BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Chapter 19

The New Castle

Last time on Beauty and the Beast:

   "But then...ohhhhh God.....but then how are you here!? What happened to you? How did you get to the front drive?" Justin grabbed his face and held his cheeks in his palms and looked deep within his eyes. The gold flecks were moving now, twinkling like the stars in the sky. "Brian, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!!!??"

And now:

   Brian took hold of Justin's wrists in his own meaty hands and then gently pried them away from his face. He slid his hands up to take hold of his lover's palms and with his thumbs began to lightly and rhythmically stroke them. This caused Justin to quickly turn to mush.

   "Ever the princess aren't you! Now will you please take your panties out of the twist you seem to have them perpetually in or I'll have to lock you in that tower out the back! So! Are you ready!? Good! Then listen to me and I shall tell you."

   Somehow, Justin found that he had been manoeuvred into lying back against Brian's huge musclebound chest. And if this position weren't erotic enough, Brian's arms came around on either side to encircle him and his hands began to lazily flick and play with his nipples. This caused gentle waves of pleasure to thrum back and forth through his body and any coherent thought flew right out the window. He collapsed back against that burly chest and lay there in a haze as Brian told him the following story.

    "When I was turning to stone I got very cold. I felt it right up until my neck. But at the same time I was feeling a kind of heat too moving up from my feet. It was a terrible heat though, the kind of burn you get if you knelt down bare in the snow. Only there was never any numbness, only that horrible heat and burning."

   "There was a light," interjected Justin with difficulty.

   "Anyway, I said I love you that last time. Then everything went black and still. But still I could feel that horrible heat rise and rise until it was consuming every bit of me. And then...and then...there was a climax. A kind of shattering. God, if I didn't know better it was like a kind of orgasm. Only an anti orgasm. Because instead of pleasure there was a flash of pain, of burning, the likes of which, I'd never felt before. And then I was on fire."

   "That would have been the explosion," drawled Justin still in a nip flicked haze of pleasure.

   "Thank you Capt. Obvious!" said Brian giving his nips a pinch causing Justin to groan in pain and pleasure. "Anyways..."

   "I was on fire. I was floating in some kind of void. I was burning. I was screaming but nobody heard me. I tried to see what was going on and I felt I could move. And I saw that my tattoos were being burned away. Those horrible boils...those acid and burn scars were being burned away. And I realized my insides were changing as well. The coldness I'd held toward my fellow man was being burned away. My desire for tricking. My desire for hunting. Then only my desire for you, for my son, to love again, to see my friends, to see the people I loved, remained. I felt so...so cleansed. And then...I shattered yet again. And then I was nothing but a mind...pure thought floating through a universe I could not see."

   "And then...with a rush I came together again. It was still dark. I realized I had my eyes closed. I opened them and I found I was in the front yard in that incredible car. The bouquet of golden gardenias (and I suddenly just knew what they were; I can't explain it) were in the front seat along with my cell phone. I realized I was back to normal. And that's when I called you."

   "He bent Justin toward him and smiled gently. "I also realized it was you. It was you who brought me back to normal. My hero." And he captured Justin's lips in a light and long kiss that was made up of lots of soft tongue. Justin groaned.

   "Remind me to be your hero more often," he quipped, after they were finished; a long time later.

   "You are. You always will be. Now. Forever. And a day." And Brian drew him again for another round of kissing and chestplay that escalated in another round of fucking that was slow and languid culminating into fast, furious and frenzied. Their climaxes were earthshattering and yet still they were not enough. Not even if they went on for forever and a day.

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   They showered again and then went back to the big room. Brian wrapped Justin up in his huge arms and then wrapped them both up in the bear rug. They fell asleep.

   A few hours later, they awoke, ravenously hungry. ‘

   "What are we going to do?" asked Brian. "We don't have the Wards anymore. We're on our own in this huge old place." The prospect was daunting and even a little creepy to him.

   "Not to worry," Justin said, "There must be a kitchen in this place somewhere. I saw a banquet room back there. Let's try there."

   So they dressed and did just that.

   Sure enough, at the back of the huge banquet hall (that is, the opposite side of the room where they entered) there was a set of swinging double doors. And through them...

   "Good grief!" exclaimed Justin, "I was expecting something...but not this!'

