Aina couldn't understand why Envie was so obsessed with Vide, to the point of wearing such a look. She was pretty sure he could have gone after Lady Chagrin, if his father hadn't been there. He was very violent and angry by nature, and could lose his temper at the slightest annoyance.
"Enough, Envie." finally warned Rage, who seemed to have had enough of his eldest son's whining.
He immediately fell silent, and calm returned, although the young man seemed particularly frustrated by the situation. Aina sighed, imagining the foul mood in which the young master would be after the meal. Something told her that the end of the day would be difficult for anyone who had the misfortune to cross his path. It was then that Elvan brought the meal, made from the ingredients Aina had bought at the market.
"I'm hungry…" Désespoir crooned, waddling in her chair.
"The meal is coming, sweetheart." whispered the wife in a voice that had become soft again.
The latter made a sign to Elvan to serve her daughter, which Aina took the initiative to do and which earned her to be thanked by her mistress with a nod. She noticed that most of her masters were staring at her attentively, following her every move. The feeling of being watched made her uncomfortable, but she pretended not to notice before going back against the wall, as if she had never moved from it before.
The noise of the cutlery sliding against the plates resonated and nothing was heard except the discreet sounds of chewing of the family and particularly of the children. All had mastered the art of good manners and keeping up appearances, but young people like Désespoir and Peur were still young to be held accountable for their mistakes.
"I heard they were back."
Aina listened, hearing the matriarch's hesitant voice. Rage huffed, shoving his fork hard into the tender, bloody flesh of his barely cooked meat.
'A wild beast.'
This is what this man reminded her of, as he literally shredded his meat with a certain pleasure, given the small grin that stretched his lips.
"Those pesky winged dogs ." he growled, his sharp knife in hand. "They're only good at spreading their venom wherever they go."
'He must be talking about the Salvatoris.'
They were the only ones, towards whom the patriarch expressed so much animosity.
The natural and ancestral enemies of the family, who have inhabited these lands for almost as long as them. The Salvatoris were another prestigious family of the empire, which curiously, had a residence right next to the Signavit's one. It was fair to say that these two great bloodlines shared the entire territory beyond the Dark Forest.
'The Silver Guardians.'
That was what everyone called them.
"I thought, however, that they had been sent to the border." whispered the wife thoughtfully.
Rage shrugged with a sigh.
"He certainly called them back here."
The patriarch embellished his remark with a pinched look at Elvan, which he then directed at Aina. He looked particularly upset about the situation, probably because he had always hated the silver family.
"The border is shaking." Désespoir announced casually, catching everyone off guard.
All eyes turned to her, but she didn't raise her head to notice them. The little girl, whose eyes were glued to her plate, quietly giggled, while her eyes gleamed with playfulness and a hint of amusement. Aina found her looking grim to say the least when she said those words.
"The border is shaking"… What does that mean?
"The Awakening is near." she continued, ignoring the distorted expression forming on Rage and Envie's faces.
"Don't say anything Désespoir." the latter growled; his fist clenched on the edge of the table.
The whole table seemed tense, as if the young child was announcing an ominous prophecy. All this reinforced the young woman in the idea that the young lady was a very singular person, whose mind she could not understand.
"You don't feel it…?"
She continued her seemingly senseless ramblings, as if she weren't being observed from all sides like a curious beast. Her body language and appearance made her look like just a child imagining stories, while her cold, blank eyes and almost cavernous voice made her seem oddly mature, like an adult who had been locked up in the body of a toddler.
" They are coming for her." she added, her voice tingling with a kind of madness mixed with excitement that made Aina tremble inside.
'They, She… ?'
The young maid glanced at Elvan, who seemed utterly oblivious to the situation as if he didn't see that the scene unfolding before them was strange and almost disturbing.
"Désespoir." Rage growled, with a warning.
In response to the patriarch's warning, Peur grabbed the sleeve of his sister, who was sitting right next to him. He seemed to be begging her not to go any further in her words, but the child didn't seem to care about his concern, as if absorbed by the apparent delirium in which she was immersed. Letting her eyes sink into space, she seemed to be possessed by something.
"We will soon return to the origin."
The patriarch banged his fist violently on the table. The shock was so sudden that liquid from the jug escaped from its receptacle, to come crashing down on the tablecloth. Seeing the grinding of his teeth and the vein appearing on the top of his forehead, everyone deduced that the head of the family was not far from getting angry. Everyone knew what that meant.
'The dungeon.'
Aina didn't want to think about what was happening in this place and she hoped to never go there. She could not conceive that such a young child could be thrown there, just because she had disobeyed her father. This must have been the case with the matriarch, for she stood abruptly and crossed the room to place herself between her husband and her daughter, whom she seemed to hide from Rage's sight, in the hope of allaying his rage.
She leaned towards the child and gently stroked the top of his head, before turning around and turning to the young servant, who was watching the scene with some interrogation.
"Aina, would you please take Désespoir to her room?"
The young woman hesitated to follow her order, at the risk of overriding that of the patriarch, but she finally accepted when she saw Elvan nod at her. Contrary to her predictions, Rage didn't flinch and just watched her move towards the child, before motioning for him to follow her. As she led the little one down the hall, she couldn't help but feel the gazes of her masters, tickling her back.
'One more day at the Signavit.'
'There was no denying it… This family was unlike any other.'
"I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to be like this…" she heard Rage whisper, well, she believed it was him.
She was surprised at the strangely soft and almost submissive tone he used but had no time to wonder who he was talking to, as the door to the large living room closed behind her.