Gold. Silver. Frankincense. Myrrh. Gifts fit for a God, but what is fit for the King of Birmingham?
What is fit for a man that already has everything a man could possibly want?
A little bit of Gold created Chaos, perhaps?
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Aberama Gold and his five children were not your average family.
You see, Aberama was somewhat of a deadly assassin. For hire, of course. Along with his crew, they were seen to have little to no care for the law- many had described the Gold man and his band of merry men as savage, untrustworthy, heathens who prey on their own community, but that wasn't true.
Aberama Gold only ever turned on those who turned on him.
He was a man of morals - though thin and oftentimes shady, he saw no point in trying to destroy a community that was already targeted, instead he destroyed those who sought out to destroy him. Though, he cared little for his own life when it came to those threatening who posed a target for others; more specifically his children.
Esmeralda, the eldest, was- as known by her family, the prettiest girl to ever grace the earth. Many cooperated this story, she was sought after my thousands who came across her but in Aberama's eyes, no one was worth her hand in marriage. Not if Esmeralda didn't feel the same way, too. He was a rather lenient father when it came to who his children married- if they didn't feel it, they didn't even have to pick up a gun if they didn't want to.
"Bonnie, if your sister continues to act like a child, I will treat her like one." Aberama Gold threatened his son, and the sulking Gold who stared blankly into the distance.
Bonnie, the only son, was a fantastic fighter with their mother's temper and his Aberama's strength. But- Bonnie Gold had very little opportunity to become a legitimate fighter, on the books- clean cut in other words. That didn't stop him, though- it didn't stop Aberama either. The two looked- when no guns were in hand, for ways to get him in. Even if they did come up empty handed more and more regularly than before, no Gold gave up hope.
Then, there was Milly, she had the brains. Dangerously smart, dangerously curious, too. Her dream was mundane in comparison to her older brother. She just wanted to make honest money, use her (small but vast) knowledge to help others- maybe even become a book keeper for someone who couldn't do it themselves. Unlike Bonnie - who stole the two traits needed to be a Gold, she had her fathers overwhelming drive for something. Something more, something fulfilling. Though, she was able to develop her mother's humility throughout her childhood before her untimely passing, buried deep beneath a stone cold surface of blank stares and forced smiles.
"Esmeralda, I need you to—" Aberama continued, his voice being drowned out by a soft hand being placed on top of Millys.
Josette and Nicolette were levelheaded in comparison, neither held much anger or hatred but they were calculated. Unlike their other siblings, these two noticed small things, changes in personalities, in facial expressions and made mental notes of it. Then, using it against them to aid in their father and his crews jobs. Those two thrived off of the chaos created by themselves, Aberama knew they'd be the two to follow in his footsteps.
With no mother to guide the girls through the woes of life, they saw everything from the perspective of a protective father, and unluckily for Milly, she had the additional weight of a twin brothers oftentimes disproving gaze. Though, in privacy- without the watchful eye of their father, Bonnie and Milly got on like a house on fire. Both alike in more ways and unalike in many others, they bounced off of each other. Two halves of the same soul, they'd be described as by others in their camp.
"Dorothea, stop acting like a disgrace!" Aberama finally snapped, his hand pulling Millys face towards his. Her face remained blank and almost lifeless as she stared back at her father.
If anything happened to either of them, the other would feel lost. Wandering aimlessly, lost in thought- almost allowing the ever growing hole in their chest to consume them.
From the moment the two could walk, Bonnie coddled Milly, much to her disappointment, but those few moments she had to herself was when she created her own form of chaos. Bonnie always knew when it was Milly behind the chaos. The determination to be better than everyone else, and to make everyone proud overruled the constant feeling of failure that secretly ate away at her day in, day out.
"I had a perfectly nice life before you made us all abandon it. For what? For who?" Milly snapped back, immediately regretting the words that fell from her lips the very second they formed on her tongue.
A life wasn't what Aberama would've called it. Little Milly had a cushty little job in a library- which she didn't know was a favour towards the patriarch of the family, but she enjoyed it there. She worked on the books, both figure based and those that were taken by those who could read, and she manned the fort every now and then.
"You will get another job! Do you not think I hadn't thought this through?"
That was exactly what she thought. Aberama wasn't known for forward thinking for anyone other than himself and his precious boy, since he had four daughters- he didn't really see the point in trying to make them all happy.
The other three girls who sat silently began to groan. Whenever Milly and Aberama began to argue, it would last days- if not weeks. Those two were almost identical in personality, but Milly wasn't a pushover- not even for her father. She had a desire to prove herself worthy, but she also was prone to spark arguments- sometimes even by her facial expressions.
"God only knows what runs through your mind, father."
A swift hand to the back of the head caused Milly to jerk forward, the culprit- an annoyed looking Esmeralda feigned sorrow, though the underlying tone of humour was displayed quite obviously in her words.
"There's a little thing called respect, Milly. You should learn it before you do something to piss one of us off."
Milly had always been told that respect was a two way street and in her eyes, not a soul in this world (other than Bonnie of course), had shown her an ounce of respect so why should she do the same? She shouldn't be expected to respect her father who had, seemingly, made it his mission to make her out to be some sort of hoodlum. Her, of all people!
"Can I at least know where we're going?"
This time, Milly forced her voice to come across as something else entirely. There was no hidden undertones of annoyance or hatred- it was rather plain in all honesty.
Bonnie turned to her, a smirked smile etching its way onto his hairless face. He was the one to answer his little sister.
With an arm draped lazily across her shoulders, he looked at her. With mischief laden eyes, he leaned in towards her.
"Birmingham."
His response was brief and left far too much room for questions, but anymore defiance from her would make the whole journey far too hostile. There was no escaping those four wooden walls of potential hell, so she bit down on the tip of her tongue and nodded.
"Birmingham?" She repeated in a question rather than a statement, causing the three other girls to roll their eyes.
Josette knew the game Milly was trying to play and she wasn't going to take the bait. Jabbing an elbow into Nicolettes ribs, her eyes widened then quickly narrowed- making the youngest catch on to her wave length. Nicolette wasn't going to take the bait either. Esmeralda didn't care for silly little games, so she did what any eldest would do in that situation and ignore it until it went away. It would eventually go away.
"Yes, Dorothea. We're going to Birmingham." Aberama interjected before anyone else had time to speak.
An uncomfortable silence once again fell upon the six Golds, no one looked at each other. Just the sound of hooves against pebbled paths and Aberama's harsh breathing were audible.
To Birmingham, the city of— well, the new home of the Six Golds.
