Chapter 3

Having been introduced to the members of the Aitelorn clan within the week she had awoken, a second had passed since Yula had first told the young cocoa haired teen that she could run around out of the infirmary. That is, provided she stomached all her potions. Kairi swore Yula was discretely replenishing otherwise empty vials during her sleeping hours. She had been so bold as to bluntly bring the notion up in conversation with the healer. Nonetheless, Yula, who was sitting by Kairi’s bedside at present, merely laughed it off, instead going on to describe the clan’s estate; not forgetting the various behavioural conducts the young girl was expected to adhere to whilst under their care.

A castle of magnificent grandeur, the Aitelorn estate was huge enough to house tens of thousands of people at a time behind its massive walls. The castle itself was divided into four separate wings for easier navigation; namely North, South, East and West. Each wing accommodated more than a hundred rooms, each designed for the occupation of pairs, preferably of the same gender (though Yula confessed that more than two could fit comfortably in those rooms – her sons, for example, shared a – ‘huge-ass’ was left unspoken – quarters over in the South Wing). There was also an infirmary, kitchen and formal dining hall in each, though an additional infirmary situated in the West Wing where the training rooms were.

Generally, rooms in the South Wing were occupied year-long; inhabited by the Aitelorns themselves, the estate staff, Seloria, and now Kairi herself. Rooms in the East Wing, Yula explained, were meant for guests. The particular wing was also where most balls and functions were held. In other words, Yula informed Kairi, whose eyes portrayed little other than blank confusion, the East Wing was the ‘entertainment section’ of the estate. To the North was where most, if not all of the meetings regarding the Aitelorn trading business were held. As such, its rooms were reserved for business delegates in league with the Aitelorns and other important figures in that scene. The West Wing, with more than half of its rooms fashioned as training facilities and with its two infirmaries, was also home to a massive library spanning three floors and roughly twenty rooms. “That’s where your sister spends most of her time,” added Yula as an afterthought. Kairi nodded.

Bridging the four wings of the castle in the middle was the Central. There, family portraits with expensive frames were hung along the walls. Another distinguishing feature of the Central was the huge family tree. Unlike the similarly-decorated Wing areas (with certain differences as to their functions), the Central had a glass ceiling and dark marble floors.

Pausing to make certain Kairi finished the remainder of her potions, Yula began voicing the three basic rules on behaviour within the Aitelorns. “One: be yourself.” Well, that’s not hard to do, Kairi mused, tapping a finger to her chin before pausing. Wait that could be hard. I still don’t know what to think of all this. Yula, pretending not to notice the young female’s somewhat-dilemma, continued. “Two: instructions are to be followed.” Simple enough, the girl decided with a shrug. “Three: be civilized and respectful to each other.” Yula grinned as the younger laughed at that – of course she was going to be civilized! As for respect… well… “No guarantees,” Kairi phrased to the Aitelorn matriarch with a cheeky grin. Yula rolled her eyes, ruffling up the girl’s bright-coloured hair in response. “Oy!” went Kairi as she attempted to save her hair.

“Now, Seloria mentioned you were wondering about her calling me ‘Mistress’?” Kairi responded with a frantic nod. Yula held up a hand, the younger looked at her inquisitively. “She addresses Nerion as ‘Master’, and my sons ‘young lords’, although she calls Phiol ‘idiot’ too.” Kairi had to giggle softly at that. “If you haven’t already guessed it, your sister works with us – she is Phiol’s assistant.”

Kairi tilted her head to the side. “Assistant…for what?” the auburn hair fought the urge to pinch Kairi’s cheek upon glimpsing the rather cute expression on the young girl’s face. Instead, she patted her head.

“Phiol manages the family’s trade business,” Yula explained. “Seloria’s job is to manage him - make sure he eats, sleeps, rests, and schedules his meetings, so on so forth.” Kairi nodded slowly to indicate her understanding. “In addition to being a secretary-figure for Phiol, Seloria is also his partner during business meetings or functions. On the not-so happy side of business, she seconds Phiol in battle.”

