Julian raised an eyebrow at her as if she were crazy, "What brought about that crazy question?" Andrea shrugged, her heart pounding as she waited for a response, "I don't know…. Just a feeling. Momma told me that my daddy died…. But she also told me that she is 38-years old so…." That amused him enough to have a genuine smile flash across his face for a moment, "That's true. Well, the first time I laid eyes upon your mother, America was on the cusp of the Vietnam War. Our… well, I do not know exactly what to call it, but whatever it is, lasted about five years. A long while in human years, but for us with magic, especially the powerful and long lived, the equivalent of about a year and some days." Andrea did not like Julian much, but she could not help but admit that her heart fell and a wave of disappointment washed over her, and it makes sense, Andrea thought, any kid with Julian and my mom would've been a super cool wizard by now….
"And I obviously wasn't born during the Vietnam War, so I guess that's a no." she muttered, and was surprised to feel Julian's hand upon her shoulder, "I am sorry, Andrea, truly. I know nothing of fatherhood except for my own experiences as a son. And so, I think you should take it from me, having a magician for a father is not a blessing."
She looked up at him, smiling despite the impulse to cry again, "That was…. Wow, thanks Julian."
"He likes to be referred to as Mr Nerva," a voice called out to them, it was an alluring and beautiful voice, husky and soothing enough to be distinct.
"Our boy Julian here does love to be respected and admired." A tall woman stood at the top of a flight of stairs, her figure was curvy but short a few pounds of being considered hourglass, and her face was like a 1920's movie star had been transported to pose in front of them. Her hair was cut short, a bob that hovered next to her diamond sharp cheekbones and full red lips, both below eyes as grey as mist and eyebrows that were sharp and curved. Her skin was pale, and it was a perfect contrast to the red ruby stone that sat within her diamond necklace that matched her lips. Her wonderful figure was covered by a silk dress that hugged her juuuust right and moved like a second skin with every sultry step she took.
Am I bi? Andrea wondered as she watched this movie star in front of them sway her hips like she meant to hypnotize them, oh my god! I might be bi!
"Andrea," Julian's voice pulled her out of her mini-identity crisis, "Allow me to introduce you to Drusilla Boniface, the head of our Department of Arcane Studies."
"And professor of Arcana 2A." She winked at Andrea, and the sight of it made her chest tighten and her throat gulp, "Meaning I will one day become your lecturer…. Gods willing."
"Hi." Was all she could say in reply, all of a sudden aware of just how out of place a little kid like her was with these powerful and beautiful magical creatures.
Ms Boniface laughed in her husky voice, and it sounded like an angel choking, "Hi, Andrea. Do you have a surname?"
"She does." Julian answered on her behalf, and thankfully so, lest she make a fool of herself again, "Apologies for running late, Drusilla. I know that this meeting was called on short notice, forgive me. I hope that we can find Andrea a spot in our school before the end of orientation week."
An eyebrow as sharp as a sword rose up, "Oh? Well, I hope that you do not mind me asking, Mr Nerva, but you've never personally seen to it that a prospective student is given a place. What is so special about her that has you starting now?"
Andrea felt like crawling up into a ball and being thrown into oncoming traffic.
"I ran into a former acquaintance of mine, and they saw fit to burden me with this task." He answered in his blunt and empty way, but that only seemed to pique Drusilla's interest more. She looked at Julian for a moment, before her eyes drifted towards Andrea, and her mildly amused smile turned into a full-on display of teeth so white and straight that they might as well have run for president, "Well, I must say that it is truly a pleasure, Andrea Bordeaux. I never got the privilege of meeting your mother, but even in Calriddia, the line of Bordeaux is known." Drusilla then eyed Julian before sighing, "You've always been an uptight arse, Julian." She turned and leaned over so that they may look eye-to-eye, "I hope that all is well with your mother, Andrea."
"She's fine." Andrea hoped, "Momma's strong."
Drusilla laughed at that, "Oh, I wager! When Jules came home after meeting her for the first time, he could not shut up about what—"
"Drusilla." Julian said, and the tone in his voice was enough to make Andrea take a step back. But Drusilla did not lose an ounce of playfulness in herself as she straightened up.
