Author's Note: New Story! (Even though I should be updating other ones instead... *shot*)
Setting: AU/real world in a 17th/18th century town with all the trimmings: rich people, poor people, bustling old markets, big mansions, horse-drawn carriages... Ya know what I'm saying.
Hope you enjoy my little story that indulges in one of my favorite aph pairings. ;)
Love only knows if we'll give into fear and choose life undercover.
She said 'Love only knows if it's special enough that we'll choose one another.
'Oh, Love only knows how your arms pull me in like the tide pulls me under.'
She said 'Love only knows just how long we can run before we lose each other.'
'And we need each other…'
That night, that summer night of warm breezes and starry skies, was a moment in time that he would hold dear till he was old and grey, lying on his deathbed. If he were to be fated to die of dementia, the memory of that night would yet be fresh in his mind. It was one of those moments where he probably should have been doing something else, but he chose to slack off instead. Ah, but he never had loved his quality of laziness as much as he had at that moment. Seeing her there, with the moon highlighting her soft features was an image that he would never forget. There would be many images and scenarios that he would remember fondly concerning this woman, but the first time he laid eyes on her… Now that was a moment that would forever be frozen in time.
It had all started - this little story concerning this little woman - a few weeks earlier, when Feliciano Vargas was once again bemoaning his fate as an indentured servant who had to get up at ungodly hours of the morning to begin the daily grind of housework. Up in his room in the servants' quarters, he could hear the sound of birds chirping just beyond his open window. They were the signal that told him it was time to get up. Of course, that didn't mean that he actually got up.
He moaned and covered his head with his pillow instead. "Not yet. Five more minutes…" he pleaded.
A sharp knocking on his door sent his head jerking up and the pillow tumbling off of his bed.
"Feli! Come on, it's time to get up! It's almost half-past five!"
The voice of his fellow employee and good friend Elizaveta Hedervary was never as unwelcome to him as it was now.
"Just a couple more minutes…" he called feebly.
"No more minutes! Look, I have a hot breakfast downstairs just waiting for you." Her voice became sweet and beckoning. "You don't want a good meal to go cold do you? I'll have to feed it to the hogs!"
Feliciano frowned at his door. "We don't even have hogs..." he muttered.
At that moment his stomach gurgled. Well, if there was one thing he cared about more than sleep, it was food. He sat up and stretched.
"I'll be out in a minute!" he answered.
He heard the young woman behind his door chuckle. "I'll hold you to that," she said.
She had no cause to worry, though, for in a span of about four minutes, he was out of his room dressed and groggily rubbing his eyes. Elizaveta was waiting for him in the hallway.
"Good morning, Feli!" she chirped.
"Oh, good morning," he said kindly, albeit still sleepily. He ran a hand through his hair and scratched his head a few times before stretching once more.
"I don't like getting up early," he whined.
He felt his friend pat his shoulder sympathetically. "I know, dear, but think of it this way. The earlier we get up, the earlier in the day we get chores done!"
He sighed. "True, but sometimes I don't think I would mind working later in the day if that meant I would get to sleep longer!"
The two walked down the stairs and headed into the mansion's grand kitchen: Feliciano's favorite place in the house. It was wide, open, and always was filled with the most amazing aromas. And just as she said, there was a plate of delicious food waiting for Feliciano to gobble up. As he ate, Elizaveta pulled out the necessary cleaning tools: broom, mop, bucket and some rags.
He sighed. "What's on the list today?"
"Oh, the usual," she shrugged. "No real hard work this time."
"Good!" he said between mouthfuls. "I hate beating rugs. I'm glad we don't have to do that today."
"So, what do you want to start with: dusting, cleaning floors, or the weekly laundry?"
"Dusting, if you please!" he exclaimed. That took the least amount of work. It was tedious, but at least he didn't have to bend down all day or blister his hands.
Elizaveta chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd pick that. Very well." She handed him a rag and he handed her his plate. "You had better start in the parlor."
"Si, signora!"
He bounded out of the kitchen, through the dining room, into the entrance hall, and had to pause a moment. Although he had been living and working in the Edelstein family manor for a good amount of years, he still got lost some of the time.
