Bambi and the Duke

After breakfast, Leonard walked across the corridors and the hallway when he caught sight of his uncle Sullivan who was reading a parchment. Hearing the young boy's footsteps, the man looked up with a smile.

"Where are your cousins?" the man asked.

"They are getting ready. Won't you be coming with us?" Leonard asked seeing his uncle begin to roll the parchment.

"Not today. I have some work and round to do. The west zone cattle have fallen sick and we are figuring out what happened to them. Maybe the next time I will join you," answered, uncle Sullivan.

"Say, uncle, what do you think we should gift Charlotte?"

"Depends on what she likes. Why? What's wrong with the one you just gave?" Leonard was caught by surprise at his uncle's question. He looked at him and then the floor, rain beginning to hit the ground again with the soft buzzing in the air.

"Mother said it was wrong to give the girl as a gift."

"Let me tell you this, Leo. In the human world, it's wrong and that's where your mother came from. Mythweald held a low opinion about it but in the vampire world, it is something you will see which is very normal. You don't have to feel down about it, I am actually quite proud of you," Leonard raised his face to see his uncle smile, "We are vampires, Leo and among all, we are the higher creatures who will thrive for great things in the future," Sullivan patted his shoulders.

Sullivan let his words sink into the boy's mind, seeing the young vampire process what he said before he switched back to their conversation, "Why don't you get the dolls which Charlotte likes to collect? You might find some very good ones at the fair. Have a safe trip," and the man left the mansion when his coachman arrived to tell him that his carriage was ready.

At night, the Carmichael mansion was quieter than the rest of the days in that week. With the three families who had gone to visit Mrs Carmichael's parents, the house was left in the care of the servants. The corridors of the mansion were lit with candles around which were quiet. Vivian in her room, curled in her bed as rain pelted against the windows before sliding down the transparent glass. Being one of the servants who served the family, she had been given similar rooms like the rest of the workers.

There was no fireplace, no warm quilts that she had grown up used to, no parents around anymore to look after her. She was alone and left out cold. Being pushed away forcibly by her own parents, her childlike self-waited for her parents to one day come and get her. She tried to be a good girl, listen to every word which was asked for her to do no matter how scared she felt. Sadly, she waited for something that would never come by. She was a child and that is why she remembered her family today in particular more than the other days. Seeing the motherly love being given to the girl in the morning, she missed her mother. The hand that usually ran over her head during nights all these years had let her go.

Nonetheless, she was a child right now who would be able to forget the hollow that was created to fill it with things that were going to come in the future.

At midnight when the families arrived back at the Carmichael's mansion, the Carmichael's carriage was first to arrive. Leonard was the first one to get out of the carriage, not waiting for the coachman to spread out the large umbrella, he shoes touched the wet ground.

"Leonard!" his mother called out the boy but he didn't wait and instead walked towards his room, "Leo-"

"Let him be," Mr. Carmichael placed a hand on his wife's forearm.

When they got down and got int, Mrs Carmichael spoke softly, "You do know it wasn't his fault. Christopher always does things to get him into trouble."

"That doesn't mean he goes punching as a retaliation. He needs to know how to behave than act on his instinct. Give him some time until morning," her husband then walked in the direction where their room was. Giles loved his son but that didn't mean he would support him with such behavior. He was young and he believed his son could fix his errors before it was too late.

Out of all the grandchildren, Charlotte was the only girl in the family due to which her parents had called her cousins and their family to celebrate the day. Things had gone fine until the time of evening when both Leonard and Christopher who was her paternal cousin's son got into a physical fight. When she inquired, her son had told her that it was Christopher's fault as he wasn't letting go of her parent's dog and had tried pushing it into the fireplace. Christopher's side of the story said he was only playing with the dog and trying to scare it without actually wanting to put it in the fire. Both the boys had received a smack on their cheek for misbehaving by their fathers.

Christopher being older than Leonard by five years, his hits had really got to her boy but her son hadn't stopped and had instead continued to beat him with same ferocity to her horror. As proud as she was for being his mother and holding his ground she didn't know what to do about that uneven temper that laid beneath his sweet appearance. Renae was thankful that her sister's children were a good influence, unlike her cousin's son. Her motherly instincts wanted to go and soothe the bruise that had formed on his face yet she didn't follow her son. She knew it was hard for him but as her husband said, he had to learn how to control it.