"Oops," Drusilla playfully twirled at a loose lock of black hair, "Sorry, Julian. I know how much you hate it when I call you that in public." She then winked at Andrea as she threw an arm over Julian's broad shoulders, "That's our Julian, always such a stickler for what is prim and proper." Julian shrugged her off before Drusilla leaned over with hand outstretched for Andrea to shake.
"My husband is Antonio Boniface, of the Boniface Family. But my maiden name is Nerva, as in Drusilla Nerva of the House of Nerva. A true pleasure to properly meet you, Andrea Bordeaux."
Andrea took the hand despite how stunned she was, looking between the two of them with her mouth agape, "Julian… has a sister?"
"Julian? What happened to Mr. Nerva?" Drusilla laughed, "And yes, three in fact, but only one he truly loves. And she stands before you." She smiled before straightening up her posture. Having said it, Andrea could see the resemblance now, in the height and the cheekbones but mostly something about their aura, "Whoa…. But, and I really mean no offense Mr. Nerva, but your vibe, it was giving 'only child of two busy parents'. Not the only boy with three sisters."
That made Drusilla laugh again, and Andrea was shocked to see her have the audacity to pull at Julian's cheek and was even more surprised when all he did was roll his eyes in response.
"Oh, how Boudicca is going to love to hear that!" Drusilla grinned, "And correction, he is not the only boy. I have been cursed with four brothers, Andrea."
She looked up at Julian with wide-eyes, and his moustache twitched as he threatened to smile, "Oh come now, Andrea. Me having siblings cannot be this perplexing."
"I'm sorry, it's just…." Andrea struggled to find the words, "You're just such a meanie…. it really was giving loner vibes."
Drusilla absolutely adored that, throwing an arm over Andrea and grinning up at her brother, "You hear that, Jules, you're giving loner vibes. Allow us to rectify that, huh? Come and join Tony and I for dinner, the children would love for you to show them more of your sparkly magic. And I'd love Andrea there too…"
Andrea could not exactly place her age, but if Julian looked like a man in his late 30's, then Drusilla looked like she was almost a decade younger, with no trace of grey or white hair in sight.
And yet, she already has children….
Julian shook his head, lightly pulling Andrea away from Drusilla's embrace, "We're on school grounds, Mrs. Boniface. I shouldn't need to remind you to behave accordingly."
Drusilla rolled her stormy eyes at him, "Oh nonsense! We've barely even begun the term; it's still orientation, Julian. We'll have a whole year to be formal and dignified; allow us to enjoy what little time we have left being more than these roles."
He turned to leave, "Enjoy your evening, Drusilla. Come morning, I'd very much appreciate it if Ms. Bordeaux's paperwork would be in order and readily processed, as I've dictated."
Drusilla rolled her eyes again and sighed, "As you wish, Headmaster."
Andrea was about to leave when Mrs. Boniface surprised her by cupping her face in her palms, "I hope you know that my door will always be open to you, Andrea. I did not know your mother at all; only that Julian Nerva of all people came to respect her, so she must be extraordinary indeed. Remember," Drusilla smiled at her with such warmth that Andrea's heart skipped a beat, "Come what may, good character will always persevere and triumph all, understand?"
She sheepishly nodded her head, "Yes ma'am."
"Good!" She let go of her and began to walk away, "I will see to it that Ms. Saloum is registered and ready to take her assessment test by the end of this very week. Come the following Monday, she will be a student of Camelot."
She followed Julian, who was still carrying her luggage like it was a feather, "You're pretty strong." She noted, and he shrugged at the compliment, "Thank you."
"Is that why you did sports then?" Andrea asked, more for the sake of keeping a conversation going than anything else.
"Yes," Julian said, "That, and because I enjoyed them."
Andrea frowned at that, "But I thought that you said that sports were dumb and not fun."
He shook his head, "No." and she waited for him to expand upon that answer, something that he only did because he could see she wished it from him, "I said that fun was not why I did sports. Fun was a by-product, never the goal but something that just came along with the sport."
As an athlete herself, she could understand the idea behind it, but running, whether she did it at Meets or on her own at school, was done because she found it fun and fun only. Despite being good at it, she never would have taken it as seriously as she currently did unless she was having fun. At least she liked to think so.
"And let me guess," Andrea tried to mimic him, "The goal is to prove that I am the best, the greatest!"
