Drage Herrogard

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan fidgeted in his chair in the large library, a massive area that had not one, but two levels, filled with books of all kinds, dilapidated and pristine, old and new. One motto that he could certainly live by was that knowledge was power- If you had that upper hand on your enemy, you were better off with that than anything.

He was anxious for Joshua to arrive with Estrella, and Sammael with Sophia in a few day's time. He wanted Estrella to get adjusted to the place before he revealed his true intentions, so that she would fully understand the situation and somewhat accept it. It would take a great deal of time, he figured, to gain the trust of both of the girls, as neither of them had been raised by or near him. He was prepared for the seemingly formidable task in front of him, never being one to back down from an obvious challenge.

Their cooperation was important- They would one day, see his side of things, even if they did not succumb to them at first.

Ordering his head house elf, Persephone, to instruct the others at the Herrogard to begin preparing a hot meal, he sat back in his elaborate and highly decorative armchair, too frantic to read a book, a look of disdain upon his usually somber expression.

His golden eyes darted to and fro, feeling very much that time was of the essence. Was Joshua having trouble? He certainly hoped not- It would make the ease of things much less so. He had originally planned on getting the girl himself, but his meeting with his inferiors in the government had been cancelled. It was an issue that needed to be addressed; Valcan hated being idle with his time, especially when others made it so for him.

 

[Brunhilde Sigurd]

Brunhilde's expression was a bit warmer than usual as she glided into the library, knowing that he was expecting her niece and his granddaughter, Estrella. However, she would be leaving soon, and would not tolerate another summer here. She was free to be on her own at last, a liberty that she had been extremely slow to accept.

"Far," she started, "I trust that neither of them have arrived yet?" Her carved expression possessed the consistency of cold stone, her tone having been taking over by formality, replacing most of the friendliness that she had at once harbored towards her family. She and her father had not been getting along that well lately, as she was quite tired of his dictatorial mannerisms.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan's golden eyes turned to his daughter with a stony disinterest, an expression that she had seemingly inherited from him, and he replied icily, "That would be the correct assumption, Dotter. I trust you are leaving for New Zealand?" He had been irked with his daughter lately, partly for the fact that she had concealed Lief's wedding from him and for the fact that his last child was leaving the Herrogard- he may get his granddaughters over the breaks, but otherwise, he was alone, a fact that oddly was beginning to disturb him. He had lived with at least two people all of his life, and now, he would only have infernal house elves to return to. He had expected at least Brunhilde to stay, and in turn, blamed her leaving for his incessant worry and irritation, although he was careful not to impart these weaknesses to others.

 

[Brunhilde Sigurd]

Ignoring her father's snide and infuriating comment, Brunhilde replied icily, "In actuality, I am leaving quite soon. I have already brought most of my stuff to New Zealand. Moving out's a lot more exhilirating than I thought it would be." She shifted a bit, replying with the littlest hint of cattiness her voice could possess, "I rather feel as if a load has been taken off of my very shoulders, and I daresay some chains have been broken." Her steel blue eyes gaining a glint of mischieviousness and pulling her pale blonde hair back a bit, she added, "I'm not envying your job looking after two teenaged women in obvious rebellion- that is going to be quite a task to handle, Far."

Giving her father a thin and satisfied smile, she whipped around and left the room, her slender form gliding with the grace of a swan out of the door. She was sure that he would owl her sometime, but until then, she would rather not speak to him.

Having all of her things moved, she disapparated, a feeling of glee beating in her usually frozen and emotionless heart.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan glared back after Brunhilde with his golden eyes, considering using an expression of anger but then decided against it- Lashing out against Brunhilde wasn't going to do him any good.

His mood was not alleviated, however, getting worse and worse as he waited for Estrella and Joshua to arrive, feeling that time was definitely not of the essence for anyone today.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Joshua apparated into the library of the Herrogard with an audible pop. He held the trunk in front of him, and Estrella was holding onto his left arm. He quickly set down the trunk on the floor and straightend himself up. "Hello Valcan. I do not believe I have ever apparated with so much stuff."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella felt if she was being jerked considerably, buckling to her knees as she felt solid ground. That had definitely been interesting, although she had already decided that the sensation of apparition was too weird for her.

