TITLE: Icarus Manor, chapter 4
AUTHOR: lillywhite1, but you can call me Casey.
SUMMARY: In a mysterious mansion in a secluded part of North America, a man 
discovers that he is far from alone in the world. Here at Icarus Manor several species of 
non-human description live together to survive in a world that does not know they exist. 
LAST CHAPTER: Dominic learns the mysterious nature of the manor house and has his 
first, very confusing day on the job. THIS CHAPTER: We learn Elijah’s secret. Sean 
brings his case to the master of the house. Dominic discovers something during a 
midnight walk. The master’s slave is displeased.

PAIRING: Eventual Dominic Monaghan/Billy Boyd
RATING: PG-13; still setting up the base for the affair.
FEEDBACK: is my neutella on a spoon that makes me go all gooey and melty and 
mmmmm...
A/N: Text in asterisks (*) represents italics. This is a book and a work in progress. Be 
gentle. Comments to cswann1@gmail.com.

Chapter 4

At 5:30 Dominic decided to call it quits. He said goodbye to his new little friends and 
tried to convey that he would be there tomorrow at the same time. It didn’t really get 
across. Both parties left shrugging.

Walking back up to the house, Dominic passed the garden. It was quite possibly the most 
beautiful thing he had ever seen. The view of the two large domes reminded him that 
there were pools now at his fingertips. Like any good wolf after a hard day of playing in 
the dirt a good swim seemed like the perfect thing to end the day.

Walking down the gloomy hallway to his room, Dom spied Elijah unlocking the door to 
his room. 

“Hey, Lij!” Elijah turned his vivid blue eyes on Dominic and smiled.

“Hey, Dom. How was everything today?”

“It was okay. I made some new friends. Uh, remember how you told me that the pools 
were your favorite place to hang out? How about accompanying me on a jaunt in that 
direction?” That was when Dominic noticed that Elijah had a towel wrapped around his 
middle and his jet black hair was dripping. “Er, unless you’ve already been?”

“Well, I was just down there, but I don’t mind returning. In fact, I’d love to go.” Elijah 
seemed so enthusiastic about it; it was as if he’d asked Dom to go. So Dom tugged on his 
trunks and joined Elijah as their bare feet padded down the corridor.

“Lij? May I ask you, how did you end up here?” Dominic said tentatively, hoping it was 
not too personal to ask. Elijah looked pensively at the floor as he drew up his answer.

“I ended up here a few years ago rather by accident, not unlike yourself. I had...a 
complicated home life.”

Dominic’s heart softened. “I know what that’s like.” Elijah gave Dom a sympathetic look 
before going on.

“It drove me crazy. My home wasn’t a home. It was a madhouse, and I was the only sane 
person in the hoards of those who lived there. I was the son of a king, the first son: A 
celebrity before I could talk and fussed over – god, was I fussed over constantly. A 
prince. The crowned prince and future ruler of Bedlam and Arkham rolled into one 
terrorizing little package with teeth and jaws.

“I couldn’t sleep. I could never sleep. There were too many papers to sign and formal 
events to attend. The stewards and servants always desperate to have something to do and 
seem busy. You know what they say about idle hands, and that was the truth with 
servants. They all became plants for the press. Not to mention the other countless eyes on 
you.

“The whispers that broke themselves like small waves upon your back. The snide 
remarks should you forget to tell the hostess that her hors d’oeuvres are excellent, even 
though she didn’t make them. The slightest mistake and it’s on the cover of every tabloid 
and newspaper and on every tongue on the radio and television!”

Dominic wanted to stop Lij and let him know he didn’t have to speak further, but it was 
too late now. It was snowballing. Elijah hurtled on like a bulleting train, nearly spitting 
some of his words. His blue eyes flashed dark. Dom was just hoping he could slow down 
before crashing. It was obvious he had some unresolved issues.

