Blink of an Eye - a Guild Wars 2 Fanfiction

Chapter 15 - A Slightly Different Barbecue

"Julien, could I have some more of these spinach-pastries?" I asked the old, bold-headed man, who had quickly become my favorite butler throughout the evening. Of all the staff scurrying around the Letho property, Bernard was with no doubt the most friendly, attentive and merry human, but Julien simply was fantastic. His eyes were hard to make out with bulky brows covering half of his face, and the gnarled nose hid well within all the wrinkles. The mouth was simply turned into a thin, hard line that never opened – Julien communicated only with 'hmmphs' and 'grrmls' – and his head merged into the rest of his body without the sight of something coming even close to a neck.

The best trait about him though was his obvious attitude towards him and his work: he simply hated everything and everyone. Without exceptions.

With a dark "hrrml" he turned around to face me, while the silver tray in his hands swayed dangerously, until he banged it at the table in front of me with such a force that some of the water inside the pitcher spilled over, slowly spreading across the expensive-looking piece of furniture. I gave him a grin and a sugar-sweet "Thanks, Julien" and grabbed some of the pastries before they would go up in flames due to Julien's anger, since he seemed to get even grimmer with my answer. Bernard, who had of course noticed the noise, hurried to take a plain white cloth out of his chest and dabbed the table dry, while he assured to me with a smile that he would immediately fill up the water again.

Julien, lifting the tray with similar force than before again, paraded to the other side of the room, where Aidan and Connor touched just another round of glasses – one of many. I gave one of the pastries to Alvenn, who was still trembling with silent laughter. She had been terribly bored during the last hours, and Julien gave the best opportunities for me to try and cheer her up. At least this was not only a favor for the girl, since I could use some good distraction as well. As guests of this house it was considered rude to leave the party early, and I didn't want to hurt Aidan. Besides, no one would take care of Alvenn once I left.

I sighed and examined the spinach pastry in my hands. It was simple, dough rolled thin and covered with cream cheese and spinach, and then rolled into small canapés. But they still tasted wonderful, and during the evening I had already emptied half a tray on my own – the other half had been taken care of by Alvenn and the twins, despite our host implying that these should only serve as incitement for the main course.

While I took a bite, I saw how the girl next to me straightened her back and shifted her weight. With slow and careful movements, she lifted the youngest member of the family, Rhode, up and placed him in the crook of her arm so that she would be able to hold this position for a while. It was fascinating to watch how such a young girl was able to take responsibility for another child, but it didn't seem to me that Alvenn was forced to do this.

It rather seemed to be the opposite, since Henna had offered multiple times to take the boy, but Alvenn had declined smiling every time. Now the mother of five sat in a cushioned chair next to her husband and Connor, listened to the discussion about beer and money investments and allowed in the meanwhile, that Alvenns younger sister Philomena braided wild braids into her snow-white hair.

I admired Henna for her calmness and patience when it came to the kids. The twins had destroyed more than one goblet during their wild play, but neither Henna nor Connor seemed to bother too much. It wasn't surprising considering the expensive furniture and all, since Connor obviously had more than enough money as not to worry about a handful of shattered goblets.

Like I had predicted before, I would probably never manage to grow fond of this man. When he laughed – which happened more often the more beer he drank – the more ugly and strange he seemed. That was only topped by the fact that he did not look at me a single time and acted as if I didn't even exist, while he played with the children at the same time and spoiled them as if they were his own. Even the children themselves showed no fear towards this man, as if he had been a part of their family for many years.