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The hours fly by and business is fairly decent. Since the shop doubles as a cafe, as well as being part of my home, I normally get a good crowd but it can be boring so I tend to read the paper often while waiting. After a while the door opens and Constantine walks in holding the hand of a young child who can't be any more than five. “Well I couldn't get all of them Valerius but I brought Cyril.”
I immediately brighten up placing my paper on the counter. “Ah Constantine. Let me get you two to a table.” I lead them over to a table and ask. “Now what do you two want?”
“Coffee. As strong as you can.” Constantine replies.
“Can I have some rock candy please?” Cyril asks.
“Ask your grandfather.” I reply smiling.
“Can I grandfather?” Cyril asks him.
“Anything you want my boy.” Constantine says smiling.
“Very well. One rock candy and some coffee. I'll be right back.” I step into the back room. "Now if I remember right Cyril likes cherry the best." I mutter to myself as I prepare the coffee. After that's done I take out a stick and concentrate on it until the stick is almost completely covered with rock candy. “Ah the benefits of magic.” I remark taking the coffee and the rock candy out. “One coffee and one rock candy.” I tell them.
“Yay!” Cyril cheers bringing a smile to the face of everyone here.
I pull up a chair and tell my customers. “If anyone needs anything I will be sitting here.” I get a few nods so I ask Cyril. “So why aren't you in school Cyril?”
Cyril licking his rock candy nods at his grandfather who tells me. “He was just released from the hospital today, a few days back he came down with the flu but now he is better.”
“Right. Apologies I had completely forgotten about that. You feeling alright Cyril?” He nods again. “Good. Living a healthy life is a gift you should never take for granted.” I can tell my face has grown sadder since my thoughts turned to Adina.
“Anyway.” Constantine says changing the subject. “You seem to be getting good business as usual.”
“Let me tell you Constantine with the amount of uniforms I get in here on a regular basis I wouldn't be surprised if my shop was considered a military target in the event of an invasion.”
That gets a hearty laugh from everyone present, no one can deny that it is true since well over half the people in the room are in uniform. “‘The Battle of the Solomon Family Candy Store and Cafe’ I can just see it now!” Constantine remarks laughing even more along with my customers.
I laugh more and pat Cyril on the head. “And this one would be my second in command! That is if his grandfather approves.”
“Take him.” Constantine laughs. “I am sure he would do our refuge proud.”
“As all of our children would!” A customer exclaims earning a hearty amen from everyone present.
“Indeed.” I say quietly. "Remember Cyril: your duty to Hiketes, to our refuge, is something you must never forsake. No matter what you are Roman first with all that implies. We scarcely avoided the mindless destruction by heathens that took the Old Empire and it is only by God's Grace that we were able to not only survive but thrive.”
A grim mood descends upon us and everyone just resumes drinking their coffee or alcohol, or eating. Constantine then claps his hands. “Cheer up everyone. Our people are alive another day and the Empire's memory still lives on thanks to that.” There are some sober nods.
I sigh. “Constantine you are one of the nicest men I know but you are terrible at brightening up the mood.” I then pat Cyril on the head. “Don’t worry though everyone. Brave young men like Cyril here will protect us.”
There is some laughs and one customer, Michael Ulik, chimes in "Well if he can't protect this place I'm certain all of your customers will be able to keep this place nice and safe. Your store has been around for generations and I think you will see that such a thing pays off in customer loyalty.”
“Quite so.” Constantine says with a glimmer in his eye amid all the amens from all of the customers, man and woman alike. “I remember old Aharon Solomon. If I had to describe him it would be he looks a lot like Valerius but much older and with a long beard. Now that man was probably the most honest man you could ever meet, also like Valerius. Kind to all of us children and gave us sweets for free whenever he met us on the street. I always found it strange though that he had just what we wanted handy."
I don't give the reason why, that he was an Olderen Magi, but then a customer chimes in. "If you are calling him old Constantine the man must be ancient."
“Oh he was old when I was little.” Constantine says. “How is he related to you again Valerius?”
“He was my great-great-grandfather.” I reply immediately.
Constantine groans slightly at hearing that. “I must be ancient if I remember Sarah's grandfather.”
“Well you and grandmother would be about the same age if she was still alive.” I reply dryly.
“True.” Constantine nods seeming to be a bit sorry he brought the topic up.
“Though I must ask.” Michael inquires. “Why is he Sarah's grandfather when his last name is Solomon?”
