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Friday mornings were always the busiest. Jack milked the cow and went to deliver the milk to his aunt’s house and get the cart while Mira stocked up fodder for the animals in the barn and refilled the rabbit hutch. She took a quick bath and went inside after locking all the doors of the barn and letting the dogs who had grown into a considerable size out to roam the entire space. She quickly prepared and packed their breakfast in a basket. Jack arrived as she wheeled the first stand out of the work room. Jack came up to help her when she pushed him towards the kitchen “I will wheel this one. Get the two from the outer shed.” “Um” Jack quickly bought the two and loaded them before helping Mira with the rest. Mira left the stands and the basket with Jack to load while she went and locked the outer shed and the kitchen door. Mira fed Jack as their usual norm when they rode out to the city. They were neither late nor arrived when they arrived at Almera’s shop. Jack kissed his wife goodb
“Mira, this week I won’t give you any of my work.” Almera pursed her lips that were curling up as she saw Mira’s grumbling face. “This week, I want you do these four dresses for me.” Almera took out four clothes which were black, blue, pink and a beige color. “This one is for Thomas’s mother.” She pointed at the beige one “She really liked the work you did last time on that off-white dress.” “Um” “The black is one of the prominent ladies at court. She wants everyone to know she is mourning her husband” Almera pursed her lips in ridicule “in style.” “Her orders were that black should be the next ‘it’ in court.” Almera giggled before telling Mira how much the lady hated her late husband who had at least 10 mistresses. “Then it truly must be a showstopper.” Mira didn’t have any sympathy for cheaters. Almera laughed. “The other two are casual wears… do what you like.” Mira nodded and stood up “I will go to your brother’s store and be back.” “You’re here.” Aldrin almost stood up in
Mira told him about the order for tomorrow. They decided to put their plan for second hutch into action. They decided to go to the woods and gather the stems and wood required first and then set for hunting towards dusk. They returned home and placed the gold sheets as always 2 each on either pile or locked everything away before heading into the woods. They came back with enough stems and woods to work for the time being. Jack made the frame just like last time for Mira to weave before starting on the framework for the hutch when the bell chimed. “I will get it.” Jack walked to the side door and opened it to see Martin and Oden waiting near the side door. “Come… come...” Jack opened the door wider for them to enter before locking it. “Did you just come?” Oden asked curiously as they walked to the area by the hutch where Mira was weaving. “Nope” “So, were you purposefully hiding?” “Huh?” “Mira’s friends were here … they ran the bell and waited a long time before heading back.”
The man went out with the basket but came back in a few mins. Jack and Mira were surprised when the bell chimed again. They even more surprised to see the man standing with a wide grin. “May I come in?” The man scratched his head “I forgot to ask something.” “Um” Mira nodded; Jack knitted his brows as he sized the man. The man entered and stood to the side that was in the cover of the door and gestured for them to close the door. He took out a parchment and scribbled something while he asked loudly “You said that you could supply for a family meal. How many were you thinking when you said that?” “2 to 4” Mira responded although she exchanged doubtful gazes with Jack. “Oh… so it can only be a small family gathering” The man chuckled “My master’s family is quite large you see.” “I will let my master know.” He handed the parchment to Jack before saluting with a chuckle and leaving. Jack opened the parchment “You are being watched.” Mira smiled gratefully at the lad who entered the
“Big brother, it wasn’t Jack’s fault. I decided not to tell anyone.” Mira could see the pain in Oden’s eyes. She didn’t want this to be the reason for rift. They were all Jack had as family. Oden looked at Mira in confusion. “We didn’t want you to be in a difficult position.” Mira pursed her lips and lowered her head “We thought ignorance is bliss. I was wrong. I apologize.” “No need.” Oden waved his hand “But you should tell me if you are in trouble.” “Um” Jack and Mira nodded after being told off. “Son” Matthew prompted again noting that they had conveniently gone off topic. “The official story was that someone had committed murder and escaped from the room they were locked up in.” Oden turned to look at Matthew “But I heard from a reliable source…” Oden corrected himself “from the first master’s daughter that they originally intended to ask for a man for man…” “Are you saying what I think you are saying?” Harry narrowed his eyes. “Um” Oden nodded. “What is it?” Martin asked
Oden and Martin decided not to tell the rest of the family about what they learned today. Their thoughts were simple, they didn’t want to worry mom and dad. Matthew and Harry wholeheartedly supported their decision. Anne- Marie’s mind was still on the little bunny she left behind and did not pay any attention to the chattering of the adults. She leaned on Oden’s shoulders and fell asleep. “Mom, we’re home.” Oden announced as he pushed the door open. John was also home; he just reached a few minutes earlier. “Dad” They called out in unison as they saw John. “How did it go?” “All done” Oden nodded happily. “Why does my little girl look sad?” John ruffled Anne-Marie’s hair as he looked at her depressed face. “Nothing.” Anne-Marie responded flatly. Joan, Emma and Beth came out hearing the noise. Joan was about to make a rude comment along the lines of Mira mistreatment when Martin’s chuckle stopped her- “Dad, our little sister seems to have fallen in love.” Oden laughed as Anne