   This...was a huge room with two rows of ovens. Each oven was separated by a sink, counter space and a fridge. There were cupboards up high, and below. There were 20 ovens in all, ten in each row. There was a fridge for every stove.

   They walked through it, marvelling. At the opposite end of this room was another door. They went through this door.

   "Holy Hell!!" yelled Brian.

   It was, of course, the pantry. But once again, it was unlike anything they had ever seen.

   The pantry stretched out wide as well as long and it was all organized on rows of shelves. It was fully stocked and as large as a large supermarket. The left side of the room was the freezer section and was one long freezer with doors at intervals just like a real supermarket. At the end of the room on the left were eight more doors. Each led to a walk in freezer, filled with whole haunches of meat, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, a few other exotic fowl and even a few whole pigs. In each one.

   Justin inspected everything carefully and was very pleased. Then humming a little tune, he went over to the appropriate places and picked out, a loaf of bread, a can of Spam, a block of cheese, and a head of lettuce and then headed back to the huge kitchen. He used the area nearest the dining hall and made them sandwiches. He rummaged in the cupboards and found dishes and cutlery and glasses and milk in the fridge in a gallon jug. Despite the huge extra space, he felt right at home. He always had in the kitchen.

   Brian was still as flummoxed as Justin was calm. He had never really moved past the "Holy Hell!" stage. He was nervous and cagy and felt very, very small in such a huge and splendorous place. I mean, don't get me wrong, he was used to luxury and riches but even this was out of his league.  And without the Wards or magic, he wondered how they were going to keep up with it all.

   Humming a peaceful tune, Justin finished the triple decker sandwiches crammed full of meat, cheese and lettuce. He poured them both a huge glass of ice cold milk and cleaned up the leftovers and wiped down the counter. When he was done, everything was as spotless as it was when they had entered.

   He motioned for Brian to take his plate and glass and together they went into the dining hall and sat at the huge table. Both men felt like a couple of bugs sitting on a picnic blanket at that huge table with 98 free chairs.

   "Justin, what are we going to do with it all?"

   "I have a few ideas. Let's not worry about it now. I don't like to talk about such things with an empty stomach. Let's eat."

   And so, they ate the sandwiches and drank the milk. At last they both settled back with full tummies and sighed. Brian had never really tasted Spam before and while it wasn't very pleasant, it was edible and the cheese covered up any unpleasantness. Mostly.

   After their meal, Justin took the dishes back into the kitchen and together they washed up the dishes. Justin washed and Brian dried their meager dishes in that enormous space where 20 chefs could have easily worked on 20 different dishes and never been crowded.

   They went back down along the long banquet hall when all of a sudden Justin saw an unobtrusive door about halfway down.

   "I wonder where this leads," wondered Justin. Brian shrugged and just made a "after you" motion with his arms. The door might be a mystery but Brian could see the glint in Justin's eyes and he knew where that was leading!

   So Justin opened the little door and they went along a dark but clean stone passageway. The floor was paved with white cobblestones and the walls were red and friendly brick. At the end of this strange little passage was a plain wood wall with a lever sticking out of it.

   "This is weird," said Justin.

   "And creepy. Don't forget creepy!" interjected Brian. The narrow passage was not meshing well with his huge body.

   "Oh you! Don't be such a nervous Nellie!" said Justin, "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

   "How ‘bout I let you top me instead?" said Brian, right next to his ear.

   Justin gasped in excitement.

   "Someday."

   Justin huffed in disappointment. "You big tease!" he said and pulled the lever.

   There was a click. The wall moved open like a door a little bit. Justin and Brian pushed and the wall swung out on well-oiled hinges and then they were stepping out into the Great Room with the bearskin rug and the fireplace from out behind one of the bookcases. One of the books was pulled out.

   "Well this is handy," said Justin as if it were the most normal things in the world to have a secret passage that led into your living room.

   "Handy!! It's amazing!!" cried Brian, "I wonder how many other secret passages there are in this place!"

   "Quite a few, I expect. And we get to explore....and find them all!" Justin's eyes were shining with excitement and love.

   "Hmmm....maybe..." said Brian slowly.

   "What do you mean, my love? Don't you want to find them?"

   "Oh yes! It's not that Justin!" said Brian.

   "Then what? Oh wait...." Justin bent to take note of the trigger book before the case slid back into place and closed with a click. He began to laugh.