“And of course, for every mistake that makes its slimy little way toward the ears of the 
press’ hounds, there are four or five that don’t. The King’s advisors catch everything. 
They lie in wait, dying to snatch some meager little thing and turn it into a juicy tidbit to 
tell the King in the hopes of winning praise and getting ever closer and ever more 
influential and powerful, but it’s all under the guise that they’re looking out for the good 
of the kingdom. They bend your father’s ear with every small thing that’s wrong with you 
and before you even realize you’ve forgotten to shake the hand of the writer of the new 
bill against unlawful hunting – even though he didn’t say a damn thing and stands in the 
back trying his best to avoid shaking your hand at all – you’re having the precious few 
hours that you ever hoped to call your ‘free time’ taken up by twelve or so experts giving 
you lessons on intra-national diplomacy and a shrink weighing the possibility that this 
shaking hands event – which is actually the non-existence of an event – was a deliberate 
act of defiance by the Crowned Prince.”

Elijah sighed and let out a shaky breath. His eyes that until now had stared unfocused at 
some point in front of him as he clearly did not see the present, now found their way 
startlingly quickly up to Dom’s grey eyes.

“Pretty soon you don’t remember the meanings of simple words like ‘carefree’ or ‘bliss.’ 
Your life – the reason you were put on this Earth – is all just one big headache. You have 
a life that no one in their right mind would want to have, although all they do on their bad 
days is dream about the life they think you have. In reality, their bad day is what your 
normal day is like, and their good days – or even just their average days – are what you 
dream about when you dare let yourself sleep.

“But the worst part of it all was how my father, The King, began to not love me. His life 
was ten times the nightmare that mine was and all that his advisors did was tell him about 
the conjured mayhem I was causing. He had no time to find out otherwise. If you had a 
wall of arrows flying at you, would you think to call your mother on her birthday? It was 
quite like that, I imagine. When your very existence is a struggle to survive, the smaller 
sentimental things fall off the edges of your mind into the pit of forgetfulness. As did I. I 
was forgotten by my father.”

Here Elijah paused. His face was blank of emotion except for the tiniest hint of anguish. 
He had come to this conclusion before. His father’s awful neglect had set in over a very 
long period of time. The trailing emotions had been dulled as if dragged over and over in 
an undercurrent. Elijah shook his head.

“But I don’t blame him. The Empire was falling apart. He was one man trying to hold it 
all together. Human encroachment and extensive pollution was destroying the cities of 
my people. They turned on each other in war. The pressure to survive is high and 
continues to rise. Many of them, tired of war, retreated into the uncharted depths to find 
somewhere warm enough, maybe near an underwater volcano that could be habitable. 
Perhaps, all in all, we were not meant to rule over such vast expanses of ocean. Maybe 
we’re just one of the dying breeds of the Earth.

“I ran away.” Elijah shook his head in shame. “I ran from the only life I knew and did 
what no one dared to do. I tried to live with the humans. I survived pretty well on my 
own for a spoiled brat. I spent the first few months hiding in a movie theater in San 
Francisco learning general things about humans, things other than what I learned in an 
instructional class mandatory in the kingdom called ‘Human: The Predator.’ I learned 
much that I later used to survive. My favorites were the John Cusack movies.”

Elijah smiled. His good humor had returned. The padding of their feet down the corridor 
was the only noise for a short time. They reached the door that lead to the pool room. 
Elijah said he’d dubbed it “The Aquarium.”

The door opened with a small creak and Dominic saw the inside of the large domes 
finally. There were two Olympic size pools that stretched from their feet to what seemed 
like forever. The glassy water was seamless. The bottoms were painted with two very 
ornate angels. One brandished a fiery sword and dark shield. It wore a blood red tunic 
that revealed solid muscles. The face was as judgmental and angry as the fury of god 
itself. The other angel was dressed peacefully in a long green tunic and offered a horn full 
of fruit. It had an expression of purest love and sweetness that lightened the heart. It 
glowed with the very peacefulness of...well...of god itself. Both angels had large white 
feathered wings and a rather androgynous look that made it very difficult to assume either 
was male or female. They were yin and yang, both very beautiful. They made him think 
of Mr. Boyd.

Elijah walked right past the twin angel pools to a smaller, but deeper one tucked – as 
much as a pool can be tucked – into the far corner. It was green as opposed to reflexive 
blue. As much as Dom could tell from the scent of it, it was quite like sea water in 
composition. 