She let out an oof as her knees hit the ground, having since let go of Josh, feeling as if her stomach had just been compressed and then decompressed. She hoped that she was not going to be sick, butterflies prominent in her belly. She dropped not only her cat cage, but brought down Harper's cage with her as well, the barn owl shrieking in fright and irritation. A rush of red flushed to the tops of her cheeks, embarrassed by her dramatic and klutzy landing. "Hi," she barely managed to sputter out to Valcan, her dark eyes observing the giant library in wonder. She had never seen anything so exquisite in her life.

 

[Valcan Drage]

The only sign of being startled by the sudden apparition flickering in his gold eyes, he watched as Josh and Estrella appeared, weighted down by a ton of material things, all animals on Estrella's part. "In turn, Joshua, I don't believe I've ever seen anyone apparate with so many things." His expression was amused as he observed Estrella, who did not seem to have taken to apparition well. Her muggle tendencies were too much for his liking; that would have to be fixed, and spending the duration of her young life in a pureblood household, he believed, would fix that.

"I take it everything went well?" he inquired, figuring that Josh had used polyjuice, although that was not apparent right now.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

"Yes. Everything went well. Only delay was that my polyjuice wore off before I was able to apparate, so we took refuge in the back room at the Leaky Cauldron while I transformed. The bartender was very accomodating," Josh replied, lending his hand down to Estrella to help her up. "Are you okay?" he asked, amused at her reaction to the apparation.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Blushing profusely, Estrella gave Josh a goofy grin, replying, "I'm such a klutz." She turned the cage of the cats and pygmy puff upright, taking his hand and saying, "I'll be okay." She brushed herself off as she was pulled up, the red hue of embarrassment still present in her face. "Bestefar," she tried, nodding her head to Valcan, "That's Norwegian for Grandfather, right?" She hoped that she wasn't mutilating it.

 

[Valcan Drage]

"Thanatos?" Valcan asked the bartender, "He had best be accomodating." After that little incident, he added mentally to himself, and then asked, "You got into shelter before anyone could possibly recognize you, didn't you?"

He smiled at Estrella the way a father would, replying, "Indeed, that is correct; you even managed to get the pronunciation right. In turn, you are my barnebarn, or granddaughter." Needless to say, he was pleased that she had at least made some effort to take a stab at the language. "If you wish, I can help you learn the language."

 

[Joshua Hanson]

"Yes. Thanatos was more than accomodating. I was not recognized at all. And there was nothing given stronger than water to this one." Josh replied with a nod towards Estrella. "Now, if it is still alright for me to spend a few days, I would like to go and freshen up. Which way to my quarters?"

 

[Valcan Drage]

"I daresay he wouldn't serve her anything again, at least, under your watch," Valcan said with just a bit of bitterness in his voice, looking pointedly towards Estrella, "I am afraid I lost my temper with him."

He smirked, and added, "I suppose you can stay where you've always stayed; you'll always have a room here," he pointed out, standing up to his full height, which was taller than Tristan. He practically dwarfed Estrella, smirking. "I appreciate you picking Estrella up. Your room, as always, is in the West Wing."

He turned to look at Estrella, a small smile on his face. "Would you like me to show you to your room? It's easy to get lost in the place." He picked up Estrella's trunk with ease, and for good measure, the cat cage in the other. He noted that there were two cats, and for the animals' sake he hoped they didn't venture out of the Herrogard.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella picked up Harper's cage, glad to have the burden of Tula, Rose and Artemis off of her other arm, nodding at Valcan. "This place is huge," she commented, her eyes wide as she looked around the library in wonder, waiting for Valcan to lead the way.