“Grandmother married her cousin, my grandfather Theodosius. Therefore they have the same grandfather and same last name.” I answer. “Arranged marriages often work like that after all.”
“Regardless. Your family has made friends with most children who have lived here for generations. It is the main reason why we come here.” Constantine says and everyone nods to that.
“And I am thankful for that. If it wasn't for everyone's continued patronage me and Adina wouldn't be able to keep living here.”
For the next couple hours I mostly make small talk with Constantine and then I look at the clock and tell my customers. “Well I need to go and pick up Adina in a few minutes. If anyone has anything can they take it to go?” The customers nod and leave but I stop Constantine and Cyril. “Wait here one moment.” I walk to the back room and take out an empty large ice cream tub and fill it with vanilla ice cream that I conjure. “Ah magic. The source of life for us.” I walk back out and hand the tub to Constantine. “A get well gift for Cyril.”
“Tsk, Valerius, at this rate you and your sister will spoil my grandchildren more than I do.” Constantine says clearly amused after he sees the glint in Cyril’s eyes.
I shrug my shoulders. “Ah well, then they will be spoiled rotten. Now I need to get going. See you soon.” When they leave I slip back into my uniform and grab my umbrella and head to the school to find Adina sitting on a bench under a canopy. “You ready?” I ask her extending my hand to her.
She looks at me. “So you actually did come instead of wandering off.” She says taking my hand.
“Of course I did. Do you honestly expect any different from me?” I ask as I extend my arm to her for her to hold after I pull her to her feet.
“Not really no.” She replies wrapping her arm around mine as we walk together.
We keep walking through the crowd and of course I keep getting looks either because I went missing again or because I am walking arm and arm with my sister, though everyone will admit that both are fairly common occurrences, with the arm and arm one being every weekday. “So how was class?” I ask her.
“Well since I actually went to school arm in arm with you everyone noticed you were awake and walking so I was bombarded with questions." She says sourly.
“Sorry about that Sis.”
“Well Kristina and Iria were particularly probing. They wouldn't leave me alone about it.”
“I suppose I should be touched Kristina was concerned about me. Although that is very out of character for her.”
“Why is that? You two are friends right?"
“Partners is a better term. Amicable co workers might be the best term for our relationship. Or perhaps master and servant could work best. Though legally it is advisor and advised.”
“I see. Regardless there are plenty of rumors about you two since you being made her advisor back when we were sixteen was such a surprise.”
“And I am content with ignoring those rumors. As should you.” I remark in a slightly annoyed tone. “She was legally obligated to appoint an advisor soon and she decided to settle on me.”
“Very well. And needless to say since you were away the male students decided to try asking me out again.”
“Why would me being there stop them from asking you out?” I ask curiously.
“Oh I don't know.” She rolls her eyes. “Maybe because how protective you are of me is well known. And the fact that since you are the Deputy Head Disciplinarian of Disciplinary Committee means you are always carrying a pistol.”
“There is that.” I admit nodding my head. “But, if I may speak as your older brother by a couple minutes, you are still a good girl to have someone who truly wanted to date you to ignore me.”
“There was one who tried that. Due to me being on the Disciplinary Committee as well I simply threatened to shoot him because he tried to force things.” She says nonchalantly.
I chuckle. “Father would be proud. Needless to say don't tell me who tried to force you into things otherwise they will wind up dead by the next day."
She smiles and laughs a little. “You really are Mother's son.”
“Good, one of us had to take after that force of nature that Mother was. I only wish they could have seen us grow up more.”
“Yeah. But needless to say I turned everyone down.”
“Why? If you wanted to you could get a boyfriend easily. You are a good woman, devout in your faith, good at housework and you are 17 and now an adult after all. Plus since our parents never arranged a marriage for you that means you are free to date whoever you please.”
“Well why haven't you ever had a girlfriend?” She counters. “I know several girls who have asked me to introduce them to you after they heard that you were not in an arranged marriage. That you and Kristina is easily your best friend despite what you say.”
“I am just not interested. Besides.” I pause in thought on how I should word it. “I am far too busy looking out for you, and attending to my other duties, to have a relationship. “Plus with Kristina’s position she will have a husband chosen for her in time so I have little desire to become a source of an affair for her. She is destined for it.” That is what I tell her but in my head I add. Because a relationship, if it proceeds far enough, means my kids will probably have magic which means this farce will have to continue. The Olderen is a lost cause without wanting to repopulate it anyway. God, the one who gave us magic, has forsaken us and thus our death is only the right thing, it is the judgement of God and His divine justice.
