Chapter Text
"Ha-ha, am I glad to see you! It was a long time, my friend!"
Alastair carefully peeked through the opened door into his father's study. Two men were laughing, affectionately shaking hands.
"Alastair," exclaimed his father noticing him. "Come on in, I'd like you to meet someone."
Somewhat reluctantly the boy entered the study to greet the guest.
"That is Lord Cassius Vanelian, my very old friend, and business partner," his father continued.
"'Old' is a long word!" Lord Cassius laughed turning to look at the boy. "Although with you, kids, growing so fast, that becomes accurate much faster than it should."
That's when Alastair noticed her for the first time - ashen-haired girl, probably a couple of years younger than him, shyly standing next to his father's guest and firmly clutching the man's cloak with her hands.
"That is my daughter, Circe."
"Now, Alastair, why don't you show Circe around, while her father and I talk business? Gods be willing in several years, Cassius, you will be discussing business matters with him, while I would be enjoying fine wine in the garden."
"Gods be willing, my friend, in several years those two will discuss business matters, while we both enjoy the wine." He lightly pushed the girl to Alastair. "Go, dearest."
"So, how much did you say? Two years?" Alastair heard his father saying when they already were in the hall.
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"So, um, what do you want to see? Garden? Library? I don't think there's a lot of things a girl would be interested in here." The boy shrugged.
"Library, maybe," the girl asked quietly. "Do you like to read?"
"I do!" He smiled. "What about you? Do you read a lot?"
"Sometimes. And sometimes my Nan reads to me too."
"Fairy tales?" Alastair teased.
"There's nothing wrong with fairy tales!"
"Of course not, I imagine every girl wants to be a princess and get saved by a handsome knight."
Circe looked up at him shaking her head dismissively, eyes bright. "I don't want to be a princess! It's boring! I want to be a dragon hunter."
Sitting together on the floor of his family library, surrounded by books and scrolls, Alastair and Circe became fast friends. Talking about the books, about the dragons and heroes of the old - that was how their parents found them.
"Too early to judge, of course, but our little 'business arrangement' might work out quite well, my friend."