Mannaggia! I cannot remember… I wish I had that diagram of the house Eliza made for me… Let's see… First floor… dining room… sun room… garden room… ballroom… Ah! It's on the second floor!
He headed up to the second floor and opened the ornate double doors that lead into the parlor. With a huge sigh, he pulled back the curtains and sunlight flooded the room. The room became bright and pretty, with golds, creams and other soft colors catching the young man's eye. But something else caught his eye as well: the billions of dust particles that littered the air. He would have to do quite a bit of dusting, indeed.
First were the windows, followed by the mantelpiece and the porcelain decorations on it. He figured he would have to dust the paintings on the wall as well. With a few grunts, he pushed one of the wooden chairs over to the wall where a lovely painting of the Edelstein estate was hanging. Feliciano stood on his tiptoes and stretched to the utmost of his abilities to wipe off the dust that may have gathered on the frame. He also tackled the vividly-painted harpsichord that sat in the middle of the room amidst the furniture. Fortunately, it was used so often that hardly any dusting was required. After making sure that the fireplace wasn't too filthy, he set a fire to make the room warm and snug. And with that, he now felt secure in moving to the next room.
I wish I could just sit and relax in here, though, he mused. It really was a pleasant room to be in. Whenever the Edelsteins had company, they all usually socialized in this room, unless Mr. Edelstein wanted to play a piece of music for them in the ballroom. Feliciano many times had wished he could sit in with the people in both the parlor and the ballroom, if just to hear the various pieces of music they would play. He dearly loved music, almost as much as food and sleep.
After a minute or two of admiring the room, Feliciano turned to leave just as a lady was entering it. Immediately, he bowed his head.
"Good morning, Miss Edelstein!" he exclaimed.
This young woman smiled and folded her hands in front of her. "Well, good morning to you as well, Feliciano. I see you've tidied up the room for today."
He beamed his contagious smile and replied in the affirmative.
"Ah, well, do not let me stand in your way." The lady stepped away from the entrance and Feliciano bowed his head in her direction once more before exiting.
Ah, Miss Edelstein is such a pretty young lady! She has such lovely, long hair and her voice is so soft and musical! If I was only rich and noble like her brother, I would definitely ask to court her!
He smiled stupidly to himself, thinking about pretty ladies and the various ways he would court them if only he were rich throughout the rest of the day as he went about his duties. After he had finished cleaning the parlor, he cleaned the study, followed by the downstairs dining room, garden room, sun room and finally the ballroom. By the time he was standing inside the ballroom, it was practically lunch time and his shoulders sagged.
"So much work…" he groaned. He really didn't want to clean this massive room by himself. Usually he and Elizaveta did the cleaning together when it came to this room. His stomach gurgled and he sighed. He was about to go running into the kitchen to grab some food and maybe hide for a little while in the cupboard to take a nap when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Ah!" he yelped, flinching.
"Oh! Sorry, Feli!"
He wilted a little at the sight of Elizaveta. "You … startled me…" he breathed.
"I'm sorry, dear. I just came to tell you that lunch is ready. I figured you'd be near starving by now." She grinned.
He stomach gurgled again. "I sure am!" he exclaimed.
She nodded. "Well, come on then. Mr. Roderich and Miss Anneliese have finished their lunch and are taking tea out on the veranda. I think we'll be free for a little while to eat."
Elated, the young man bounded after Elizaveta, followed her into the kitchen, and was met with the glorious sight of a decent lunch spread out on the kitchen table. Feliciano became quite excited. Elizaveta was Hungarian, and thus had introduced plenty of delicious Hungarian dishes into the house, all of which Feliciano quite enjoyed. Granted, he didn't think they could ever be as good as his own Italian recipes, but he enjoyed them nevertheless. And Elizaveta was a pretty good cook.
Feliciano was indulging in some delicious Hungarian palacsinta when the back door that lead out to the stables burst open and a man entered the kitchen. He was quite tall, with dark hair pulled away from his face and clothed in a dirty pair of boots, some trousers and a wrinkled shirt.
"Good afternoon, you two!" he exclaimed. "Is lunch ready, Eliza? I'm famished!" He spotted the display of food on the kitchen table. "Aw, yes! Palacsinta!"
But before he was able to get to the table, Elizaveta dodged in front of him wielding a pan.