The playful wolf in Dominic just wanted to act on the childish urge to mess up that 
water’s perfect surface and run away laughing, but the man in Dom who was trying his 
best to be a good friend and not just a beast was desperately trying to recall what it was 
that Elijah said before the Aquarium thing. Then he gave up and just asked a stupid 
question instead. 

“Lijah? I don’t mean to be pushy, but–”

“Could you face the wall for a second while I get in the water?” Elijah asked timidly.

“Uh, sure.” Dominic faced the wall. “I was just wondering–” He heard a towel hit the tile, 
but didn’t turn around.

“Yes?”

“Well, what exactly *are* you?” 

“I laymen’s terms, Dom. I am a merman.” Elijah giggled, and then Dominic heard a 
splash and turned just in time to see a large black and blue tail slice down into the water 
as Elijah dove in. He smiled as Elijah came to the surface, beaming. He almost seemed to 
glow now that his fins were relaxed out to their full potential. He clearly loved the water, 
or maybe he was just happy with Dom’s reaction. Dom paced backwards three times then 
took a running leap into the pool screaming, “CANNONBALL!” at the top of his lungs.

~

Sean hurried down the marble corridor with a purpose. The large oak doors of Mr. 
Boyd’s office grew as he approached. He stopped for a moment outside to clear his head 
and calm his anger. He looked at his nails. They were very much human. He touched the 
back of his neck. No hackles of hair growing there now. The wolf in him was leashed. 

Before he could knock, he heard a voice musical and gentle call him inside.

“Come in Sean.” said Mr. Boyd.

Before Sean was completely within the room, he began to argue his case.

“Mr. Boyd, I don’t think that what you are doing is safe. Dominic Monaghan is a danger 
to everyone in this house.”

Mr. Boyd looked up startled. “What makes you think that, Sean?”

Sean leaned on the desk to emphasize his point. “Three suspicious deaths occurred in his 
territory that was sanctioned to his pack by The Counsel of the Loupgaroux. Three deaths 
only a year after he arrived.”

“One of those who died was his very own father.” Mr. Boyd said patiently. “The Counsel 
found him innocent of all those charges. They found, by default, it must have been human 
error.”

“But there is still much suspicion.” Sean paced. He was not keeping himself in check as 
well as he should in front of the boss. “I don’t trust him.”

“Sean, please sit down.” Mr. Boyd sighed and came towards Sean who was now sitting 
anxiously on a leather couch. Mr. Boyd benevolently stood before him, but his tone was 
stern. “I understand that this is hard for you. Having another werewolf in the mansion is 
difficult for a paranthrope with your characteristics. Werewolves naturally don’t live in 
close quarters unless they are related by blood or marriage.”

“It’s not my territory I worry about.” Sean interrupted. Mr. Boyd’s patience was 
beginning to wear thin. “It’s Elijah and Orlando and all my coworkers I worry about. I 
don’t live here, but the rest of them sleep yards away from a possible murderer.”

“Murderer or not, he’s grieving and alone in this world. He is now under my care. Is that 
understood?”

“But The Counsel –”  

“The *Counsel* does not rule in this house, and neither do you, Sean. The Counsel, that 
group of *wise* – and I use the word “wise” loosely here – werewolf elders, was not too 
keen on me taking you in if you remember correctly. And I’m afraid that I will not be 
moved on this matter. Dominic stays. He is no danger. I would have known when I shook 
his hand.”

The two stared at each other for a second before Sean walked defeated to the double 
doors.

“Mr. Boyd, I trust your judgment. Thank you for being so patient with me.”

“No apology necessary, Sean. Good evening.”

“Good evening, Sir.”

“Oh, and one more thing, Sean.”

Sean turned, “Yes, Sir?”

“No fighting. If I find out you two have been fighting, I will not be pleased.”

~

Elijah and Dominic were late to dinner so they ate alone. Elijah had salmon and a salad as 
Dom tucked into a substantial steak grilled rare, but scorched on the outside. Just how he 
liked it. Dominic was a big fan of food that took work to consume. When he was done, he 
wrapped the bone in a napkin to take back to his room. He didn’t want to maul it in front 
of Elijah. Some of his wolfish habits tended to scare others. 

It was still early so Dominic walked toward the garden. The gilded doors shone heavenly 
in the moonlight. He reached for the doors and opened them slowly.

