Awakening

Chapter 34

Human Nature?

"Men are made for greatness, to stand up and be men, defend their women and children, be strong supporters so people can look up to them... women are not made to be victims and helpless, they are made to be strong together with them, be worthy of their appreciation, to stand against oppression and be the hand on their back pushing them a bit further..."

"Ok Amra, you got my vote, when are you running for president?" Vanessa grinned.

Caliope laughed and shook her head. Amra smiled softly and caressed Caliope's hand gently as everyone else was enjoying a relaxing night in the library after dinner. Maxwell had to excuse himself as he had to manage last details for the wedding; he had promised Caliope a special and thoughtful gift, and he was doing it as a surprise.

Elaine sighed "I am going to excuse myself; I need to rest, tomorrow the twin Generals are arriving for the wedding, and they are always full of energy!"

"The twin Generals?" Caliope asked a little confused.

Pronab chuckled "Mengyi and Mengfei are twins, both are Generals located in Malaysia and as we did not had the chance yet to go there, they are coming to us."

"Ok... full of energy, is that a warning? what Angel has no energy?"

Elaine chuckled "Oh they are just playful and naughty, but they are fun and easygoing so you have nothing to worry about."

As she finished her sentence, Elaine gave Caliope a wink and headed towards the door, leaving a hint of new adventures for the next day. Vanessa was still gasping each time she found a new rare and valuable book in Maxwell's library, which was almost too often. Pronab kept reading his book and each time Vanessa made a silent comment on a new discovery, he smiled without keeping his eyes out of the pages.

Caliope stood up and walked next to her friend, a gentle squeeze on her shoulder brought Vanessa back to the library "Yes, they had time and resources to find all this rare books... I haven't seen you this excited about books before!"

"Caly, if I take only one of these books to the curators of the Museum, I am going to get a pay raise and new position." Vanessa chuckled as Caliope grinned "Oh! that rare?" She turned her head towards Pronab and smirked "Where does he get these books? can we get some for her?"

He lifted his eyes from his book for the first time in a while and looked at the one on Vanessa's hands. He pondered about it for a short time and then put his book aside and walked towards them "This book is from Europe, late 18th century, and is not a classic, he probably acquired it from Lord Marshall, he is a collector, human but aware of our existence, he is a very private person, he only allows to be contacted once every few months and does not always enjoy sharing some of his collections."

"Even if he is paid well? I am sure the Museum where I work would pay fortunes for rare good old treasures like this."

Pronab shrugged "I wouldn't know, last time I had contact with him didn't turn out very well..."

"Why? what happened?" Caliope was now interested. He gave her a grin "He said no."

"To give you something?" she continued, her grin as big as his. Pronab nodded and Caliope laughed "you are too special, you know that?"

He smiled at her and nodded again, returning to his chair and his book. Caliope smiled and looked at Vanessa shrugging "Maybe you need to talk to the General about it."

"I surely will! tomorrow at some point... isn't tomorrow your last day as a single lady? we need to throw you a bachelorette party!"

Caliope blushed and looked towards Amra who was quiet and smiling at her. He kept a very serene and undisturbing stance during the evening but now he was curious "What is that about? why do you do it?" he asked.