"Dániel, you had better not track those muddy boots into my kitchen, or so help me, I will lay you flat!"
"All right, all right, Eliza! Calm down! I'm taking them off. See?"
The fellow made a big show of taking off his muddy work boots and laying them outside the kitchen door so that Elizaveta wouldn't clock him over the head with the big, metal pan. Once the coast was clear for him, he strode over to the table and ruffled Feliciano's hair.
"How are ya, kid?" he said with a bright smile.
"Oh, I'm doing all right," the younger man said between mouthfuls, "though I was scared for a moment. I thought we'd have to come up with some excuse about why you would be lying upstairs in bed again!"
Dániel winced. "Luckily that's not gonna happen again, eh? My sister is vicious, though, isn't she? Anything could make her snap!" He snapped his fingers.
"Dániel, darling brother of mine," Elizaveta said in a sweet, but creepy voice, "just eat your food."
"Yes, ma'am!" He said, giving Feliciano a scared look. Feliciano tried to conceal his amusement, noticing a warning look on Elizaveta's face.
"Oh, by the way," Elizaveta spoke up after a couple minutes of quiet chewing. "Could one or both of you go into town to purchase groceries? We're running low on some things and I've made a list with Miss Anneliese."
"I'll go!" Feliciano exclaimed before cramming more forkfuls of food into his mouth. He always enjoyed going into town. There were some pretty salesgirls there. Plus some vendors sold delicious desserts and even pasta!
"All right, then. What about you, Dániel? Are you going with him?"
"I guess I will. Probably should anyway, or else he'll forget what he's supposed to buy!" he teased.
"Hey!" Feliciano exclaimed after swallowing. "What do you take me for, some kind of idiot?"
"Of course not, but you've got to admit, you always get so caught up in everything around you that you tend to forget what you were told to do!"
Feliciano huffed and went back to his food. "I'm not the only one who gets distracted," he muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed.
Dániel gave Feliciano a look before saying, "Well, I'll go along with you anyhow. It is nice to get out every now and then."
"Right…" Elizaveta and Feliciano exchanged wry looks, but Dániel just shook his head and ignored them, instead focusing his attention of his plate of food. Soon everyone was done with the meal and Elizaveta began clearing the table.
"Be back before five, please," she said as Feliciano snatched up his coat and as Dániel pulled his work boots back on.
"Will do!" Her brother said, waving as he exited through the kitchen door.
"Oh, and Feli!"
Feliciano poked his head back into the kitchen. "Sí?"
"When you get back we have to mop the ballroom floor."
Elizaveta couldn't help but giggle at Feliciano's crestfallen expression. Even so, he just sighed and said, "All right… If you say so."
"Thank you. Now be off so you can get back sooner!"
He gave Elizaveta a cheerful grin and followed Dániel to the stables where the older man began harnessing the mare, named Liesl, to a wagon. As he slipped a bridle and harness onto the animal, Feliciano clambered up to sit in the wagon seat and reached for the reins.
"Hey now!" Dániel said. "Who said you could drive the horse, hmm?"
"Aw c'mon! You never let me drive!" Feli accused him.
He merely laughed in response. "That's because I'm afraid you'll run the horse off of the road or something! Like I said back inside, you're very absent-minded."
"I'm not as bad as all that! Why do you always treat me like a child?" Feliciano frowned.
"Because you are a child," Dániel answered as he climbed up and sat next to Feliciano. He took the reins in his hands.
"I am eighteen years old," Feliciano retorted. "I don't consider that the age of a child."
"Then perhaps you should stop acting like one. The way you slack off and shirk some of your duties are not the signs of a mature adult. Instead of always flirting with every skirt you see or lying around eating pasta all day, maybe you should devote your attention to being a hard worker."
Feliciano sighed. He didn't want to argue anymore. He hated arguing.
"Let's just get going," he said. "We wouldn't want to risk your sister's wrath!"
"Amen, brother!" the Hungarian exclaimed. He seemed to have forgotten the previous conversation, or at least, put it to the back of his mind. With a click of his tongue, the mare began heading past the stables, out of the courtyard, and onto the road. It would take ten to twenty minutes before they would reach the main town.
...
