Bambi and the Duke

Hearing the click sound of the door, Vivian was left in a room full of papers and files which laid on the desk. The place where Leo had sat in seemed to be his usual seat as the table was clean with the papers being stacked in a symmetrical order. But when she looked the rest of it, it appeared as if they were just thrown randomly while being pulled due to which the desk Hueren had been sitting in looked as if it would fall anytime now.

Taking in a deep breath she sighed before she started to get the papers stacked in the right manner which would be easy to pull and put back. Once it was done, she decided to get the other stack of files sorted which Leonard had asked her to read.

Knowing him, she knew he held high expectations for her and she didn’t want to disappoint but the way untidiness of the room was something she couldn’t overlook. It took her less than fifteen minutes to get it done and she sat down on the chair for her to get up suddenly when the door opened for the older councilman to step inside the room.

Lionel gave her look, ”Why are you sitting there idle? Have you not been given any work?” he asked her as his eyes went to scan the difference in the room.

”I have been asked to read the files here,” he gave her a curt nod. Going to a desk which she hadn’t touched she heard him say,

”You didn’t touch my desk. Is it filled with termites that you didn’t?” he turned to ask before looking forward to searching something he had come to the room for. Vivian wasn’t sure if he was asking out of disappointment or out of appreciation for not laying her hands on his desk. With the board name which laid on the top to read his name, she had decided to let go of it not knowing what the man would say if he got to know she had touched his belongings but now she didn’t know.

”Help me look for this parchment. The damn guard had to remind about it now right before the jury decides to finalize the term,” he muttered under his breath, ”It is a parchment which has a red seal on it. One of the council. I must have placed it somewhere here,” he said removing file after file.

Vivian didn’t mind helping him. Starting to look for the file which he had mentioned, she moved the files. Maybe he did want his desk to be cleaned like the rest she had done and maybe if the men here had learned something about being tidy there wouldn’t be so much hassle in finding a file. To think that a higher councilman would keep his desk in such state, she wondered what else she was going to find out in this esteemed place which people literally wouldn’t mind killing others to get a position here.

It was understandable now as the councilors provided the examinees who passed out with land and other good credibility depending on which level they would be moving forward to.

She could have found the file using her hands but pulling out her gloves in front of him, she didn’t know if it would be right. It took a few more minutes before she pulled a file that was stuck in between two others, ”Is this the one?” she asked him.

”Finally. Yes, thank you for it. You can continue with your work now,” and he waltzed out of the room.

”No problem,” she whispered to no one in the room. The room was sufficient enough to hold ten people but there were only five desks, four desks which were allotted to the team and the other one which was piled up with files. With little windows on the wall where one could see the light pass through.

By the time Hueren came back after an hour, the room was different from how he had left. His desk looked clean so did the others. His eyes then went to fall upon the woman who had fallen asleep with her head against the surface of the desk.

How brave was she, he thought to himself, to fall asleep in the room in the Duke’s chair when his senior had specifically asked her to read the files. Reading the file would be the most boring job but it was where one could start to look at what they were working on to get a fair idea on what was going on. She looked to be in peace as she slept soundly with her arms to support her head from the hardwood.

Looking around the room reminded him of the story of snow white and the seven dwarfs which were lore in the human world. Lady Vivian was the snow-white but there were only four dwarfs here. Hearing the approaching footsteps outside, he quickly jumped into his seat, pulling out a book from his table to read when the door opened with Leonard being followed by Dutan who was speaking about the taxation.

”...I asked them about it but they have been denying about it,” Dutan said entering the room.

”Get the magistrate in the meeting. He will have the record which has gone missing on who didn’t give the monthly record-” finding Vivian sleeping on his desk with her eyes closed and breathing even, he paused before quietening his voice, ”Ask him to meet me. I will have a talk with him.”

Walking to where Vivian was, his eyes continued to stare down at her as the other two councilmen waited to see what their senior was going to do. Leonard usually didn’t mind letting his men slack once in a while but when a job was given, especially to a newbie, the man was intolerable to it. But they had already expected a different reaction, the lady was his wife.

Leonard removed the coat he had been wearing and put it around her shoulder so that she wouldn’t feel cold as the council chambers were built underground. When he turned around he came to see two dumbfounded expressions on his two juniors.

