The Deian War: Vermillion's Apostles

by Thomas Trehearn

  He presumed this was Raina, whom Calla actually talked about quite often. He suspected that was why he hadn’t asked about other siblings, because he very much got the impression there weren’t any. He felt foolish now for thinking that all of Calla’s energy went on Raina, because her interactions with Bella and Lyra were just as joyful. Still, Calla and Raina were more like best friends than sisters. Even a stranger could recognise that. He supposed part of that was down to how similar they looked.

  Calla was being pulled into the living room by Bella who was more than eager to play a game with her older sister. Lupus felt an itch to be introduced to her parents and spoke up, thinking it was only right to see them before he sat down with Calla.

  “Shouldn’t we say hello to your mother and father?” he asked Calla quietly, just out of earshot of the others.

  Laughing gently, she resisted the pull of her younger sister and ushered her away.

  “Yes, I think we should” she answered him, nodding her agreement and leading him onwards.

  THEY WALKED THROUGH to the study, accessed by an ornate oak door that begged Lupus to ask about its design, but he decided he would wait for another time. It was open and pushed back far enough against the wall to suggest it was rarely ever closed. The study had a light cream carpet, with a dark wooden table in the centre large enough to seat ten people. To the right was a bay of windows overlooking the street, and to the left the room ran into the dining area and after that, the kitchen.

  Calla’s father was sitting at the table reading what looked like an ancient book. The spine was leather-bound, dyed ochre, and Lupus could tell it was a family heirloom that had been passed down the years. Wearing a smart pair of glasses, with greying hair that was starting to show aging white, Calla’s father looked up from the book and his eyes shone with intrigue.

  “Father, this is Lupus” Calla announced, gesturing between them with her hands.

  “Ah!” he exclaimed playfully. “So you’re the friend we’ve been waiting all this time to meet”. He stood up from his cushioned seat, of which there were currently only four round the table, and placed the book on the surface, closing it softly with deliberate care.

  Lupus was taken aback by his geniality, but proffered his hand in greeting.

  “Hello Sir, it is nice to meet you. You have a very comely home” he replied, both sincerely and honestly.

  “Call me Ammon” her father grinned, shaking hands with him.

  The grip was strong and firm, but not too tight. It was common thought that a person could tell a lot from another’s hand shake. Lupus knew this all too well to be more accurate than people realised, having met many different people in his time in the City and being right about them after sharing just that simple gesture.

  Ammon wore a casual shirt, reflective of the style of the tropical islands on the western hemisphere of Gothica, and a pair of khaki shorts that stopped at his knees. Lupus suddenly felt overdressed. He felt the smallest hint of a blush upon his cheek when Ammon continued.

  “I hope you’re looking forward to the meal, I can cook some fierce pork over the oil drum”.

  “Y-yes, yes I am” Lupus stuttered. He was unused to anxious feelings and he felt a twinge of betrayal that Calla hadn’t told him not to dress too fancy. Had he known this dinner was more informal than he expected, he would have changed his clothes to something more comfortable and appropriate. It was unlike him to get the balance of a situation wrong, but he had. Still, Calla herself wasn’t as casual as her father. Perhaps she was trying to impress Lupus, where he was doing the same to her family.

  “So, what do you know?” Ammon asked.

  “I’m sorry?” Lupus replied, completely lost by such a strange, vague question.

  Ammon grinned and Calla slapped his arm.

  “Father, stop teasing him. Surely all your questions can wait for dinner?”

  Her father relented with a sigh, like a defeated schoolboy. “Yes, I suppose they can. Your mother is in the kitchen preparing some of the food, but I wouldn’t interrupt her. You know what she’s like when she’s focussed on something” he said.

  “That’s alright, Lupus can meet her over dinner. We’re going to go upstairs, there’s a film I’ve been meaning to show him.” Calla answered.

