Love of a Raven

Chapter 31: Magic and Its Unpredictability

"That's amazing, Garrick! You can talk to all the animals like Snow White!" Lily exclaims with glee as I hand her another piece of cake I made for her.

"Not necessarily like Snow White. I can only talk with ravens, the bird I can turn into." I clarify and take a sip of my tea.

After negotiating with the ravens for information about my family in return for their multiple pair of eyes to watch over Galvin for me, I returned home with Damian and found my brother Luka caring for Lily. He told me that his contractor doesn't need him for today and when he came home, our parents were on the verge of leaving for another meeting. As for the twins, Luka only said that they left just a few minutes before I arrived.

Since we were the only ones at home, I made a tea party for Lily as well as inform Luka and Kang-Dae of my newfound abilities. They were both impressed and shocked by the news while Lily seems to be ecstatic that I could speak to animals like in those fairy tales she's reading. All that's left is to tell my parents about this ability of mine once they returned from that meeting of theirs.

"But, it's like Snow White. . . It's not fair, I want to talk to animals too!" Lily whines, her bottom lip jutting out to form an adorable pout. Chuckling, I lean over and peck her cheek.

"Lily, there's so many things you can do that Snow White can't. You can run faster than any animal, jump as high as the trees, smell better than a bloodhound, and see better in both the daytime and nighttime." I assure her while I lift her from her seat and set her down on my lap.

"I know I can. . . B-but, Luka gets to play with lightning and Aidan has fire and Jasmine can make snow! Then, Kang-Dae can be a bunny! What can I do, Garrick?" Lily ponders as she rests her head against my chest.

"You can be the world's oldest child." Damian declares which only brought low growl from her.

"Lily, it's not nice to growl at someone. Or Damian, even if he deserves it." I scold lightly and reach over to my teacup, sipping some tea.

"I'm glad you defended me so well, Garrick." Damian deadpans at the same time Luka laughs.

"Alright, Garrick. . . May I have another piece of the chocolate cake?" Lily asks, her mood quickly changing to a joyful one.

"You haven't finished the one you have on your plate." I chuckle as I take her fork and pick up a small piece to feed her.

"If you're done spoiling your sister, we still have an important issue to bring up like where everyone is going nowadays." Damian announces. Looking up at him, I see him with his arms crossed and a brow raised higher than the other.

"I already told you that our parents went on a business meeting and the twins wanted to hunt or train." Luka reprimands, glaring at him.

"What kind of business does your family conduct in the first place?" Damian inquires as he ignores Luka's glare.

"As we are members of the nobility, we deal with a variety of businesses. From jewelry to weaponry. At least, as far as I'm aware of." I reply, recalling one conversation I've had with Father about our place in England.

"Mother did say she witnessed the Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain when she was a child." Luka adds as he finishes his slice of cake.

"How come none of you are ruling this country?" Damian asks with a tilt of his head.

"Our mother arranged a deal with the monarchy. They'll be ruling the country in front of all the humans so long as the Gastrell family does not draw attention from the other nobles nor should we ever be betrayed in exchange for the success Great Britain has achieved." I explain then sip my tea.