“But you shouldn't…”
“Weight myself down with you? Weigh myself down with my duty?” I ask cutting her off. “I do this by choice and I take the choice gladly. Trust me Sis. It isn't a burden in any way.”
“I disagree but regardless. I turn everyone down because they just are not interesting. Or they are just interested in my appearance, though I don't look impressive or anything if you ask me. Such relationships of the flesh are pointless because it withers and lacks the dedication to God one should seek in one. But there are a couple other problems.” She says in thought.
“Your life expectancy.” I reply knowing her thoughts better than some.
“There is that, it’s hard to maintain a relationship when you can wind up in the hospital next week.” She admits. “There are a couple other reasons but suffice to say no one interesting or someone who looks beyond appearances is available.”
“Well it saves me from having to commit murder, though I admit I could probably get away with it.” I joke. “So beyond the harassment that is obviously my fault is there anything else that happened today?”
“Kristina will be wanting an explanation, Instructor Nikolaos sends his regards, and I have your make up work in our locker. Also I had to break up several fist fights together with Kristina and Flavia. Something about one being suspected of stealing from the other.”
“Very well. I trust you weren't injured breaking them up?”
“No I wasn't. They gave up as soon as Flavia hit them with the butt of her rifle and calmly threatened to stab them if they didn’t knock it off or threatened Disciplinary Committee members again.”
“Good. Flavia is that sort of dependable girl after all. And yes she would have done it if Kristina or myself allowed it.” I unlock the door to the shop and escort her in. “Now I will keep the shop open for a while. You should go and rest.”
“But I want to help.” She complains as per usual.
“Listen Sis, as I have always said I want you to leave everything to me. My job is to take care of you after all.”
“Some days I want to help you.” She mutters as she heads in. “I am of age too.”
“True you are seventeen just like me but let me tend to things. Mother, Father, Grandmother, and Grandfather would never forgive me if something happened if I let you push yourself. In fact I could never face them on the other side if it did.” I tell her as I head in.
“Fine.” She grumbles and heads upstairs.
“Please just let me take care of you.” I mutter to myself. “I want you to live a life where you do not need to struggle. Let this become my purpose”
After the a few hours I close up the shop and have dinner with Adina. As always it is a quiet affair. The table is an old, long, wooden one and large enough to hold ten people, if you count at both heads of the table where me and Adina sit across from each other, much like our parents did. The dinner is candlelit and we mostly eat it quietly. It is a good meal of cooked salmon and we wash it down with a couple glasses of phouska. “It is strange to suddenly be able to drink.” Adina remarks to me after lifting a piece of food to her mouth.
“Indeed. Things do change in strange ways when one becomes an adult." I reply. “But be sure not to drink too much. A lot of alcohol is bad for your health after all.”
“I know.” She tells me taking a sip from her glass and makes a face. “Still far too sour for me unless I am eating something.”
“It is sour yes.” I freely admit. “But I have developed a taste for it. It isn't that bad when you get used to it. Though if you don’t I suppose we can get another brand for our meals.” After I finish eating my meal I read the bible on the table and wait for Adina to finish. “Excellent meal as always.” I tell her as I do every night and we wash our own dishes.
“You let me cook the meals for the family but nothing else. How does that make sense?” She grumbles.
“It doesn't. But I know I can’t convince you to not cook or do anything else. I want you to relax while I handle everything, I am the oldest after all.” She starts to make a face so I add to it to cheer her up. “But I must say Sis, you have become as nearly good of a cook as Mother was.”
She smiles at the praise I give her. “Thanks and so are you.”
“Anytime and thanks. I am sure Mother would be proud given the amount of time she took to teach us how to cook.” We put our dishes in the sink to wash later and I give Adina her nightly medicine, and go up up to my room where I light a candle and clasp my hands together in silent prayer as I do every night, it is a simple prayer for the safety of our refuge and the health of my sister but it is one I can’t sleep without doing. After I finish I change onto my night clothes and climb into bed. I stare at the ceiling and ask myself. “Dreams are the window to a Magi’s soul. So why cannot I dream?” It is a question I know to be in vain. I haven't dreamed in years and no answer has been forthcoming so I slip into oblivion.
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