«I'm most certainly not telling them about the chair!» shouted Garaham, with a sudden change of mood. He looked something unusual: embarrassed.

«Ok, I'll tell them about the chair.» announced River.

«Not in a million times! If mention of those disgraceful events has to be shared with everyone just so you will all be able to laugh at my expenses, I would be the one to manage the narration, to be sure no details be spared for the audience to judge!» Garaham exploded, and then he put down the fork, cleared his voice, took away the napkin from his knees, put it beside his, empty, plate and started narrating to the waiting public.

«I was eleven and River just eight. It was quite a normal day. I had spent in the farms most of my summers, and I would have much preferred to commit my time to some useful kind of activity, like deepen my knowledge and control of Magic that I, and him, had already developed, or increase my personal culture by engaging in some constructive enterprise, like theatre or musical concerts. But, no, of course, "kids must spend time in the open air", my parents said. So, my only hope for an enlightening afternoon was to sneak in my summer bag as many books as possible and try to reach a sort of compromise where I would stay in the open air, but reading.»

«Man, you're wordy.» whined River. «come to the good part! The one with me!»

«Shut up, you deranged oaf!» snapped Garaham. Then cleared his throat again. He surprised himself in discovering he wasn't as uneasy as he thought he would be, telling secrets of his childhood to this heterogeneous mass of people. «River, on the other hand, and as you could all well imagine, was quite the contrary, to my contempt. He loved spending time outside, with the animals who clearly matched his brain functions and whose company put him at ease, finally finding himself with his peers. Yes, I'm insulting you.» Garaham didn't even let him interrupt.

«One of his damned favorite pastimes was to morph into one of the farm's animals and torment me, quite sure I would have never adopted violent solutions against what could as well have been an innocent, playful beast, unaware of my distaste for my situation. Such an annoyance he was, I learned how to Dispel a single spell on someone by the age of eleven, that fateful summer indeed.»

«So, on the fourth day of that damned July, I had found some peace and solace, sitting on the rocking chair on my grandparent's porch with a very interesting essay about the Seven Majestic Forces, entry-level but still enjoyable, when a horse came running from the stables. It played some tricks in the mud in front of the porch. It had rained the day before, a detail I forgot to mention, and it just ran happily around.»

«Now, I've never been an animal person, but that warned me: what had that bloody beast to be so happy about? So, when it approached me, as I was desperately trying to ignore it, and started munching my hair with the utmost disrespect for my privacy, not to mention good manners, I was sure: I dispelled it.»

«Aw, River, you're too obvious sometimes.» laughed Chico.

«I wasn't finished.» growled Garaham. «I dispelled the damned horse, with the only result to having it look at me in the most puzzled and stupid way an animal could look at a person. While I was thinking that, truly, there is a reason why men are atop the food chain, what happens? That the damned rocking chair under me goes "tee hee hee" and I find myself violently ejected forward, right in the mud, book and all.» he gritted his teeth. «The pinhead oaf had learned how to morph into inanimate objects.»

A moment of silence fell around the table.

«Isn't it, like, very very difficult?» asked Irissa, who was the only one who wasn't desperately trying not to burst out laughing. «Inanimate objects are, like, the top-notch of polymorph, and not even all the mages could achieve them during their life...»

«Yeah, I know. I have always been a child prodigy in that! You had to see mom and dad when Garaham called them! Man, they were so proud of me.» bragged River, shamelessly.

«Because, of course, when your elder son calls you in tears, completely covered in mud and humiliation and with one of his favorite books utterly ruined, what would a normal caring parent do? Of course, you throw a fuss over your youngest majestic error, who connected with his inner furniture so much he could turn into one at the early age of eight.»

Garaham's rant drama was completely broken by a bellowing sound. Banshee had given up trying to keep the laughs in and just exploded. Her laugh was rich, loud and happy, completely disarrayed and void of any grace, but so contagious that everyone around the table joined in, and only Garaham's superior self-control could stop him to fall in that trap himself.

«You see, useless hunk of meat? Now my underlings are laughing at me!» he scolded his brother, just to distract himself from the joyous sound of laughter.

«Aw come on Lionel! If you'd let go a good laugh every now and then, they'd be laughing with you!»

The laughing stopped, suddenly, as Garaham's expression turned into desperation and his hand slowly rose to cover his face.

Then, of course, it was Chico who intervened.

«Lionel?»

«Oh my God, brother, you never told them your name? Not even Banshee?»

«No, Abraham, I've never. But since we're sharing, I'll return the favor!» he barked back.

«Abraham and Lionel? Are your parents medievalists or Jew?» asked Chico, with what even sounded like interest.

Banshee was helplessly lost in watching the man beside her as if he had appeared in a flash of holy light.

«Lionel... just like the Round Table Knight...»

«Snap out of it immediately, woman, and forget that name!» he roared, trying to hide the blushing rushing to his face behind a rage rather than embarrassment.

