The Old Family

(3)Black Satin Seduction

Black Satin Seduction

"To hell with this! Bloody boy left the burner on again!"

I watched Conrad struggle for a few minutes, his hands fiddling with the hot plate. He nearly dropped it on the tiles in the process. The white porcelain was a shade of strange pink from all the heat within and Conrad's sweaty forehead was wrinkled up as he tried to cool the small disk down with his breath.

I wanted to laugh, but kept my mouth shut and continued to skulk in the shadows. It was still morning, but the halls of Donata were reasonable empty. The students were all in class and luckily, Conrad's new assistant, Diego, wasn't in.

Diego was a rather big annoyance to me, mainly because he took a fancy to my wife. I didn't like his casual tone with her; she was a goddess and he knew it. No matter; he was merely a boy, what on Earth could he do to hinder me? I knew he feared me...

As he should.

"Argh!" Conrad yelled and dropped the small plate in a huff. It smashed onto the desk and cracked at the centre, spreading the small fracture all around to the plate's edges.

I put a hand in front of my mouth to stop the laughter. Conrad grumbled under his breath; "Are you going to stand there and snigger the whole day or did you come here for a reason?"

"Standing here and watching you struggle with a slightly 'warm' piece of crockery isn't enough of a reason?" I pushed myself off the wall I was leaning against and strolled up to the old mage. I grinned as I emerged from the shadows.

Conrad fixed his reading glasses and peered over the rim at me with irritation; "Come to brighten my day with insults and death threats again?"

I grinned as I picked up the plate and eyed it against the sunlight. The sun's glare didn't hurt as much these days. I'm all but used to it by now. "I wish, but unfortunately I can't stay long. I have a favour to ask."

"A favour?" Conrad's mouth lifted slightly, "From me?"

"Yes, yes, old man..." I rolled my eyes and shot him a pointed look. "I need some information."

"I'm not your personal encyclopaedia, Thanatos."

"Is that a 'yes'?" I placed the plate back down carefully and leaned my back against the old desk. Conrad pretended to think and grumble under his breath, but I knew he'd never turn me down.

"What have you done now?"

"Nothing." I smiled broadly, much to his irritation; "I simply want to know a little bit more about the Kerykeion. Do you know of it?"

"I do..." Conrad said and picked up the plate. He discarded it in the trash and picked out a new one form the cabinet next to the bookcase. His office looked exceptionally disastrous today. I sense Aurora would have a mini-heart attack if she saw the state of his desk right now.

"What do you want with the Kerykeion? Come to think of it..." Conrad rubbed his beard and shot me a look of concern; "Where is that staff? Did Hermes not use it in the rebellion?"

"Not that I can remember, but apparently Alexus had given it to my mother as a sort of 'pardoning gift'. It was in her vault for the past five years."

"My, my... Alexus must have stolen it from Hermes then, or he gave it to her. Either way, what do you mean 'was in her vault'? Where is it now?"

I sighed and tapped a finger on the desk, tracing the familiar pattern along the wood, my eyes cast down; "With my younger brother; he's stolen it."

"For what reason?" Conrad asked with a shrug and sat down amongst his books, tracing a hand over them in search of a specific one.

"I'm not entirely sure." I said softly; "He's always been a troublemaker, but what I don't understand is why he would want that staff out of everything else he could have stolen from Nyx's vault. It's not his style at all..."