If the garden had been beautiful in the daytime, it was luminescent now in the night. The 
flowers that had glowed with such brilliance before now shone as if together, they could 
light up the world like the sun. The morning glories in their deep purples and stark whites 
particularly gorgeous. The tiger lilies radiated their orange and black spots. The peonies 
exploded every shade of blue. Even the green of the trees seemed neon against the black 
of the night sky. 

As Dominic walked towards the river in its own glory, the fish darted slowly and shone 
like coins. They spun and danced reflecting gold, then silver underbelly, then gold again. 
He placed his fingers in the shimmering water.

Suddenly, the tiniest noise caught Dominic’s ear and he froze. His nostrils flared out a 
few times to catch the stranger’s scent, but he found none. He was upwind. Someone else 
was in the garden. He did his best to place the intruder and stalked toward the maze.

Dominic’s ears twitched as they grew the slightest amount and peaked around for sounds. 
His snout extended another inch, but still no scent came to his wet nose. His fingers 
tingled as the claws grew in. It had been too long since he hunted, and his body begged 
for it. Rip the thing down. Whatever it is, it will run when I come into view. A low snarl 
escaped his lips.

“Hold your peace, Dominic,” came the quiet Scottish drawl. It shocked Dominic and he 
recoiled into his humble human form. Now in view, Dominic could see the man. He 
stood a bit shorter than himself, and he wore the navy blue suit pants as before, but the 
jacket and tie were gone. Mr. Boyd stood before Dominic in bare feet, but it was not Mr. 
Boyd’s appearance that struck Dominic. The brightly colored flowers that climbed up the 
garden walls were turning toward him. Their trumpet blossoms stretched forward as if to 
touch him. Their leaves extended like vegetative arms. Even the plants on the ground 
were extending in his direction from all sides. 

As Dominic watched in silence, Mr. Boyd brought a hand up to meet the flower that was 
struggling the hardest of them all. As he touched it, the runt bud sighed so quietly that 
Dominic nearly missed it. The tiny flower bud opened enough to give it the appearance of 
a pair of pursed lips. Mr. Boyd smiled a small smile and then bent and placed a chaste 
kiss on the bud which burst open into dazzling color, outshining its siblings. He turned to 
Dominic.

“They can be scared easily at this hour of the night. I thought it best for you to remain 
quiet for the moment. Forgive me.”

Dominic smiled, no longer the monster. “There is nothing to forgive.” He glanced at the 
wall of flowers. “They respond to you.”

“Yes. They love me.” 

“That was perhaps the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Thank you.”

“It was nothing. A gaudy parlor trick at best.” Mr. Boyd smiled. He was modest.

“Not at all. The flowers bend to you. I’ve never witnessed anything like it, but then again, 
love is said to be the strongest force in existence.”

Mr. Boyd seemed touched by these words. “Love.” He paused. “Love can ruin your life.”

“Or make it perfect.” Dominic interrupted. Mr. Boyd’s shoulders sagged a little making 
him look very tired and very old.

“I have lived too long and seen too much pain to assume the best with love.”

Suddenly, Dominic felt the urge to comfort this man who at this second looked so small. 
He wanted to wrap his arms about him and assure him, but he had not been at this house 
so long that he had forgotten that you can’t do that to every person you barely know. But 
he still had something to offer. 

“It may not have come to your attention, Sir, but you have the unconditional respect and 
admiration of those who work for you. I have not been in your service for very long, but I 
can tell that especially Orlando and Elijah care intensely for you. I would say that is a 
demonstration of the better side of love.”

“Must you always strive to prove me wrong?” Mr. Boyd said with a hint of a challenge in 
his thick accent. 

“Mr. Boyd, I am terribly sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to impose. I...I don’t always think–”

“Don’t worry about it, Dominic. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It is quite endearing.” Mr. 
Boyd placed his hand on Dominic’s shoulder. For a moment their eyes locked. Dominic 
felt inexplicably drawn to this man. Suddenly and completely entranced.

“Who are you?” Dominic whispered. Mr. Boyd took a half step back then said in the 
saddest of tones.

“No one knows that. Even I barely remember.”

