Bambi and the Duke

After Lord Nicholas, Leonard and Vivian had left the mansion, leaving alone the servants behind with the housekeeper as usual. The maid named Mary who had been serving the food before Lord Nicholas had arrived now stared at the gates as the carriage had just exited the tall and wide gates of the Carmichael’s mansion.

Like the rest of the maids, she had been eagerly curious with the way the previous maid had turned to a lady. A lady of high standing which a servant like her or any other could only dream of.

A servants life was something similar to stagnant water which would not move to another source and would only evaporate in time with no mark of importance. The society they lived in wasn’t an easy one. It belonged to the higher society who called them as elites which were majorly comprised of pureblooded vampires and rich humans. A servant had no value, and only some had the opportunity to turn to a housekeeper or butler and the families usually picked the vampires as they would be able to serve the families for a long duration unless there was another reason.

Mrs. Carmichael who looked after the matters of the mansion was a woman who strangely favored the humans and was compassionate enough to leave the housework to Martha who was a human.

Hearing someone clear the throat behind her, she swirled around to widen her eyes at the half-vampire who stood with a dire look of expression on his face, looking not one bit pleased with her wasting her time.

”Is there something very interesting that you see happening out there?” he asked her with a dull voice.

Having gotten used to the new housekeeper, in these few months she had come to know not to laugh or speak in front of the man. Even sneezing in front of him seemed to get on his nerves due to which the people who before used to slack now worked diligently as if their life depended on it.

After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael, the lives of the servants had changed. The little compassion that was shown was stolen away because of the housekeeper named Paul who had made their lives as difficult as the other servants who served in the other pureblooded families.

There were some who wanted to leave after the gore that took place with one of the maids when she had requested to leave the mansion but that hadn’t ended well. The Lord had killed her as an example of what could happen if anyone showed defiance and this had inflicted fear. Some were forced to work in the mansion, some had no other choice but to work so that they could feed their family while the rest had nowhere else to go.

At the housekeeper’s sharp glare the maid shook her head.

”Go gather another maid and come up to the guest room. We need to move Lady Vivian’s belongings,” move? thought the maid but didn’t stay there long to avoid another stern gaze from the man.

The maid going down found another maid named Movari who spoke very less. Though she wasn’t too fond of the other girl, she seemed to be the only available person who stood idly in the kitchen.

Like the other servants in the mansion, Movari wasn’t an enthusiast when it came to things happening around in the mansion. Especially not the gossips that took place behind the walls and in the corners of the mansion corridors where they felt they were safe from prying ears of the housekeeper.

Her friend Hana who had been working with her for four years had disappeared. One night she had spoken to her and the next morning, she had gotten into trouble with the housekeeper after which she never saw Hana again. Hana and the current Lady, that was Vivian had never been on friendly terms, always having friction between them. At that thought, she wondered if the former maid ha tattled tailed on Hana due to which her friend was no more here. It had been no secret that when the Duke had returned back home, he had been around Vivian more than anyone else.

The girl, Vivian had grown up here in this very mansion, she had seen her spend time with their master as if they were lovers. Though not everyone dared to point it out, whispers always went around behind their back. She herself had seen how either she or the Duke would go to each other’s room at night. If the word about what they did in the mansion was to leak out, it would be one of the most scandalous news in the entire of Bonelake. And another secret which no one uttered was that most of them knew Hana had been sent out to be punished for her behavior.

”Ahem,” Mary cleared her throat to see Movari look up with her droopy eyes at her, ”The housekeeper wants you to come up to the guestroom. There needs to be shifting.”

Movari who had been leaning against the wall of the kitchen, stood up to start walking making Mary sigh. Even servants threw her attitude as if the servants had their own subdivision. Catching up with the girl, Mary went up the stairs to meet Jan at Vivian’s room.

When the maids arrived, Jan spoke, ”Pick up all the clothes from the closet and bring them to the Master Leonard’s room,” Mary’s eyes widened and before she could stop the words spilled out of her mouth, ”To place in Master Leonard’s room?” her mouth was agape.

”Have you turned deaf or did I not speak clearly?” the housekeeper asked her to have her bow in apology, ”Get to work. We need to get it done before they arrive back,” when Leonard was leaving the mansion to the Rune mansion along with Vivian and Lord Nicholas, he had asked Jan to move everything from the guest room Vivian had been using to his room.

When Jan left to go to the Duke’s room, leaving them to assort the clothes from the drawers and cupboard, Mary turned to look at the door with no sight of the vampire she turned to face Movari, ”What happened?” she whispered in a hushed tone, ”Why is she being moved to the Duke’s room?” she asked in a tone of disbelief.

The other maid who usually didn’t bother with the rumors of the mansion for once seemed taken aback herself with the development. It must have been around two months since Vivian had been turned to the status of a lady who had turned to the envy of every maid working in the mansion. Maids like her only dreamed of it, looking at the other ladies and letting their dreams slide down as they meant nothing in this world of the high aristocratic society.

”Who knows,” Movari responded, keeping her speech small and this time not because she wasn’t interested in it but because she didn’t want to fall into trouble like the other maids who didn’t follow the golden rule of not gossiping about the owners of the mansion.