  “Ah, the latest 5-star flick eh? Well enjoy it, but you only have an hour” Ammon told her, then turned to Lupus, “After that, you’ll have no escape from us”.

  He turned away to walk into the kitchen, happy and apparently without a care in the world.

  Calla spun round to speak to Lupus. “See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  He had no answer for her and just chuckled in nervousness. Despite his illustrious past that usually meant he was prepared for anything, he felt like he was out of his depth here.

  WHEN THEY CLIMBED the stairs, Lupus was surprised again to appreciate how big the house was. Like the hallway, the landing spread out to the left and right, with rooms branching off like a tree. On the right were a bathroom and guest room. To the left were the family’s bedrooms.

  They went left, to the end of the landing and entered Calla’s room. It was fairly spacious if a person was to look at the position of the walls, but the sofa-bed in the middle and the wardrobes either side of the chimneybreast opposite the door hid its size. The walls were painted in a rich purple and the carpet, similar to the curtains, were a dark mahogany, casting the room in relative darkness even with the lights on.

  Above the chest of drawers that sat between the wardrobes, an old noticeboard was replete with sentimental papers and notes. There were quotes of wisdom, pieces of art from childhood, messages from friends past and present, though he was sad to notice the majority of it were from those Calla rarely saw anymore.

  On the centre of the chest sat a modest screen which Lupus guessed was to be used to watch this revered film. When Calla told her father about the video, it was news to him also. He had come here with no plans in mind and was thankfully surprised to welcome Calla’s initiative.

  “You have a beautiful room, Calla. It’s so…” he couldn’t find the right words.

  “Relaxed?” she suggested.

  He smiled at her, “Yes”.

  “Sit with me. I think this film will take your mind off being here with my big scary family” she laughed.

  “Scary? No, your family are lovely. I’m just not used to meeting so many people at once. I must confess though, I don’t think Raina has taken to me lightly” he told her.

  As they sat on the sofa bed together, Calla frowned in concern and stroked his left arm gently with her fingertips. Had anyone else shown contact like this, he would have felt patronised and rejected the intimacy. Instead, it eased him like she intended.

  “Don’t worry; Raina is like that with everyone she meets for the first time. You are no different. She will warm to you in time,” she reassured him.

  Lupus trusted what Calla said and made himself comfortable while she moved to the screen to turn it on. She thudded down next to him with the remote control as casually as though they had done this hundreds of times before.

  The film popped up on the frameless glass screen and as it began, Calla explained to him what it was about. It revolved around the life of a young girl who had to move away from her family. Upon settling into her new home, she met the local townspeople who spoke of an old legend predicting the coming of angels and demons. Lupus soon realised the film was based on the Prophecy; the one and only that he and Calla had talked about so often, recently more and more.

  As the film progressed, its inaccuracies and vagaries amused him. It had the distracting effect that Calla desired and he seemed to calm his nerves and relax a bit more. Every now and then, she inched closer to him on the sofa bed and he inched closer to her.

  “Are you cold?” he asked, partly worried for her and partly looking for an excuse just to warm her up with a close embrace.

  “A little” she said softly. Taking the opportunity, he placed his
left arm around her and hugged her closer to him.

  “Is that better?” he asked when the thunder strikes in his heart had abated.

  Calla placed her left hand on his chest in response, electricity flowing through her that seemed to dictate her actions before nerves could prevent her.

  “I do feel warmer now” she almost whispered.

  Calla closed her eyes for a moment, hardly believing that they were finally sharing a closeness that she had longed for since they first met.

  It was painfully short-lived as her father called up to them earlier than he promised.

  “Calla! Dinner is ready!”

  As if caught in the headlights, they became both awkward and annoyed over the situation as they separated and moved to leave her room. Although they hadn’t been seen by anyone, they both felt their friendship had officially just changed in a very short time. Before Lupus could say anything, Calla moved to the stairs.

  She saw him just waiting in her doorway and laughed expectantly.