He raised an eyebrow at her, "That is not what I sound like. But yes, the goal was always, no matter what, to win, and winning is very fun. And preferably do so in such a fashion that it would psychologically and physically, and maybe even financially, ruin my opponents."
Julian sighed at her as they exited the school hallway and headed towards the parking lot, "Andrea, I was joking."
"Oh!" She chuckled nervously, "Yeah…. Of course you were, because that would be cra—"
"About the financially part, of course." He said, "What would I care if they kept their money or not."
His car appeared out of nowhere in front of them, as if it had previously been invisible, an all-black Cadillac that beeped to life as he pressed the button.
He walked around the front to open the door for her before walking around the car in two whole strides before getting in and igniting the engine, "I will allow you to rest in the cottage out back of my home. It will be just for the night though. Hopefully, Professor Boniface lives up to her word."
Bringing up rest got Andrea yawning again, "I won't lie to you, Julian. I think I'm a little nervous. Mrs. Boniface mentioned something about taking an assessment? I thought that you would be helping me skip that."
Julian nodded his head as he began to reverse out of the parking lot and start to head up a road built onto a large hill, on either side were lovely homes built in a little bit more of a modern style, "Yes, but it is not about acceptance into the school."
"Say more Julian."
"You should think of it more like an IQ test, just to establish what your natural talent level is."
Andrea gulped, "Oh…. So, we're going to find out if I'm magically stupid or something?"
"In essence." He said bluntly, failing to reassure her that she would not be thrown out of this magic school on her first day for not being magic enough.
She thought about trying to get him to have sympathize again, but thought better of it, the man doesn't even let it slip for his own sister…
They continued the drive in silence, the homes around them growing larger and being hidden behind big walls the further up the hill they climbed until they reached the top, where someone had had the beautiful idea of dropping off an old-fashioned English styled home on top of this large hill.
It had a barrier made of an eight-foot-high wall with a large pillar every five feet or so, with black metal railings in-between to form the wall surrounding the large home. Before them were two large gates that opened as soon as Julian's Cadillac came within three feet of them, allowing them to drive down a gravel covered road that had small hedges serving as a boundary between the gravel and the luscious fields of green grass that surrounded the home. The car continued longer than a car should going down a road that was essentially Julian's driveway, before reaching a large fountain that sprouted its way from out the earth, a beautiful statue of a faceless man playing a flute that had water gushing out of it instead of song and music stood in the middle of a fountain that sat at the center of the cul-de-sac like end to the driveway.
Julian's beautiful manor home formed around this center, Andrea got out of the car and marveled at the manor as Julian took up her suitcase and walked towards the front entrance that was just two large mahogany doors left open, "Follow." He said, his voice pulling Andrea away from her fawning session. She followed after him and ascended the stairs, and was surprised at how unsurprised she was that the large wooden doors groaned as they moved out of the way of their master, allowing Andrea and Julian to walk on through, "You really like convenience, huh," She yawned, "Can't have you doing shit."
Julian did not even bother to look over his shoulders, "Huh, never thought about it being a matter of convenience before. It was always just a way of life."
In front of them was a large and beautifully made foyer with a floorboard and a large staircase made of dark wood. The top half of the walls were covered in a dark turquoise paint whilst the lower half was covered by panels of the same dark wood as the staircase, and along the staircase were pretty paintings of horses and vases filled with red and blue flowers. Along the staircase was a pair of fancy chairs kept apart by a table with an actual vase sat upon it, all underneath another painting of some white lord standing in an old-timey officer's uniform.
Andrea noted the painting and raised an eyebrow at Julian, "Somebody we know?"
He noticed where she was glancing and shook his head, "No."
She did not press him as she continued to around a manor pulled into life straight off of a Bridgerton episode. A large and long colorful maroon carpet went down a massive hallway, the right ended in a large door and the other continued around the corner with a door leading into what looked like a restaurant sized kitchen. Adjacent to the staircase was a doorway into the rest of the house but without a stronger light source, Andrea was not sure what lay down that road. She turned to see that he had been staring at her with a bored expression this whole time, making her feel conscious for gawking at his nice house, "What?"
"You're tired." He said, matter-of-factly, and Andrea, as stubborn as she had always been, was about to argue when she swallowed it to yawn instead.
"Yeah," she muttered after a full-on stretching-yawn, "What of it?"
