It was only the seventh time me and Talla - or Tails as I called her for her love of stories - dared sneak into Father's office. We had waited patiently all day for him to leave, he worked in his study almost all day every day and into the night, except on Friday afternoons when he would go out to the store and come back with a week's worth of crumbly food.
Tails waited until the door was securely shut and then she squealed and launched herself into my arms. I sagged under the weight of her six-year-old body. Her long brown hair tickled my nose and I had an impulse to sneeze.
"You've grown again," I groaned.
"Maybe you're just getting smaller," She countered with a giggle, "Now let's go! Let's go!"
Despite knowing Father would be gone for at least an hour we both walked quietly in the hallways. Father insisted we walk silently and be seen and not heard. On every other day of the week, we busied ourselves with studying, a tutor came each Wednesday to ensure we were progressing in our workbooks.
Father didn't want to send us to the public school, he insisted we could get just as much done in the house.
Everything inside the halls was dyed a dull boring shade of green. Not the sort you'd find on any of the flowers or bushes in the garden. This green bordered on being gray. The curtains hung over the windows so only tiny slits of fresh sunlight could leak in and tickle our faces. Huge ornaments and strange objects sat on every side table - not that we were allowed to touch anything.
It had always been this way... Since Tails was born and Mother died. They say she died in childbirth, I had heard whispers that if Father had summoned a doctor sooner she may have lived.
I didn't know if that was true.
Father didn't seem to love anything but his work.
As Tails crept she practically danced, she lowered her voice into a bare whisper, "What can we read today?"
"Anything you'd like," I promised.
"The Blossom Ascendant?" Tail's eyes widened.
I pressed a finger to my lips and pointed at the floor and what lurked beneath it. We had only one servant for the huge house, she was rarely seen by either Tails or I. When we did see her she was indifferent to us.
Finally Father's study.
We both shivered just looking at the door. Compared to all the others it was the only one to be made with metal fixings. I pushed ahead and pried it open a few inches.
Inside a fire was dying away, and the furniture was no happier than any other part of the home. I saw the tower of books on his shelves.
Tail's shuddered beside me. When she looked at me her hazel eyes reminded me of a storm, all gray and flickering in the fading light.
I took her hand and we crossed into the room. It was warmer than the rest of the house, and darker all the same. It felt like the enormous desk would spring to life and attack us - intruders we were.
We reached the bookshelf and I realized the book we wanted was high out of my reach.
"Let me climb," Tail's suggested.
Gingerly I let her climb onto my shoulders, her feet jabbed into my back as she shimmied up. I imagined for a moment that we must look like a leaning tower.
"Got it!" Tails chirped. I looked up as far as I could and saw she was looking down at me smiling widely. In her hands lay the crumbling tome, the spine barely legible. It was a wonder this book didn't shatter in Tail's hands, that it could hold onto life when it had so little.
Carefully I lowered Tail's back to the ground and rubbed and massaged my back and shoulders as quickly as I could. Tail's had already flopped down by the fire on the old musty green carpet. She had her feet up in the air and was swinging them impatiently.
I straightened up and did my best not to hobble as I made my way over. Gingerly, wincing with the pain of carrying her on my back, I sat down.
Something crunched under me and I had the unpleasant thought that it may have been some old crusty beetle, or worse... a spider.
Tails had the book flipped open to a random page.
This book was strange... For one I shared a name with the main character, Olivie.
Tail's thought this was very cool, so I tended to try to shake off the creeping feeling it gave me.
It had occurred to me that perhaps Mother had chosen my name from this book, perhaps this had been her favourite book. I did not know and would never ask Father.
"Read the part about the wizard," Tail's urged me, despite her eagerness her reading level was still behind. I knew this bothered her and so I read aloud for her.
"Olivie was not alone in the land she sought answers from... There lived a man with powers not seen for centuries, he swept into villages taking away young children never to return. They all disappeared without a trace. From the children, he created his servants, each one born and died on the same day for he could not fuel their life forces beyond that."
Tail's shuddered beside me. I looked over at her and saw her staring at the small image that had been drawn in. A man stood in it his face etched in great detail like the author had once seen him. He was not old, in fact, Tail's had said he looked a bit like Prince Charming. With him were cowering shadows, the children he had transformed.
"You don't think someone would really do that?" Tail's whispered.
I rolled over onto my side and looked her in the eye.
"There is no such thing as wizards or monsters," Then I reached over and started to tickle her. "Even in this story, the blossom ascendant comes to save everyone."
That's when the door opened and Father stared down at us.
"What are you doing with that book!" He roared.
"I was giving Talla a reading lesson," I said weakly.
"In my office - with my prized books?" He snatched it from between us and stared down at it. His face seemed to whiten. "I will not be leaving you alone next Friday. I shall have the tutor come and teach lessons."
We both lay on the floor a bit dazed.
"Get up!" He shouted at us, "And get out of here. Neither of you will have supper! You are not to come in here again!"