the worst at cheering people up. She put her elbow on table and rested her chin on it with a pout.

"I think you misunderstood. She doesn't mean a real one." Liron said with a frown then, but Braxton didn't bother nearly as much with Nel as he did with Bryna.

"Were you being silly?" Braxton asked. "In that case, proceed." He didn't try any less with Nel though he had less of a connection. He had more of a connection with these two as princesses than the others though.

"Dad has a terrible sense of humor," Brae said with a moment.

"No, I just happen to know what she considers to be villains," Braxton said. "Though I suppose she also knows how to be child appropriate, being in a school and all..."

"You think?" Bryna asked teasingly. "She's not going to scar your kid."

Bram just quietly watched the adults talk and then looked at Nel. "You just have a villain on you? Like in your pocket?"

"Obviously," Liron said to brae, it was so very obvious to him. Like seriously. "Your dad needs to get high. Loosen up."

"Oh yes," Nel said and dug her hands into her bat bag that never left her side. She pulled out a patch and covered one eye with it. "Arrggh," she said in quite the pirate voice. Not that she had totally practiced this. Nope. She smacked her hand down on the table and stared at Brom all scary like. "Ye tiny scallywag, where's me treasure!"

"That's a terrifying thought," Brae said as he thought about what his dad would be like if he was high.

Braxton chose not to comment though Bryna laughed quietly. Even the twins had quiet chuckles but quickly shushed just in case.

Bram just studied Nel for a moment. "You're not a pirate," he decided. "You don't have a beard. Or a proper pet. Or a ship." Though he at least seemed amused even if he was arguing against her being a true pirate.

"I don't think so... Except maybe his munchies." Liron said and just imagined Braxton eating everything he could see.

"Says hoo? You?" Nel said and went into her bag again and pulled put a black and purple capture sphere that looked incredibly dark. She opened it and out came the most gorgeous black, yellow and purple bird that wore skeleton armor. "This be Murderous Jack."

The parrot squawked really loudly and looked over at Brom as he settled on Nel's shoulder. "Ho, oh its the pirate life for me!" he sang and clicked his tongue.

"Oh..." Bram said and seemed both impressed but also disappointed that she actually has a proper pirate pet. He looked a bit put out as he looked at the thing.

"She still doesn't have a ship," Brae said to his brother.

"Oh right! Where's your ship then?" Bram said quickly in excited child fashion.

Liron started laughing because Nel played it cool. She would end up being a good mum if she ever got there.

"Ah, see," Nel said and pulled something else from her bag. A tiny ship in a bottle. "I broke a witches heart and she cursed me ship into a glass bottle and I can't get it out again." why wasn't anyone questioning the contents of her bag. I'm done.

Oh people were. They just weren't doing it out loud. Braxton, knowing her, wasn't surprised by what was in her bag. He expected random things from her. But the twins were curious and Brae was too, a little bit.

Not Bram though, because to him all bags had random stuff. He was a kid. They put all kinds of odds and ends into their bags and boxes. "Oh...Why would you mess with a witch? We have those but even I know not to make them angry..."

"She's not that smart," Trent piped up, teasingly.

The twins bent over the bag to look at it. "Do you have the witch in there as well?" one of them asked.

"Maybe," Nel said with a wink and kicked her bag under the table and couldn't help but grin. "Because she was cute and had a buried treasure map. Of course."

"Pirates are all about the booty," Liron said under his breath because he was being so dirty. But he was a fae of sex.

"We'd hope so," the twins said with a laugh. They knew where the dirty kitty's thoughts had gone.

Actually, all the adults did. But Bram was happily oblivious. "So where's the treasure then if you have a map?" he asked Nel. She'd hidden the bag from view so they couldn't see what else she had in there.

Nel just grinned, "its hidden in the house somewhere!" she said dramatically and stood up, with her bag and put it on her back and walked around the table. She held her hand out to him. "Help me find it, laddie, eh?"

Bram looked up at his father for permission. He couldn't just get up from the table without being told that it was okay.

Braxton nodded his head. He didn't mind little Bram going off with Nel to play. It kept them both distracted and he knew Nel wouldn't mistreat his child.

Bram got up with a polite thank you and took Nel's hand. "Why would the witch have a map of our house?" he asked curiously.

"It's a magic map, works in everyone's house if they have treasure." Nel said with a very convincing nod as he smiled at Beam and took him off. She really didn't care if Braxton was worried or not, just because she would be good to his boy.

Bram followed after her. He didn't have any choice. "Why did the witch have a treasure map like that?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he was meant to believe all of this or not. But she had a lot of pirate stuff in her bag. Maybe there really was a witch in there.

"so she can be rich, I stole it from her though. She was evil." Nel said with a serious nod again, "we have to be careful though, she might know we are using the map."

"But if she's in your bag then how would she know or get to us?" Bram asked. "We have witches here. I don't know that they're evil...." They could be. His dad was kind of evil and he knew that. So were lots that lived in the house. At least, they were according to humans.

"She's a clever one. Probably spelled the map to alert her." Nel said, she shook her bag a bit. "It's only a temporary prison. I'm not as strong as she be."

"So why haven't you burned her then?" Bram asked. He knew that at least. Humans liked to burn witches a long time ago. Of course, the fire witches were immune to that sort of thing, but they went along with it because they thought it was funny. Or something.

"I'm a pirate laddy, not a murderer." Nel said as if it was obvious. She started to look inside vases and under cushions.

"Oh..." Bram thought about that for a moment. "So...then maybe you could seal her magic? My dad does that kind of stuff all the time for people he doesn't like much. Although...he doesn't like most people," he added thoughtfully.

"I think he likes me." Nel said, but she wasn't sure of the either. "I don't have the stoles to steal her magic."

"Yeah, but you're a dark princess. So he would," Bram said. "It's just mostly other people. The ones that aren't as dark as we are. Or something. I don't know many people outside here. Oh...and Grandpa's family."

"Maybe we can defeat her, you're strong." Nel said and squeezed his tiny arm as if it was huge.

"Oh. No. I really don't think I could take on a witch," Bram said and shook his head. He thought that Nel was silly. But he just couldn't do that. Not one she was worried about.