Salem had been antsy the entire time that he waited alone in the mansion with no news of what was happening with Lucien or Syryn. The alchemist spent his time wiping down every available surface in the kitchen including the counter, table, chairs, and then mopping the floor till it gleamed. The smell of a floral disinfectant permeated the entirety of the kitchen. Salem surveyed his work and judged the floor clean enough to eat off of though he would never try it.
His ears picked up the familiar sound of a hound coach rolling in through the open gates of their compound. Moving to action, Salem vigorously scrubbed his hands in a basin of diluted disinfectant and rushed out of the kitchen.
He first caught sight of a tall stranger exiting the coach. The man wasn't human, that much Salem could tell upon a cursory glance. His worries about Lucien were set to rest when the boy jumped out of the coach as energetic as ever. And when Syryn came out, gaze stupidly glued to the tall stranger, Salem narrowed his eyes in contemplation. He had no idea how wrong he was about the direction of Syryn's interests towards the man.
"Hey, Salem. What are you looking at?" Red asked the alchemist. Red wanted to open the box right away and in his hurry, he had left the others behind.
Salem eyed the chest that the child was holding. "I was looking at your brother. Where did you disappear to? Magnus was close to combusting from stress."
"Eh, I was kidnapped by a loser but I killed him and a few other assholes. By the way, there's no need to look so displeased. Syryn only wants to eat that guy, literally. He's a selkie."
Salem raised his brows. Only these two brothers were capable of such a feat. Finding a selkie and bringing it home, what was next? Taming a dragon?
Red stopped with a foot inside the threshold of the kitchen then removed his footwear. "Salem, you'll make a good wife." Red's flowery embroidered socks were stained with blood that seeped through his shoes so those went off to.
"That's a clean kitchen if I've ever seen one." Syryn shucked his footwear off and stepped inside. "Why can't you do the same for the alchemy chamber?"
"I do clean it, just my side."
"Salem, good work. Thanks for staying behind even though you wanted to come with us." Alka found his house slippers and changed into them before going inside.
Magnus held a birdcage and walked slowly with the stranger beside him. Salem could hear snatches of their conversation. It had something to do with home security. When they were close enough to the house, the selkie raised his head and met Salem's naked gaze. A polite nod followed introductions by a tired Magnus.
The half-elf courteously smiled at the selkie. Riha too mildly regarded Salem's features and he returned the smile.
"Heniach nin?"
Brief surprise flickered on Salem's face and he replied, "Suilad, Riha. Henion, man sâd telil?"
"Onnen mi Hrast ëaron. Mas-"
"Rude," Red cut in. "Use the common language when I'm around."
"You just want attention," Syryn accused Red.
"I already get enough of it. Anyway, open the box."
Red slid the chest towards Syryn who was beside him. In silent accord, the boys had surrounded the kitchen table where Red had placed his mysterious rowan wood chest. Salem and Riha aborted their conversation as well and joined the group around the table.
"I'll be so disappointed if it contains something stupid like jewellery or fancy clothes," Syryn said while examining the chest for runes.
"Or pornography," Red added. "Speaking of which, I found a very scandalous book in your collection Salem. What was it called again?" Red made a show of recalling the title.
"Rimira's well of beauties," Salem helpfully supplied, "a much hated classic and the epitome of nihilism. Which scholar does not own a copy of it? If you wish to embarrass me, you'll have to try harder, Red."
"Is it not embarrassing enough to display erotica amidst your collection of eclectic literature?" Red asked with a twitch of his lips.
"No, I don't really care what anyone thinks of it. In fact, I've seen the book in the hands of everyone present here, excluding Riha. What's embarrassing is that I've failed to keep the book away from a child. I'll make sure to put it on the highest shelf with the other literature that children should not be looking at." Salem arched a brow at Red.
The other three boys who had read the book from cover to cover were doing poor jobs at pretending innocence. Syryn hadn't enjoyed the book as much as he had expected to. But, it was the beginning of his realisation that he only preferred men. Women were soft, smelled nice, looked delicate, and probably tasted good too - but it did nothing for his libido.
"I've almost got it," he announced to diffuse the awkwardness that his fellow readers were mired in. The alchemist injected several pulses of weak magic in a pattern that the lock recognised. A final feed of mana completed the circuit and released the lock with a satisfying click. "Done!"
Syryn slid the chest back to Red because it was his find. "Go on, open it."
Red's fingers pulled the latch and threw the lid back with a loud creak. 6 heads crowded around the chest to look at what was inside.
"Can I put it in the library?" Salem asked. It was a thick book with a leathery red cover. Anyone could tell that the leather was made from the skin of a fire salamander. The soft leather had been cured so perfectly that the beautiful colour of it was preserved vividly.
"Not a chance Salem. Do you see that sign at the bottom?" Red pointed to the skull motto that was etched to the cover. "Only the person who recognises its significance is allowed to use the book."
Syryn was aware of what it was but he didn't want any part of it. His life was hard enough without adding the woes of necromancy to it. None of the others seemed to recognise it. Syryn looked at the selkie but the man wore a placidly neutral expression that gave nothing away.
"It's decided. I'm taking this!" Red held the book up to the light and caressed the soft leather with his thumb. Red was quite familiar with necromancy. He had been introduced to it by a living necromancer but this book was even better as a learning tool. His old teacher had been reluctant to teach him much owing to his secretive nature. With this book though, Red was sure he would learn advanced skills and techniques.
