Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Corrival – Pa

Chapter 94

The day went slowly and the night even more so. By the time tomorrow came, they were all happy because it was a big day as it marked the start of Tanith's sixth month. It was also the first day she'd had real morning sickness and had thrown up on and off for an hour before being able breath and settle herself.

She'd looked bad when she came downstairs and had immediately sworn at them all and blamed their positive ideas of pregnancy to be the cause of her being sick.

When Valkyrie was ready and she had distracted herself until the time was right, she ran down the stairs with her bag and other stuff. The others were sitting around the parlour which wasn't yet turned back into the comfortable living room it usually was. They looked up when she walked in.

"Can I get a lift to Nadia's house?"

They all grinned. "You're going to Nadia's? You are brave," Wolf grinned wolfishly. He lived up to his name well. "Did her Daddy leave?"

She gave him a sour look. "No. I'm going to lunch with her."

"Take the bike," Tanith said, an arm over her eyes. "The helmets are in the garage."

"Thanks!" She grinned.

"You can't take the bike, you don't have a licence," Crow said quickly. "And even if they can't see you're not old enough to drive, they will see Nadia."

"But Nadia won't be driving, will she?" Valkyrie grinned. She quickly ran upstairs and put on her protective jacket and switched her shoes for her protective boots and bolted downstairs to the garage. Tanith threw her keys at Valkyrie and she caught them mid-run.

The bike was glorious as ever, and she knew the vehicle she wanted when she was a year older and got her licence, but for now, she got the fake one out Pa had made for her and shoved that in her purse. The bag went on the back of the bike and she attached the second helmet for Nadia and rode away.

It was so exhilarating riding a motorcycle by herself for the first time on open roads. She'd been taught to ride alone, but that was with Tanith right behind her on a quad, so now she could really do whatever she wanted.

She seemed to be a boring person though because she just rode the way Tanith did. She sped too much, took shortcuts in the countryside, and gave the Gardaí little salutes and got smiles from them. Being so tall and bulky, she was pretty sure they thought she was a man, and dressed in black protective gear she looked as if she owned the bike and was meant to be driving it, so no one stopped her. She was so excited to see Nadia she probably wouldn't have stopped for them.

She stopped a street away from Nadia's house and left the helmet on the seat, knowing no one could get it off with the symbols on it. No mortal would want to touch, but they could admire. It was a pretty little trick Tanith got from a friend of hers, and it always made Valkyrie smirk when she thought about it. She didn't even have to lock it if she didn't want to.

She texted Nadia but after a few minutes waiting, she didn't get anything back or see Nadia. Wandering around the corner, she didn't see the girl coming up the street either. She had wanted not to knock on the door and be seen since Nadia was meeting 'friends' but perhaps her family requested they see the friends. She sighed and jogged over to Nadia's house, flattening her hair quickly before knocking. There was a long, long pause in which she waited. The butler opened the door. He said nothing but he did look down on her so disdainfully she wasn't sure if that was just Mr Vinay telling him to do that or if it was his own feelings.

"I'm here to pick up Nadia," she said.

He said nothing. He closed the door in her face. Well.

She waited, just in case he came back, but ended up getting her phone out. Just as she texted Nadia she was at the door again, it was opened by Mrs Prachi.

"Miss Cain," Mrs Prachi said, wearing a pretty green and lavender sari. She didn't smile. "You are here to pick up my granddaughter. Please come in."

Valkyrie did that with a small smile, trying to act very comfortably when she actually wasn't. Mrs Prachi took her through into the parlour. She noticed they had, of course, fixed the wall from a year ago. How strange, she hadn't been downstairs in this house for a year.

In the parlour was Mr Farhan, Nadia, Mrs Keena, Mr Vinay and two of Mrs Prachi's sisters who both wore salwar kameez, a type of dress, a name Valkyrie recalled proudly since she hadn't uttered the words in about two years. She was good at this. They were all sat silently and Nadia had her arms crossed and head high, but she looked upset as if her feelings had been hurt. Mrs Keena looked upset also, so she wondered if they had both been told off or if the two of them had fought.

