“I don’t understand why you can’t be more like your brother, Sabryal,” drawled a thickly British English woman’s tone, “you really don’t act like a Jourdain at all.” Frowning down from her place at the dinner table toward a brunette little boy holding onto his plush toy snake. He was petting the tail, biting his lip as he refused to eat his dinner. Calix, across from him, merely ate in silence. Their father wasn’t home yet, and usually, this was the bad time of day to be without their kind and soft-spoken dad. Sabriel looked up from his blue toy snake, his brown eyes seeking out his older brother’s. Callie didn’t say anything as he wiped his mouth on a napkin, only able to give his brother a sympathetic gaze.
“You aren’t getting anything else tonight,” their mother snapped as she sent a warning glare to Sabriel, “I’m done playing, son.” Sabbie’s gaze dropped instantly, and he held the snake closer to his chest. When looking down to the floor, his eyes fell upon a yawning kitten, its form a bit muddied up and glowing. He smiled a little, and reaching out to pet its head, he heard his mother clear her throat. Their father was a necromancer, whilst their mother was a mere witch of a high-class family…or something like that.
“When’s Papa coming home?” Sabriel asked softly, looking up toward his mother with soft but wary eyes, “I wanted to show him-“
“Noxxie,” Calix suddenly spoke up, “now’s not the time to talk about that. We’re in the middle of dinner.” His tone was soft and shy, but held the undertones that could alert his younger brother to not speak about what he was about to. Their mother didn’t approve of the necromancer in their blood, saying that they were just all crazy, and at times, sent her boys to a therapist.
“But, Callie,” Sabbie squeaked, “I wanna show Papa what I learned!!” This made their mother glare between them both.
“What did you learn, Sabryal? A new ability?” The little boy winced at her sudden cold but prying tone, and he peeked toward her shyly.
“I…I learned how to summon up-” The boy was cut off as the back door opened and their father stepped inside from out of the snowy weather. Sabriel hopped up quickly, going toward his father’s chilly embrace. Laughing as his father picked him up and hugged him close, the blue eyes of his father went onto his family. His level tone was soothing, but as Sabe spoke to his father excitedly, he spotted a woman following his father. He suddenly frowned and looked up at his Papa, confusion lacing his gaze. “Daddy, who’s that lady?” He pointed beside them, and the father merely smiled.
“What lady, Sabryal?” the wife asked with a narrowed gaze, “There’s no one here.” Calix had been taking a drink from his glass of orange juice when he sputtered a laugh, covering his mouth as he coughed. Regaining himself, the cyro peeked toward their father. The woman was young, maybe in her early teens, her eyes a bright blue but her form a bit… off. Calix had noticed some time ago, but had learned not to ask questions of that sort with their mother in the room. She was highly possessive, and last time Cal had mentioned a woman around his father, he’d gotten slapped and his parents argued that entire night down in the foyer.
“Oh, Lumos, it’s alright,” Sabriel heard his dad’s gentle voice murmur in his ear, “I know what you mean.” Smiling at his wife, the necromancer went to sit down, putting his boy on his lap and chuckling at Calix’s grin. It was rare to see his older son smiling; the boy was becoming more reclusive and a bit more like him. It bothered the man, but Marcello was never one to judge. He loved his family, even when his lover tended to get a bit…hard on the boys. He had not liked the idea of Sabriel’s middle name being darkness, and it was his nickname for his youngest son to be called Lumos. Kissing Sabe on the head, he listened as his boy started going on a rant about being able to make his toy snake dance if he used the shadows around him at night. This was the only safe time they could talk like this, because the boy’s mother wasn’t going to start a fight in front of both of her boys. If it were just Calix, she didn’t care, but Sabriel was the one she was trying to mold after herself.
After dinner, Marcello let his son take him into the den in front of the fireplace; he knew how much Sabriel loved making the flames move and play. But Calix, as always, just stood in the doorway with sad eyes. Their mother going to clean herself up, it left the necromancers alone for a while. Giggling as he showed his father how he moved the toy awkwardly, Marcello chuckled and smiled. Calix watched on for a while before he moved to go upstairs, waving lightly at the woman Sabe had pointed out. If his baby brother only /knew/…
Their sister wasn’t willing to leave their sides, careful with her baby brothers, and even death wouldn’t keep her from staying close. Even if she stuck closer to her father, she didn’t like how their mother treated Sabriel or Calix. It was her anger at the teenager that had caused all of this. Calix spoke softly as he paused on the stairwell, watching the teenager with pained eyes, “…I wish you hadn’t committed suicide, Winnie. I miss you.”
Rhyter Lee's Cove of Creation 