HUMAN - The Son

Chapter 2

Aili

We once lived in a larger property.

My mother owned horses. I could still vaguely remember the horse stable and pink wallpaper in my nursery. And once, we had a title. Title and estate had long been lost. Aili Grünwies. Not Aili von Grünwies. It didn't matter to me.

For a few years, we lived in a small apartment until my parents could afford something better. Our current villa was almost as big as the other one, which of us children only I could remember. Birger, Syltje, and Gitte only remembered the small apartment in which we had shared a room. Birger and Syltje argued constantly.

Our parents hardly talked about how the loss of the title came about. When asked about it, they only complained about the royal family. Or rather, the Queen. Our mother said she had been treated unfairly. That's all I knew.

I liked the villa we had been living in for ten years now. But it took a while before my parents could afford this dream villa. I was five when we moved from our small apartment to a small house. At that time, my parents could only afford a cleaning lady and a nanny. She was often overwhelmed with us children. And when I was seven, my father bought this property. On my birthday. With us, five servants and three nannies moved into the property. Now, we children no longer had to share a room. Each of us children was given a small one. And there was also the large playroom, which was almost exclusively used by Camila and Alma by now. The rest of us were too old for the toys inside this room. Our parents refused to refurnish the room while the two youngest were still so small. So we older ones had to be content with small rooms that barely fit more than a bed, a desk, and a closet.

We had hardly any room in our rooms for our interests. Therefore, we now used the attic. Mother thought this was terrible, but Father tolerated it. The attic, of course, was not as nice as a wonderfully decorated room. We made the most of it with blankets, boxes... But now, in summer, it was too warm and stuffy for me up there.

My parents earned well.

Both were employed. Mom wrote columns for a small newspaper under a pseudonym. Dad was a postman. However, they made most of their money with the small packages they sold all over the country. Their regular customers paid a lot of money for the precious stuff. And we children had to help, we were cheaper than other employees, and otherwise keep silent about it. What exactly we packed, our parents did not say. But one thing was clear to me, this was definitely not flour.

I couldn't wait to return to the academy. To my friends. Mom didn't allow us to invite friends home. That's why I had only kept in touch with my friends through letters in the last few weeks. Unlike my family, my friends' families weren't rich. And they didn't live in the same city as me. Our property was located on the edge of Groß Bergfried. A city near the wolf territory. On a clear day, you could see the mountains. Our town was nestled between some low hills, fir forests, and next to a deep, dark blue lake.

Groß Bergfried was one of the largest cities in the country. There were two universities and a large city library. The largest in the country. The lake attracted many visitors here, which is why the city was also rich in restaurants and constant tourism. The lake was fed underground by a magnificent river. It was an idyllic little place. Idyllic and always busy.

After school, however, I wanted to leave here. Maybe I could live in the capital? And attend the big university there? Or, better, the small one. Even though I possessed very little magic, I dreamed of studying spell writing. And this was only possible at the small university of the capital. The most important and expensive university. Birger wanted to work as a fisherman. Or sell jewelry. He liked both. Syltje dreamed of traveling the world. To explore distant lands. Gitte wanted to be a carpenter and Iker dreamed of helping people as a doctor. Camila wanted to be like Andrea, Carla, and Pippa. Our nannies. And when Papa asked Alma what she wanted to be when she grew up, she replied, "Chair," and was infinitely happy about it. Alma was very fond of the word 'chair.'

We had lost our titles, but my parents had not lost their noble friends. Therefore, they only smiled at our wishes. Mom in particular had other plans for us. She wanted us to get our titles back. Titles we should never have lost. She said. And so, each of us children was already engaged. Since we were born. Some of us even before we lost everything. Before Mother tried to regain the titles.

My fiancé's name was Oswald von Blaugrau. He was a seer and twenty years old. And he was the nephew of the seer of whom we knew that only I had inherited magic and would ever inherit some. I didn't like Oswald very much, but Mom thought he was a good choice. And our father generally believed that arranged marriages, although they were slowly going out of fashion even among the nobility, were the best way to secure the future of his children.

Sighing, I stared out the window of my room until a faint noise pulled me out of my thoughts. There was a tentative knock on my room door.

"Yes?", I answered.

Slowly the door opened and Gitte looked in. "Aili?"

"Yes?"

"Am I ugly?" She sat down next to me with her large, dark brown doe eyes and looked at me pleadingly.

"How did you come up with that?" I put the book aside. "Ugly. Did someone say that to you?"

Gitte nodded.

"And who?"

"Everyone in my class says that." My little sister leaned her head on my shoulder. "All of them! Kimia, too!"

"Kimia? But you're friends! She called you ugly? When?" Outraged, I wrapped my arms around her. "Anyone who says something like that is not a good friend!"

"No", Gitte quickly objected. "She didn't say ugly. But... She defended me in the first place. Nevertheless... I asked her if she thought I was ugly, too."

"And she said yes?"

Gitte sighed. "No. But she said... I'm not the prettiest. I have a strong chin. Many people don't think about that as pretty. But that's not a bad thing, because I'm much nicer than all the other girls in our class. She also said that I have the prettiest eyes in our class. Aili? What's the point of beautiful eyes if the rest is ugly?"

Gitte's chin was very pronounced, that was true. She looked very much like our mother, only Gitte's chin was even more pronounced. Like mom's grandfathers... And in addition, dark eyes and light brown hair. I envied Gitte for her big doe eyes. I had to agree with Kimia. Gitte's eyes were enviable. "That wasn't very nice of Kimia... At least partially. But she's right about your eyes. They're beautiful. And I'd like to have your hair color. Brown is much more beautiful than red!" And that wasn't a lie. Why was I the only one with red hair? I'd much rather have light brown hair. Like Gitte and Iker. A pretty dark blonde.

"But your hair is more beautiful... Aili? She did not contradict the others. Not even when she defended me. She told the others they were mean. Nothing more. My best friend thinks I'm ugly too!", she sniffed. "And the others said I was uglier than Birger. And that Birger looks like a pug! A pug in silly clothes!"

"Oh." What should I say to that? "Did you tell Mama that? Or Dad?"

"Mom doesn't listen and Dad... Dad always says we're all pretty. But he's the only one. Besides, I don't think our father is objective!" Gitte snorted softly. "Aili? Can you stay at home?"

"I have to go to the academy. You know that. All witches and wizards must do this. Whether we like it or not."

Gitte defiantly wrapped her arms around me. "But you can't learn more magic! What else are you supposed to do there?" She leaned away from me and crossed her arms. "That's stupid! The Queen is stupid! Stupid."

"The Queen? Why?"

"Because she doesn't change the law!", grumbled Gitte.

"She will have her reasons. But before I return to the academy, I urgently need to get something done!" I winked at her. "It's very important."

"And what would that be?", she asked skeptically.

"Tickle my favorite, little, beautiful sister!"

And I pounced on her.

(c: sasi)