“Hi Aunt Mur-Mur. We still exist?” I waved again, trying to get her attention with a nickname. It worked, snapping both of them out of trying to one-up each other. Was that what was going on?
“Right.” This was also the first time she wasn’t flustered by her stupid nickname. “Might I inquire about the shorty hiding behind my sister, now that we’ve got introductions out of the way?”
Aria was fuming, with a single focused beam of vengeance in her eyes, all the while her grip tightened. Ow, that’s my arm…
“Look. If I’m not invited to this house, we can leave.”
I gave a worried grimace at Aria’s intense glare. When she did that I worried there was about to be a dragon-sized hole where stuff used to be.
“Didn’t mean anything of the sort, dear. You just happened to infer some things that I may or may have not meant,” Myrtle began as I tried to defuse the situation. Why was she being such a prick?
“Myrtle, stop bullying my girlfriend.”
I watched her normally posh posture erode away as her eyes widened.
“No need to sound like my parents. Fine. Just don’t expect me to kiss your heels or to listen to scripture Pact Mage.”
Aria looked up at me, as if asking she should spoil that she was a dragon out of spite. I gave her a hard no. We did not build this house with dragons in mind. Luckily she got the cue, and her eyes relaxed somewhat.
“Do you dislike me or something? Would things change if I was a boy?” Aria spoke through gritted teeth as Myrtle pretended to think about it.
“No. I don’t care about that, frankly, for if it’s genuine love, I’m happy for you. I’m rightfully questioning your loyalties because not of who you are, but because of your implications and associations.” My brother gave her head a hard pat.
“Ya, I hate to say it, but you’re being bitcher than usual, Mari. Come on, you don’t even know her.” There was an embarrassed grumble as my brother stroked her mane of hair. “Isn’t that the constant moral of your books? Or one of them?” He brought up, half-teasingly and half seriously.
There was the darting of the eyes as she realized she might’ve overstepped her boundaries.
“I’ll be in my study,” she whispered before dashing off to safety, leaving Aria cooling off and Kennith apologizing for his wife.
* * * *
The soft smell of lavender filled the air as Aria sunk back into the chair-bed, curled up with a cup of tea and lost in her own thoughts. She looked a little burnt out, taking occasional glances up the stairs while Kennith and I caught up.
“Stop apologizing for your wife. We both know she can be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but she has everyone’s best interest at heart. Still, did Aria tick a nerve or something?” Aria’s eyes perked up.
“She’s not on good terms with the church. It’s hard when she writes stories not based on church canon, because that’s what she loves to do. Also, you’re quite the shaker yourself, Aria.” Aria looked like she snapped back into reality as her voice sputtered back into the conversation.
“I-I am?”
Kennith took a sip and nodded.
“We’re regular folks. Maybe a little better off than most, but it wasn’t that long ago when grandpa and grandma were scrounging, trying to save up enough for an inn. So you understand what I mean when I say having you coming into our family is a pretty big shock, right?” My brother had a way of wording things out that I liked.
“But you’re okay with us being a couple?” Aria took another sip of tea as I sputtered in disbelief. Going right for the jugular.
“Of course! In fact, I’d be congratulating my sister on finding someone as beautiful as you, but I feel that would be tactless.” He gave a knowing grin as I narrowed my eyes, with a slight tinge of newly acquired color on my cheeks.
“What he means is that he’s going to be telling his guard buddies that his sister’s dating a Pact Mage, and we’re going to be gossip for the next few weeks.” Aria’s face turned into a soft, blushing smile as she refilled her cup of tea. She seemed okay with the idea.
“Kennith, do you mind returning to the topic at hand?” Aria’s soft melodic voice chipped in as my brother shrugged. “I would like to discover why I’m grating on your wife’s sensibilities.”
Aria’s eyes opened wide before narrowing again. It was as if she was processing conflicting thoughts. “Now that I had a moment to think about it, I don’t think her feelings are as simple as basic distaste. I felt a bit of fear, almost like if she was scared for her own safety.” My brother and I raised our eyebrows at Aria’s observations as she took another sip, as her gaze wandered off to who-knows-where.
My brother was the first one to speak. “I think it’s because you’re a Pact Mage, which means you’re pretty closely tied with the church.” Aria and I exchanged glances at the irony of that statement.
“The church already shot down her most recent book, and if you’re a part of the church…You can see how she’d get defensive, right?” We tried to figure out what to say as we continued to stare at each other knowingly. I gave an apologetic shrug as my girlfriend let out a tired sigh. Ya, it was best to save the twist for another time.
“Did I miss something?” My brother’s eyes swiveled between the two of us, trying to figure out what was going on.
Without another word, Aria got up and set her cup down. There was determination in her eyes, but no vengeful flames. When we were sitting down like this, the light was hitting her eyes in such a way that it looked like they had captured the evening sun.
“I’m going to go talk to her. My belief is that we started off on the wrong foot.” She walked off as I reached out for her.
“Wait! Don’t you want my help? No?” I blurted out, but she kept marching forward. My heart stirred with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I worried about her, but on the other hand, I was glad to see her grow into her role and take charge more. It brought a smile to my face, even as I wanted to be by her side just to watch.
* * * *
I knocked on her door more as a formality than anything.
“What do you want?” Her voice seemed icy and unwelcoming, but I could tell that she had a hint of fear in her voice.
I slowly slid the door open, as to not spook her. Her room was even more barren than I imagined. She had little more than a small closet of clothes, and a well-used hairbrush among a frankly dangerous number of shelves.
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the walls had been converted to bookshelves in order to fit everything inside. While it wasn’t huge by a noble’s study room, it was quite the display for a regular bedroom. A carefully placed lantern kept the entire place lit, as it seemed like the windows had been covered for more shelf space. A sparse bed filled the workplace, blankets and pillows roughly scattered about.
“Look, I’m sorry about earlier, all right? If my sister-in-law and husband trust you, then I ought to as well. There’s been a lot of things happening recently, and I’m not sure how to act around you, or what to say. That’s all.” Her voice was a drifting yet harsh melody, though I wasn’t sure who she was harsh towards, me or herself.
“I heard the church has been giving you trouble,” I began as I watched her write, slowly referring back to a text before continuing to write another few sparse lines. Was she copying texts?