  “Well come on then, they won’t bite you” she smirked.

  The warmth in her eyes and the way her cheeks flourished with sincerity made him come out of hiding and follow her down the stairs. With a pang of agitation, Lupus realised that the night was about to become more challenging. For him, it was an experience without precedent.

  Chapter 2

  CALLA LED LUPUS downstairs and into the dining room where all her family were gathering round the table. Her youngest sister, Bella, was so excitable that Raina, almost harshly, insisted she be calm. On the table were placemats for dinner plates furnished with silver cutlery. In the middle sat two glass jugs of water and various juice drinks of inviting colours and scents. Lupus felt sure that only he could appreciate the latter from his distance.

  “Oh, hello Lupus!” Calla’s mother said as she came out from the kitchen, a bowl of salad in her hands.

  “Hello ma’am” he replied politely. “The meal looks delicious” he added genuinely as he saw Ammon and some of the girls bringing in the rest of the food.

  There were all kinds of cooked meat, buns and side dishes now waiting for them all on the table. The smell of it made Lupus realise how hungry he really was, the introduction to Calla’s family having distracted him from his stomach’s yearning.

  Calla’s mother smiled at him in appreciation of the compliment. “Call me Nika” she said.

  Ammon was placing the last plate of food on the table as Calla and her sisters sat down.

  “Next to me…” she whispered to Lupus, noticing his awkward posture as he waited to find which seat was his.

  Lupus sat down quickly but did nothing more. He wanted to be as polite as possible and wasn’t sure of the custom of her family, so he decided that he would observe their ways before acting to avoid offending them and leaving her parents with a bad impression of his manners.

  With her parents sitting down, Nika to Lupus’ immediate right and her father at the other end of the table, the family seemed to spring into action. Plates were passed and requests were made to share this dish and that, glasses were filled with the drink of choice and stories of the day’s experiences bounced across the room.

  Raina sat next to Calla on her left, whilst Bella and Lyra, along with the second youngest sister that Lupus was only now just meeting, were opposite them both. He felt a twinge of pressure to do everything just right and yet it didn’t get to him quite like he expected. It was like he felt watched, yet he also realised that he had nothing to be worried about. It wasn’t like he was on trial for a crime, unless you took the way Raina looked at him as a norm.

  “Would you like some water or juice, Lupus?” Nika asked him.

  “Yes, please. I’ll have some water” he answered. “Thank you” he added as she poured the drink into his glass.

  “Feel free to get some food; take what you fancy, there’s plenty to go around” Ammon said. “The burgers are particularly nice, if I do say so”.

  “So modest…” Raina quipped, making her family laugh.

  Lupus chuckled along, but stopped as she gave him an uncertain look as if he wasn’t in on the joke with them. He thought about getting some food from the assorted plates, but stopped and thought it better to wait for Calla’s sisters and parents to finish their selections.

  Calla saw his hesitation and reached out to put some food on his plate. She looked at him and her eyes told him to be relaxed, to just enjoy the meal. He was determined to do just that and soon his plate was filled as much as he deemed appropriate without being greedy. Had the family not discarded the cutlery in favour of their fingers for most of the food, he would have used knife and fork, but it seemed impractical. Besides, if he did decide to use them, it would seem very odd to them despite the fact they put the tableware there to begin with. He suspected they might have misinterpreted his own eating habits as condescending, so he elected to eat in the same way as they did.

  Soon the family’s mealtime traditions played out, with the younger sisters getting annoyed at their older siblings for taking the food and making jokes that they couldn’t always understand. Nonetheless, it was a home environment that Lupus had always missed out on and as he ate carefully and kept himself busy, passing the food and drink as asked, he felt comfortable around them all. He only felt guarded when it came to Raina, but only because he suspected she was scrutinising him at any opportunity.

  He knew it was only a matter of time before the questions came and Calla’s father was the first to start.