   "What is it, Justin? What was the book?"

   Justin wiped a tear away. "The Joy of Cooking!"

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   It was a few minutes later. They were once more ensconced on the bear rug. They were kissing and engaged in some light petting.

   "Now. What is it? What is bothering you, my love?" Justin asked finally.

   "This place. This castle. Oh, Justin! It's so filled with light and love and a strange magic of all its own that has nothing to do with the Wards and yet is just as powerful!! Can you feel it?"

   "Yes. I've felt it. That is why I feel such a sense of peace and belonging here."

   "And yet...that's why I do not. Justin, it's too big! It's too grand. It's different than my cold, dark mansion that shielded me. The Wards are gone. We have to take care of it and ourselves. It's going to take untold wealth to keep it up and running. Even with my wealth, I could not hope to do it. We cannot stay here just the two of us and we cannot afford its upkeep. We have to sell it."

   "Oh, Brian, who would buy it? It must be worth millions...maybe even hundreds of billions of dollars. No one could afford to buy it. It's ours." He kissed him. "Our children's. Our children's, children's. And we shall see them all, and we shall live here together."

   "But how?"

   Justin smacked his forehead. "Oh, how stupid of me! You do not know! I forgot! You said it was going to take untold wealth. Brian, we have untold wealth. Unlimited wealth." He took out the handful of gems from one pocket and the pocket change out of the other and a strange carved box about the size of a matchbox.

   "What's all this?" asked Brian.

   Justin gave a small Mona Lisa smile and grabbed a few rubies and diamonds and put them in the box. The box somehow accommodated all of them. Justin shut the lid. When he opened it there was double the amount. He opened and closed the lid three times. Then he poured a second pile of gemstones out on the rug.

   Brian's eyes were wide.

   Justin found five quarters. He made ten. He made twenty. He took five out of those and made ten. He took 25 quarters out of that and put them in the box. He made 50.

   "OK, that's a roll of ten dollars." He closed the box and opened it. "Twenty dollars. Forty. Eighty. One hundred and sixty." Justin poured out the mound of quarters onto the rug. "All we have to do is roll them and bank them when we need to."

   "Oh. My. God!!!!! Justin, are you sure! Isn't this counterfeiting?"

   "Not really. There's no distinguishing marks on coins and each is the same as the other. They're all real. The only thing we must not do is duplicate bills." He explained about the serial numbers. "And anyway, if that makes you uncomfortable we can always just duplicate the gems and sell them at a reputable jeweller who will give us a fair price for them. After a while maybe we can buy bigger gems and dupe them...or a gold ingot. Or...whatever. Whatever we duplicate, all we have to do is remember to hold back at least one. Then we can duplicate all over again. So you see Brian, we can stay here. We can keep up this place. We'll hire out people in the village. We'll hire Beddy! She'll never have to waitress again in her life and instead manage an army of cooks. Maybe we can even hire your friend Debbie and have her move here. She can co-manage or manage another fleet, elsewhere in the castle. On their off hours they can finally be together!"

   "Fleets! What will we do with so many cooks!?" asked Brian.

   "I have a feeling we're going to need them. This castle...we can't just keep it to ourselves. We have to share it with everybody! To help people! First those in the area! The village. The farmers. Maybe even the world!"

   "What are we do to with it?" asked Brian, "You said you had some ideas."

   "Yes. What about a resort hotel? Or a hospital? Or...oh, Brian, what about an AIDS hospice?"

   "Which one?"

   Justin looked around in excitement. "All of them! Oh Brian, why choose? There's more than enough room for everything!!"

   Brian sat down and looked at everything and tried to wrap his head around everything. He couldn't. It was like contemplating the fact that the universe was endless. Eventually you just had to stop thinking about it or go crazy.

   He looked at all the red, green, blue and white jewels. He picked up a few of them. He put them in the box. He duplicated them. He closed and opened the box. He did it again. And again. And again. And again. And one more time and poured another pile out. He looked at it with shining eyes.

   Justin looked at him sadly. He recognized that look in Ethan's eyes. The greed was taking hold of his lover and soon he would be lost. There was nothing he could do to stop him. Soon, all Brian would care about was making jewels or other riches.