"Good afternoon," Valkyrie said, tilting her head unconsciously.

"Take a seat, Miss Cain," Mrs Prachi said, sitting next to her husband.

"Please, call me Valkyrie," she smiled.

She smiled back politely. "Of course. Valkyrie, I have some concerns about you dating young Nadia. I have been told some bad things about you from my family, friends and the wider community. How do you justify dating Nadia if those concerns are true?"

"What sort of concerns do you have? Other than general gossip," Valkyrie said neutrally. If Mrs Prachi was going to say she was awful, she'd suggest Mrs Prachi believed gossip. Ha.

She didn't appreciate it so much. "You are often fighting, constantly putting people in danger and regularly get into verbal fights and insult people for your own amusement. I do not see how that can benefit my granddaughter, her parents or even the Sanctuary you work for."

"Mrs Prachi, my job is to get into fights. I am Co-Head and Second Detective for the Irish Sanctuary, and I didn't get that just because of my family status with the Dead Men. I worked for it, and I worked hard. I almost died every few days, I've been in coma's and I've had limbs reattached. Occasionally I have to get into fights out of work too because people are unhappy that I was a part of sending their family to prison, and I am in my rights to defend myself. Sometimes that takes a few insults, sometimes I have to hit them, and sometimes they're being such idiots I laugh at them. But it's all legal and they all get tried by impartial psychics and I've always been right," Valkyrie explained. "As for putting others in danger, I don't keep it a secret how dangerous my job is. I'm an apprentice Dead Man and my brothers are constant targets. A lot of disgusting people want their hands on me. I've told Nadia before how dangerous it is, and every time she said she wants to be here."

"Nadia is still a child, unfortunately, so whilst it is romantic, I don't enjoy the sentiment," Mrs Prachi said.

"I keep Nadia up to date with my cases as much as I can. There have been times I've begged her to leave the country, and she's refused. I can't force her to leave, and honestly, it's not realistic. Even if we weren't dating, these people would still exist. I can't stop that," Valkyrie said honestly.

Mrs Prachi was unreadable and so was her sisters. Mr Vinay just glared, Mrs Keena watched her with a bit lip and Nadia just smiled at her. Mr Farhan looked as if he couldn't care less and was just waiting for this to be over for lunch. She liked him more than the others, she decided.

"What are your intentions?" One of the sisters asked quietly, the younger one.

"For Nadia?" She asked. "I love her. I want to spend as much time with her as I can and eventually move in together."

"Before marriage?" The older sister asked with her nose up. The first sister raised her eyes to the ceiling.

"If ever Nadia's ready to," Valkyrie smiled. "I don't really mind."

"Do you plan on marrying her?" Mrs Prachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If she can put up with me for that long–"

"What about Nadia's education? Where would she study?" The older sister interrupted, not caring for the marriage idea.

"She can study where she wants," Valkyrie said neutrally. "I don't mind if she doesn't study at all, I can't make her do it."

"What about your education?" The younger sister asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I have just completed my first set of real exams, and I have to think about what to do next, but I haven't decided. I think I'm going to stay with my work though."

"And what is your long-term working goals?" Mrs Prachi asked.

"I want to continue my work in the Sanctuary and as a Dead Man, and I will also be taking over the family businesses when I turn eighteen and then twenty-one respectively," Valkyrie said. This was a lot of questions for a sixteen and seventeen year old to date.

There was a small silence and she felt their consideration. Did this relationship really lie on the type of job she'd get? She doubted that. She felt as if they were considering her in general, all three sisters with their differing standards. And the marriage questions just felt incredulous, not something they expected.

Mrs Prachi continued. "Tell us about the businesses. We are a family built around our business, after all. Young Nadia is very smart and we expect her to be a young entrepreneur also."

"My father was a mortal, and he had a construction business that went to my Uncle Gordon at the time of his death. There is a chance we may sell or convert it into a magic business, we haven't decided yet. The other business is the real family business and that is in construction materials with magic properties and signals. It's the biggest in the country and we are making plans to expand. Other than that, my uncle primarily set up a lot of investments and stocks that deal with themselves for the most part."

