A/N: For the prompt: "Hauntings" on www. fiefgoldenlake . proboards . com (no spaces). And because I couldn't stop wondering about if, with so many Conte siblings, the oldest and youngest shouldn't have something.
Disclaimer: My thoughts, not my universe.
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Presence
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She is in his room for a full ten minutes before he realizes her presence.
Even then, he only swivels a quarter of the way around in his chair, and spares the slightest shake of his head to indicate that whatever invitation she is intending, it need not be delivered.
"But－"
"Go away, Vania." The words are harsher than he intended. But in this dim candlelight, when her hair seems darker, her body more familiar, and the indigo of her dress could almost be a shadow-dulled Conte blue – he can't afford pleasantries.
"But Roald…" That quiver wasn't there before.
"I'm busy. Someone else can entertain you, surely." He turns back to his desk without checking to see if she leaves.
She doesn't, instead slipping into the shadows behind his door, waiting with a self-destructing need to know he lied. She gets it when Liam saunters in mere minutes later. He is not sent away.
Then there's nothing left but to bow her head, and slip out of the room like the ghost her brother believes her to be.
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Feedback appreciated. I spent a fair bit of time obsessing over the placement of commas and number of italized words, so when I say the raising of any little issue is welcomed, I do mean it.