(What is it about?)
[We can raise the dead using this.]
(!!)
[What?]
(That sounds creepy!)
[Of course, it's creepy. We'll be dealing mostly with decomposing or dried up corpses.]
(Can the dead bodies talk?)
[It depends. We'll learn together so save your questions for then.]
"Is this really wise?" Riha asked the group. He had come to realise that the redhead had a double personality that switched easily between a young child and a brat of undetermined age. One was called Luci, and the other one was Red. But was it wise letting them (him?) have a magical book that looked malicious to an average observer?
"In this house, we follow the rules of chaos," Red replied sagely. "You will learn that soon," he added while flashing a wicked smile at the selkie.
Riha looked at the teenagers around him and wondered just what sort of household he had landed himself in. 2 half-demons were accounted for, plus one connoisseur of classic erotica. He looked at Alka, an innocent-looking boy with carefully combed hair and a neat air about him. Riha thought he was scholarly and careful in nature. He then set his sights on the other one with wild hair and a handsome face. Slouched on his chair like he was melting off of it, Magnus appeared to Riha like a delinquent though he knew that looks were deceptive in this case. It wasn't any of his business if their youngest meddled in the dark arts but the selkie hoped that they wouldn't regret it later.
"I'm hungry," Syryn declared loudly.
Salem had prepared a simple meal of stir-fried vegetables and baked chicken. Those two were the only dishes that Salem could cook without ruining the taste. The other boys had come to find that Salem was a dab hand at turning both food and potion into enemies of the taste buds. Thus, he was never in charge of meals unless they were in the mood for stir fry and easy baked chicken.
Alka helped set the table while Magnus toasted and buttered some homemade bread that Syryn always kept in stock.
"Tur cin medi firen aes?" Salem asked the selkie while he poured out rice tea into several bamboo cups.
"Ma im tur"
"I want a cup of juice," Red called out to Salem. He was on the floor laying on his stomach and examining the bindings that kept the book shut to its reader.
"Fruits or vegetables?"
"Fruits!" Red looked put out at Salem for daring to suggest he would drink vegetable juice. He had no idea that the half-elf had been secretly adding beet extract and other veges to the boy's daily juice binges.
"Vegetables are good for you," Salem replied as his hand moved to a jar where he kept black treacle.
"Fine, I'll have them in the stir fry but not in my juice glass."
"As you wish," Salem said while pouring liquid carrot into the glass of orange and strawberry juice.
"Luci says he wants to eat cake tonight."
Salem placed the cups in their respective places and turned to Red who was sitting up now. "We don't have cake but there's sweet potato pudding in the icebox."
"What about Lumi and Aya?" Alka asked. The birds were quiet in their cage. Lumi was still asleep while Aya hid behind Lumi, awake and alert.
"Their feeding bowl is still filled with seeds. There's no need to give them anything more." The selkie worriedly examined the sleeping Lumi. He hadn't woken up in more than 48 hours. Lumi had once slept for a week after his torture in the hands of Zelli so this wasn't new to Riha. It still troubled the selkie.
"Lumi, wake up soon," he whispered to the sleeping bird. Riha who had been lonely and morose in his chamber was one day given the birdcage by Zelli. Lumi wasn't a chatty individual but his presence had brought with it conversation and a bonding borne out of shared tragedy. Riha couldn't say with confidence that Lumi was his friend, but he cared enough for the avian shapeshifter to want him to live.
Red stood up and tucked the book into the crook of his arm. Taking a long look at the bird that hid behind Lumi, Red had a suspicion that had appeared when he was still in the coach.
"Why did Aya get stuck in her bird form?" He asked Riha.
"I don't know. I asked Lumi but even he couldn't tell."
Red sneered at the birdcage and turned away. If the stupid bird wanted to play stupid games then Red would give them their stupid prize. He sat down in his seat and viciously stabbed the golden skinned chicken that was nestled in a leafy green salad Alka had made. It had cheese, cherry tomatoes and olives in it.
"What's wrong?" Salem asked the redhead quietly. The others were all engaged in conversation and paid no attention to them.
"I don't like the birds," Red replied just as softly.
Salem cut into a chicken breast and smiled at the red head's reply. "Me neither."
Red turned to Salem and they shared a glance. Did no one else notice? Their glance communicated. Syryn was busy scarfing down food while arguing with Magnus about which form of martial arts was superior. Alka was entrenched in a deep conversation with Riha who was paying rapt attention to the plant mage's theory about why demons found selkie meat enticing. It was a topic of conversation that was highly inappropriate for mealtime with a selkie but if he wasn't complaining then who were they to?
"We still don't know what his intentions are so don't provoke them," Salem cautioned the redhead.
Red gloomily ate his food, wishing he could act as uncivilised as he did back when he lived with demons. It would have been a simple matter then to deal with lying shapeshifters.
"Yeah, I get it. He's either crazy or lying. Whatever it is, the selkie probably knows. I like him. I hope I won't have to eat him."
Salem drank his rice tea and wondered about that too. He also liked Riha. The selkie spoke the elven tongue like a native and it was a joy to speak the language with someone else after so long. He hoped that Riha wouldn't have to leave.