   Brian could feel something small in his stomach. It grew and grew and bloomed into a wild excitement. He jumped up. He hollered. He whooped. He went a little crazy. He danced. He pulled his hair a little. He grabbed Justin and whirled him around. He kissed both his cheeks multiple times. Then he backed off and asked: "Tears?? Are you crying Justin? Why?"

   Justin looked forlorn. "The greed. It's consuming you. It's Ethan all over again."

   Brian looked stern. "One: Never compare me to that scumbag! Two: It's not greed. OK, well maybe a little. But it's mostly...Oh, Justin! I finally get it! There are no limits! We can do anything! I don't have to worry about finding another advertising job! You can paint for fun...not because you have to earn a living on it! We could make the money out to take courses in...whatever! Travel! Whatever! I feel like we won some sort of lottery! I'm so excited! So happy I can hardly bear it! I love you! I love you so much!"

   And he took Justin into his arms and dipped him deeply down and kissed him, an all-consuming, killer kiss that curled Justin's toes and stiffened his dick within seconds. Justin matched Brian's ardour and they remained fused together like that for a long time, both of them, never wanting it to end.

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   Afterwards, Justin pocketed the box, a few quarters and dimes, and a handful of the jewels, one of each kind. Then they left the room and abandoned the rest.

   "Will we see it again, Sunshine?"

   "We might. Maybe we'll make it back to this room. Who knows?" Justin said.

   At any rate, they started by going back to the Entrance Hall and going down the left hand corridor. There they found a mirror image of all the rooms they had found in the right hand corridor except that the study room was a billiards/game room with a variety of table games, board games stocked, and a foosball table in it. And there was another banquet hall another grocery store sized pantry and another Great Room. At the end of the room and leading off to the left where they hadn't noticed in the other Great Room was a set of double doors. They assumed there was another set in the other room leading off to the right.

   Through these door was another long corridor lined with double doors. About halfway down the hall was a double set of elevators and a door to a stairwell. The stairwell was clean and white and there was a frosted glass window at every floor that let in the light.

   They started opening doors. Each set of double doors led into large suite of rooms, like an apartment. Each one had a living room, kitchen, bath, and bedroom with a king size bed. Justin opened his phone, and snapped a picture of every room in one apartment.

   "What are you doing?" asked Brian.

   "It's for the website," was all Justin would say.

   They checked the elevators. There were 12 floors. There were three floors of king size bedroom style suites. The next three floors were a little less opulent and had queen size beds. The next three floors had two double beds and were a bit smaller but no less equipped. The top three floors had single doors, and more of them and were single beds and suites. The rooms were smaller and simpler but very elegant in their furnishing.

   They went back down stairs to the Great Room. What they had though were just a large set of windows with curved tops were actually a set of French doors. They went out onto a vast patio that was like an outdoor restaurant with dozens of tables scattered around, each one with a closed outdoor umbrella. The tables were surrounding an Olympic sized swimming pool. There was another door that led into the Great Room they had made love in and across the way there were two more sets of doors leading to their own Great Rooms and two wings of 12 floors of suites. There were two more banquet halls on this side.

   They went all the way through to the back where the back doors were just as nice and opulent as the front doors. There was a wide driveway in front of them that wound its way around the side of the castle. Brian figured it met up with the front.

   Past the driveway were more lawns and smaller paths which led to:

   Two more swimming pools, each with their accompanying hot tub.

   A dozen tennis courts, each one with 6 playing fields in them.

   A set of stables that was not a hundred years old and had tripled in size and was full of at least 50 Arabian stallions and had room for at least 100 more horses.

   Brian and Justin were looking at everything in awe and Justin was snapping a few pictures of the horses when from behind them came a snuffling, snorting like of breath and a voice said, "Masters...I trust everything is in order? I saw the horses...I fed them...I'm looking after them for you!"

   Brian and Justin whirled. All this time they had thought they were alone in this huge old place. Now it seemed they were wrong.

   "Hold it right there!" Brian yelled, "Who are you and what are you doing here!?"

   In the door was a huge man, both in height and muscular girth. He was at least 7 and a half feet tall. He was youthful with a wide, deep chest, six pack abs and powerful, thick legs. He wore a cowboy/ranch hand's clothes: light blue jeans, cowboy boots, assless, tie on leather chaps. He was wearing a plaid shirt that was open down the front. Brian squinted in suspicion. That shirt looked awfully familiar.

