Bambi and the Duke

Lord Nicholas sauntered back to his seat with the glass of alcohol in his hand, ”You don’t think people will question you from where you have come? You are safe here and with people who care about Leonard but that doesn’t mean you’re safe out alone. Some already know of your background since your first visit here, don’t you think there will people of the society ready to use you for things that are unethical. What’s the proof that you aren’t a maid anymore? You might be a runaway servant who might be sold to another family which might I add not turn out to as civil as the Carmichael’s,” his words made her feel worried.

It wasn’t something she wanted to hear but everything he spoke was the truth.

”Pardon me if my concern has upset you. I must be terrible host,” he apologized, his eyes looking at her unblinkingly.

”No, milord. I am glad for you to bring up the matter,” she brought back a smile on her lips which made the man in front of her stare at her. She would be sure to bring it to Leonard’s notice.

Vivian didn’t worry about her status. It never did because it never hindered her relationship with Leonard, Paul, Marth, Mrs Carmichael or Charlotte. Lord Nicholas might have told it superficially about the matter of her being taken as a slave to another house but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand the depth of it. Both men and women were subjected to the same treatments. As he mentioned, the Carmichael’s were one of the respectable families of the pureblooded vampires who had treated the servants better than how the others treated.

”Can I ask you something, milord?”

”Please,” he waited for her to ask the question.

”Where did you find the bird?” she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

”You mean my pet, Toby?”

”Yes, him.”

Lord Nicholas hummed, taking a sip from his glass before he answered her burning question, ”When I was a young boy, I found Toby on the street. Bloody and almost dead, as if he would die at any moment. Taking it back home didn’t seem wise, sometimes you don’t know who might turn to be a meal,” he chuckled. The dark humor as if barely touching her shadow from where she sat, ”I took him to the nearby church but vampires weren’t allowed in there. The village was an old orthodox where the humans lived. A breath of a vampire walking amongst them would lead to death. Gruesome one...”

”I helped him heal instead,” healed the crow? ”When you’re a child of five, we do the most nonsensical things. I thought the bird could heal if I gave him my blood and funnily it worked.”

”Does it mean you can heal people?” Vivian wondered if Lord Nicholas held similar abilities like her but the man laughed.

”I wish but the answer to it is no. I did try it out on someone but that didn’t work,” he said, leaving the bit of information where he had let the person die during his experiment.

”And that’s how I found Toby.”

The remainder of the day, Vivian strolled down the halls, much more easily than when she had come here without the butler who once in a while came to check up on her like last time. There wasn’t much to do in the mansion. Lord Nicholas was his usual kind self, making her feel at home. The maids and the other servants behaved in the same way as they did in Carmichael mansion. There was nothing to look outside except for the dead looking trees.

Sighing she stood at the window looking outside, wishing that she should have asked Leonard if she could accompany him.

Turning around with the fancy dress she wore, she walked down the corridors of the mansion. Passing through the same passages she had already walked by, she kept her hands to herself by not picking the courage to touch any object with the fear of seeing something she wasn’t supposed to see.

As night fell by, candles were lit in the mansion to shed light on the darkness but it wasn’t enough. The flames wavered when the current of the wind passed by strongly, enough to make its way inside the deep dark corners of the mansion. Walking by one of the passage she heard the cawing of the birds, not one but many that were perched on the leafless trees. She wondered what had attracted their attention to sit there now.

Sleep was hard to come by but it finally settled in with her eyes turning heavy when she went to sleep.

”Good morning, Vivian,” greeted Lord Nicholas in the morning when she arrived at the dining room for breakfast, ”Did you sleep well?”

”Good morning, Lord Nicholas,” Vivian gave him a small bow before taking a seat at the table, ”I did, thank you for asking. How about you?”

”I don’t sleep that much. Sleep is hard to come by for a vampire like me,” he commented, picking up the butter and bread, ”Allow me,” he placed the buttered bread on her empty plate.

”Everyone is entitled to sleep, milord until there’s something weighing in their mind,” she responded back to see him smile.

”If you say things like that to me, I might think you’re aiming for me, Ms Vivian. I don’t think Leonard would be happy about it,” his eyes twinkled with mischief which got Vivian to shut up and have the rest of her breakfast in silence.

It was a fact that vampires slept like humans maybe not much but enough to have rest. Lord Nicholas had got her to stop talking about it and it made her think if there was something really weighing on his mind that he didn’t want to talk about. Her eyes that were strained on her plate slowly moved to look at the Lord to see him busy with another bread until he felt her gaze to give her a smile.