He sighed and snapped his fingers, and Andrea turned to see an invisible man dressed in butlers-wear appearing from out of the kitchen with a tail of other invisible creatures dressed like maids.
"They will take you to your room." Julian said as he handed off her luggage to the butler, who needed two hands and some elbow grease to carry it as they headed down towards the kitchen.
"Rest," He said as he walked up the staircase, "In a few hours from now, supper will be served. I will come and wake you then."
Andrea followed the waddling servant and thought of ways in which to annoy Julian, naturally, "Uh, hi…." She waved awkwardly at the butler who she had decided to name Mr. Pennyworth, "Thanks for all of this, honestly. But I can carry the luggage myself. All I need is directing to the room."
He seemed unsure of what to do and so, he continued down the hallway. Andrea sighed and felt that she was too tired to make much of a fuss, despite her awkward discomfort at watching him carry her luggage for her to her new, temporary, room. They continued down another long hallway beyond the sharp turn, with many doors on either side of them that they ignored for the large set of doors at the end. The two maids who had escorted them opened the doors and moved quickly to clear the room, Mr. Pennyworth stopping at the entrance to put down the bag and stand upright and in respectable posture. He gestured for Andrea to give the maids a moment to clear up the room some, "Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth. But so long as the bed is made and it's not too stuffy, I can manage, I promise."
He gestured in such a way that Andrea could not help but smile, "Julian probably didn't bother giving and of y'all names, so I thought that maybe I should. All in the name of annoying him, of course. Do you not like it?"
Mr. Pennyworth seemed to hesitate a moment before nodding his head, his little monocle bobbing up and down. He put his gloved finger to his invisible lips and Andrea nodded her head, "I promise. Julian won't hear a lick of this from me; your name will be our lil secret."
He gave off a judgement vibe and Andrea wondered what it was before rolling her eyes, "Oh please, Mr. Pennyworth. He isn't even around to complain."
The gesture persisted until she finally sighed and folded her arms, "Okay fine, Mr. Nerva. Happy?"
Nothing changed until she sighed once more, "You're a tough one, Mr. Pennyworth, but I got you. Sorry for rolling my eyes too, it was not very ladylike."
That cheered him up a great deal, just in time to receive the news that the room was ready for her. Andrea was surprised by how quickly it had all happened as she was told to enter by another one of Mr. Pennyworth's gestures, "Oh wow." Andrea said; as she looked around the biggest room, she was most likely to ever sleep in. In the center of the room was a king-sized canopy bed sat on top of a dais, its cover a thin satin of purple and white.
"No ways…." She muttered as she ran and jumped onto the bed, it felt like a cloud had been captured and forged into a mattress, and she still had that sinking feeling well after having bounced off of it.
Andrea looked up to see Mr. Pennyworth pointing towards a door, one that opened door that led to a large bathroom with essentially a Jacuzzi built into its center, and a sand colored marble counter that stretched the entire length of the wall with several sinks made into it with a cinema screen sized mirror there to greet her.
The wallpaper was done away with and instead there were tiles marked in the black and white of a chessboard.
"Whoa…." Was all she said before turning to look at the two maids, "Thank you! It's all so…. Spectacular."
She smiled as she exited the bathroom, "Thank you for real. Do either of you so happen to have a name to add to these thanks?"
They shared a look, their hoods facing one another, before they both looked at Mr. Pennyworth. The butler's monocle bobbed up and down once, before he stuck up a finger to his lips again. Both maids looked back at her with smiles…. Or at least, she liked to believe that they were smiling.
"Lovely!" Andrea clapped her hands together, "Now let's think…. How about Betsy," She pointed at one, "And Lizzy?" And then to the other. They seemed to like it as well, making it four-for-four for Andrea, a clean sweep.
She yawned and stretched and even went so far as to rub her eyes, "I think I'll wash some, and join Julian—" She saw Mr. Pennyworth's glare and laughed, "Oh forgive me! I meant, Mr. Nerva, for supper." she said all fancy like, like from those period pieces her momma sometimes made her watch. The laughter was thunderous, she decided, and quite frankly unprofessional, she thought, as she watched them go before turning to face her new bed.
Andrea yawned again, and the weight on her body began to tell as she zombie-walked her way towards her bed, where she fell into a dream as soon as her head hit the pillow.