   The man wore tan leather work gloves and a cowboy hat to complete the sexy picture. His shirt sleeves were rolled up; his biceps bulged like large apples. The man was a total bear. As I said he was youthful but his hair was a tawny brown color and thick and long enough for it to spill out of his hat in an uneven shag. His bangs were in his eyes. He had a thick handlebar moustache that led into muttonchops right back into his hairline. His back, shoulders, arms and chest had a thick play of hair. Even his stomach had a thick treasure trail.

   This formidable man stood before them and Brian stood as tall as he could as he shouted at him. In silent distress, he knew he was no match for this intruder but he kept Justin in back of him and postured himself as threatening as possible, ready to go down fighting if he had to.

   At Brian's angry voice the man shied back a few steps. Then he took a few steps forward. Then back. Then forward. He blew out a snorting kind of breath, the kind a horse blows out when it is nervous. The man took off his hat and turned the brim in his hands. He snorted again.

   "Master? Master Brian? Are you angry with me? I tried. Yes sir, I tried! I fed all 50 horses for you! I'll work very hard! Just like always! I'm a good, hard worker!" He blew and snorted. "But please, Master, if you are to acquire any more horses, oh please, will you send me more help? I cannot take care of them all!"

   "I wasn't aware we'd taken on a worker at all! You never answered my question!? Who are you?" cried Brian.

   "Masters? Don't you recognize me, Master Brian? It's me! It's me...Arjax!"

   Justin's eyes went wide and he took a few steps toward the stable manager. Arjax snuffled and took a few steps back, then a few forward again. Justin stopped...then moved forward again.

   "Arjax!? Is that really you!?"

   "Yes, Master Justin! It's really me! It's meee! Mee-hee-hee-heee!!!"

   Justin continued on to this formidable man and reached him. He looked up into his eyes and pulled aside the man's bangs and was reminded all those times they had to trim the Clydesdale's mane out of his eyes. It was exactly the same color. And his eyes...

   Justin could see the eyes were the same chocolate brown, so full of love. As well, his gift of truth kicked in and Justin was swept with the empathetic emotions of the man-horse. Feelings of total trust, of love, devotion, and skittish fear swept through him. But there was no hint of a lie.

   "Oh Brian! It's him! It's really him! It's Arjax! It's Arjax!!" And Arjax found himself with an armful of blond that was wrapping itself around his huge waist since that's where Justin came up to on his taller frame.

   In a twinkling, Brian had joined him and all three men were hugging and crying and laughing for joy.

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   "But how?" asked Brian.

   It was sometime later. They were on the central patio sitting at one of the tables around the pool. Justin had gone into another pantry and fixed them a huge sandwich and found an enormous shiny red apple and a beer. Then he had come back and used the box to duplicate both the sandwich and then the apple twice. Then he made three beers. All of them were very happy and contented and Arjax's eyes had lit up especially when he saw the apple. He crunched into his enthusiastically.

   "I do not know, Mast - uh...Brian," answered Arjax. Brian had insisted that man-Arjax call him by his name, as he was no longer just a beast. "I was in my stable under my horse blanket munching my oats and..."

   "That shirt! Now I know! That shirt is the very same as your horse blanket!" yelled Brian interrupting.

   They both looked at him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Sorry," he backed down, "Well, it is..." he said awkwardly.

   "So...I was munching my oats and there was this terrible bang. A terrible feeling of fear and dread overcame me. So I kicked out the door to my stall and then the stable and made a run for it. And then a wave of icy cold and fear, worse than before overcame me. I looked behind me and saw that a...something....was coming and it was destroying the stables. Well, more like changing them. They looked ancient all of a sudden. I ran and escaped into the forest."

   "For a long time, I just wandered around, eating the grass and flowers which were nice but not as sweet as the apples and oats you used to give me. I missed you both terribly."

   "All of a sudden, there was another thing...like a wave...a wave of feelings of love, of peace, of happiness. The part of the forest I was in rippled and disappeared and I was on a grassy lawn amongst bushes and flowerbeds and the house was coming closer. A tower was growing into the sky. That tower!" he indicated, pointing at the tallest white tower near the back.

