"What?" Lilith managed to say after a tense silence. Her Aunt Aula was still pale and furious, but as soon as she heard Lilith ask she seemed to collect herself more, her eyes widening in shock. Lilith was not sure if its because of what she asked or of what she said.
"That's enough," Carina said, looking more collected than her sister. Luna look at her mother and aunt before letting her suspicious gaze land on Lilith.
"Hey Mum, the visitors are here and Aunt Silona asked that we--why are you guys just standing here?" Sol came to the kitchen and noticed the strange stare-off between the people inside the room. Aula had a look of calm as she straightened the skirts of her dress.
"Perfect timing, my son. Could you help us carry some of these to the dining room?"
Sol knew something was up by how pale the two older women's complexion was and Luna's narrowed look to their youngest cousin, but he decidedly shut his mouth for now. Each of them carry a platter of food and arrived at the dining area just as Annette came down and took her seat at the head of the table.
"Hmm, these food are incredible," Miss Contance complimented, her acquaintances nodding in agreement.
"I'm glad you enjoy them," Annette replied. "They are all recipes compiled from generations past. We believe that it would be wonderful and proper to share some of our family's history to you all."
"It seems that you all put such great importance in family values," the ambassador commented.
"It is the most valued trait here in our town," the family matriarch replied. "Us the family Solerna did serve as the protector for many generations. It is our dedication in seeing our people prosper that has me looking forward for more favorable agreements between our parties."
"And the same goes for us, as well," one of the guests replied. "After all, it is not everyday that we discover a secret community like yours, much less meet people with such. . . miraculous skills such as your family."
Lilith had been trying to eat her lunch in a subdued manner, wanting to finish this as soon as she could. The tension from her aunt's outburst earlier still hang over her like a dark cloud, and she just wants to escape and hide from any presence.
The accusation that she had done something that might harm her family lodged on her chest like a boulder, making her uneasy and afraid. Was she not supposed to go down there? Did her meeting Aurora brought upon some curse on their family. No that's silly, Lilith quickly tossed that thought out the window. But then again, they were a family known for their magical abilities, could a malicious curse be really that impossible to believe?
"Psst."
Lilith blinked and looked at Sol. . . who she could swore just sat beside his mother to the other end of the table. How did he manage to move close to her?
"Did you do something that got you into trouble?" he said with a too amused face. Lilith looked at the adults at the table before replying, "I didn't, and I'm not in trouble."
"Liar," the other scoffed. "That scene I walked in earlier was way too tense for something not to happen. Spill, did you somehow do something to ticked Mom? She does get easily irritated."
"I told you I didn't!" She lowered her voice more when she noticed Henry looking at them curiously. "Can you do this later or do you want us to get in trouble with Grandmother?"
"Okay okay," he said placatingly. "Anyway, did you checked that place I told you yesterday?"
Lilith hesitated for a second before saying yes.
"So, pretty cool, huh? I saw the old designs in those hallways and believe that it might be a part of the house once. They probably decided to left the space and decided to renovate the upper part some time ago."
"Did you checked the whole place before?"
She shook his head, "No, didn't have any time. And it's too dark there to move. Why, did you explore it yesterday?"
"Kinda."
Sol blinked. "Well don't stop there. Did you find anything interesting?" Aunt Carina cleared her throat as she eyed the tow of them. Sol smiled charmingly at her and went on to finish his food. As soon at their aunt's attention was away, he nudged Lilith to answer.
"It's too dark for me to really see the place. But I did saw some designs that looked old like you said," she replied. And she just managed to find a girl that might have a deep connection with her there, but she's not sure if she could even mention it, based on how her aunts reacted earlier.
He hummed. "It's kinda curious how such a part of the house was deep under the ground, and with that many hallways, too." Lilith wondered, as well. Maybe she could ask Aurora. She seemed to be familiar with the place.
"--ould be wonderful. As soon as we go back we could see the things needed to be prepared so you can all move as soon as you could. Maybe we can have you all sorted out in the city within two months."
With the two of them talking, Lilith didn't hear what was being talked about and had blurted, "Move?"
All eyes moved to her direction and she wished she could just stitch her mouth shut for today.
"Ah yes," Miss Contance cleared her throat and smiled. "I'm sure our city head would like to meet you and the rest of your family personally. With your matriarch's approval we can even arrange for a permanent residence for you all in the city and have you as the official representative of your town as we introduce you to the rest of the world."
The other visitors all nodded enthusiastically at that, saying that it's a great idea. Her aunt and uncle asked of how the life goes in such big cities, while Luna commented how she would like to visit the places there to Henry. The rest of the adults had mixed feelings about the idea, but as the family head seemed to be in total agreement with the proposal, they believed that it might be fine.
Lilith, who seemed to have her brain disconnected to the rest of her body somewhat, blurted without much thought, "Are we bringing Aurora with us, too?"
The chatters stopped as she asked. The visitors looked at her curiously, wondering of the name, but the adults in her family looked at her with horrified expression. She looked at her parents and noticed that the two of them looked like their about to faint, especially her mother.
Her grandmother, however, looked nothing like she's seen before. Face carefully blank, Lilith felt the ends of her hair stand at the look. A flash of something cold and manic seemed to flash through her eyes before a smile settled on her face. "What do you mean, dear? Who is Aurora?"
Unlike her aunt's tone in the kitchen, the way her grandmother asked her about Aurora seemed off, and for the first time, Lilith felt terrified.
______________________________________________
Author's Note: This chapter feels a little meh for me, but I want to put this here to see how it'll turn up in the future. Tell me what your thoughts for this.