“Tell me, please. I desperately want to know you. Please.” Dominic was begging. That 
was something he avoided at all costs, but perhaps it would get him what he wanted.

“Dominic, while you are here, I will give you anything you want except that. Please don’t 
be offended, but I keep to myself and only myself.”

Dominic had the distinct feeling that Mr. Boyd was not only drawing away physically, 
but mentally.

“Goodnight, Dominic. Sleep well.”

“Goodnight, Sir.”

Then, Mr. Boyd turned the corner and there was a flash of light. Dominic rounded the 
corner to see what had happened, but Mr. Boyd was gone. The flowers were returning to 
their resting places on the walls.

Back in his room Dominic lay awake. It was late and he should have been sleeping, but 
his encounter with his mysterious employer kept the gears in his head clanking and 
churning. 

Dominic didn’t get latched onto ideas in a hurry, but Mr. Boyd was beginning to obsess 
him. What could he possibly do to get closer to him? How could he figure out what Mr. 
Boyd was hiding?

He didn’t want to overstep his bounds here at Icarus Manor, and to leave here now would 
cause him some sadness. This was a new realization. Dominic smiled in the dark.

About four miles away in the neighboring woods, a female wolf cried out for her pack 
mates. A few calls sprung up from the trees like beacons. They were talking about him. 
They had smelled him, and they were curious. Acting almost completely on instinct, he 
drew himself up on all fours and cracked the window hovering over his bed. The change 
took over his face and throat as he responded. *Alive. New to the area. Non-threatening.* 
The pack acknowledged him then all was silence and singing crickets.

Dominic tucked himself back under the covers. They weren’t family, but perhaps they 
could be friends. It would be nice to have someone to run with. He smiled, and a sense of 
peace washed over him as fell asleep.

~

William Boyd appeared suddenly in his library with a flash of light. He shook off the icy 
feeling that always came when he teleported. He sighed to himself. *Why did he feel the 
need to be so mysterious around Dominic? Was he flirting?*

He wiped the idea from his mind, but not quickly enough.

“Flirting? With the Dominic boy?” The gargoyle spoke from the corner of the high 
ceiling. “Where were you?”

“I was in the garden. What does it matter to you?” William didn’t like the way that the 
thing had been speaking to him lately. A bit too demanding for his taste.

The gargoyle half grimaced, then tsk-ed. “Much danger in the garden. You let him see 
your flowers. He knows now.” 

“He doesn’t know anything.”

The gargoyle swooped down and perched on the suede chair. “You give him clues and he 
will try to solve the puzzle. Why do you do this? Why do you risk the danger?” Then the 
creature sobbed. “You want to leave me alone here in this terrible house.”

“No I don’t. Please stop crying.”

The tiny monster looked at him with wet cheeks that stuck out like bones. “You are 
always away. Miss you. Want you here.”

“I was barely gone a few hours. You are overreacting.” William held out his hands to the 
gargoyle who padded up to him and walked up his arm. Once on his shoulder, the thing 
stroked William’s blonde hair.

“What do you say we forget all this and rest tonight? You can sleep by the bed if it will 
make you feel better.”

The gargoyle looked hopefully at William. Then bounced a little.

“Yes. Yes. Like that. Time to sleep.” It lifted off his shoulder and flew through the 
cracked door into William’s bedroom. It nuzzled itself into a pillow that had fallen to the 
floor and fell asleep quite quickly.

William walked into the bathroom but left the door open. He splashed some cool water 
on his flawless face and looked into the gilded mirror above the sink. He felt like the 
years were taking a greater toll on him lately. He felt more human every day, although he 
knew it was not possible. He was just tired. But he was concerned that he was getting 
weaker. His powers didn’t seem to serve him quite as swiftly as they always had.

*Perhaps I’m getting old.* William thought. He sighed. If only that were possible.

He glanced back into the bedroom. The gargoyle was asleep. His thoughts were his own 
now. They drifted back to the wolf-boy.

Clues. He hadn’t been giving him clues, had he?

William slipped under the silk covers of his king size bed but didn’t find himself 
comfortable. It had been two days since he last slept. He was exhausted. The bed might 
as well have been made of pins and needles, but he fell asleep anyway.
~
Please email comments to cswann1@gmail.com.