Chương 24: Chapter Twenty-Four

"Welcome home, Mom." The Toordor who arrived with the messenger greeted even as the messenger was walking off. I heard Dad yelp somewhere behind the wagon.

"Gaven," Mom said, smiling.

"It's good to be home." She let him help her and Boyan off the wagon. I moved over to get to the edge as Mom stepped away a bit so I had room to get down. I was looking at appropriate places to land when Mom continued.

"Gaven, meet Lyra, your new sister. Lyra, this is Gaven. My oldest from my first marriage." I snapped my eyes up and I swore I saw the veneer of shop clerk, or whatever he was, melt off to be replaced with an expression I would call… bratty. Though he was technically smiling.

"Little sister, huh? The little's accurate," he commented, looking me up and down. Which was easy considering even standing in the driver's box of the wagon I was still shorter than him. I could feel my breath hitch. My brain went blank as I tried to formulate a response, but nothing was coming to me.

"She can talk, right?" Gaven asked, turning to Mom, who rolled her eyes.

"Maybe she would, if you didn't greet her by calling her short," Mom replied, causing Gaven to frown.

"She is short," he stated bluntly.

"Besides, that's my job as big brother. I tease and make sure no one else does." Mom rolled her eyes again.

"Look, I don't get to see Vera, or Tarra often. Only once in the last decade. So, you're it, Lyra," he said, looking at me properly now. The bratty expression turned into something deeper that I couldn't identify.

"Lyra, Vera and Tarra are my daughters. From my second batch. They've been out of the house for centuries. Well, except Gaven, who likes working here." He nodded.

"Family business is the best business. Well. Until the King or Queen calls. Then I go pretend to be a barkeep for a bit, or at least try to." Mom scoffed. I looked at my designated landing area and hopped off the wagon, having had enough of standing so high up. Gaven caught me.

"There you go!" he proclaimed happily as my feet touched down.

"You and Boyan are the start of my third batch." I tilted my head up at Gaven, and decided that I would likely be kicking his shins a lot.

"I've got a batch of my own. Little tykes are all over a century old now and in relationships of their own now. Nothing serious enough to give me grandkids yet though. You'll meet my wife Maaria later. She doesn't hang out at the shop usually. Too easy for me to put her to work." I opened my mouth to reply but just then Dad walked back around the wagon holding the summons, Neera stomping behind him. Part of his hair was standing up and smoking lightly. I couldn't help the giggle.

"I guess you were slower," I said, covering my mouth.

"We'll get the wagon unloaded shortly. You're a bit earlier than expected so the distributors won't arrive for a few days." Evan waved him away. And I glared at Gaven's tone, which had gone respectful.

"You know, Boyan is right there," I said, pointing.

"I'm not 'it'." I huffed as I finally processed everything he said.

"Brothers are different," he said solemnly, placing his hand on his chest. I kicked him in the shins. Dad chuckled as Gaven hopped on one foot dramatically.

"I'm going to head to the castle to get that over with. Can you handle the circus?" Dad asked, looking towards Mom.

"Of course."

"While they unload, I'll teach you how to kick, Lyra," Neera said.

"You need to work on your technique."

"Aunt Neera! You wouldn't!" Dad left shortly after, and Mom walked me in while Gaven and Neera started to direct a small group of people in unloading the wagon. Mom guided me inside with her hand on my shoulder.

"The top floor is the family floor," Mom said, entering the house and letting me look around. It was open. Chairs and sofas sat in cozy clusters. Several were occupied with couples along with someone in the same uniform that Gaven had been wearing.

"The first floor is for business. We primarily distribute to other shops, but the high-end goods, your Dad's partial to elven wine for the past decade, we sell directly. The two businesses keep up well off." Mom acknowledged a couple by dipping her head as she continued to lead me deeper into the building. The large room gave way to a grand hallway, which opened into stairs.

"The second floor is for employees. They have rooms and amenities here. It's not an area to play or explore. They deserve their privacy and time away from their employers." Mom didn't dawdle and went up another flight.

"This is our entertainment floor. We have a dining hall, ballroom, several studies, and the guest rooms. This is as high as non-family go." Mom's tone turned serious.

"The runes won't… be kind to anyone not family that tries to climb higher. Even if invited." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I gulped and nodded.

"Good. Now, let's get you registered." Mom walked into the second, wait, is the ground floor the first floor, so this would be the third? Anyway, Mom walked into the large empty room with a raised area on the far side and a line of tables along one side. Several smaller tables were clustered in a corner, but otherwise the room was wide open. And the tapping of my feet hitting the wood floor echoed. Mom walked across the room to a tapestry hanging next to the raised area.

"I'll need a bit of your blood to register you with. Give me a moment." Mom sat Boyan down and drew her dagger. With a quick motion she pricked her finger, then squeezed until blood formed. She put the drop against the contents of one of the five chalices on the tapestry and pushed mana into the weave. No circles or runes. And the entire tapestry started to glow. It started from the chalice and slowly worked its way across the entire piece.

Mom started explaining as she took a cloth out of her pocket and held it to her finger to stop the bleeding.

"This is the control for our home wards. Family can register new people and indicate their level of access based on what chalice you use." She tapped the one she had used.

