Act One, Scene One
It was a sizeable room, with about three or four chaises longues placed around the side, with a large black piano positioned in the rooms' centre, its keys, which were immaculate, were being played almost perfectly by a dark haired man who was perched upon the edge of the bench. The room had a few large windows set into the chiselled stonewalls, all of which were decorated with those heavy and expensive curtains that trailed all the way down onto the tiled floor. The sunlight was drawn in by the largest window to rest on the French made sofa directly opposite the piano; upon it was a blond man who sat there with his arm in a sling listening to one of his innumerable servants play the spotless instrument. Ludwig had to admit the man was particularly skilled but he found he was far to engrossed in his own thoughts to appreciate the music, he was having a nice peaceful think- something that he enjoyed- about some text he had read, but it was when he heard a loud crash he knew that this would be cut short. The pianist paused in his playing at this intrusion, but continued rather flustered as the new comer exclaimed in a loud voice, "If music be the food of love play on, Roddy!" Ludwig noticed Roderich purse his lips in annoyance at the nickname but let it wash over him as he continued to play.
He let out a long-suffering sigh as one of his servants, named Mathias plonked himself down next to him, making Ludwig bounce upwards slightly as the sofa adjusted to the new weight, and watched with a similar look a primary school teacher would give when in a classroom full of loud and unruly children that would never behave. Mathias, being his ever-playful self, grabbed one of Ludwig's hands and looked up into his face with a rather uncharacteristic serious look-, which was ruined by the playful tint in his eye, before exclaiming in a loud voice, "Do you think of your lady, my duke?" Ludwig flushed at the odd sentence and yanked his hand out of the others grasp and watched as Mathias burst into a fit of the giggles, Ludwig thought it best if he did not answer, tired of the teasing and the general thoughts that he was meant to be courting the Countess Natalia. What Ludwig really wanted was to be left alone, but still he watched as Mathias calmed down his snickering and did not even flinch when he suddenly bounced up and yelled across the room, "Hey, Lukas, you're back!" He bounced over to the newcomer with a huge grin on his face, which instantly fell as the blond man walked straight past him without even the smallest hint of acknowledgement, but as Mathias was used to the behaviour he quickly regained his cheerful demeanour. Lukas walked up to Ludwig, his deeply coloured clothes swishing around him as he came to a stop and gave the man a small, yet graceful, bow.
"I am afraid, my duke, that I was instantly turned away at the door by, Bella, the Countess' handmaid."
At the news Ludwig found that Mathias looked more crestfallen than Ludwig did or felt, and he found that he was not particularly bothered as to why Lukas was turned away but knew he was about to find out as Mathias badgered Lukas into telling. With a sigh and a hand on his forehead- an old habit of his that showed whenever he could feel a headache coming on (they were usually caused by Mathias) – he recounted his visit with an expressionless face and a dull monotone. "It appears to be that no new person may enter the household while the Countess Natalia is in mourning for her recently dead brother, I was told that she shall remain veiled for seven years keeping the love of her brother alive with her remembrance."
"Dude, isn't that a bit excessive?" Lukas gave Mathias a blank look and then continued to ignore him, but for once Ludwig could not help agreeing silently with Mathias- seven years were quite a long time, well, Ludwig thought, at least it should provide him with seven years of peace.
Err, so what did you think? ^^; I know it isn't great so I really would like some constructive criticism and I beta'd this myself- as I don't have one. It was quite hard writing Ludwig in the role of the Duke and I don't think it turned out very well ^^; I think I did O.K with Mathias though- but please let me know what you think… ^^; Until then, Hasta la Pasta ~