Child of a King

Chapter five - Arrangements + Characters

My hands still felt clammy around the cutlery as the aftershock of quite a surprise knocked me to the floor.

Literally...

I was the first one to enter the dining room when dinner was ready. As I waited for everyone else to show up, I took the liberty to look around. Like the rest of the house the dining area was decorated exquisitely. It was spacious with a dark wooden table in the middle and light gray chairs surrounding it. A smaller chandelier hung from the tall ceiling, perfectly lighting up the beautiful shining plates and fresh flowers. I was almost a hundred percent sure that none of my brothers appreciated the extravagant decorations, but I did. Then this huge mansion didn't feel like one of those exhibition houses I've seen in magazines. It could even feel a little homey.

The corner of my eye caught the sight of a huge painting that hung proudly above the big fireplace. It was painted with amazing colors and very detailed features. A big shield was the center of the artwork, with a bird in the middle of it. The bird looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before. Red and blue banners swirled around the top of the shield and underneath it, a specific word was written in bold cursive letters.

'Siempre'

(Always)

When I tried to pronounce it under my breath it sounded like a spell from Harry Potter.

Noisy commotion suddenly drew my attention as something black with the speed of lighting charged at me. I didn't have time to react before I felt a hard blow to my small frame and was knocked to the ground with a loud thud.

My eyes had shut themselves closed tightly the entire time out of pure shock. Even though they were closed a dark shadow appeared behind my lids. As a loud growl echoed in the dining room, my big orbs flew open as horror ran through me, my heart pounding like crazy.

Its Icelandic blue eyes stared down at me as its bare teeth snarled, its pointy ears pulled back as its heavy paws pushed down on my chest, keeping me in place. For a second I just stared at it and vice versa, until it barked.

Loudly.

I think I scared it too when I could be just as loud. A high-pitched scream ripped through me as images of myself as a dog bone popped up in my head. Unfortunately for me the creature barked more, and white foam started showing around its very, VERY sharp teeth!

A whistle echoed off the walls, immediately stopping the thing from eating me. My timid eyes watched as the black and white furball retreated over to Marc who stood in the doorway.

"I see you met Demon", Ray chuckled as he appeared next to me.

"Demon?" I muttered, looking from the dog to Ray's large grin.

Can't object with the fact that the name suits the creature perfectly. Devil in disguise...

"He's cute right?" He asked, lifting me up from the floor.

I looked at the dog who was wagging its tail as Marc patted it on top of the head.

"That's one word for it", I answered skeptically.

"Don't worry. His bark is worse than his bite", Ray said as he pulled out a chair for me at the table.

His words didn't assure me one bit as my eyes kept peeking at the dog from time to time who laid at Marc's feet during dinner, even though it didn't look quite as hostile anymore.

"I'm going to my office to get some paperwork done", Nathaniel announced as he stood up from his seat at the table. "One of you", he said while pointing at Marc, Slade, and Ray. "Give her a tour. She needs to know her way around the house".