The sound of church bells could be heard chiming upon the hour. Several people bustled around the town's streets and Main Square, going about their businesses, purchasing supplies from the market or fabrics from the tailor. Children were running here and there with their dogs or other friends. Young ladies stood on the side of the road with baskets of flowers strewn about their feet as well as holding them in their hands in an attempt to gain a little extra bread money.
Feliciano admittedly enjoyed flirting with those flower girls. After all, they were so cute with their pretty little bonnets and their rosy cheeks. He liked to run to the nearby vendor that sold yummy little bonbons to buy a couple of chocolate morsels to give to the girls. They'd always have such a pretty blush on their face and would giggle at him out of bashfulness.
Today, however, was not one of those days of fun flirtations and bonbons. Dániel's words about his maturity in fact inwardly bothered Feliciano.
So what if I'd rather flirt with pretty girls and eat pasta all day? He thought. It's not like I am a vagrant or anything! I still do my job! What does he expect of me? I'm just a poor, penniless underling whose fate is to clean up and work till my bones weaken with age. I should be entitled to a little fun and relaxation every now and then!
"Hey! Feli!"
The voice of his Hungarian companion brought him out of his reverie.
"What?"
"Come on! We need to buy those groceries!"
"I'm coming!" he called.
"And make sure you tie Liesl up!"
Feliciano sighed. "Will do."
The two of them had stopped at the front of a general store, where there was a fence to tie horses to while unattended. Connected to the fence by little hooks were trays of hay and water if the horses got hungry or thirsty.
Feliciano hopped down from the wagon seat and tied Liesl's reins to the fence. She immediately took a drink from the fresh water tray and Feliciano gave her neck a rub before trotting into the store. Inside, he spotted Dániel talking to the store's manager, who was sharing the latest gossip on neighboring noble families. Dániel always was one for gossip.
"Oh! And did you hear about what happened at the party that the Lord Bonnefoy threw last week?"
"I knew there was a party, but I didn't hear about what happened," Dániel said.
"Well, it seems that there was a tremendous row…"
Dániel rolled his eyes. "Isn't there always?"
"Yeah, but get this! It turns out that the eldest son of the Beilschmidt house was goofing around… you know, as he tends to do…"
"Oh yes. I've seen him do some pretty stupid things."
The salesclerk chuckled. "Well, it turns out that he was drinking and, from what I've heard, he was actually just minding his own business and not really hurting anyone. But…"
"But?" Dániel urged.
"He decided to joke with Master Zwingli."
"Ohhhh…" Dániel winced. "Then the fellow had it coming to him. Even I know not to mess around with Master Zwingli…"
"Yeah," the salesman continued to laugh. "Laid the guy out flat. Pretty sure Beilschmidt got a bloody nose from the man."
"Any idea what he did to cause Zwingli to punch him?"
"Apparently the guy said something about Zwingli's little sister…"
Feliciano wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. All he heard was that there had been a fight at the house of the wealthy French heir Francis Bonnefoy. Instead, Feliciano was eyeing the baked goods on one of the shelves. His ears perked when he heard the sound of the little bell hanging above the door ring. Another person entered the store.
"Afternoon, everyone!"
"Michelle!" The store owner exclaimed, peering over Dániel's shoulder. "Good afternoon!"
Hearing the name "Michelle," Feliciano broke into a smile.
"Well, look who it is!" he said, turning to greet a young woman at the front of the store. She was a pretty little thing, with a dark complexion and long, glorious black hair tied up and braided. Red ribbons were woven into her hair as the one fashionable gesture she was able to do to.
"Hello, Feli!" Michelle said happily, her brown eyes sparkling. He reached for her and she leaned in to give him sweet, quick kisses on the cheeks. He returned them eagerly.
"Getting some groceries?" he asked.
Michelle nodded and the two began walking around the store together. "I need to get things like flour and sugar..." She shrugged. "So how have you been?"
"Just fine!" He answered happily. "Though I'm unbelievably bored. Being part of the hired help isn't exactly an exciting job."
"Oh, I know what you mean! The only real entertainment we get is when we all can get together and have our own parties."
"Speaking of parties," he said as she put some apples into her basket, "was there really a fight at Master Bonnefoy's house last week?"
Michelle rolled her eyes. "Yes. One man apparently said something about another man's younger sister. There was a real drag-out fist fight in the midst of the ballroom!"
