The Noblesse and his Love

Chapter 33

Thoughts

*Rai-Lin*

Everything was quiet for the next several days, or as quiet as it got when the children were visiting every day. Takio and Tao fit in well at their new jobs, M was his same sarcastic little self, and Frankie was spending his time either serving Raziel or hanging out in the lab. Raziel and I spend some much needed alone time together out on the streets of the city.

Today, however, I was on my own. Well, I was near M, Takio, and Tao as they were walking home from their shift, but I was several paces behind. There was a beautiful sunset that I was enraptured in. At least, I was until Tao called, “Ikhan.” I glanced away from the sky to see my little brothers approaching Ikhan and Shinwu. “School’s over. What are you doing here?”

I hid a laugh behind my hand. Shinwu’s thoughts were overflowing with love. My little brothers were going to have a hard time with this one. I was right. Both Tao and Takio pretended to get a message over their earpiece and walked away. M was sweating. He muttered something heartbreaking as he was inclined to do before walking away as well. With a sigh, I decided to chase after Tao. Raziel would kill me if I walked around alone.

Tao was walking away from Shinwu and Ikhan as fast as he could. I was struggling to keep up with him since his legs were longer than mine. “Tao,” I huffed. “Slow down. I think you got out of that situation.”

He slowed down to a normal pace. “Sorry, I didn’t account for your little legs.”

“Hey,” I smacked his arm. “My legs are not little. I’m almost as tall as Raziel.”

“You’re still shorter than me, which means your legs are little.”

“Tao,” I said. He hummed in acknowledgement. “Run.” He took one look at the evil grin on my face and ran.

I chased Tao all the way home. When he entered the house, he dove behind Frankie. “Save me,” he whimpered.

I began to stalk towards them. “Frankie isn’t going to save you Tao.”

“Please.”

I went to walk around Frankie when he grabbed my arm. “Don’t hurt him too much,” he whispered.

I laughed. “I won’t.” I lunged, knocking Tao to the ground. I sat on his chest, arms raised in victory.

“Okay. Okay. You win. Can I get up now?” Tao asked.

I shook my head. “Not until the others get here.”

Tao began to thrash, easily throwing me off since I wouldn’t use my powers on him. I hit the ground before bouncing up. Then the chase began anew.

We were careful not to knock anything over. Even so, Frankie looked absolutely petrified. Raziel just sat there calmly sipping his tea.

The door banged open and in filed everyone else. Tao slowed down to avoid crashing into Takio, and I took advantage of the opportunity. I ran up behind him, hooked my legs around his head, and flipped him. He landed hard. Before he could get up, I grabbed him by his ear. “Call me short again, and it’ll be even worse. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said weakly. I let go of his ear and let him stand up. He rubbed his back, muttering to Takio. “And I thought Frankenstein was scary.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day as school let out, I became aware of a very old and familiar presence, a presence that would surely cause Frankie’s hackles to rise. What was even worse was I felt my little brothers nearing that presence, which wouldn’t end well. I’ll be back. I told Raziel before hurrying over to where I could sense the presences.

I arrived just in time to see an old man, who I knew well, terrorizing my little brothers. I stepped into their line of sight. “What is up with you nobles and judging people who were experimented on against their will?” I asked. “It’s unbecoming of you, Gechutel.” In Takio, Tao, and M’s mind, I said, Leave now. This is not a good situation for any of us.

Gechutel’s grip on his cane tightened. “Rai-Lin, where are you sending those inhuman things?”

“I’m sending my little brothers home,” I said sharply. “And they are not things but human beings.”

Regis and Seira appeared then, bowing before the family leader that was Gechutel despite their wide eyes at the fact I was here. I played with my nails, bored, until Gechutel said, “Enough with that. Who were they? I believe they don’t belong here.”

A snarl left my lips. Gechutel turned to me. “They belong here more than you. Why don’t you just go back to Lukedonia and let us all have a little peace?” I asked. Regis let out a strangled gasp, presumably because I knew about Lukedonia.

Gechutel tapped his finger on his cane. “Speaking of not belong here, what are you doing here?”

I spread my hands wide. “Isn’t it obvious? I go to school here,” I said. Gechutel opened his mouth, but I wagged a finger in his direction. “Don’t think I’m going to answer your questions. I don’t have time for you.” Gechutel started forward, but I was already gone, transporting to where my little brothers were.

They jumped as I fell in step beside them. M’s mouth was tight. “What was that?”

“A complication,” I sighed. “And it will soon be at our house, I’m sure. Regis and Seira will have no choice but to bring him there.”

“Who is he?” Takio asked.

“Another family leader, but he is far more powerful than Seira.” A frown pulled at my lips.

“And you talked to him that way? I thought you were friendly with the nobles?” Tao’s face was a mask of confusion.

“And I thought they didn’t know you existed.” M added.

“Most don’t,” I admitted. We were almost home. “Unfortunately, Gechutel is one that does. We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, especially since he detests Frankie.”

“So, this will be fun,” M’s tone was grim.

“Exactly.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The nobles arrived home shortly after we did. In fact, we were still standing in the hallway when they entered. Gechutel looked up and down. “I need an explanation.”

“We are living with them,” Regis said.

“What? Is that true, Seira?”

Seira’s response was quiet. “Yes, Regis is telling the truth.”

I could tell that Gechutel would facepalm if it wouldn’t take away from his regality. “He’s still a child. But Seria, you,” Gechutel’s power grew around him. “I have told you many times never to go after power and lose the dignity of a noble. I told you never to become like them who lost the dignity as a noble. But you…”

“Family leader, this is a misunderstanding,” Regis began.

“Enough!” Gechutel’s power soared through the room. I put a barrier up to block it from hitting anyone, while I stood there unscathed.

“Gechutel,” I said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d stop yelling in my house.”

“You,” he started only to stop as Frankie came to stand behind me.

“Who’s making all this noise in my house?” Frankie had one hand in his suit pocket. He wasn’t threatened at all, just like me.

“You are-”

“It’s been a while, Gechutel K. Landegre.” Frankie’s smile was sarcastic.

“Frankenstein.”