 

[Joshua Hanson]

Josh nodded to Valcan. "Thanks. I never want to assume anything." He then turned to Estrella. "I will see you later then. We can get to know each other again." He winked at her, then turned to wander down the hall to his normal room, which was next to Tristan's old room. He had stayed there many times when he would visit Tristan over the summers and on holidays.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan nodded to Josh, watching as he left down the hallway, and then suddenly took off, taking Estrella down another wing of the Herrogard. "I am taking it school went well this year?" he inquired, interested about any academic achievements.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella followed Valcan, taking in the many exquisite things that were in the Herrogard. Harper gave a soft hoot as Estrella walked with her, eager to get out of the cage and into the air. She smiled when her grandfather inquired about school. "Actually, it went very well- I got Os in all of my classes and I was top points earner for Ravenclaw this year. And Ravenclaw won the house cup." She snapped her mouth shut before she could brag anymore, her eyes falling upon a painting that was adjacent to a suit of armor, of a rather beautiful woman in a snowy landscape.

"Who is she?" she asked, stopping to stare at the moving painting. The portrait blinked, not moving all that much. She appeared cold and regal.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan grinned as Estrella replied about school, listening intently. "It's good to hear that you're doing well academically." He turned his attention to the portrait, replying, "Ah. That, barnebarn, is Brunhild of Iceland. She is an ancestor, and is the founder of the Herrogard."

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Like, do you mean the Queen of Iceland who was Siegfried's lover? I had no idea she was witch," Estrella exclaimed in wonder, observing the portrait with much intrigue. Her eyes sparkled as she commented, "She's so pretty."

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan's eyes narrowed, as he replied stiffly, "No. Muggles have twisted the tale to fit their own stories and lies, to the point of where you cannot recover the truth. The real Brunhild was a powerful sorceress, and would have considered it an insult to be affiliated with the muggle dragonslayer, Sigurd." He grinned, making his demeanor a bit more pleasant. "I apologize- People just never get the stories right."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Quite taken aback by Valcan's retort, Estrella replied, a little embarrassed, "Oh." She cast her gaze ahead, eager to let Harper out of her cage and exercise her wings. "She looks like she's nervous about something."

 

[Valcan Drage]

"I believe that was just before a battle," Valcan replied, "But I'll go into the story later." He strolled further down the hall, making sure to keep his gait slow so that he would not leave her too far behind.

He opened a door to a room that was far down the hall, saying, "And here is where you will be staying."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella's dark eyes widened in amazement as she observed the room, Stark Manor incomparable to the obvious wealth of the Herrogard. "Wicked," was all she could utter, fighting the strong impulse to leap on the giant bed and start jumping. She placed Harper's cage on a desktop, scattering to and fro as she realized that she had her own bathroom, a large closet with clothes already filled in it, and a balcony to boot. "This is amazing!" she exclaimed, never having experienced anything like this before. And I'm staying here for the whole summer.

 

[Valcan Drage]

Valcan grinned as he observed Estrella's obvious excitement, figuring that it was quite a pity that he had not taken her in at a young age. It would have been to his advantage, but he would have to deal with the issue in the now in any case and stop dwelling on the past. It was possible to set her mind on the right track, and one could forget that she had the filthy blood of a muggle as far as he was concerned.

"You like it?" he inquired in his thick accent. "I figured as much."

He shifted a bit in the doorway, and he said, "Feel free to explore the Herrogard, although it might be best if you don't push past any locked rooms. I'd take a house elf or Josh with you if I were you, though, so that you don't get lost. I even get a bit confused sometimes." His golden eyes flickered in amusement as he continued, "There's not much for rules, besides respecting your elders and working to your full academic potential. Is all in order with this?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella grinned back at Valcan, and she replied, "It all sounds good to me."

Moving towards him, she hugged him quickly, saying, "Thanks for taking me in. I'm really not that much of a pain, I promise."

She wasn't sure if Valcan was exactly the type who liked his personal space invaded, and thus backed up. "House elves?" she said stupidly. Of course this place going to have house elves, you idiot, she thought to herself.