”What?” he asked in a bored tone, ”Heuren,” the Duke called for the human to lean forward to ask what had happened. Sure he was trying to court his wife and had been standing near her a few moments ago but that didn’t mean it would result in death, would it?

”Yes, Duke Leonard,” at Heuren’s reply, Dutan wondered if Heuren had committed a mistake to which he was addressing their senior with the acquired status.

”Are you learning to be a lizard?” the seriousness in his voice made the man blink twice, ”Why are you holding your book the other way round,” asked Leonard. The human looked down at his hands where he was holding the book upside down which he had picked from the table in a hurry after hearing the sound of footsteps.

Tilting around the book, Hueren bought his book up so that he could hide behind it.

Leonard went and sat in the seat of Lionel. Heuren was hiding behind his book while Dutan was still digesting the fact that the Duke had married and not a word about it had come out in the society. It must have been a quiet wedding he thought looking at the man and then the sleeping woman who had his senior’s coat around her.

All this time the man never entertained a woman, he would speak to them if they were to approach him out of politeness but never had the man tried to humor a woman in the eyes of the council which was why the ordeal of him married felt odd now. Having met the Lady already, the woman was someone to look up to. Not only had she passed through the exam but also had managed to capture the Duke’s heart, what an incredible woman thought Dutan to himself.

When Vivian woke up, the room was back to being empty as the men had to run errands and had to discuss the treaties that were taking place in the different parts of the town in the name of peace. In the meantime, she made an effort to look up at the files which she had been asked to read. Apparently, the situation was so that until and unless she didn’t understand the case she wouldn’t be allowed to do groundwork and would instead stay here working with the documents that needed to be sealed along with the little minute work which every department of the council was to take part in, which would often go to the gamma of a team.

There were two cases which Leonard and his team were working on- one which was the switchers that had been handed over by the other men of the council as it wasn’t solvable by them. The second one was the deaths that often took place near or around the village. The death was by humans, vampires, and the black witches.

Picking up another file which had a line of parchments put inside it, she picked one and started to read the shabby handwriting. By the time of the evening, Vivian stood next to Leonard waiting for the carriage. Though they hadn’t uttered a word about themselves, the word was quick to pass on on how the Duke was looking after his junior female in his team.

”Duke Leonard!” a young man called from a far distance, his hand raised wanting him to stop him from getting on the carriage, ”Head council Rueben was looking for you. He said he needs to go over the reports which were filed this noon.”

But Leonard wasn’t in the mood to stay in the council and wanted to head home, ”Tell him I am going home,” the young man gave him a troubled look.

”Please, Duke Carmichael,” the man pleaded, ”It shouldn’t take more than five to ten minutes.”

”And how do you know that?” Leonard cocked his head, ”If you are aware why not look at the reports yourself,” seeing the Duke turn towards the carriage door, the man replied,

”I was only estimating that it might. Pardon me,” the young man bowed his head, not raising it and staying that way until Leonard finally spoke.

”Fine. Tell him I will be there,” the man’s shoulder realized, nodding his head he went back in the way he had come, ”Will you be alright here?” he asked not able to let go of his old habit of worrying about her.

”I will be fine,” she gave him an assuring smile to see him walk away from her and the carriage.

She stood there waiting for him wondering how long it would take for him to return when she heard a rustle behind her. Turning behind her eyes roamed across the woods to see nothing there. Looking up at the trees, her eyes caught a nest which had been built above her. Taking a step back she tried to have a better look before she felt something move at the corner of her eyes. Her neck moved left to right to scan the tall lean trees where the ground was covered with the golden dried fallen leaves.

”I will be taking a little walk,” Vivian informed the coachman for him to bow. Taking herself into the woody forest which surrounded the council building, she stepped on the grounds of the dried leaves that had withered and fallen down.

Though the building was set around the forest which held more than three hundred people inside, there was hardly any who could be found outside here. Somewhere at the far corner, she could see the ragged cloth that flew behind a tree. The last time she had met Everest here and she wondered what he was doing here today.

Her boots padded on the ground, approaching the ghoul which stood mightly in front of a tree.

Coming closer did she realize that the ghoul wasn’t alone but with its hand wrapped around a woman’s neck which she had failed to notice in the beginning.