The Noble House Of Black

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Good Little Pawns

The silence had long since become uncomfortable before anyone dared to speak.

Walburga was clearly deep in thought, her eyes focused on nothing as her fingers formed a steeple before her lips. And contrary to normalities, Caelum shattered the glass silence encasing the room.

"Mother ... Why have you brought us back?" Caelum spoke slowly.

She was angry, truly angry. She could feel the muscles in her jaw clench as she spoke, her fingers clamping into fists. Contrary to common belief, Caelum wasn't often angry, few had seen her wrath, and those who had did not come out the same. This was a fact Walburga was truly proud of.

"Sit, my children," Walburga commanded. When they did not obey, Walburga looked towards her twins and saw them standing there, fists clenched, rebellion in their eyes, and she knew she had done it. They were strong enough to prevail over what would come next.

"You are going to wish you had sat," Walburga said, but all that met her was silence. The Lady Black let out a final sigh, not in exasperation or discontent, but as if giving herself one more moment to make another choice, for the world to change as she blinked, but it did not.

"There will come a day in your lives when you finally realize why I do what I do. And when that day comes you will see I have done everything in the name of love, every decision, every breath, every atrocity all to prepare you for what might come. I do not know if it will. This vision, this war I see, but it is there every time I close my eyes. It is a great war, not between good and evil, right or wrong, but between life and death. There are omens with you, omens of death. That is why you are the Changeling Children, that is why you were born unlucky and unnatural, that is why you were born twins. Twins are always a curse, but you are my twins, and if that means Death chases you, I will do battle with him like all the rest." The room was heavy with a miasma, dark energy braiding its way into the air. Caelum felt the raw energy rippling around them and wove a strand of it through her own heart.

"You speak of war as if we have known peace! Our entire lives have been war, you have made sure of that! So do not dare speak to me of violence to come, of Death who follows. You do no battles you are battle, you are my battle ... you are the enemy."

"You want battle, Aries? Do not provoke me if you cannot defeat me." Had Walburga just yelled, Caelum felt sure she would have channeled all that latent energy in the room and attacked right then and there, but the calm certainty in her mother's voice was resolute. It was a matter of fact, Caelum could not defeat her. Walburga saw the realization and the submission in Caelum's heart, saw it mirrored in Sirius, and knew she had won.

"You will be my spies at Hogwarts, and it will be known that you are my spies. Neither side will be certain where house Black stands and therefore both sides will curry favor with us. Unpredictability is a dangerous but powerful card to play. You will do as I say, you will play your parts perfectly for Dumbledore, for Hogwarts, and for the Sacred Twenty-Eight. If war is to come you will stand with House Black and you will stand with me! Do I make myself absolutely clear?"

Walburga stood now, towering over her children like a looming threat, like they were small children again and she a boogeyman to haunt their nightmares.

Every part of the twins wanted to scream, run, curse, hex, jinx. Whatever was going to get them out of spying. They would have done anything at all. But the vow would not let them, they could feel the shackles tighten around their necks, they could see what would come if they did not obey. There was nothing they could do, except be the the good little pawns in the greater game. They were locked into submission.

They were spies now, dolls for their mother, another tool in her great game, another weapon in her great war. And they now knew that demise and death would follow them, engulfing everyone they knew and loved.

A/N:

Who is Walburga's enemy in this great war she sees?

-Maia🖤