Bits and Pieces - 2. Chapter 2: A Faes Path

From the age of five, he knew his life was going to change in more then one way, especially when it started in such a dark way. His father had died in a nasty accident and his mother couldn’t ship him off to his grandfather and Michael fast enough, wanting to get her hands on the money she thought was coming. Some did come to her and his three sisters but most of it went straight to Brandywine, under his grandfathers’ control until he became of age and was handed it.

Oh, how she had been pissed, trying to get his grandfather to sign over the control of his trust fund to her. But Liam had laughed at her and her attempts and told her to leave; that he would not try to take Brandywine’s sisters since it was rather doubtful that they were blood. From then on, he stayed with his family, first mourning his father and then mourning his aunt, Whiskey’s mother.

As he grew, he found that he had his fathers love for herbs and crafts, learning everything he could as he grew up living in Italy. He took classes with Whiskey, joined clubs, went to camps and when he and Whiskey turned 15, they went to America to explore and attend school there for the next two years. He also inherited his fathers journals on herbs and how to mix them to make various oils and the such, using them to make his dream come true that much faster. After that, they attended a year of college for finer techniques before finally, FINALLY, Brandywine took his trust fund, his crafting knowledge and with the help of his cousin and grandfather and their business sense, opened his first store.

Books and charms. Oils and candles. Statues of fairies, dragons and elves line shelves as the scent of wax and herbs floated around. Working the store with only one other, Brandywine built his store from the ground up, making it one of the most popular herbal stores amongst the supernatural community. After all, other faes only really trusted one of their own to create a proper meditation candle and a rather pretty looking focus.

So he worked out the details, fussing over this and that, watching his business grow slowly and thrive in a world that tended to sneer at such arts and crafts.

A year went by slowly for him, his employee found his mate, his forever, and Brandywine continued to work and grow and try to make a proper business. And by all of the happy smiles that he got from his grandfather, Whiskey and Michael, it was working, and working oh so well.