Book 4 Chapter 11: A New Charge

++A Lady is expected to be polite, understanding, kind and to know when she is not wanted. Why so many of today’s women find that simple concept so very objectionable, I can only guess.++

- Remark overheard at a ball hosted by Arthur Wurgim, supposedly met with great approval. 1,880 A.E

I was soon reminded, after returning to the Vornholt Estate, how inconvenient my family could be. I was reminded of this fact when my mother quite casually saddled me with the care of Victoria.

“You ought to get used to it,” she told me with a knowing wink. “It’ll become relevant soon.”

I wanted to vomit. I wanted to punish her in some way. I wanted, very much, for it to be socially acceptable for me to vomit on her by way of punishment.

Unfortunately, though I was now essentially the monopoly-holder on the Vornholt family’s economic power and influence, it was still considered socially prudent that I show my mother some respect. Even, apparently, when she showed me none at all. So I tolerated her slights as best I could.

This was fortunately not necessary for much of my time at the Estate. My mother was far too consumed by focus on my father, a newly-made cripple, and Qaigor, who had quite recently experienced only his first battle. Far more with the former than the latter, for Qaigor appeared as mentally resilient as ever now that the sole piece of damage he had received from that battle was undone.

Indeed, he made it clear on several occasions that he intended to join the army and do some more killing as soon as he was of age.

That was fine as far as I was concerned, even optimal. Once Qaigor was fully mature he would be as close to indestructible as any non-Demigod ever got on a battlefield, impervious to even the freak accidents or ambushes that made warfare so dangerous for a powerful magician. I was not yet fully certain whether he would ever be durable enough to withstand a naval cannon firing into his head, but in my opinion anyone who ended up in that particular situation was an evolutionary dead-end anyway.

More pressingly than Qaigor, however, was Victoria. The girl had not been lying when she said she had missed me, indeed she had barely even covered the half of it. As of my return to the estate she seemed almost attached to me like some parasitic growth.

A year ago I would have found this far more irritating. A year ago, I would have recoiled at her touch and protested at every embrace. I did not like being touched, still, but I could tolerate it on my own terms, with warning and with someone I knew. Victoria was familiar enough that I did not mind as much when she embraced me now.

In fact, I was rather pleased that she seemed to have gone back to doing that, though the girl was less of a girl by the day. Now she stood as tall as our mother did, looking as close to womanhood as childhood and with much of the lingering puppy-fat now gone from her face. Slim, tall and with cheekbones that could slice a person’s finger off, she was the very epitome of the Vornholt look.

Except for her hair and eyes, of course. Those golden blonde strands and bright blue orbs were classic Yilear.

But I was not able to stay in the estate forever. Once I had taken a few days to get my family updated and ensure all was well, and, naturally, to make certain that my father would not give away any critical information, I had more pressing matters to attend to in Garamon. My mother did not seem too upset to learn that I would be departing again, while Victoria seemed utterly distraught.

“You’ve only just got here!” she yelled.

“I know, but I need to work,” I told her evenly. “Where do you think this newfound income comes from? It requires effort to make.”

I had, naturally, been sure to bleed off some of my excess wealth to ensuring that my family was better off than before. Apparently Victoria did not appreciate this.

“I don’t care about that,” she snapped. “Isabel I barely ever see you. Even when we were kids you were always going off to Winzorth, the first thing you did after leaving was join the army, and now you’re overseas running a business. You never want to spend any time with me.”

I saw her eyes grow wet and her lips tremble, feeling a sudden stab of sympathy. Ah. Well, I was promising myself not to shy away from such feelings anymore. Whether they were a weakness or not, they were, at least, insight.

“I…am sorry,” I said at last. “But I really need to do this, if there was any way I could see you more I would gladly accept it.”

“You mean that?” Victoria asked.

“Yes,” I promised her. “Of course I do.”

Victoria grinned. “So you can bring me along with you then,” she said at once. “If you’re responsible enough to have Qaigor around dangerous industrial machinery then you can definitely take care of me. And you can do it better since we’re both girls.”

My younger sister, I realised, was, in fact, a demon.

***

It was surprisingly easy to convince our mother to let me watch over Victoria as she accompanied me. Of course the Baroness was not pleased by the idea, but recent circumstances had given her a lot of good reasons to go along with it.

“Father is still hurt, and Qaigor has just gotten back from a battle,” I pointed out. “Do you really think you can take care of that while also watching Victoria properly?”

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“Maybe I think she’s better off here while I’m distracted than she would be under the reason her father lost a leg and her brother was dragged into a battle,” my mother snapped.

Ah. She was angry.

“I…regret what happened to father, “I said evenly, “but the refinery was his own idea as well as mine, and he chose to fight and defend it of his own volition. As did Qaigor.”

“And what if Victoria chooses to endanger herself of her own volition?”

