Bambi and the Duke

Vivian saw Lord Alexander’s hand which was stretched in front of her, looking up at him and then his hands knowing he wanted to confirm if what she claimed was to be true or not. Placing the gloves to rest on her lap which was still a little wet, she wiped her hands on her black gown and finally took hold of his hand which didn’t take long for her to pick one of his memory of pain.

With her eyes closed, she felt herself transport, her vision which had been dark filling up with colour as the memory of Lord Alexander from his past turned vivid.

She stood in a cemetery, surrounded by a lot of tombstones which were compactly put next to each other with not much space for the other. It was the time of midnight as the moon was up in the sky which had no stars to twinkle.

She turned around, wearing the Winter ball’s gown as she tried to see and understand where she was but she had never been to this side of where she was. Guessing it was one of the towns in Valeria, she wondered what was this memory about.

Having the ability to pick up the sad, dullest and painful ones out of a whole lot of emotions she wondered what she was supposed to look for. Starting to walk, she heard the hoots of the owls that had perched themselves in the trees that surrounded the cemetery and the crickets that chirped. Suddenly when a man walked past her from behind, she felt her heart leap for a moment making her clutch her chest.

The man wore an old cap under the long black and grey hair which went to touch his shoulder at the back. With an old patchy coat to protect him from cold, she saw the old man make rounds around the cemetery before leaving it. It must have been a local cemetery she was at, thought Vivian to herself as she read a name on the nearest grave to her, ’Rachel Rein, beloved daughter and sister. Date: 1712-1716’. How unfortunate she thought that a girl lived for only for four years before perishing from these lands.

The memories were very much similar to the time of dreams. Though she would have spent here hours, it would have been only a few minutes. Seeing the man who had come to put around go, she turned her head when she came to see something in the dark rustle and then jumped a black cat from the bush.

The cat walked around the graves, moving past one after another until it came to stand in front of her legs to look up to her which made her heart thud in her chest. C-could it see her? For a second or two, she had felt the air slip out of her body as it continued to look at her. This cat looked very much similar to the cat she had come to see in the hall when she was dancing on the floor.

Its eyes trained on hers, it mewed when she heard another rustle this time where a little boy came out with a shovel in his hand. His eyes were dark red in colour, his eyes holding great melancholy which seemed like it would last for another decade. Vivian had to move away from where she stood when the boy came too close and as if sensing something he looked around, waiting and watching if someone was there but there was no one in sight. This boy here was none other than Lord Alexander and his pet cat.

And this particular reaction from the cat as well as the boy made her wonder if she was not just visiting memories but the past of people, which scared and excited her at the same time. Wondering if she should test it out, she bent down when the boy was reading the names of the grave while touching the headstone around.

Her hand went to pat the cat but before she could get too close the cat let out a light gurgled growl that had her retract her hand to her side quickly. The boy as if finding out something touched the stone which she had previously read, running his hand across it fervently. In the beginning, Vivian was confused to see the boy behave like that.

”What are you doing?” she whispered when he stood up and began to remove the mud around it. Worry began to form on her forehead if someone were to catch him digging up a grave he would be scolded and questioned about his motives. Once the dead was buried it was often told by the locals to not bring it out again and let them rest as it was considered to be an ill omen. The boy didn’t seem worried about being stopped by anyone but the same couldn’t be told for Vivian. Every one in a while she would look left and right, back and front to see him remove the mud until a small box was found.

Piqued by what it was as a body was always put in a coffin and had bones in it, she took a closer look but she couldn’t guess what it held. The cat in the meantime stood next to its master waiting for him to fill up the entire grave he had dug back to how it was. He took the box along with him, carrying it carefully.

Vivian followed him. Following a good distance until she came upon the mansion where he entered the gates and went straight to the garden. On her way to following him, she saw the butler named Martin appear to take the shovel from the boy.

”Would you like me to help you, master Alexander?” the butler asked.

”No,” the little boy with black hair and red eyes, cracked the box where a bunch of black dust was settled inside it. Thankfully the night wasn’t windy or it would have swept out the contents inside the box but the heavens didn’t want it. At least that is how it looked.

Getting down on his knees where there was a barren patch which had not been occupied with any other plant, the boy dug out the ground and poured the black dusty powder in there, placing a plant on top of it which was a single-stemmed blue rose.

The boy turned to look at the butler who said, ”It looks fine, milord. I am sure it will grow into a beautiful shrub in time just like your mother,” the butler offered his condolence.

The boy hardly had any words to offer, picking up his cat in his arms, he stood up staring at the plant, ”Yes,” he replied.

Was that his mother’s ashes? Vivian asked herself but before she could give in a lot of thought the scene began to dissolve and melt in front of her eyes bringing in darkness for her to open her eyes to see Lord Alexander staring at her. There was a pinch of curiosity that lingered in his dark red eyes, waiting for her to tell what she had seen.

”That was almost five minutes, Vivian,” Lord Nicholas commented who had in midst of her ’seeing’ had stood up to take one round in the room.