”Do you think they did it?” Mary probed with curious eyes, ”After all they spend time in each other’s room. They must have done it and now the Duke can’t help himself. Lucky she is,” she coughed when she heard footsteps approach.

Taking Vivian’s clothes, they started placing it in Master Leonard’s room where the housekeeper had space by cleaning one of the empty cupboards which weren’t used. Once everything was moved, the maids were sent back and Mary being the kind of person who spread out the news with matters unable to be kept quiet let the others know that had got the servants talking.

Two servants who were in the shed out of the mansion where they could speak freely without having to worry about the housekeeper, one of the maid spoke as she gave a wash to the horse that had been tied to the pole, ”I wish I knew the Duke since I was a child.”

”Don’t even tell me. I have the same thoughts about it. I heard there were new clothes that had been brought by master for her. Her stars must be very fortunate,” another maid commented, standing with one hand on her hip with a look of astonishment, ”This girl sure is something.”

The male servant who was the one to look after the horses heard the two girls speak and came around to put his own thoughts, ”No need to be jealous, Patricia. I am here if you need me,” he sent a wink at the girl who envied the Lady’s stars.

”But don’t you think he’s too wrapped around her finger? What do you think she must have done?” ignoring the man the maid named Patricia turned to her fellow female maid, ”The Duke doesn’t even spare a look at any other female. I heard that this one day where Hana had bent down more than necessary to show her bosom but he hadn’t even given her a look.”

The man interrupted her, ”Vivian isn’t a bad looker. Didn’t you girls say that Mr. Wells was eyeing her last time?”

”Keep this to yourself,” the other maid came close while looking around to make sure no one was there apart from them to speak, ”Two weeks ago I saw her speaking to herself as usual but this time it felt different. As if she were a witch. She isn’t a bad looker but she isn’t beautiful. Lady Shirley is so much more beautiful with a good social standing.”

”Are you saying she is a witch?” the maid named Patrica asked.

”That’s horseshit,” the man laughed at the ridiculousness of these two maids. The woman who had implied Vivian to be inhuman looked at the man with a serious face, she said, ”I am not lying. I saw it with my own two eyes the way she held this box and then started speaking as if she were possessed. What if the person who was responsible for the deaths that took place here wasn’t Paul but her fault?”

Patricia nodded her head, ”I can’t believe it but it might be possible. How else would she be able to reach that level of status in such a short span? Master Leonard wasn’t here for a few years. Mrs. Carmichael was nice to us but being nice and letting their only son get with a human is another thing,” the male servant who had been standing amongst them took it into consideration as if it were and could be true.

The servants looked at each other’s face, wondering to themselves if they had acquired a witch in the house.

One word followed another that along with Vivian who would be sleeping in the same room as Duke Leonard, the speculation of her being a witch who was controlling and killing the people went around by the maids.

Post noon, the housekeeper had finished taking a walk around the mansion to inspect if everything was according to the accordance of the mansion. Walking through one of the passageways where no one walked much now as the wing was almost closed to the guests with the older family items being stored. Instead of having an attic the Carmichael’s had built rooms to keep their ancestral objects and pictures that couldn’t fit in to be placed outside in display.

As he walked past the doors, he stopped and stood there, as if he heard someone speak but there was no one in there speaking. He stood there with his face slightly turned to look at the window which was built from inside. It was as if he was training his ear to pick up something. With no except him and the other servants, the mansion was quiet and deserted.

Suddenly he took a step forward and leaned in to observe the glass. Looking close at the window where the curtains were closed from the inside his eyes narrowed before he lifted his hand to swipe the surface of the glass with his index finger.

There stood the minute particles of dust that was on his finger which he had picked from the glass. He had ordered the maid responsible in cleaning this part of the floor yet it seemed that she had only neglected her duties. Standing straight, his feet made down and about looking for the irresponsible maid. Not finding her in the mansion, he remembered seeing her in the garden and with that he went out to see the girl humming to herself and cutting out the weeds that had grown in midst of the plants.

Just when she turned, she jumped back as if she had seen a ghost with the water flask falling on one of the delicate plants which he had only planted.

”I am sorry!” the maid squeaked and took the water flask in her hand. Looking at him in terror.

Anger bubbled up on his passive face which he tried to simmer down. Most of the maids in this mansion were a bunch of idiots with an empty head. Vivian was much better but unfortunately for him, he couldn’t give her any work as she had been turned to a lady now. And some of the maid’s had gone and complained about how terrified they were to work under him. And though the Duke hated the humans, he wanted peace and quiet here which wouldn’t indirectly make his woman uncomfortable due to the heavy atmosphere.

The more the housekeeper continued with his internal thoughts, the more he stared at the maid in front of him who shook with nervousness. Jan’s eyes moved from the plant that had been destroyed back to the maid, ”Follow me,” he said, turning his back and walking back inside the mansion.

The maid had to be quick to follow him so that she wouldn’t be scolded for her slowness and inability to catch up. Hurrying she followed him.

He took her to the wing of storage, walking up to the door and windows where he had previously been, ”What is this?” he asked her. The maid gave him a perplexed look. He ran his finger in the corner of the window an showed her the dust she had forgotten to remove.

”Do you want to die?” he towered over her small frame to have the girl faint and fall on the ground at his scary demeanor.