I instinctively wanted to argue, but I hesitated. “I allowed Qaigor and father to fight because I knew…thought that it was in their best interests to do so, long term. Mother, they are rich now. Both of them. Tens of times wealthier than before, and in a brief few years I intend to make that hundreds.”

Thousands, if I could manage it.

But my mother had never cared much for currency or conquest, she had only ever cared about her family. And I saw now that I would not be forgiven for damaging it.

“Your father’s leg is gone,” she hissed. “He’s not talking, barely eating. Sometimes I wonder if he hasn’t lost his mind. And that’s all because of you,” she spat. “You and your refinery, you and your insistence on doing everything except what’s proper.”

I had promised myself that I would let myself feel again, and now I felt those knives my mother spat out slicing into me.

“I am taking Victoria with me,” I told her. “Because otherwise she will be taught how to be a pathetic, useless, mewling imbecile who can do nothing for herself except whinge and try to shackle other people to her own miserable limits.”

My mother didn’t even look hurt, just angry and frustrated. Angry, frustrated, and ultimately impotent and useless as always. I tried to muster some pity for her and I felt none. She was choosing to be weak, and worse than that, she was trying to force weakness onto her own daughters.

I would save Victoria from falling under the example of this pathetic wretch.

***

There was not, in the end, any doubt as to whether Victoria would be left under my custody. My mother had age and an imagined moral high-ground derived from being the one to raise me. I had near-total control over the family’s finances, at least in the absence of my father’s interference.

That was actually one major benefit to his amputation, on a purely practical level. It gave me far more influence over the Vornholts. That made me think of Agrian, and my mood was soon soured.

“Where are we going first?” Victoria asked me as I walked out of the estate with her.

“To a museum,” I replied distractedly.

“Are we going to fly?” she asked me.

“Yes.”

“Can we fly now?!”

“No, we must get a bit further from the mansion. Our mother would not enjoy seeing me take off with you in my arms.”

I was, in fact, rather tempted to do it within line of sight out of spite. Even I did not quite know why I did not.

“Oh!” Victoria yelped suddenly. “I don’t have any of my things.”

“You will not need them,” I told her.

She was silent, and it took me a moment to realise the girl was staring at me in confusion.

“What?” I asked.

“I thought you said we’d be going over the whole country,” Victoria frowned. “I’ll need spare clothes for that. And my toothbrush. And…other things.”

She flushed at that, and I sighed.

“We are going to head to a telegram office first,” I told her. “From there I will contact my company and have preparation carried out to make the journey easy for us. We will stay in the best hotels, and in each city we go to you may shop when you please. I will purchase whatever clothes you want.”

Victoria’s grin was as wide as a rank of soldiers, showing more teeth than I thought I had ever seen her display. At least since she was ten.

“What’s the budget?” she asked me at once.

“Essentially unlimited,” I told her. “I am one of the richest people in Garamon now.” I paused at that in thought. “I can buy you a horse if you want.”

“I want a horse,” Victoria said instantly. “Can I have two?”

“No.”

“Why not? I thought you were one of the richest people in Garamon. Baron Kundy’s daughter has three horses and he’s not even the richest man in Lachfel.”

“Because I do not want you to get too used to asking for things,” I told her. “And there is a limit somewhere to my funds.”

Victoria’s good mood did not seem to suffer much from that revelation. Her curiosity in my business grew predictably greater, too, and I was kept occupied on our walk by an endless barrage of questions about it. The running, the challenges and, of course, the profits.

For my part, it was actually rather enjoyable to answer them all. I was asked similar questions on a semi-regular basis, but always with entirely different motivations. People wanted to feel me out, to understand what I was capable of, to assess me as an investment, a potential partner, or a rival. They were less questions, and more testing blows in some silent duel.

The novelty Victoria brought was one of genuine, guileless interest. I knew well enough that my little sister could be cunning, and in fact was cunning on an alarmingly regular basis, but for the length of my explanations she seemed totally honest in her interest, and totally authentic in how awed she was.

I must admit to enjoying that. It is so rare in life, or unlife, that I get to meet someone whose appreciation of my brilliance is almost appropriate.

“So you can do whatever you want now?” Victoria asked me. “Nobody can tell you what to do or push you around or anything.” She said this with a tone in her voice that I thought was close to worship.

“More or less,” I said. “Though our grandfather is getting somewhat pushy of late.” Long ago he had aided with the business repaying off an early debt, and now seemed to think that gave him some right to decide its running.

“Grandfather is an arse,” Victoria scowled. “He keeps telling me I should be ‘seen and not heard’. I want to set him on fire, but magicians aren’t even allowed to do that.” The girl pouted, raising a hand and casually conjuring an orb of white flame in it. Even from two paces to her side, I could feel the heat involved. It was even more impressive that her own hand was not being burned to the bone with the fire so close. She must have been expending additional mana to protect herself.

Yes, I saw it clear as day now that I looked. My sister had come quite far indeed.