"And what sort of future do you expect this type of work to give our Nadia? Assuming you remain together for the foreseeable future," Mrs Prachi smiled, stroking a lock of Nadia's hair.

"At present, there are nine mages living in my manor with no income going towards expenditures except my own, and we also have two others live there on a renting basis. So in terms of wealth, Nadia won't ever have to worry or even work if she wishes, and I expect a few of my family members will be moving to live with their partners in the near future, but even if they didn't, the house is more than large enough to give us all the space in the world, have more family stay with us and to have those horses Nadia is always asking for."

She got a smile out of a few of them, but the older sister and Mr Vinay were still more than sceptical of her.

"I feel as if monetary value is not enough to base a relationship on. If you truly wish for a long-term bond with little Nadia you will need to focus on your educations," the older sister said scornfully.

"With all due respect," Valkyrie said slowly, not sure if that wording had been used in a hundred years or more without sarcasm, "education can only get us so far. I've been taught how to run my businesses from people without a degree, and I can run my Sanctuary Department alone too. I don't have a degree to do any of that and I've been home schooled for years by people who don't have proper educations either."

"I fail to see how that helps your case," the sister said.

"But at their age, it's easily fixed," Mrs Prachi interrupted. "For instance, if Nadia agrees to go back to finishing school, we could put this whole mess of who she is dating behind us. At their age, marriage, business and homes are a nice formality but not entirely important."

Valkyrie looked at Nadia and saw her wince a little. "I don't want to go back to that school," she said so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

Everyone stared or glared at her. "I see," Mrs Prachi said. "And what do you think you want?"

She looked at her knee. "I don't know."

Mrs Keena leaned forward and tried to look kind but it seemed condescending to Valkyrie. "Honey, are you sure you don't like your school? A lot of very successful mages have been there, and it would really help your chances of going to University. Won't you miss your friends?"

Nadia shrugged a little, as if she realised she wasn't meant to but had already done it too late. "I don't have very high grades there anyway, Mum. I don't want to go back."

Mrs Keena was about to argue that but Mrs Prachi put a hand up. "Nadia, what would you say to this. If your mother and father agreed not to question you on who you date, and do not stop you from seeing that person, would you agree to go back to that school?"

Nadia hesitated and for a moment Valkyrie had to look away as rejection settled into her. But then, Nadia shook her head. "I want to be with Valkyrie, and I don't want to go to that school. Maybe I'd go to another one, somewhere nearer?"

Mrs Prachi hummed and Valkyrie couldn't tell what the matriarch was feeling but she, herself, certainly felt a lot better. "We will have to discuss your education further, it seems. Women have not long been allowed an education like you can have Nadia, and we want you to have the very best. Miss Cain, thank you for your time. You and Nadia may go to lunch now, and we expect her back by four this afternoon."

Valkyrie nodded and stood with Nadia, letting Nadia lead the way out of the parlour. Still in sight of the family through the arch door, she whispered to Nadia if she still had the old protective jacket she'd left in her room and Nadia nodded and went to fetch it. A few moments later she was back, donned it, and they left the house.

"That was really not okay," Valkyrie whispered as they walked quickly up the street.

Nadia took a deep breath and smiled. "It went well. I think they like you a bit more," she said back. "Why do I need this jacket anyway? Not that I don't love it or anything. I actually really love it. I – thank you for leaving it with me."

"That's okay," she said with a smile. "I had a feeling you'd want it. And it's because we're traveling in style today."

Nadia gasped.

The interview, dun dun dun! I wanted something in place of the dreaded meet the parents since Valkyrie's already done that. This was more of a 'let us see if she really is a hard-headed idiot like Mr Vinay says.' I think it went well, from a reader perspective. I'm liking Mrs Prachi more too. I didn't like the way I wrote her the first time and I had to re-write massive sections in the story to change her and make her better. Anyway, I hope it was nice to read, and an insight into Nadia's family!

I'd love some reviews, PM's, follows or any other love you can send my way! It always cheers me up :D