Elliot Shade Faust~ General Officer/ "The White Lotus"
The library was always Kali's favorite place. The smell of old parchment, the sound of fountain pens on paper (although with almost all the students gone that noise was diminished) and one of her dearest friends, Lottie patterson. She and the woman who ran Nephala academy's library had served under the Drakir king in the revolution together, Lottie as a counselor and Kali as the supreme commander of the five hundred thousand strong legion and navy.
No matter how much time it was, if they ever got free time Lottie had her nose in a book, sitting in the far corner of the grand dining hall of the Ashwood castle, the center of the drakir nation, and hiding from all other people. Although Kali was nearly five years Lottie's senior, they got along well, and never got in trouble, so they were King Garth's favorite and got near constant raises in salary. After the rebellion succeeded, Kali had been made the Duchess of the Southern Keys, and Lottie was assigned to be her… secretary of sorts.
The Southern Drakiri Keys are a small chain of volcanic, mountainous islands and a massive chunk of the southern mainland… and on one of the islands closer to the mainland, sits the marvel of magical engineering that is Nephalia academy. With its sprawling seven story main building and dorms built and carved into the mountain itself, Nephalia academy had earned itself several accolades in terms of beauty of the campus and sports achievements.
Kali calls into the library "Lottie, a new book haul in the Back storage room needs to be cataloged, sorted, brought back and put away!"
A voice from the desk issues a vehement 'Shh' sound, before said voice realizes what Kali had said.
"Oh, Kali… I thought you were Magnus. I'll get my kit, just show me where the haul is and I'll work on it." Lottie says with a smile.
Kali brings Lottie back to the storage room, showing her where the books are and then leaving, saying "I have to go check on my husband and kids."
In the upper floors of the large tower on the far left of the front of the academy, the Faust family resides for a good portion of the year. Kali was busy making sure her youngest sone didn't burn himself while playing with his inherent fire magic, Elliot was cooking, Dain was sharpening… whatever weapon he was interested in at the moment, and their youngest, little Morrigan, was toddling around in her playpen.
Pretty soon, Elliot served their usual christmas eve meal, a traditional Drakir dish that comprised of a slow roasted venison shank, some wild potatoes and several hours of patient stewing to make a delicious, hearty stew that warmed the heart and stomach and had no specific name.
They ate with minimal talking, mainly because Kali's sour mood. But then Elliot decided the tension was too much.
"Kali…My love… What has you so wound up?" He asks, his Cyrian accent making his voice catch on her name and made it sound more beautiful than it should in Kali's eyes… after all she was the ruthless Stormbreaker General.
She sighs "I'm fine my dear… just tired" She gets up, walking to their room.
One thing to note about Kali… despite being nice when needed and harsh when the situation called for it… She had a small problem… she often suffered traumatic flashbacks from the Drakiri Rebellion. Scenes she would rather bury under the mountains of paperwork she had to do.
She lays down on the massive canopied bed in her's and Elliot's bedroom, breathing slowly through the flashback. So caught up in trying not to scream and cry as to not scare her kids that she didn't know her husband had entered the room until he was pulling her into his chest and gently holding her until she was calm enough to bathe and get dressed for bed.
By the time she was done bathing, Elliot had lit a lavender incense cone and was burning it on their dresser, had laid out her favorite silk nightclothes, and was settling the kids down for bed.
The next morning Kali was woken up by her husband grunting as Bylur jumped on him and started begging them to wake up so they could open presents.
Soon Kali was sipping the strongest coffee she could find. Sitting on the floor was Bylur and Dain. Bylur looks like he'd been up for about an hour and eaten a pound of straight sugar, while Dain was slowly sipping on a cup of Cyrian blonde roast coffee with some white chocolate creamer and some sugar, clearly not a morning person, much like his mother.