A.N- Sorry this chapter took a while. My exams kicked off not long after I posted the first chapter, so I didn't have much time to update. I can't promise regular updates, since I'm about to start a university preparation programme which will last seven weeks. I'll do my best to get a balance so that I'm keeping up with that and getting some of my fics updated, but that might take a while.
Also, I would like to point out that this is the first time I've really done a fic that's actually dealt with issues like racism, so if I don't get it 100% I apologise, and I'll try to improve for next time.
Chapter Two
Once all thirteen of them had entered the front hall and made their way into the kitchen, Ragnor turned to look at the children.
"Alright, everybody, get into two groups- warlocks on one side, vampires on the other." They all did what they were told. He pointed to the vampires. "I will take you lot to your rooms, so you can get unpacked." Now, he pointed to the oldest boy, the one who'd pushed Magnus. "You can stay in your room all night, or as long as it takes until you learn to respect all three of us equally. The rest of you are free to wander, but I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"Hey, that's not fair!" Ragnor held up a hand.
"It is perfectly fair. You are being incredibly rude and disrespectful to my friend, and I won't tolerate it. I don't care if that's just how things are out there, in this house, you will show respect not just to us but to each other as well." The boy just shrugged.
"How about I take the warlocks to their rooms and you take the vampires?" Magnus suggested.
"Alright." He turned to the vampires. "Come on, let's go." With that, he turned and led them from the room. Tessa turned to Magnus.
"I'll help you get this lot to their rooms." She looked down at the purple-skinned toddler in her arms. "Little Neville's already fallen asleep, and I don't want to disturb him by passing him over." Magnus nodded.
"It takes you back, doesn't it?" She bit her lip and looked down, and he realised he'd said the wrong thing. "Sorry, that was too soon, wasn't it?" She shrugged.
"Don't worry about it. I've missed feeling like a mother, it's nice to go back to that, even if it's just for a little while." He nodded, and they continued up the stairs to the warlocks' rooms. Sarah had taken hold of Magnus's hand, and it seemed at that moment to be the only thing keeping her upright. "Sarah seems to have taken a shine to you," Tessa observed.
"Great, at least one of them has." He sighed, trying not to let that fact bother him too much.
"I'm sorry, Magnus. I should've explained to them beforehand, I wasn't thinking."
"Don't worry about it. It wouldn't have made a difference- they'd have still behaved like that, no matter what you told them."
"You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do. Or at the very least, I can make a pretty good guess." He sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter. Let's just take these guys to bed and take it from there, alright? It's been a long day for everyone." She nodded, and they continued on their way to the corridor where the warlock's rooms were. Pushing open the door, they all entered the corridor.
"Alright, you can each choose your rooms, and get unpacked. Don't stay up too late, alright? It really has been a long day." Magnus instructed. Quickly, the four oldest warlock children each went to pick rooms, and Tessa set young Neville down in the room that was left over. Once they were all settled, Magnus left the corridor and went back downstairs. Ragnor was standing in the kitchen with his back to the door, in the process of making tea.
"Who's there?" he asked, turning round. "Oh, hello Magnus. I was hoping to talk to you actually. Do you want some tea?" Magnus nodded and sat down at the table.
"Is this about those vampires?"
"You shouldn't let them talk to you like that." He sighed, pouring two cups of tea and bringing them over, going back for the milk and sugar and setting them down on the table too. Magnus rolled his eyes.
"I'm used to it, honestly. They're just kids, I've heard worse."
"That's not something you should have to get used to."
"Maybe so, but that's just life. It doesn't matter how powerful I am, how much money I have or how smart I am. There's always going to be people who take one look at me and decide none of that matters. They'll see the colour of my skin, the shape of my eyes, and decide that makes me inferior to them. It's not right, I know, but there's not much I can do about it, at least not just now." Ragnor took a seat across from him.
"I appreciate that. However, I'm not going to tolerate this behaviour from them. They are going to learn to respect all of us- you, me, Tessa and Cat- one way or another." Magnus raised an eyebrow.
"You're bringing Cat into this too?"
"Of course. All hands on deck, right? We'll need all the help we can get." That seemed sensible. "By the way," Ragnor said after a minute or so. "Have you got a chance to speak to Tessa yet? I know it's been two years now, but that's not really much time, is it? Especially when they were together so long. The poor girl must be devastated."
"She seemed to be doing okay last time I saw her, but then she might have just been putting on a brave front."
"I'll go talk to her. At the very least I can direct her to her room, if she isn't in the mood to talk." With that, he left the room. Magnus sighed, leaning back in his chair slightly. He knew they were doing the right thing, of course he did. However, now that it was actually happening, it was slightly more daunting than he'd expected. He'd helped quite a few young Downworlders before, but never this many, not at once. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep track of them all. Maybe if he could think of a couple of identifying features for each one. It would be easy for the warlocks- especially when the youngest one had purple skin and an unfortunate name, and there was generally a wide variety of ages and marks among them. Speaking of marks… he put his glamour back up, assuming that it wouldn't matter now. He'd almost finished his tea and was about to go to bed when he heard a voice. Great, what now?
"Mr Bane, can I have a glass of milk? I can't sleep." Making himself smile- getting annoyed at the kid wasn't going to fix anything, after all- he snapped his fingers, the glass of milk appearing on the table. Sarah set down the candlestick she was carrying and picked it up, staring at it in awe.
"Before you ask, yes, I can try showing you how to do that, if you want. It's trickier than it looks, though, especially the first time you do it."
"Thank you!" She grinned. "I'm going to learn all sorts of magic while I'm here, aren't I? Mama's going to be so pleased when I go home." Taking a sip of the milk, she turned to leave.
"Are you going to be able to find your way back?" he asked, not wanting to be responsible for losing one of the kids on the first night.
"Yes, of course. I'll just go back the way I came. I've got a candle, too. Mrs Herondale told me it's a magic candle, and that I'll be safe from anything in the dark as long as I've got it." Magnus smiled at that. Tessa really was good at this. Before she left, Sarah spoke again.
"Mr Bane, do you know why Mrs Herondale is so sad? I asked her, but she didn't tell me."
"A long time ago, Tessa- Mrs Herondale, I mean- married a man named Will. A couple of years ago, he died. They were very happy together, and she loved him very much. That's why she's so sad now, because trying to live without him is more painful than she'd maybe expected."
"Oh. Do you think she'll always be sad about that?"
"Maybe not always, but certainly for a long time. I can't imagine what that must be like for her… I mean, I've loved mortals before, but I can't remember ever having anything like what they had, and I doubt I ever will." He shook his head, cutting off that line of thought.
"What's a mortal?" What was it with children and questions? Still, he figured it was best to answer her. It was a harmless question, after all.
"Someone who doesn't live forever." It wasn't completely accurate- nobody actually lived forever, after all. They just lived for a very long time, until eventually something happened to them and they died. But it would do as a description. Sarah was only little, after all. She'd have plenty of time to understand what immortality actually meant, and how it would affect her.
"That makes sense, I suppose." She picked up the candlestick, and left the room without another word. Shortly after that, Magnus finished off his now-cold cup of tea and headed upstairs, surprising himself by how quickly he fell asleep.