Mira and Jack woke up the next day filled with energy and fighting spirit to live life to its fullest with the haze in the deepest corner of their hearts dissipated. Mira sat down to work once Jack set off. She changed her routine to cook dinner and leave it in space before starting work so she could work uninterrupted without worrying about dinner. Alina and Jason kept up with their persistence and came close to 1pm. Mira heard the bell ring but decided to ignore it. She was working on Thomas’s mother’s gown today. She chose to embroider the whole gown with pink lily flowers, a pink lily garden in full bloom 4 inches from the hem of the skirt. Each flower full of life with the the petals done in light pink and hot pink and the stalks inside beautifully detailed with tiny yellow beads. Just as she finished the last flower, she heard the door opening. She came out of face with a beautiful smile which soon faded as she saw the faces behind Jack. Jack blinked reassuringly as he walked
Mira’s and Jack’s world went back to tranquility without having Alina and Jason running to their doorstep every day. Mira finished her designs and the gloves for Almera by Wednesday. She did the same designs that she had done while she was waiting for Jack last week with a twist. The cascading flowers extended to the tip of the index finger with pink beads at bulb of each flower. They cleaned the furs today before soaking it following the same method they did previously and left it aside for the next 7 days. The ones they had washed on Monday were conditioned with oil for the last two days and was ready to use. She folded them and left them in the completed pile in her closed cupboard. Mira finished all her morning work and sat pouting with her hand drumming on the slate stand. This was the first time she had nothing to do since she woke up two and half months ago. She didn’t have to sit long before her brain thought of how to get busy. She remembered the silk and organza cloth she ha
Caleb wasn’t far off with his prediction although the healer's arrival had nothing to do with his message. The healer and a hooded man arrived at Southamberston Duchy late evening of the same day.Everyone was resting in their rooms when Harrison announced their arrival to Jack; Jack asked Harrison to clear the hall of everyone and to inform the others as he went down to the lounge area to greet his old friends.“Venerable one…” Jack greeted as he always did, without the airs of his newly found status.The healer narrowed her eyes as looked at Jack; she didn’t have her usual airy, fairy daze but this time, her gaze was sharp, like that of an eagle, before her lips slowly curled up and she knelt on one knee “Esmeralda greets the young marquess.”She had noted the Butler clearing everyone away from this area and the young commander circling with his men, she knew that there were no more prying eyes around them. The only thing she didn’t anticipate was the audience that was coming down t
Mira kept scolding and kicking the man, without showing the slightest hint of stopping or displeasure from touching his already bloodied body; the truth was, she was trembling in anger, her eyes red with rage, barely attentive to notice the state the man was in.Jack was stunned for a minute before he rushed after her and held her back in his embrace as he coaxed her, shamelessly boasting “Wife, I am fine. Look…. Do you think his three-legged skills are enough to harm me?”“Wife, calm down… let Lazarus deal with him.” Jack held her tightly in his embrace; he could feel her trembling in his embrace and his heart ached for her; although no one in the room knew, he knew why that statement triggered her so much. She had told him about her past life memories.Matthew and Harry had a helpless expression while everyone else other than Thomas and Almera had their mouths agape as they saw Mira in action. Thomas didn’t have time to admire Mira’s gallantry; he was busy soothing his wife who was
Thomas and Orseus stepped on their toes as they leaned over their father’s shoulders and read the scroll along with them; tears rolled down Cornelius and Baldwin’s cheeks as they saw the scroll in their sworn brother’s hand and read greedily.Their tears didn’t stop even though they finished reading the letter. The guilt of not being there when their sworn brother needed them the most was eating into their soul; they listlessly handed the scroll to Jack and Mira.“So now we have to find Esmeralda to cure Uncle Jerome.” Orseus pursed his lips. He called out to Jerome as Uncle Jerome smoothly, he had no difficulty as he grew up hearing these two names, Alex and Jerome; to him, they were family, more closer to him than Uncle Alaistair and his sons.“If we have guessed correctly, we don’t have to go anywhere searching for her.” Cornelius shook his head and added with an air of mystery “She is much closer than we think.”“Are you saying that the healer that we go to is, this Esmeralda that