The two laughed. The nobility, for all their high and mighty ways and their fancy clothing and customs, could be just as bad as regular people! "Who were the men?" he asked. They walked down an aisle and Feliciano helped Michelle grab a jar of spices from a higher shelf.
"The eldest of the Beilschmidt sons started it by insulting the other man's sister. He was drunk, though," she answered. "The man who punched him was Master Zwingli."
At that, Feliciano shook his head and sighed. "I bet Ludwig was just red with shame! I'll have to ask him about it when I next see him."
Michelle giggled. "You do that, Feli. It must be nice to have one of the nobles as a friend," she said as the two of them headed up to the front counter. By that time, Dániel was seemingly gone. Once they were up front, Michelle requested a specific amount of both flour and sugar from the store clerk.
Feliciano smiled at her as he leaned against the counter. "Ludwig's a good fellow. One of the best people I know! We don't get to talk a lot like most friends, but he never treats me like he's better than me or anything. I do envy him," he admitted.
The clerk handed Michelle two small sacks, one of sugar and one of flour, both marked individually.
"Why?" she asked.
"Come on! To be able to have money and not work? That would be wonderful!" he exclaimed, grinning.
"But the nobles do have to work… just differently than us," Michelle reasoned with him. "We don't have to worry about a lot of things, just cleaning and making sure we do a good job. If you were a noble, people would tell you what to do, where to go, how to dress…"
"All right, all right! I get your point!" Feliciano laughed, hands raised.
After she asked the store clerk to put the charge on the tab of her employer, the two of them headed outside. "Well, I will say one thing," Michelle said, holding her basket in her arms. "It does get tiring when Bonnefoy hosts so many parties." She shook her head.
He shrugged in return. "At least your employer's parties are lively. Master Roderich's parties are always so quiet and serious."
"Well, maybe we should switch employers for a while!" she jested.
The two of them walked around the town for a few minutes, chatting about nothing much, as well as looking into the store windows. But pretty soon, Michelle was being called over by one of her associates and she had to bid farewell to Feliciano.
"I'll see you around, Feli!" she said pleasantly.
"Take care of yourself, bella," he responded, blowing her a kiss as she waved at him.
The clock chimed half-past four, and Feliciano's eyes widened. He and Dániel had to get back soon, or else they would both feel the wrath of Elizaveta's pan!
"Where is Dániel, anyway?" he said to himself. The last time he had seen Elizaveta's brother, he had been in the general store purchasing the groceries they needed.
After wandering around the streets for several minutes (all the while tasting free samples of food and flirting with a couple of girls he came across), he found himself standing by the town's beautifully structured cathedral. His eyes widened when he recognized Dániel standing at the gates. He seemed to be waiting for something… or someone.
At that moment, a tiny group (four or five, at best) of nuns walked out. Most of them were older, but amidst the women was a younger woman with a pale face and violet eyes. Underneath her white habit were strands of pale blonde hair. She held a book in her hands and seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly, Dániel approached her and it seemed to Feliciano that he tried to exchange pleasant conversation with her. He was smiling kindly and only touched her shoulder with the gentlest of touches.
The young lady, however, seemed very alarmed at his sudden advances and backed away, merely saying one or two things to the Hungarian man. No matter how hard he tried, the woman would not stay to talk. With reddened cheeks, she shot one final word to him and hurried after her fellow nuns. Feliciano, quite curious by now, noticed that Dániel seemed quite crestfallen as he watched the young woman walk away.
"Hey," he said, approaching his comrade.
"What? Oh… Hello, Feli," Dániel murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Did you get the groceries?"
Elizaveta's brother nodded. He still seemed quite down.
"All right… We should be going then, don't you think?"
Dániel merely nodded again and the two of them headed back to the General Store, where their horse and wagon was still securely tied up. Fortunately, Feliciano could see the bags of supplies lying in the wagon. Dániel harnessed the horse and the both of them got onto the wagon seat. Without saying a single thing, Dániel urged the horse to walk forward and they wordlessly headed back to the Edelstein manor.
Beginning quote is from a song sung by Josh Groban.
Oh gosh, I don't know if I'm writing Italy well or not, lol... What do you guys think?