  “So Lupus, what do you do in your spare time? Do you work?” he asked with no precedent.

  Lupus had to swallow his mouthful before he could answer, but he was actually eager to reveal his life, despite the fact there was actually very little he could say.

  “I do work, yes. I’ve been at the School of Astronomy for some time now. I’m only a clerk, but it pays my way” he said. This was partly a lie; he did work there, but only to keep himself busy. In truth, he had enough money to see him to the end of his days. It was another avenue for him to learn about the Empire’s journey into the stars.

  “I understand you live on your own?” Ammon continued.

  This was a question that would naturally be asked, but Lupus felt a pang of regret and pain as he tried to think of a convincing reply. He usually had a rehearsed answer as people from all areas of his life had asked him dozens of times, but this time he was caught off guard. Lying to a family like Calla’s about his own background was almost too much.

  “I do,” he began. “Sadly my parents passed away while I was young. I had to move here to Cygnus City so that I could be taught at the Academy. They left that edict and a house here for me in their will. Despite my loss, I am very fortunate of their care for me, even after their passing” he said solemnly. Had he not felt genuine sadness over the real reason for his loneliness, the event known to him as the Blessing and thought of that as he spoke, his answer would not have sounded so real.

  He felt Calla’s hand squeeze his own under the table and a warmth he had not known before rushed through him. He was glad to have her by his side whenever he had to explain his life; not because he often had to lie, but because the lies had true feelings behind them.

  “I’m sorry to hear that” Ammon replied, sincerity etched across his face.

  “I think you’ve done very well on your own,” Nika offered. “There aren’t many young people out there that are as independent and strong as you are. Your parents would be proud” she smiled.

  “Thank you” Lupus blushed.

  For the next few moments, they all just continued to eat. The silence wasn’t awkward, rather it felt like a natural respite from the inquiries placed upon the guest of the house.

  Lupus finished the food on his plate and feeling content, decided not to reach for more. Ammon saw this and started the genial conversation again.

  “What did you think of the meal?” he asked.

  “It was very nice; one of the best I’ve had in a lo
ng while” Lupus replied, this time completely truthfully.

  “Well, you’re always welcome to come here for dinner. Calla has told us all she knows about you and we haven’t been disappointed” Nika said.

  Lupus saw Bella beaming in agreement, uncertain how she had warmed to him quite so quickly. He wasn’t sure what to say back to Calla’s parents, so he just sat there and smiled back.

  “Mother, you’re embarrassing him” Calla told her.

  “I was only complimenting him” Nika replied defensively.

  Calla shook her head, annoyed but unwilling to further the discussion.

  “Right! Time to wish up, kids” Ammon announced, breaking the ice.

  There were moans around the table, various contentions that Lupus could tell happened most evenings after dinner when the inevitable duties of the children were called in. He saw the schoolboy enjoyment once again on Ammon’s face, while Nika ushered them towards the kitchen, used plates in hand.

  “I can help” Lupus offered, directing it at Calla.

  “No, no. You are a guest of this house” Ammon insisted, overhearing him. “You two should go and finish that film; I think you’ve suffered enough”.

  Feeling a need to reply, even though he could tell it was bait, Lupus told him that dinner was a pleasure and was grateful for it. After that, Calla left her seat and tugged at him to join her. Moments later, they were alone in her room again.

  THEY RESUMED THEIR place on the sofa bed and were soon cuddled up just as before. The room was bathed in black, the only light emanating from the screen showing the film. They must have been at least halfway through it by now, Lupus reasoned.

  Their isolation was suddenly interrupted as Raina walked in, careless to their privacy. She saw the two of them on the sofa bed and frowned. Saying nothing verbally, but with disappointment and anger on her face, she left the room. Clearly she had wanted to talk to her sister, but the expression she wore smacked with distain. Lupus thought he could detect pity in her eyes as well, but it may have just been the annoyance she had probably expected to feel.