«It passes just so right on the tongue...» too late, she was mesmerized by the sound of such a well-kept secret suddenly revealed.

«That's what you said.» River chimed in, winking. Garaham, who was drinking, nearly suffocated while Banshee became of an absurd rosy tone. River looked at them, innocently. «Too soon?»

«Well, let's cut to the chase then. I'm here for a reason, even if the fun of the evening almost made me forget that.» the minute Irissa left the house, River got serious. «I'm worried about Staccato, ok? Wait, before screaming in my face. There's something fishy going on with him, since after the trial. I almost don't see him anymore, or when I see him, he's not his usual self. He's very nervous and I think he's hiding something.»

«Of course he is, you oaf. He's working on some secret plan with Justin D'Yves.» Garaham spat. «And if you weren't only concerned about the perfection of your hair, you would have noticed a long time ago.»

«And it may be not only that.» Chico said. Everyone moved their attention to him.

«What do you mean?» River asked.

«Well, ok, now entiendame and do not shoot me, it's just a theory.» he raised his hands and then started talking again. «We went under Perch Street, where you all had a lair or something, and the werepeople attacked us. Then, Banshee meets Staccato at the Academy, and the day after it's attacked by the werepeople. I know it's a serious accusation but...»

«Are you mad?» River jumped up, destroying the chair he was sitting in. Garaham, with such a natural gesture that, you could tell, came from habit, moved a hand in the air and repaired the chair. «You're accusing my underling and friend to have betrayed the Order behind my back?»

«No, you idiot. He's accusing your underling and friend to have betrayed the Order right in your face!» Garaham yelled, to match his brother. «Stop and think! Chico could be onto something! And we have a theory about who Staccato is!»

River frowned.

«Do you know his real name?» Garaham asked. River sat back down.

«No, I know only Irissa's. When they put Staccato in my Coven they gave me next than nothing documentation, they said it wasn't needed, that he had "friends in high places" and that I just had to make do.» River shrugged. «I thought that was because since I'm disgraced, everyone can basically bully me without any consequence.»

«We think that's because he's something important.» Chico spoke again. «This is not an attempt at driving a wedge between you and your Coven, this is bigger than any of us. It's a matter of Order.»

«Staccato would never put those kids' lives in danger. Not for petty revenge on you.» River was still pretty decisive but had lost some edge.

«So, let us prove it.» Banshee jumped up after a silence that, in Chico's mind, could only mean one thing and four dreaded words.

«What?» River asked.

«Perch Street. Was it your only "secret lair"?»

River looked thoughtful for some seconds, then he sniffled and answered.

«No, that was practically only Justin's. We almost never went there. Our main one is... under Staccato's home.» he revealed.

«So, bring me there. I can come blindfolded, don't even want to know where it is. I just want to search the place for any kind of evidence that says we're right or wrong.» Banshee explained, looking intensely at River. «And I swear, if I find something that clears him, I'll tell you and we'll stop intruding.»

River felt deep in thought, looking around the table. He pondered about all of the things that had made him come and talk with what he should have considered enemies.

«Listen, if Staccato's going against the Order, I need to know. I like him, he's great, but I'm an Enforcer, and kids died in that attack. And I don't care if Staccato's a D'Yves or a Leshrac or anyone. If he did something to tip off the werepeople, he has to pay.»

«River, when did you find that backbone?» Garaham chimed in. River looked at him, serious as a storm.

«When I fell into Losertown.»

Even Garaham backed up, at this point.

«Well, then. We'll go tomorrow, all right? Can you be sure that Staccato won't be there?»

«Oh, I know he has a shift job during the day, he always tells us not to call us in specific periods of time. I'll bring you there, but on one condition.»

«I'm not sleeping with you again!» Banshee exclaimed. But River didn't even smile.

«I'm coming with you. Just the two of us.»

«No. Absolutely not. This is madness, this could be a trap!» Garaham jumped up from his chair as if it had just caught fire.

«Hey!» River stood up to, and the difference of height and weight was shameful. «Ok, we're sort of frenemies here, but things had gotten more serious after the attack. Plus, it's Banshee's plan. I could think you're trying to use it to lure me somewhere to separate me from the others, but I'm willing to risk it.»

The two brothers looked in each other's eyes for some minutes. The light mood of the rest of the evening soon lost and forgotten. They had gone back to be what they usually were: a disgraced Enforcer and his spiteful, regretful brother.

«Try not to screw this up.» were Garaham's last words, before disappearing into thin air.

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Hi guys!
this chapter completes the trio of "my favourite chapters" and also the only little "personal pause" from the troubles and the main story, where we get to understand a bit more about our beloved Pollos and associates. I hoped you enjoyed this little breath with them, and as always I long for your feedback!

So, thank you for any reading, voting and commenting. It really means the world to us that we already got to 1800+ reads and so many votes. It motivates us to go on, and believe us, we need it!

So, have a perfect week!
Lots of love,

Daniel

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