Shadows and Bones
One hundred Skulduggery Pleasant drabbles.
Nothing is owned by me.
Soundtrack for this one is Lullaby for a Stormy Night, by Vianna Teng.
Look out! So pre-series it might have come from a different series altogether!
Chapter thirty-five-Expectations
...
"Anthony?"
The voice that called his name was that of Anthony's older brother, Bijan Decanter. Anthony hid in his parents' library and refused to answer Bijan's calls.
"Anthony, c'mon..." Bijan was the only one who could get Anthony out of a bad mood, but he had to find him first for it to work. Anthony was both intent on not being found, and on skipping the rest of the lesson he had escaped from. Anthony's mother, Camilla Queendom, had long since moved on to the teaching of Anthony's younger siblings. She'd always found it easier to wait until Anthony came out of hiding on his own rather than go looking for him herself when he got into one of his moods.
Bijan, on the other hand, had different ideas. Bijan was practically a surrogate parent by now, what with being so much older than the rest of his siblings, and, honestly, being more competent than his actual parents. Thus, Camilla had given him her blessing and declared that he could do whatever he felt like, but she certainly wasn't going to be a part of it.
Anthony was a hard child to teach. His nigh-impenetrable stutter and his moodiness drove any tutor of his up the wall. It might have been alright had Anthony actually been stupid, like the stutter seemed to indicate, but he wasn't. Far from it. He had a scheming intelligence that made it difficult for any tutor to figure out how to go about actually teaching him. Camilla and her husband, Dywel Octavious, had abandoned the practice of hiring outside teachers for just this reason. Anthony happened to drive just about anyone he didn't like away, through many varied and interesting means.
Today had been magic lessons. Bijan had winced when he'd heard about it from Camilla. Anthony couldn't focus on the spellbooks and always got frustrated with his slow progress, when he was so quick at other things. Apparently, today Anthony's little sister had taken her name (she was to be known as Shaelyn now, instead of Anita), and Anthony, who had nothing even approximating a taken name, had apparently gotten angry. At least, that was what Bajin had heard from his mother.
No doubt Anthony's tale would be somewhat different. That was how Bijan had come to the library, because it was Anthony's favorite place to hide. Oddly, Anthony wasn't too interested in reading. He just liked the books. Bijan couldn't quite figure it out, but his brother was a strange one.
"Anthony..." Bijan called again. This time, he heard a muffled sound come from one of the alcoves at the back. Bijan sighed, and walked over. Sure enough, there was Anthony pressed up in one of the corners where one bookshelf met another. Anthony flipped his long, wild hair out of his eyes and glared at his brother.
"G-go a-a-away." he hissed. Despite his stutter, Anthony had mastered the art of sounding utterly furious without actually raising his voice.
Bijan knelt down next to him. "Mum tol' me Anita picked her name today," he said conversationally. Anthony sneered and his hair fell back into his face.
"Sh-sh-sh-shae-." he growled, turning away from Bijan. "Her. I k-k-know." he sighed to himself. "Sh-she's on'y ten. W-why wa-wa-was it s-so eas-eas-eas-eas" he stopped, gritted his teeth, and started again. "Why i-is't so easy for h-h-her? I'm t-two years ol-ol-der'n h-her."
Bijan took a minute to process his brother's speech and said "I don' know. Some people don' learn their name 'till later. It just happens like tha' sometimes." he gave Anthony a small smile and added "What does a year'r two mean t'a sorcerer, anyhow?"
Anthony raised an eyebrow at his brother. "'m n-not just o-o-older th-than he-he-her. 'M sm-smarter too."
Bijan sighed. "Anthony, ye're smarter'n just about ev'rybody inna house." he smiled at Anthony, and added "Exceptin' me, o'course. 'N anyways, just 'cause ye're smart don' mean ye're good at everythin'."
The smaller boy's glare refused to go away. "'t don' m-matter." he said. "M-m-mum an' D-da don' th-think s-s-so. Th-they thi-thi-think if'n I'm s-smart I'll be a great s-s-s-sorcerer. Th-they don' l-listen t'ye." his stutter grew more pronounced as he grew angrier. "Th-th-they s-say they d-do but th-they d-don'."
Anthony had always been a little paranoid. Bijan had no such problem-if anything, he was too trusting. In any case, Anthony was always quick to assume that nobody was trustworthy, except maybe Bijan himself. Bijan knew from long experience that it was impossible to dispel Anthony's mistrust of others, so he simply put an arm around the younger boy's shoulders.
"'Course ye'll be a great sorcerer," he said soothingly. "Jest 'cause it's takin' ye a bit longer'n others doesn' mean ye won' be."
Anthony frowned to himself but didn't move away. Bijan figured that was the best he was going to get.
...
I know having a stutter doesn't mean you're dumb. It's something people used to think, and nobody ever said a sixteenth-century education was a good one.
I always figured Skulduggery (yes, Anthony is wee!Skulduggery, about four hundred odd years ago) was a pain in the neck sort of kid. Smart, stuttery, and a sneaky little jerk.
Why does Anthony have trouble reading the spellbooks? Skulduggery is an elemental/necromancer who's best with physical fighting, not writing spells. Camilla is a symbol mage, and expects her children to be so too. My personal headcanon is that Skulduggery cannot stand symbol spells, or any kind or language spell. He probably learned to tolerate it over time, but Anthony certainly hasn't.
Yes, this Shaelyn is the same Shaelyn mixing up magical potions in 'Family.' She's crazy.