Chapter 6: In the haze of winter

The cold wind carried snowflakes towards Levi's face. The tiny, sharp crystals were grazing his skin and causing a slightly reddish tone to appear beneath his eyes.

The gray orbs now were unfocused as his feet carried him blindly through the snow covered street. The only images that his mind processed now were the curvy letters that he had read that morning. A curvy calligraphy that accused a scenario that had never crossed his mind before, but now it was the center of the storm that had been unleashed inside him.

He barely registered the change of temperature as he crossed a pair of doors that led him to a brightly illuminated room. Levi's mind caught a glimpse of auburn hair at the corner of the room. As he got closer, his nose began to react to the smell of stale alcohol and cheap perfume. But he wasn't paying much attention to that. Levi's mouth soon was filled with the stinging taste of gin.

The images and sounds of the place began to become fuzzy. The laughter of men and women overlapped with the smell of wine and whiskey. And soon they were joined by the scent of chamomile and the moans of a young girl.

In the middle of the alcohol induced haze, one image remained on his mind. Even as his body succumbed to the bittersweet taste of the woman beneath him, behind his closed lids he could see a very different picture.

A living room lightened by the summer sunshine, a rocking chair in the middle. The sound of gentle humming and the quiet whimpers that came from the bundle that was tightly wrapped in Petra's arms filled the place…

…..

December 31 1899, morning

Petra paced back and forth through the entrance hall. It seemed that sooner or later she would leave a mark in the wooden floor. The entire night had gone by and she still had no news from Levi. After reading the missive from his mother, she burned the offending paper and immediately set herself in finding her boss, wanting something, anything that could ease the bother that his mother's words had caused on her.

She didn't know for how long she stared at the accusation made in paper. A lot of questions clashed in her mind all at once when she read the words that predicted a scenario that had never crossed her mind.

"She thinks that there's something inappropriate between us"

She swallowed hard at the next set of questions

"Does she think that the Master wants me in that way?"

"Does she think that I want him in that way?"

She leaned back in a nearby wall as she remembered the inner turmoil that started the day before, and that only got bigger as her Master didn't return home for the rest of the day.

"Honey?"

Petra's eyes snapped open. Her senses were in overdrive, as she had placed herself in permanent alert since she noticed that Levi wasn't returning home.

The first thing she saw was the startled face of her mother; she was carrying a tray and Petra's nose managed to identify the scent of red tea in the middle of her alerted state.

Petra saw the concern in her mother's face, but it took her a moment to acknowledge it as a sign that she needed to calm down a little. She brought her hands to her face, rubbing her tired eyes. She really felt the weight of not having any type of rest, physical or emotional, for over a day.

"I..umph…mom…I" the girl found herself tongue tied when she tried to articulate a response to the older woman's questioning look. She wanted to lie and tell her that she was okay, that it was only the lack of sleep that got her into this state, but the storm inside her brain wouldn't allow the words to make it out of her throat.

"Easy there" her mother placed the tray in a nearby table and brought her hands to the teen's cheeks, feeling the cold skin. "I know you're worried". Petra felt the warm thumbs rubbing the contours of her face, easing some of the discomfort.

"Your father has been searching for him the entire morning, he will show up"

Petra only gave a weak nod. The action seemed to upset her mother, since the next thing she felt was her mother giving her a pinch in one of her cheeks, forcing her eyes open.

"Petra…" the woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, a slight trembling in her gaze told Petra that her mother wasn't sure about what she was going to talk about.

"Listen sweetie, ever since we arrived at London, you have started to take care of organizing the tasks of the house, and I couldn't be more proud of you. You practically run this place as if it were your own and give orders with a strength that I wish I had when I was your age"

Petra felt a slight burn in her cheeks, she certainly wasn't expecting those words, but the deep breath that her mother took right after told her that the next set of words wouldn't be so pleasant.

"However…"

"Of course", Petra thought

"A lot of the servants in the neighboring houses have started to say that you're acting less like an employ and more like a housewife"

Petra's mind stood in silence, the last word echoing inside her head over and over. Then all of a sudden, another echo began to resonate at the same time.

"I don't think you're the right age for this, sweetie"

Petra shook her head in confusion. She could recognize a male voice in those words, and it evoked a sense of familiarity in her, but she couldn't pinpoint when or where she heard that.

"Are you listening to me?"

Petra was brought back from her short trance.

"I know that you probably don't understand what I'm telling you, and you likely won't until you grow up some more but I think that you are starting to see Master Levi….differently"

Her mother had pretty much blurted out the last word without much care and, just as she predicted, Petra couldn't understand what she meant by that, until she remembered the letter.

"W-Wait" Petra felt her back pressing more against the wall. She felt cornered. "You think that I want him?"

Has she talked with his mother as well?

The older woman seemed surprised by the teen's response. For Petra it seemed that she wasn't expecting her 15 year old to understand the content and weight of that accusation.

The two women just stood there, quiet. Petra felt more and more anxious as the seconds passed by.

"What do you think of him?"

Petra flinched, not ready for her mother to make the first move, but it was too late now. She couldn't keep acting like a lost child. If she could act like a grown person in front of Levi, why couldn't she do it with her mother?

She steadied herself on her feet, straightened her shoulders and, after taking a deep breath, she answered.

"I think he's a wonderful person and I trust him with all my heart and I know he trusts me in the same way, yet I don't know if I want him in any other way, or if he does want anything from me that he doesn't have already"

Her mother seemed startled for a moment, and Petra felt a slight surge of pride at herself. She managed to be completely honest about herself, even when she still felt the confusion of the current situation.

Petra saw her other giving a seemingly relieved sigh before reaching for her face again.

"As long as you don't know, don't do anything stupid, okay? We're perfectly happy right now"

Petra nodded confidently. She wouldn't risk the peace of her family, nor her own, because of something she didn't understand.

Her moment, however, was soon interrupted when both women were hit by a freezing blast of wind. Petra turned her head around to see the door open and two men coming through the snowy veil of the morning.

Petra instantly recognized the broad form of her father. She was about to ask him if he was successful in his search, but before the words reached her tongue, her eyes fell upon the body that was literally hanging from the older man's shoulder.

"Ma-Master Levi!"