HE WAS DEEP IN READING A PASSAGE WHEN THE TELL-TALEÂ PATTERÂ OF FEET APPROACHED HIS DOOR, WHICH FLEW OPEN.
â knock on thedoor before entering, children. â  he chided without looking up.
the warning was lost among the ensuing bustle as a maid tumbledin mere moments later, apologies spilling from her lips, looking greatly harassedand abashed at letting her wards escape her watch.  viren impatiently waved her off and told herto close the study door behind her, resolving himself to the company of hischildren if only to get back to work quicker. the high council needed concise findings to be presented from him at theupcoming meeting, which would not get done if he couldnât perfect hisconclusions.  his position at that tablewas still too fledgling to risk lackluster performance, despite having a placethere for a few years now.  he was still  young compared to the seniormost members whoheld their seniority aloft as if it was the thing most tantamount to a personâsgood judgment and knowledge.  virenâsmethods, the magical solutions that he burnished with great energy and noshame, already created divisive reactions. what else they  expected  from a mage, he didnât know.  there were those who thought his personalties to harrow might make him soft in advising too.  thatmade him scoff, made him rally and distance himself from harrow with all of thecorrect titulature and propriety typically eased by their friendship in private.  for the rest, let them acclimate to just howmuch viren spoke his mind.
soren and claudia came to his desk clamoring for hisattention at once, but he made clear that he was too busy to entertainthem. Â it took persistence & a firmlysharp tone for them to meekly subside, and he had to scoot claudia out frombeneath his desk with one foot when she tangled with his legs there ( handling whichshe bore with all the grace of childish glee ). Â they circled back to the center of the room,where the warmth of the rug and fireplace was. soren hushed his sister, which was both endearing and helpful â it had becomeapparent a while ago that the boy could be sensitive and obedient to virenâsmoods. Â serious and indulgent in hisbrotherliness too, the way he liked to tote claudia around during his walksabout the castle. Â with little worry did virenleave them to their own devices, sure in their safety with each other and the staffand people around the castle. Â right nowhe simply took note of the dwindling fire and with a small mutter and move ofhis hand, sent it flickering back to life. claudia made a bubbling sound of delight. Â soren hushed her again. Â viren bent back to his reading.
it was relatively silent for a few blissful minutes or more. viren quickly lost track of time againas he dove straight back into work, forehead propped in one hand, pen hand theother to scribble down notes. Â and evenwhen the kidsâ energy and noise rose again it was easy to tune out. Â he hadnât spent his entire life with theluxury of total privacy, a study of his own. having been a student like any other mage of skill, heâs had to learnhow to ignore the commotions of other people around him in order tofocus on completing tasks.
he couldnât say exactly how many minutes passed before hestraightened up to stretch his back, looking in the middle of the room to seesoren and claudia stooped over a large open book.  without having to look very hard he guessedit was the bestiary on xadian creatures that they often gravitated towards.  the illustrator had a beautiful style, pleasingfor anyone to view without sacrificing the conveyance of the subjectâs anatomy or physique.  viren kept it on one of the lowest shelves,making it intentionally accessible to them. heâd read a few passages to them at bedtime before realizing that it wastoo technical, too jargon heavy, probably ill-suited.  some of the illustrations & accounts ofencounters with magical beasts made them marveled and fearful, although claudiaâsbright attention sometimes had him wondering if she could feel some pulltowards the magic and transformations described in the book.  yes, the magic of transformation, dark spells which transformed, which granted useand power. she was much too young to truly tell, but heâd still pet her head sweetly for it. Â
soren already showed signs of liking thephysical more, the crownsguard around the castle and the shining spectacle oftraining warriors. Â viren watched the twolong enough to see them mime out some valiant struggle between creature andwarrior. Â no surprise in their designatedroles. Â soren swinging at air with whatcould only be an imagined sword clutched in hand while claudiaâs dark hair swungwildly when she was poked and toppled. Â
with enough of a break taken, viren dove back to workagain. Â a similar unmeasured lapse oftime passed. Â when he next glanced up itwas to see that the bestiary had been abandoned. Â his son and daughter were doing some strange frolickingabout the room, lit by the orange glow of the fireplace. Â viren studied them like he might a puzzlebefore understanding dawned.
â are you lettingyour sister lead? â Â viren asked with anarched brow.
â no. â  soren retorted like heâd been reprimanded andarranged claudia into a rough mimicry of a proper dance, but unbalanced little claudiainsisted on trampling on toes and they soon devolved back into giggling play.  viren shook his head but smiled at the sight.  shame,he thought with a burning spark of bitterness, that their mother wasnât hereteach him.  between husband and wife, theirdistance was growing ⊠it was growing,and turbulent, and viren didnât like to think on inevitabilities or thelikelihood of broken family with the warm presence of his son and daughterright before him.  their marriage hadbeen born from duty much more than love to begin with, and the feelings that  had  grown between them were ⊠complicated.
his eyes drifted to the music box sitting on one corner ofhis desk.  finely carved and inlaid withthe colors of del bar.  it was intendedas a present from mother to daughter, mirrored inside with a pretty twirlingfigure, but the music box freely migrated all around the family.  in the parentsâ bedroom, in the kidsâ bedroom,on virenâs desk, in the courtyard during moments of leisure.  he picked it up, opened the lid and twistedthe little handle until it stuck.  aftera brief pause the song took, the figure twirling and tinkling musically to life.  the sound caught both his childrenâsattention as he stood and walked over and placed it on the fireplace mantle,then bent down to scoop claudia up onto his hipâ except there was some resistancewhen he stood, and he looked confusedly down at the hand soren still hadlatched onto claudia.  they squinted ateach other for a moment, the communication utterly silent.  okay.  viren sighed.  â up, â he commanded, and it took a guiding tug before soren stepped uponto virenâs feet, hesitantly at first as if he could be too heavy or likeviren would rebuke him for scuffing up shoes.  he wasnât too heavy;  viren wasnât so precious.  with soren still holding onto claudia, they madean odd little ring.  that attachmentbetween them: perhaps it was normal?  it wasgood, no matter.  made them easy siblingseven if their energies combined could be a bit much.
with his hands literally full, viren quickly gave up anysemblance of graceful shuffling in time to the music. Â soren and claudia were entertained regardless. they werenât paying much attention todancing either, simply enjoying being moved about the room by their father. Â viren went along with waddling steps thatwould earn looks if ever seen by those who never suspected he could divest allprimness. Â
â poor dance partners, the both of you, â he commented, nowbeing directed by them both if claudiaâs happy waving counted for anything atall.  the girl would wave at a flappingscrap of fabric if she thought it pleasant enough.  soren, however, began giving clear indicationsof where to go.  left, right, around-and-around( lovely, now he was dizzy ).  forwards, the three of them laughingwhen soren boldly directed them straight into a chair.
@crownsblade / word(s) - based starter drabble / a.