Vivian who was still reeling in with what she saw, let go of his hand took it back to place it on her hand where the gloves were. She was glad that the man in front of her didn’t hurry to give him the details and instead gave her time to speak.

When her lips parted, she said, ”Both of you lords are very much similar to each other. You have walked a parallel path but are different at the same time. Black and white like they say.”

”Ah, so you have heard?” asked Nicholas with a light tone to ease the tension, ”They say Lord Alexander is the black prince and I am the white prince, isn’t that nice?”

”The local folks have got it wrong,” Leonard commented as it wasn’t Lord Alexander who was the black prince but Lord Nicholas if only the public knew what and how Lord Nicholas was.

Lord Alexander asked her, ”What did you see?”. Vivian wasn’t sure how to go about it. She had seen Nicholas’ side of the story and now that she had seen part of Lord Alexander’s past she didn’t know what to make of it. Were all the Lord holding something dark that made them to Lords now? She hadn’t shared their secrets. She must have spoken surficial but not explaining every little thing she had seen and felt to Leonard when it came to Lord Nicholas.

Trying to find the best way to put it across, she said, ”You have a beautiful garden, milord. Some of the plants have been nourished well, and some, they have rebirthed,” it didn’t take the Valerian Lord more than a second to guess what she said.

”Death has its own beauty,” he answered, his eyes still curious he stood up and went back to sit in his seat, ”I am guessing that you haven’t been able to find the culprit as you came to ask me for the guest list. What did you see when you touched the switcher?”

”The switcher is working along with a black witch. The one who has been responsible for the mass death in the villages and also for the corruption of the hearts I believe. I couldn’t get much but that he was walking in the council corridors and the witch she seemed extremely angry about something,” Vivian’s brows drew together in deep concentration as she tried to recollect the quick flashes, ”It is hard to read the switcher. The last time when he used the box I couldn’t get anything much as everything was a blur.”

”Vivi, do you know why the witch might have been angry?” at Leonard’s question Vivian shook her headfirst but then said, ”I think it had something to do with the potions. The potion bottles you showed me.”

”She must have found out that I took it from the people of Mythweald and that is why the pair decided to meet in the dead land so that the switcher could take the last possible bottle from her,” Vivian nodded her head as Leo tried to decipher her thought. After spending a lot of time with the box she had found in the dead land where the impersonated Sister Isabelle had been holding the box in her hand, Vivian had found out that the box held the last potion which the black witch had given to make good use of it.

Lord Nicholas, who had picked a book from the table, placed it down back and said, ”Why do you think the switcher was here? Doesn’t he have people to kill for the mass suicide and-”

”Wait!” Vivian felt her blood drain. Turning towards Lord Alexander, she said, ”Please ask the guests to consume nothing further that what they have.” Lord Alexander was on his feet and he dashed out of the room with Lord Nicholas hot on the trail.

What if the reason the switcher had come here was to corrupt hearts? Didn’t it make sense though? There were a lot more of pureblooded vampires who have gathered here than any time in the year. It was the easiest target.

Seeing Leonard stand up, she asked, ”Where are you going?”

”I will be taking a quick look outside,” Leonard wanted to check if there were markings around the mansion which made sense as a lot of death could channel enough negative energy due to the mass sacrifice to achieve whatever the black witch was trying to do.

”I will come with you,” Vivian decided and went out with Leonard to make a round or two around the mansion while searching for the markings. Finding none, they got back in time to find a vampire who was dead and was being taken into the carriage. The vampire’s eyes had turned completely black with no trace of red in it. Were they late? Had there been more victims to it? Thinking about it frantically she saw Lord Alexander speaking to some of the councilmen who had come to visit. In that time, she tried to look at each and every face of the person.

Who was it? she asked herself while glancing one after to see who the switcher might be. It was highly unlikely that the person would leave right after the party as it would bring out suspicion. Which would mean that the switcher was still here amongst them but how was anyone supposed to find out? If it was possible the person would have taken another impersonation to derail them.

Vivian and Leonard stayed back as the guests began to disperse at the end where they were provided with freshly made food in the end. The previous food, as well as the drinks, were kept aside by not being touched so that they could serve the guests on time. Not many were aware of what had happened and they just came to believe the man must have gone insane and ignored the little mishap.

By the time the mansion was empty Vivian had begun to fall asleep, her eyes drowsing down to droop as she sat on one of the window sills in the study room where her head rested on the pillow which Leonard had used to keep it there so that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

”Are you sure the reports are right that the plant can’t be grown?” asked Lord Alexander to Leonard standing on the other side of the room, ”What if she’s placed the plant elsewhere?”

”Spitgrass can’t handle all weather conditions. They were available only there and now that they are burnt to the ends of the roots, the black witch won’t be able to produce another potion until she has a plant which I doubt with the anger Vivian spoke of,” explained Leonard, his eyes glancing to look at Vivian who was sound asleep with his coat on her.

”It is good news then. What she has, it is a wonderful ability and it will take her to places,” but Lord Alexander didn’t stop there, ”But be careful. With every gift comes a curse.”