“If only we knew….” Harry sighed regretfully “Then we could have followed that man’s trail and found Alex sooner.”“You think too beautifully... Alex would never lead a trail if this was his contingency plan.” Baldwin sneered before his expression turned serious “But we may have stumbled upon some unexpected luck in finding Alex.”“Did granduncle Zumerong shed some light?” Orseus asked, leaning forward eagerly.“Heh!” Corenlius scoffed “They were kept in even greater darkness than us.”“Then are you talking about the man who lives at Mer waters?” Thomas asked hesitantly; he really didn’t know why his father and godfather were so confident, just because he trained with Jack?“Son, you don’t know.” Cornelius shook his head “Leal can never be separated from Alex; wherever Alex is, he will follow, whether it is in life or death.”“There has never been a more loyal shadow.” Baldwin too sighed regretfully.“Then what are we waiting for?” Almera looked around curiously; Mira leaned forward a
Jack and Mira, along with the rest of their group, dragged their exhausted bodies and reached Southamberston palace at the break of dawn. Without making any noise, they all went to their respective rooms without any fuss. Everyone had a room at Southamberston palace even though they each had cottages specially prepared for them; both Martin and Oden went to the rooms that were prepared for them instead of their cottage.Early morning was unusually noisy with many unfamiliar faces around the breakfast table and yet it was as if no one noticed the familiarity of the unfamiliar faces at the table; the only exception was the three unfamiliar unfriendly faces as they sat through the farce as though they were watching a show and not part of it.Almera and Katherine joined them shortly after breakfast, as noisy as ever with Almera complaining that her husband didn’t love her anymore and that he was in love with his first wife, the estate responsibilities and that she always came second.Firs
Jack and Mira rushed back without stopping; their pace was originally fast, but it became even more rushed after they received John’s message which wasn’t much, just a short line written in a shaky hand ‘Matthew and Harry are back with three visitors’.Don’t misunderstand the shaky hand, it wasn’t fear… It was just John trying to write in his best hand. But unfortunately, it was bound to be misunderstood, due to John’s years of acting, acting timid, which was more believable for his son and nephew, more believable than his daring persona.Thomas had just entered his palace when his page rushed in and announced that he had a note from Southamberston and passed the note. It was the same note that was sent to Jack, written in the same shaky hand, 'Matthew and Harry are back with three visitors’. However, it evoked an entirely different expression from Thomas.Thomas stood up excitedly as he reached for his cloak that he had just hung up; he wrapped it around as he walked and called out to
Back at Southamberston, by late afternoon, a travel weary Matthew and Harry had arrived back at Southamberston with three additional unfamiliar men who were covered from head to toe, leaving only sharp eaglelike eyes.Without Harrison’s calm balancing act, the household was on the verge of being thrown into chaos when Beth walked in, in a hurry, ushered in by one of the maids who was flustered.The chaos resulted from the fact that there were three strangers who looked suspicious; the imaginative minds of the young staff who worked at the castle had worked themselves up with a theory they had concocted.Their theory was that the two elders who had gone to relax were held hostage, and they were unable to escape and were brought back here for the young Duke to save them; but the young duke wasn’t here; even Lazarus and Harrison weren’t here.The young maid who ran over to call Beth and gasped, almost out of breath “Lady…. Lady… Lady Beth, the elders have been held hostages by three sinis
Jack and Mira set off in the afternoon along with their men since there was nothing left for them to do here, at the manor and considering that they had been away from the duchy for almost a week.They first made a stop at the healer’s place as per Jack promise to Cornelius and Baldwin; however, there was still no one at the cottage. Jack quietly took the scroll that he had prepared previously and jumped over the wicket gate. He walked around the cottage a few times and returned as though nothing had happened.This was his agreement with the healer; he never understood why she was so paranoid, but he had always respected her rules in her place. When he returned, he no longer had the scroll in his hand. He had placed it in their usual place, inside one of the potted plants, one that looked just like the many potted plants that were placed in the backyard and yet she would correctly identify the one with message scroll.Out of curiosity, he had watched her once as she walked in through t
Everyone had rested at the manor after their late-night discussion and was up at the break of dawn, filled with vigor and new hope for answers to their decade long search. Somehow, they all had the feeling that they were closer to their quest, closer than they had ever been….After breakfast, everyone dispersed as quietly as they had arrived leaving behind Oden and Martin who were going to follow back with Jack and Mira.Corenlius and Baldwin decided to go by the healer’s cottage once more before heading back; Jack accompanied them while Mira stayed back to sort out and implement the plans she had previously discussed with Jack for their manor.However, both Cornelius and Baldwin were destined to be disappointed; the wicket gate was still locked, and the cottage desolate as ever, without any signs of life. Both Cornelius and Baldwin had a defeated expression as they considered what to do next.“I will come over once we have finished our plans for the manor and check on them.” Jack open