Kairi frowned a little, forefinger tapping her chin in thought. She was no good with maths and calculations, but she knew that almost ninety percent of her older sister’s time was taken up by work. “If she’s that busy, how is she going to help me? I still can’t fight well enough without aid to save my life.” Before Yula could point out that Kairi was capable of holding her own when they found her, the girl persisted her reasoning. “I acted purely by instinct, and luck was the only thing preventing my getting any serious injuries.”

A silent moment passed between the two before Yula rose and gestured for Kairi to follow her. Together they slipped out from the South Wing infirmary and, as Yula led the way to the West Wing, Kairi allowed her eyes to roam over the various paintings and decorations that were present in the hallways. Several maids and servants bowed in respect to Yula as they passed, to which the matriach smiled back in polite-greeting. Kairi however, finding herself feeling a tad shy, kept her eyes down most of the time but smiled all the same.

The walk from the South to the West Wing took a ridiculous ten minutes. Kairi found herself feeling rather bemused at the lengthy distance, somehow imagining that the Aitelorn patriarch found amusement in making his sons dash from one end to another within a set time limit (truth be told, the young Thyride knew not how right she was in thinking so). Yula led Kairi to one of the many training rooms and, upon pushing the doors open, spotted her two youngest in a two-on-two spar against Phiol and Seloria.

While the participants were too busy to notice their presence, Nerion inclined his head ever so slightly in their direction; an indication he noticed their entrance. He then resumed watching the spar, presumably the acting referee. Yula, after making sure Kairi was settled in a nearby seat as comfortably as she could, walked towards the front to stand beside her husband. She whispered something into his ear and the patriarch, after a moment’s contemplation, nodded his consent. Yula beamed happily at him before she too turned to regard the spar.

Kairi watched with keen interest as her sister made a swift hammering motion with the blunt end of her scythe, aiming for Stein’s unsuspecting head from behind. “Stein!” Rityu had called to his brother in warning. Alas, the damage had been done. “Oy!” The fiery teen yelled, agitation growing. His attacker offered a half-giggle, then backing away from his angered form. Stein charged after her, bellowing a heated war cry.

A scythe-wielder and a sword-wielder as partners, thought Kairi. While a rather unlikely combination, it was proving to be quite a fascinating watch. Kairi was sure Seloria had some of her own instinctive abilities to match styles, or perhaps it was just that the older had worked with Phiol for a long time (of which she had no doubt), for it was a very interesting pattern the duo fell into. Seloria’s scythe kept the sword-wielding duo wary, and Phiol’s precise movements made it difficult for Rityu and Stein to gain a proper advantage.

Stein’s style with his dual swords, Kairi noted, was quite similar to her own. Still, she dismissed the notion that the youngest Aitelorn was like her when he proved he was more than able to fight solo when the older pair decided to break formation, forcing the younger duo more into defence as they were made to split up and fight one-on-one. The fight was even more one-sided from then on, and Kairi almost failed to get up and flip out of harm’s way on time when Phiol accidentally knocked Rityu’s sword out of his hand a little too hard. Seloria, who only just caught on to the happenings when Stein admitted defeat, turned to Phiol with a glare that could kill.

The oldest sibling gulped audibly. “Sel, d-don’t do anything rash…” he said, backing cautiously away from his assistant with arms raised in surrender. Seloria did not bother giving him a forgiving response and fiercely flung her scythe at him, forcing the two younger Aitelorns to duck for cover and their oldest Aitelorn brother to run for his life. Of course, Yula was having a bit too much fun laughing at her son’s expense, and Nerion, who had expected this to an extent, sighed, shaking his head. Seeing all this, Kairi stood, then hopping lightly off the chair in front of her for leverage and performed a little flip in the air for momentum before catching the scythe’s handle. And all just as Phiol ran past her being.

She twirled it around several times before eventually noting all eyes on her. “What?”