Page 32 of Red Demon
Before I could voice my thoughts, we arrived. The three-story governor’s mansion was the largest building in town and showed a lot of improvements since I’d last walked down this street. Fresh whitewash shone on the stone walls, the windows accented in deep indigo and burnt orange, the colors on his Solonstrong crest. The renovation maintained the original slate roofing tiles, but replaced the broken ones with ceramic in a rainbow of colors that somehow all fit together, shimmering like scales in the midday sun.
Two guards, clad in Chaeten leather beneath indigo and orange shirts, stood flanking the grand oak doors. I expected that was the Solonstrong crest over their heart: two swords clashing and melting into one. A mediocre final product if you melt two alloys together—Galen told me that on my first day at the forge. Asher straightened his posture to offer an Asri salute, his century robe swooshing. A guard gave a curt nod and waved us past.
“It’s gorgeous here,” I muttered to Ash.
Chaeten touches were present in tech, sleek metallic accents and electric lights snaking along the walls. The glowing central display in the entrance hall illuminated the time in bold lights, the video showing a deep forest scene overlaid with music.
A young Chaeten woman greeted us, and it seemed she’d cemented her loyalty by modding her skin a little blue and her eyes a deep orange to go along with her clothes. I tried not to stare.
“Welcome. I’m the head butler, Ursinia. Jesse and Asher Eirini, I presume?” she said.
I nodded.
“Excellent. Please follow me,” she said, with a sweep of her hand.
We followed her through a wide hallway. Bright walls hung with vibrant paintings, abstract except for a map that seemed to show the first Chaeten Academies on the Nara. The air thrummed with a comforting rumble, like the sound of the climate control system in my old primary school. Beyond the hallway, the butler led us through double doors to a lush and broad garden, the beds freshly mulched and planted with spring flowers blooming in riotous colors on the edges of green. Garlands and unlit lights strung from the corner of the house to the trees at the edge of the yard.
Nestled in a sunken alcove in the center of the yard was a small group of young men and women about our age, mostly Chaeten-attired, lounging around some patio furniture. I scanned their faces and turned backs, finding Ashmira’s cascading dark hair braided over her chestnut-skinned neck. She turned, smiled and made a beeline toward us.
“There you both are!” Ashmira’s grin radiated warm as the spring sun. Then her brows widened as she took in Asher’s century robe. Asher drew the lumpy bag from his shoulder to his chest.
“Is that…?”
Asher puffed out his chest a fraction and nodded. “It’s powering on now, but I’m not sure the software is doing what it should yet. Maybe we could take a look together?”
Ashmira’s smile widened. She gestured back toward the doorway.
Inside, she spread open double doors, and then turned into another room beyond the first to a parlor. Plush purple carpets stretched across the polished floor, a bit out of place next to the aged stone beams of the original construction. Wooden furniture, meticulously carved and polished to a gleam, sat tucked in the corner near the unlit fireplace. There were so many clean pillows on top I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to sit on it until she gestured.
I sat, and she, to my surprise, nestled just beside me, motioning for Ash to take the other side. Ash shifted down on the edge of a nearby velvet chair. Ashmira’s gaze remained glued to the bag on the table.
“I can’t wait!” Her voice simmered in excitement.
Asher unwrapped and set the machine down with a flourish. He flipped a series of switches, and a low whirring sound filled the room. The white lights on the device flickered to life, pulsing slow and repetitive. “That’s all I can get the display to do.” Ashmira grinned at the machine a moment, then got off the couch and threw her arms around my brother in a tight hug. Asher stiffened momentarily before chuckling into her shoulder. He closed his eyes as a faint blush crept up his neck.
I raised my eyebrow at this. Ash would hug everyone hello if he thought he could get away with it. Chaeten though, are usually more reserved with strangers—unless they want to fuck them.
“You were right to check the power supply first,” he admitted, scratching the back of his neck. “Just a fried circuit. Do you have a manual so I can figure out what to do next?”
Ashmira stepped back, her smile undimmed. “It’s fine! I know what those blinks mean. It just needs a quick recalibration. I knew you could do it.” Her praise seemed to fluster Asher more.
She turned to me then, her eyes gleaming with gratitude. “And you, Jesse. I’m sure you helped too.”
“All Ash.” I shrugged with a smile.
She reached into a side drawer, pulling out a pouch of coin. The sum she offered was more than double our rate for a two-day-job. My eyebrows shot up.
Asher shifted in his seat, mumbled something under his breath about no charge.
“I insist you be paid for your time.” She handed him the money. He looked down as if he found it insulting.
“What is it?”
“It was a lot of fun to work on.” Asher’s eyes flashed with something I could not make sense of. “Will you let me watch you calibrate?”
“I’d love that.” Ashmira smiled, uncrossing her legs. She wore a loose-fitting purple something that looked like a dress until the bottom separated into pant legs. It looked like the sort of thing that would be fashionable.
“What are you doing the rest of today?” Asher gestured to the device on the short table. “Can we start now?”