   "My hooves felt different. I was having a hard time chewing. I spit out the flower I was trying to eat. I stood up. I was as you see me now. There was...a kind of voice...that came from my inside. Like my insides were telling me something but it was someone else telling it to them.... If this makes any sort of sense? Anyway, it said, Arjax, if you are willing, you will do far greater things than you ever could in this new form...if you are willing! So I nodded yes and the voice or feeling or whatever faded away and I started walking toward the tower and I found the stables and I just...knew....I should look after them. Already my life as a horse was beginning to fade away and even now I have the memories but they are like the memories of dreams. Occasionally, one will come back stronger than the other or I'll have a horsey manner but otherwise I feel like I've been a man for a long time. Well....mostly." he blushed. He put the ravaged apple core down.

   Brian and Justin were filled with astounded wonder and profound joy. They were unable to speak for many minutes.

   Eventually though, Arjax grew nervous at their silence. He thought that they maybe did not like his new form and wished he were a horse again.

   "Mas...Brian?? Justin?? Do you not want me here? Now that I'm a man now, I mean? I'll still work for you real good! I'm still a hard worker! I like the stables! I'll need helpers! But I'm not complaining!! No sirrr...sirrrr.....sirrrrrrr....heeeheeeheee!!" He huffed and shook that off but it only served to escalate his nervousness. "Please! Please let me stay! I missed you! I don't want to be alone again! I don't want..."

   "Arjax! Arjax! Calm down!" they both cried, but it was no use, Arjax was deteriorating into a full blown 7 and a half foot bodybuilder panic attack.

   "Please! Please let me staaaay! St-St-Naaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!" he jackknifed up too quickly and knocked over his chair which startled him and turning to quickly, knocked into another table and turned it over, breaking it in half. This panicked him further and caused him to knock into another table and another. His eyes were wild and he screamed like a panicked horse.

   "ARJAX!! DOWN BOY! DOWN!!!" yelled Brian in his best authoritative voice.

   Arjax quieted at once. He was on his hands and knees and still took heaving, gulping breaths as he was finally able to calm down.

   "I'm sorry, Masters! I'm sorry! I felt scared. I couldn't stop," heaved Arjax.

   Justin heaved Arjax to his feet and hugged him. "Arjax, Arjax, calm down. You will never be sent away," said Justin comfortingly. "We loved you as a horse but we find it even more wonderful that you've been transformed and we love you more than ever now. You can always be in the stables and in fact you will be Stable Manager and command a fleet of stablehands and do as much or as little physical work as you like. Whatever your decision, we don't want you to leave. We must never be parted. In fact....if you fancy a career change....you'd make a pretty good bodyguard as well."

   "Whatever you wish!" Justin was grabbed in burly bear arms and swung around and crushed in a hug that Brian would guess would have made Debbie jealous. "Oh thank you, little Master! Ooops! I mean Justin! Thank you Justin! Thank you...Brian! Thank you!"

   Arjax was ecstatic. Justin was crushed but happy. Brian was amused as he pried his partner free. All three men's joy was complete.

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   Dear one, the opulence and staggering layout of this castle that seemed to go on and on...I cannot hope to describe to you fully. Justin had been right. The place was as big as a city. It took them a full week to see everything and to get back to the first Great Room and then the front doors of the castle.

   They rested in the nearest nice room when they needed to. They fucked and slept in a different nearby bedroom every night and ate at the last kitchen they would come to. And still it just seemed to go on and on. They snapped dozens of photos. In fact they used up the allotted memory in both Justin's and Brian's phone. Justin directed that one photo space be left open. Brian didn't understand but he acquiesced.

   There was a certain type of magic at work in the castle but it was bigger, more powerful and more sentient that the Wards could ever be. It seemed like the castle itself could re-shape and accommodate itself according to their ideas and desires. It directed them to the places they needed to go, but not like before. Instead of tiresome flashing lights and manual directions, they would just seem to...find themselves at their desired destination after wondering where it was.

   Among the many and wonderful things they saw during their travels were:

   Many conveniently placed elevators.

   Many "You are here" maps for a certain section of the castle they were in.

   Near the front of the castle, very near the first Great Room, in fact, they found a door they never noticed before. In golden letters above the door it read: FAMILY WING. Inside this door was a whole section of rooms. Another living room that was more manageable, kitchen with the cupboards done all in cherry wood, 3 baths, a sauna and a series of bedrooms.  There was a laundry room with front loader washer and dryer. The whole thing was as large as a mid-sized house only all on one level. There was a master bedroom, three guest bedrooms which were more like bachelor suites and...

