Aunt Alma’s house was one of the smaller ones in the Rose District. It also was defiantly the most unkempt. Most of the houses stood tall and slim like the houses in the Merchant District, but had all the trimmings of a noble’s mansion. Aunt Alma’s was mostly recognizable for its gold doves taking flight from the front door. Unfortunately a few years and attendance chipping away some of the painted birds. Adi didn’t have a steady enough had for just things as painting.
The inside was more well kept. Aunt Alma still had enough after her second husband’s death to keep a few housekeepers and a nurse. Looking into the house from the small parlor room,the house seemed dark and empty. If Adi focused enough, he could hear the distance clinking of pots and pans and soft chatter over a roaring fire. The scent of boar hit his nose. Dinner was being prepared. After removing his cloak and hanging it up on a crooked hook in the entrance, Adi stepped fully into the parlor room.
Adi stared at the tapestry rug. A muddled memory came to his mind as a toddler, running his hands over the lines of the two rose red peacocks curled up together. He liked their long tails the most, how they caressed over each other lovingly, their necks intertwined.
His family felt so different then, so normal, so real. His mother and father sat close on the sofa by the fire. Her thin hands clasped around his broken ones. Her long dark red hair cascaded freely as he rested her head on his shoulder. His father’s brown eyes brimmed with joy at the image of his children playing with their presents. His older brother’s eating the small cookies and sweets hand made by Aunt Alma herself. Even Aunt Alma before her mind started to slip gave him a warm feeling of comfort.
When he thought back, he noticed the cracks and fractures in another wise perfect family picture. He remembered the oldest brother, Aetius, suddenly vanishing into the dinning room. Even though from the parlor one had a rather clear view of the dinning, Aetius had hidden off in some corner out of sight. After a moment, the second bother, Ask, followed into the dinning room. No one thought it of as there was still food lied remaining from the meal earlier. All that could had spoiled had been put away, only some sweets and hors d’oeuvres remained.
The older relatives didn’t mind. The boys were maybe just eating more sweets until they became sick. Besides the adults didn’t want to break their conversation, why even bother to check on them. Even Adi, still assumed by adults to be a little girl, was able to waddle into the dinning without supervision.
Ask pulled the wine bottle out of Aetius’s hands and held in protectively away from him. Aetius’s mouth was red with the wine. He harshly swallowed the mouth full he had. Adi remembered how Aetius’s eyes snapped toward him, up at the open towering curio of racked wine bottles and then down at the lock pick that he had possibly swiped from the servants’ closet.
Aetius was the first to move, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He reached out, patting little Adi on the head. Ask took his own strong swallows of wine and proceed to hand it back to Aetius. The eldest Kronos grabbed the bottle without looking at it. “Here, I’ll get you something to eat if you stay quiet. Do we have an agreement, Adi?” He took a swig of the wine bottle.
The child mind of Adi attached to the gleam of the bottle. His wide eyes sparkled. His small hands suddenly grabbed the base of the bottle and started to pull toward him. Aetius’s eyes went wide with fear. He quickly pulled back, pulling too hard causing Adi to fall backwards on the ground. As any child would do, Adi began to bawl and sob. His small fists pounded the ground he attempted to run the tears pouring down his face.
Then there were the rush of footsteps. The adults had noticed. The older brothers exchanged looks. Aetius tried to put the wine back on the bottom rock, but that only caused the open wine bottle to spill forth on the ground. The spilled wine pooled out on the floor, creating a puddle around the crying child.
This part of the event came to Adi in flashes. First thing he remembered was seeing his father’s ringed hang meet with Aetius’s cheek. Ask had ran off, he was always good and leaving when their father’s rage was present. Then after a moment, he recalled himself hidden under the dinning room table. He could hear the shouting of his father, the scolding of his mother and the weeping of his aunt.
Suddenly, his father’s ringed hand shot out under the table, grabbing him by the arm. He pulled hard enough that Adi thought that his arm would pop from its joint. His vision was still burled with tears as Adi was pushed into his mother’s arms.
Her hold was not a loving one. Her grip dug into his arms. Her face was a blur, but he knew that she was enraged. Adi’s arm was held out by his mother, her nails digging into his wrist. There was a stinging pain against the back of his hand. Then another and another. His hand felt like it was burning. His child pink skin had turned bright red.
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