"Family. Full access. Full control." She moved onto the next.

"Trusted relations. Full access. No control." Again, she moved on.

"Trusted employees. Access to the guest rooms and below. Access to the storage rooms. No control." She continued going down the list, filling me in on the two other employee levels. The least of which offered access to only the first floor and was for employees who chose to have their own residence. When she completed her explanation, the entire tapestry glowed with her mana. She took my hand, which I gave her hesitantly as I eyed the dagger in her hand. Biting my lip, I watched her bring the dagger to my finger…

Ouch ouch ouch ouch! My mind was repeating the pain I was about to feel and I couldn't break it out of it. Mom moved quickly, and I only realized she was done when I saw her moving the dagger away.

"That didn't hurt." The words were out of my mouth before I had decided to say them, and Mom smirked.

"The sharper the blade, the less you feel it. And my dagger is very sharp. Now hold on, the next part is what you will feel." I tilted my head in question as I looked at my finger, still bloodless. Then Mom squeezed.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Cyan blood pooled on my finger and Mom immediately guided it to the chalice. When it touched the golden glow the tapestry had taken on, the glow was replaced with the color of my mana. Not slowly, or explosively. Immediately. Mom hummed and let go of my hand. Now that she had opened the wound, it was bleeding freely, and the sharp pain I had felt turned into a background burn, allowing me to think about more than'dagger hurt'. Why was my blood cyan? It took me a moment.

I hadn't tried to ignore my Mana Sense since I learned how to use it, but I blocked the sense to see just the physical world. My blood should be red. Everybody's blood is red. My awareness of mana faded slowly. Deliberately. My blood was cyan. And the cut was already healed. As soon as I relaxed my concentration, my Mana Senses returned, and Mom clapped her hands together.

"Right! Now for your room! Evan sent word, so it should be done. Right across the hall from Boyan's next to Evan and mine. We'll get you comfortable so we can go shopping tomorrow."

"Shopping?" I asked quietly. I suppose I had managed to brew a dozen healing potions. I could sell them for… I winced… not pocket change. What was I to do with all that money?

"Yes. We need to get you a wardrobe. You didn't think we were going to send you to school with a single set of traveling robes, did you?" Mom was marching off towards the stairs.

"No. Induction is in three weeks, so we will have to go to multiple shops. But we will get you a full set of clothes before you move to the school."

"Wait. Move?" My brain stuttered. I thought I was home. Mom's smile turned, not sad exactly, but along that line.

"The school has its own dorms, which students must live in. Normally, this would be a child's first experience living on their own. Away from their parents." My heart sank. I didn't know why. I survived. Now, I was a demon. Or an… aetherborn. And I was a kid until I could make a living for myself. My mind went to my potions, then quickly skipped over them. I was going to enjoy being a kid for a little bit. My stomach sank. I guess the world wasn't kind enough to give back what it took away.

"You're in a different position, but the rules won't change. You can come back and stay with us on the breaks. This is your home. Even if you don't feel that way before you move to school." Mom's hand found my shoulder and she squeezed.

"You're family. We're family. Don't let the distance confuse you." I nodded and let her guide me up the stairs. The top floor was different. Not less polish, the small table in the hallway whose only function seemed to be to hold the vase of flowers on it was polished to a shine. But more worn. This area, in the same warm colors accented by candle scones that my mana senses were telling me weren't candles, was meant to be lived in. Not impress or put on display.

The chairs and architecture were arranged to make small private nooks to hide in and comfortably read, talk with a family member, or simply relax. And they all looked more comfortable than fashionable. One of the chairs that caught my eye was wrapped in white cloth with blue butterflies embroidered on them. Mom noticed my attention.

"Eva, my youngest girl, embroidered that." She tilted her head.

"After ruining the chair as she chased Gaven down the hall throwing magic at him." She trailed her hand along the fabric as we passed.

"Here's your room," she said, opening one of the three doors at the end of the hallway. I stepped in and my breath caught. I didn't know what I was expecting. I tried not to. But still… I dreamed. And this was so much more. The room was larger than I had imagined. With not only a large canopy bed, but also a desk and a set of three chairs with more padding than wood showing, circling a small table.

The reds and other colors of the house were gone, replaced by a combination of dark purple and light pinks that struck something in my heart that wouldn't let go. This wasn't a room. This was someone taking a home and condensing it into a single room before decorating it in my favorite colors.

"I noticed your eyes every time we saw this shade as we shopped, so I had Evan send your preference. You didn't seem as fond of the pink, but fond enough that I thought it would be a good highlight." Mom pulled me further into the room, my feet having stopped at the doorway.

"The tapestries will be done later this year, and they'll warm up the walls some. You have a closet through there." Mom pointed to one of the two doors.

"We'll get it filled in time, don't worry. And through there an indoor bathroom. Have you used indoor plumbing before?" Mom's question caught me by surprise and I couldn't quite understand the question, so I shook my head no. Mom nodded.

"We'll go over that shortly then." She paused, and did a slow spin looking at everything in the room before stopping to look at me and bathe me in a smile brighter than the sun.

"Welcome home, Lyra."