I apologize for the long wait, anonymous readers and my most faithful reader, Kiki. I hope you don't mind that this is a shorter, also more introverted, chapter. Edgar sneaked in. And after the scene played out, it was very difficult to add anything else, so I let the scene stand on its own. Enjoy and review soon.
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~ Kelpie's Trap Part III ~
In another room of the mansion, the current Blue Earl stared at the moonlit sky with dull eyes. In his unblinking gaze, the light of the stars seemed to disappear into a mauve grey mist, extinguished, in the face of his serious demeanor. Half dressed, his shirt had been removed, revealing the careful bandages over his shoulder and across his chest. Older scars grew bold in the candlelight. Ice clinked in his glass of whiskey as he raised it, draining the burning liquid in one gulp. Again, Edgar returned his eyes to the night sky.
Ash and cinder smoke filled his nose, seeming to obscure the moon, along with a more acidic hint he didn't want to place. His eyes narrowed.
A knock and his companion's low voice brought him back. "Edgar-sama, are you awake?"
Tired smile settling over his features, the Blue Earl called back, "I am. Come in." As you already know I am, Raven, Edgar added to himself.
His manservant opened the door with one hand, holding a cup on a tray in his other hand. "I brought some cider, my lord." Noticing the whiskey bottle, he gave it an appraising look. " I don't think spirits help the nightmares as much as you think." He set the tray down and took the bottle, dropping it in the waste bin by the door, before turning his intense stare back on his master. "It caused troubles with Lady Lydia last time as well."
Edgar chuckled. "It did, didn't it? And I never got what name it was that I muttered either." He pulled a curtain over the window, covering the sight of that frigid moon. Another memory pulled at his mind. With a great effort, Edgar pulled his eyes away from the inviting calm darkness of the drapes. Turning his gaze to his manservant and calling as if from a distance, he inquired slowly, "Did you deliver my message to her?"
"Yes, Edgar-sama," Raven said. He paused. After a few minutes, he walked over to his master's bed, pulling back the orderly blankets. Bending over, he retrieved various discarded pillows, fluffing and placing them back on the bed. "She believe you have gone to sleep," he added quietly as he worked.
The Earl lowered his eyes. "Good." Edgar glanced back at the curtains, following the crossings of the linen, then deliberately turned his back on them. "I don't want her to see me like this." He fell to the sofa, brushing damp locks back from his eyes.
Raven set the last pillow back on the bed. "If that is what you wish," he intoned, voice likewise low.
Sighing, Edgar murmured, "It'll pass, Raven. She doesn't need to worry anymore than she already does, and the last time you brought her over, I did do something unforgivable"
Raven glanced up, taking in the lifeless eyes of his kind master, the man who had taken him in and given him a place by his side, stern enough to prevent needless killing from the sprite within him and generous enough to wipe the blood away from what did occur. Those eyes that shared all his pain had begun to shine ever since Lydia had saved his life, something no one else, but someone bound to him, would have done.
Edgar looked up, caught his look, and turned away. "Raven, light the fire."
"Yes, master." Raven passed him and knelt at the fireplace, experience making the lighting easy and quick.
The warm light pushed back the cold beams of the night. Raven stood again. His master's eyes stayed on the fire.
Edgar stared deeply into the flames, once more caught in another time, another night. His eyes turned glassy, deepening in color, the longer his mind fell into that memory.
A cold stainless full moon shone above the tragedy below. Blood stained his hands. From whom, he didn't recall. As the fire burned and the heat rose, flames licking out of the corner of his eyes, the sounds of people faded. He was alone.
He wouldn't die on that night. He wouldn't be allowed to forget.
Raven's voice brought him back.
My sister is no longer here, and you need to keep your health up. If you don't improve soon, I will tell Lady Lydia," the manservant warned in a calm voice. He pushed the iron screen across the fireplace, blocking the stark swirling flames and softening the curling heat. His small form rose. "Please try the cider and rest, milord. Sitting here in the dark and recalling those days aren't helping your situation." He knelt beside him, staring into his eyes with his deep look, then passed a cloth over his head. "It wouldn't do to get a fever either."
Edgar chuckled, a wane smile coming back to his lips. "No, I suppose not, though more often than not, you leave me to it longer than two nights. Is the coming ball the reason for this change?"
"Your dance party has no relevance whatsoever," Raven returned swiftly. "If you hurt Lydia unconsciously again, your condition will worsen," he explained, eyes wide and serious.
"Lydia..." Edgar chuckled again, looking back into the flames. "I wonder if I can get any closer to her with this party or if I am foolish to think an event like that would open her heart further."
"You're a fool," Raven stated, blunt, beside him.
"True, I am a fool," Edgar leaned back, "a big fool who doesn't know when to retreat or give up, one who should have died a long time ago. I understand that. But," Edgar's eyes opened and he rose from his sofa, taking a poker from the wall, "I am a fool on a mission with a fairy on my side. As long as I have her..." As long as those gorgeous sunset locks aren't too far behind . . . Edgar knelt and prodded the logs in the fire, causing it to crackle and sputter as he banked it. "I can't lose here. Can I?" He rose again.
"Thank you, Raven." He turned and offered a small smile, hope tremulous in his eyes once more. "Help me change the bandages and then I will rest."
"That is an acceptable delay," Raven responded.
Edgar sat once more although with a much lighter stance. "Tell me, Raven," he said, leaning on his head with his hand. "What does Lydia think of my party?"
"It's ridiculous affair much too soon after the last one," Raven replied, setting the medicine kit to one side and unwrapping a roll of clean bandages.
Edgar smirked. "Did you tell her why I arranged it?"
Raven removed some scissors from the kit. "Still absurd, I believe, my lord."
The Blue Earl's eyes sparked with mischief. "Of course," he purred. Edgar hummed under his breath as Raven worked.
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The next chapter WILL be the duel I predicted at the end of the last chapter. Edgar kind of snuck in this one.