   Brian teared up

   The last suite had furniture that was all half sized. One whole wall was wallpapered with artist canvas. It was blank...for now but Justin's artist mind went into overdrive. There was a sports car bed.

   Taking out the picture where he had tucked it into his blazer next to his heart, Brian put the picture of his baby boy who was now a few years old onto the small bedside table beside the sports car bed. It had found its new home.

   Justin came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. "It won't be long now Brian. We'll get him here. Even if it's just for a visit or a part custody....We'll get him here. You're a different man now. You have different needs. We'll make them see that. I promise."

   Brian turned in his arms and gave him a resounding kiss. "Yur darn tootin' we will!" he said.

   Justin laughed through his tears.

   A section of the castle that was the servant's quarters. It was as large as a small village with its own large kitchen and dining area, game room, large pool and first aid center. Each of the many rooms were large bachelor suites with a double bed. It was an area that could be completely self-sustaining.

   A large section that was obviously the "hospital" portion of the castle. There was an automatic sliding glass door to the outside leading to an emergency room. There were dozens of shiny O.R s and gurneys and hospital equipment. There were 10 stories of semi-private and private rooms.

   A large wing of the castle that looked very hospital-ish but the rooms were all more long term dwelling looking. If that makes sense. Justin declared that this section was to be the HIV/AIDS hospice.

   A morgue in the basement.

   Underneath that, were long halls filled with heavy doors that could be locked with large, heavy locks that were opened with a ring of large golden keys they found on a nail on the wall. Each heavy door was the door to a vault, all of which were empty but clean, waiting to be filled.

   "Why do you suppose they'd be empty?" asked Brian.

   "I think it knows," answered Justin, "The castle knows...we have the power to make our own vast wealth," he fingered the magic box gratefully and with love.

   Underneath that, were 6 floors of cavernous parking garages. For some reason, a cold chill, swept through Justin and he refused to get off the elevator. Brian was equally spooked and they left that area as quickly as possible.

   Moving on....A shopping mall.

   Several large movie theatres with full sized screens.

   Several more ballrooms.

   A vast and intricate hedge maze with a balcony overlooking it so any lost people could be directed out. Brian and Justin could see many white benches situated in many areas for people to rest. They also found a shed that housed many poles with flags on the top of them for people to carry around so they could signal if they were truly lost. In the center of the maze were a three-tiered fountain, benches and a small cottage with a pool.

   Four auditoriums for live theatre with all the backstage amenities.

   Twelve more swimming pools in various parts of the castle. Some were square, some kidney shaped, some round. Some were equipped with saunas. All were wonderful.

   A large house at the back of the property that was like a mini castle all in itself. There was a white tower that went up three stories. There was a small door in it and small stairs they couldn't fit into that led up to the top. The door to the castle was half the size for an adult but just the right size for a child. They couldn't get in but peering in the windows, they glimpsed child sized furniture and even a kitchen with a half sized stove. Justin decided that this was a child's playhouse but really it was a child's play mansion.

   Spas and workout rooms equipped with weights and cardio machines.

   A shed full of golf carts and segways.

   They left the white tower for last. There was no door but there were two large silver keys on a nail. On the handles was carved: PRESIDENTIAL.

   They searched all around and finally Justin let out an "OWW!!" and Brian rushed to see.

   Justin had run into a glass wall. Perfectly camouflaged against the wall, set against an equally invisible, painted white track was an elevator made completely of thick glass. There was a keyhole in the wall of the tower to the left of the elevator. Justin used it and the doors opened. They got in and the doors closed and the elevator rose at once. There were no buttons.

   It was a dizzy, spooky feeling to be rising up in a completely glass elevator. It was rather like you were standing on nothing at all. And they just kept going up and up and up and up. Eventually, Justin just closed his eyes.

   At last, they reached the top. An inner door opened and they got out. They gasped.

   Inside, was a large, perfectly round room, with just one area closed off for a compact but fully stocked bathroom including a Jacuzzi. There was wine red carpet on the floor and golden wallpaper. There was a living room set around a pot-bellied stove. The furniture was exquisite. There was a kitchen area complete with a working stove. There were 3 windows at the compass points. The elevator acted as the fourth window. Imagine the most opulent penthouse, a top floor suite at any Hilton or the Plaza Hotel in New York. It made all those look like dumps.

