Full house

A week later

The door of the kitchen slammed open and Samuel limped inside from the garden. His face was smeared with dirt and sweat. Behind him walked Azim, laughing before patting his shoulder and offering him a paper towel.

“I know I told you not to go easy on me but,” he moved to the side, sending all his weight to his right leg which gave up. But he didn’t fall to the ground, Azim grabbed the back of his shirt and helped him stabilise himself.

“I apologise, I don’t get to fight often nowadays and you are a great sparring partner. Besides, you made a lot of progress already my friend.” The butler dusted Samuel’s shoulders off before dusting himself off. When he was seemingly satisfied, he filled up the kettle with water and started preparing some tea.

“What are we training so intensely for anyways? Aren’t we safe here?” Floral and fruity scents reached his nose, the first time he smelled that kind of tea since getting there.

“Safety is relative, my friend. It’s better to have soldiers work the fields than have farmers fight your war. Sooner or later those that worked with Thrricco will come for us.” Samuel’s nose caught another scent, that of a bakery with fresh goods. He looked to the oven and sure enough, there was something inside.

“I guess. . .” he dragged his feet to the door, holding the door’s latch. A random idea crossed his mind, “Is- she back?”

Azim had opened the oven, letting that sweet and warm smell of pastries perfume the kitchen. He stopped and turned around, straightened her tie and simply nodded, “Yes, I forgot to tell you. She should be waiting for her tea in her room. I would advise talking to her now before she falls asleep.”

“Really? Where has she been this past week?”

“Ask her yourself, Samuel. It’s not my place to comment on the lady’s decisions,” and just like that, Azim was fully in butler mode. Samuel tried to ask a few more questions but the only replies he got were: “Tea”, “Scones”, “With haste, sire”; and other random babble.

The stairs to the second floor were just one room away, across the dining room. Azim hadn’t let them use it without Chiyo there. So, imagine his surprise when he saw Salazar hiding in a corner.

“Sam! There you are. Please, pleaase help me.” Samuel knew he was trying to whisper, but he had spoken too loudly. Or rather, who he was escaping had a really impressive hearing.

The heavy steps rang like gongs as she approached from the other side of the first floor, sending shivers down the two men’s spines. Samuel began to limp faster towards the stairs, trying to get to them before she showed up. Salazar made up his mind and tried to follow him. It was too late.

“Salazar, come here you lazy piece of shit!” The old woman’s voice could be heard just metres away from them. And then- a door was slammed open.

“There you are! You ungrateful br- Oh! Samuel, dear. How are you today?” He turned around to look at the woman. Salazar’s mother, Helena Marquez. An old lady, short and skinny, who had the face of a sweet and caring grandma. Until she snapped at her son. He had seen chanclas buried against walls more times than he could count that past week. They never were directed at him, but he somehow always ended centimetres away from being decapitated by them.

“Miss Marquez! Good afternoon. I am- uh- a little busy so, talk to you later,” he knew he couldn’t look at Salazar. His eyes wanted to, but he knew the face he was making. “I’m sorry Salazar, your sacrifice won’t be forgotten,” he thought as he continued to climb up the stairs.

“Ah, what a shame. I wanted to discuss with you the matters of your marriage with María,” that made him limp faster up the stairs. Why did Helena want him to marry her daughter so badly? He may never know because he was never going to ask. But the first time he said no he learnt he couldn’t tell her things she didn’t want to hear. Or else, he would risk a chancla to his forehead which was many things, fun not being one of them.

“Later, later. I have to talk with Chhh. . . Lady Shoda,” he fully disappeared to the first floor, hearing Helena say something about a massage and her feet. Salazar’s voice could be heard, but the slap of her chancla hitting his body turned words into incoherent whining.

On the first floor and as he walked towards Chiyo’s room, Samuel saw the last remaining family member of the Hernandez. María, Salazar’s younger sister. Her hair was white in contrast to her brother. In fact, they looked nothing alike. For starters, she didn’t look like a hobo who found a purple bed sheet and who was scared of his own shadow. María actually confronted their mother every time she tried to do to her what she usually did to poor Salazar. She was smart, cheeky, actually funny and fun to be around. There was just one problem with Helena’s marriage plan, she was seventeen. And he knew she didn’t want it either.

She was laying on a couch that for some reason was in the middle of the hallway. Both legs on the arm rest, book held high above her head. Samuel waved to no response as he limped towards Chiyo’s.

Just like that random couch, all the decorations in the house were strange. They looked like they had been expensive and they most likely were, but why was there a random coat hanger next to the bathroom door? Or why was there a painting of some kind of lizard beast staring at the door of his room? He didn’t get it, not a single bit. Despite how huge the house was (Chiyo didn’t like him calling it a mansion), it felt over-decorated.

At the end of the extensive hallways, almost eighty metres away from María, Samuel reached Chiyo’s room. Double doors with impressive details, golden handle; the whole thing looked like a piece of art. It even had one of those knocking things. Seeing everything else that seemed out of place, it checked out.

He knocked on the door. “I’m coming!” And after a few seconds she opened the door.

“Ah, it is you. I thought it was Azim.” They hadn’t seen each other in a week, Samuel had forgotten how her usual nothing face annoyed him so much.

“This shit again? I thought we were over this. . .” he thought, walking past her after she moved out of the way. Seeing her room for the first time- yeah, it checked out. As overstuffed with fancy expensive decorations as the rest of the house. It was way bigger than his, which made sense, and it even had a balcony with a nice round table . “You promised answers, so I am here for them.”

“Ah, right, right. Come, take a seat. Is Azim making the tea?” She fixed her intense red hair into a ponytail and walked to the balcony and sat down. Samuel followed, feeling his brain scattering, thinking about what he should ask about first.

“Should be done soon I think,” he stared off into the distance. No matter how many times he saw it, the gigantic city below them always caught his eye. They were right next to the wall of the first layer of the pyramid, hundreds of kilometres away from Salazar’s apartment. He had caught a small glimpse of how huge the city was then but ever since he got to Chiyo’s house he had been shocked day after day. Either looking up at the wall they had a few hundred metres behind or the sea of buildings below.

“Good. So, Samuel, questions. Start,” she glanced at him before staring off into the distance as well. He glanced at her afterwards, noticing bags underneath her eyes.

“Where to start? I have even more questions than I did a week ago,” sighing, he leaned back on the chair. “What was that back there? The purple ties guys? I asked Azim but he said it would be better if you explained.”

“Thrricco’s people. Never understood why he didn’t name his gang. It’s a bit of a long story.” She was unmoving, simply staring into the distance.

“Maybe I was wrong, she doesn’t seem- bitchy like before. She just looks- tired, really tired,” was his thought once he noticed her eyelids shaking, struggling to stay open.

He turned his gaze to her, nodding along. “Well, we have all the time in the world, but I can wait for the tea to hear it all. Or tomorrow. You look fucked up, really sleepy. What did you do this past week?”

Chiyo took a second. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and shook her head before rubbing her eyes. Then her yellow eyes set on his and her face lit up with a smile, “I’m fine. I promised you answers, didn’t I? And don’t worry about that. Just yet. I was just securing a spot for you at the arena’s next season. That was also something I wanted to talk to you about. But, first things first. Thrricco.”

That pair of spirited brilliant eyes lost their shine before they looked away. Her smile vanished, she gritted her teeth and he saw the ferocity she showed in the apartment complex again, “That dwarven bastard is the reason I am alive.”