Looking down on her bread, she took a bite from it, ”Do you have a library in the mansion? I didn’t find one yesterday,” she said dabbing the corner of her mouth for possible butter that might have got on. The Lord who was accustomed to hiding his emotions behind the perfect mask he had built didn’t show his surprise from knowing the girl knew how to read. Most of the woman he had come across never took an interest in reading or writing, not the maids at least.

”We do. Maybe once, we’re done with breakfast I could lead you there. What do you prefer to read?”

”Stories..?” she replied unsurely and he nodded.

”I am not sure if we have one but let’s go there and check,” Lord Nicholas didn’t bother to eat anything but he made sure to drink the glass that his butler had specially prepared for him.

Unfortunately for Vivian, there were no story books that were stacked in the small library where she stood outside as Lord Nicholas had told her to wait outside. The small narrow library was dark, if possible the darkest room in the mansion. Instead, the Lord had picked a book which she made her wish she hadn’t asked for.

”I think I am fine, milord...” she said looking down at the dusty old book which was in regards to passing the council exam.

”Oh, it will be fun,” he sat down at the table with her, ”It’s a memory game. Let’s pick the first few chapters. If you remember and answer it correctly I will fulfil a wish of yours. You have my word for it.”

”I don’t think I have any wish at the moment,” she answered frankly. There was nothing that she wished for not the kind at least which could bring people back to life.

”Are you sure?” the lord tilted his head, ”Maybe something in the future when I might have to spare your life,” she felt her heart fall at what he said out of the blue. She stared at him and he stared back, his lips still holding the small smile before he laughed, ”I was joking. Come let’s start with the first preface now.”

And so began Vivian reading the titles of the various edicts with the description on what was to be done and when it was implemented. There were more than two hundred of them, each varying from the other holding different significance. Lord Nicholas had the tendency to ask questions every time she finished a few pages and he made sure that the answer was always right. It was as if the man had written the book himself!

But Vivian had a good memory and she answered most of them. Three hours passed away like that and by the end of the hour, she had acquired a light headache. Excusing herself, she went back to the room to lay down on the bed. She decided not to leave the room for the remainder of the day except for dinner.

Another day passed by until the third night fell on the mansion with Vivian’s stay at the Rune’s mansion. Thunderstruck on the grounds loudly, the rain poured heavier than usual, raindrops being carried by the wind due to which all the windows had been closed to avoid rainwater coming inside. Some of the candles had been blown out due to the windy and rainy weather. Vivian who had borrowed a lantern from the butler walked through the corridors, holding it up and high to lead the way.

She was on her way when she felt something snap behind her. A strange noise of rustling that stopped coming from behind her when her footsteps halted to a stop. Turning around quickly she noticed there was nothing out of place. Pressing her lips against each other, her eyes scanned the hall until the far end when a loud thunder struck making her jump. She sighed to herself. The weather seemed to be odd than the rest of the days. Too many flashes of lightning and thunders that came down from the sky.

Feeling as if she was only imagining things, Vivian turned in the direction to head to the room when she felt something move from the corner of her eyes. It made her heart leap in her chest yet she stood there still like a statue that had been frozen.

There was something in the dark and she was sure of it because of the soft crackling like the sound that came from it. If she walked two steps close she would find out if someone in the mansion was joking with her, but she stayed there unmovingly. It felt like hours passed by with her holding the lantern which faced the other side.

Her heart rate quickened, gulping, instead of using the hand to get the lantern to drive the darkness away, Vivian moved her free hand to reach towards the dark corner. Her fingers could feel the air around it, the closer she got the colder it felt.

And then it happened. Memories that weren’t her’s flooding through her mind until she heard someone call,

”Vivian?” It was Lord Nicholas and she looked at him in horror.

She took a step back with her eyes wide which was filled with fear at the sight of the man who now stood in front of her.

Lord Nicholas stared at her, lightning striking again as it lit the corridors before turning dark.

”My...” he spoke, his words were calm like before except for the smile that didn’t look kind, ”Seems like you have discovered something you shouldn’t have. What shall we do, dear?”

At the same time, she saw the shadow she had touched in the darkness move towards him making her heart almost stop. An unknown creature in a hood she had never seen or heard of except for the flashes that had appeared minutes ago came to stand tall behind Lord Nicholas.

~ ~ ~

Don’t forget to use your power stones on the book!