Transgression (Ménage)✔

⊰9⊱

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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 9

I didn't want to come out of my room, even as the council meeting had been carried over. Maybe mama will finally be happy that she has another baby that isn't weak like I am. She wants to talk to me, but I don't want to listen.

Tears linger in my eyes as I've gotten ready to go outside. I can see from my room that a few of the council members are arriving, hiccuping a sob when I also see that Delaney is visiting as well along with Mercury and friends from his mama's coven.

I open the door to my room, glancing out into the hallway and seeing no one. Once I know there is no one there; I quickly run out into the hall before shutting the door behind me. Taking the steps two at a time down the staircase, I turn the corner of the hallway and run into someone very hard. I land on my butt from the impact, staring up at who it is.

"Watch it..." his voice is angry at first until his eyes land on me, and he rolls them, "oh it's just you."

Mercury hardly cares for another glance at me, a couple of his friends talking about what they are going to do. Ciarán comes from the living room and quickly sees me getting to my feet before he asks, "What did you do to my sister?"

"Chill out; she ran into me," Mercury glowers at Ciarán before shaking his head and walking in the direction of the ballroom.

As I stand to my feet, Ciarán asks me, "Are you okay?"

Nodding my head, he sees my eyes are puffy, and he doesn't think that my words are reassuring enough before he asks, "Did he make you cry?"

"No..." my voice trails off as my heart goes back to mama's news last night. I hold myself with my arms, wrapping them around me before I glance toward the side door to the castle.

"Mama loves you; you know that Acacia," Ciarán tilts his head to the side and I slowly bring my gaze back to him. It doesn't matter whether or not she loves me, I know that wasn't in question...but I know now she'd rather I wasn't human like it's some horrible thing to be.

She was human once...

"I know," I respond quietly.

Ciarán stares off toward the open ballroom doors as it looks like Mercury and his friends are running across the marble floor before diving and sliding across the ground. He glances back and me and asks, "Do you want to draw in the tree house?"

Holding his gaze, I nod, and we both head out onto the grounds. After we reach the tree house, we climb up the ladder before getting out crayons and colored pencils.

Ciarán begins to draw, and when he shows me what he's drawn, I giggle. He asks, "What's so funny?"

"It looks like a two-headed pig," I laugh while holding my stomach.

Ciarán makes a face at me which makes me laugh even harder. He then looks at what I've been drawing, and he asks, "What are those?"

"They are what was drawn on Kev's skin," I finish one of the symbols and look at the four I've drawn. There are more, but I stop when Ciarán looks at me strangely before I ask, "What?"

"Nothing, weirdo," he teases and sticks his tongue out at me. I playfully push his shoulder before giggling when he lightly pushes me back.

"Ciarán!" Both of us hear Mercury, watching through the windows as he and his friends laugh about something while they jog closer. Once he's standing near us, he calls up, "We're going to play tag, you wanna join?"

Ciarán hesitates for a moment, and I glance at him, seeing the look in his eyes before he says, "Only if Acacia can play also."

"You can't be serious," one of the boys groans with irritation as he slaps his hands against his face and drags them down his cheeks.