   The elevator had closed. There was a matching keyhole in the wall next to the door. Now it was clear. The door could only be opened and activated with the keys. One was for the guest and one for the manager. If someone was up here, they could send the elevator back down and be as secluded as Rapunzel if they wished. And once it was down it stayed down until they wished to leave or someone came to collect them (ie. The manager.) The view was the most amazing thing you had ever seen in your life in every direction. Anywhere you looked, you could see over the castle and beyond. You could see for many miles in every direction.

   Opposite the elevator was an open door with stairs going down. They went down a circle of stairs and came to the most beautiful bedroom, you could ever imagine. There were two windows here. There was a larger than king sized bed with canopy and curtains. It was an obvious and larger than life fuckpad. It was amazing.

   "When we have everything set up, we are going to come back here, and I am going to spend a week fucking you into that huge mattress!" vowed Brian.

   "How long has it been since you had another partner, Brian?" was Justin's unexpected question.

   "About a month before you came," Brian said, honestly. "Why?"

   "Let's wait about another month or so...get tested...and then spend the time in here doing it raw." Brian sucked in an excited breath. "I'd like this, the place to be where we start a family," said Justin.

   "Huh? I don't understand. What do you mean, Justin?" asked Brian.

   "It doesn't matter." He pressed a soft and passionate kiss to Brian's lips. "Ask me again sometime." And he went back up to the elevator and refused to say anything more about it.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

   And so, they were finally ready to return to the front of the castle and head out to the village and then back to Pittsburgh to wrap up that chapter of their lives. The castle seemed to know the need for them to return to the front door and the long, wide, straight hallways seemed plentiful and led them nearly directly there. Well hey! It only took them two hours!

   They found the original Great Room just as they'd left it and filled a vase with the jewels on the floor and another vase with the coins and left them on the fireplace mantle to be taken care of later. They picked up Arjax and headed out to the Corvette. At the sight of the car, Arjax's face fell a little but brightened with an effort, like he was putting his game face on.

   "Arjax, what's the matter?" asked Justin.

   Arjax circled the ‘Vette warily. "That certainly is a ...nice...wagon, Masters," he said sadly, "It looks a bit...heavy. But I can do it! I can do it! He stood at the front of the car and planted in his feet. "OK, Masters! Hook me up! I can pull it! So....how do you hook me to this thing anyway?"

   Brian was already behind the wheel. "Arjax, will you quit being a twat and get in the car already! You don't pull this wagon! It pulls you! Now get in! Your pulling days are over!"

   Arjax looked like Christmas come early. "Truly!?? I never have to pull anything again??"

   "No Arjax! You're a man now!" Justin said, "Besides, this wasn't made for horses or men to pull. It's a car! Now get in!"

   In supreme joy, Arjax jumped in. Through some...creative rearranging that involved Justin sitting on Arjax's lap since this was a two seater, they all managed to get buckled in.

   They peeled away and drove fast and easy toward the front gate. Brian found a remote strapped to the dashboard and pressed it. The gate swung open.

   "Wait!" yelled Justin. "Hold everything!"

   "What!!? What is it!!?" yelled Brian squealing to a stop.

   Justin unbuckled and jumped out of the car. He ran back a few paces and then posed. "One last picture! Get the whole castle! And get me in with it!"

   Brian complied and then yelled: "Now can we please get the hell out of here!?" I'd like to get on with the rest of my life!"

   Justin got back on top of Arjax and they re-buckled up. "You little shit!" Brian groused, "You nearly gave me heart failure! What was that all about!? And why did you need to be in it?"

   "Because words aren't enough to describe this thing. No one will believe us about it unless they see it. And I needed to be there so they know we didn't photoshop or fake it somehow."

   "Oh. Actually....that's really smart."

   "Thanks hon." He leaned over for a kiss.

   And then they were truly off. Brian peeled away with a screeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! The gates were closing and they were zooming down the open road towards town into the setting sun.

   And Arjax who had never felt the wind on his face like this, never moved this fast in his life and had never ridden in a carriage but always pulled them, was filled with a full, fierce, and wild joy. He pulled off his cowboy hat as they zoomed off into the distance, waved it ecstatically around and yelled:

   "YAAA-HOOOOOO!!!!! YIPPPEEEE!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

THE   END

and

TBC