Chap. 16
Maria Lanon was a very busy young maidservant who, like her appearance indicated that she had a loving and gentle heart, and not once did she regret that she had helped the violet-eyed lady escape. In fact, she was very proud of it despite the fact that she had received a mild reprimand from the dowager duchess. However, she felt a trifle guilty at the same time; the dowager was being so nice about it unlike many of the other noblewomen she had served prior to her hire at Clynester. So perhaps you could understand the shock she felt when she found the same woman she had helped lying in a canopied bed in a room she was to tidy.
With wide hazel eyes trained on the unknown woman, she stood there gawking, unable to move. The woman slowly opened her lavender eyes that sparkled and danced in the sunlight to meet her unseemly stare. "Hello, Maria," the woman said to her with a dazzling smile. "I can see that you're puzzled."
Maria tried to speak, but no words could escape the confines of her throat.
"I can explain all of this from the beginning-"
The door burst open quite suddenly and the duke himself came strolling in the doors, immediately making his way toward the smiling woman. "How did you sleep, love?" he asked warmly. "I missed you."
The maidservant was rendered speechless once more as she looked from the man, who her fellow servants called "the devil" due to his coldness, to the woman who had described him as someone who betrayed her love.
Tomoyo gazed into his cerulean eyes lovingly. "It's only been a couple of hours since you last saw me. Yesterday night, if I remember correctly," she said laughingly. "But, darling," she told him half amused and half touched, "I missed you too. I've never had someone who looked forward to seeing me, or someone who has made feel loved like you do."
Eriol's eyes darkened into a pool of midnight blue, touched as he was by her sweet statements. "I'll surround you with people who care," he promised sincerely. "I'll make up for the past that you deserve-"
"There's no need," said the woman he loved. "I don't need a new past, Eriol, and I don't need you to make it up in any way. All I want is a future…with you. That's enough."
Eriol felt so…so profoundly happy, so…in love… Without hesitating any longer, he drew her closer and buried his lips in hers. God, it felt so good to have her in his arms…
"What in HELL is going on!" The maidservant looked at them, thoroughly perplexed and impatient. Eriol and Tomoyo did not hear her; they were so engrossed in each other. "People in love," the maid muttered, "you can never predict what they're going to do next." And with that, she stomped out of the room, and closed the door behind her.
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Eriol entered his study later than usual to work on his business ventures and estates. But work quickly slipped from his mind; his thoughts wandered off to a certain person…
"Your grace." Eriol looked up to see a servant at the doorway. "There's someone who says that she wants to see you. She refuses to give us her name, but told us instead to tell you that it has to do with your fiancée."
He sighed. "Show her in," he ordered, quite annoyed. The servant bobbed her head and disappeared, only to reappear with an old, short, wizened woman with numerous wrinkles creating ridges over her face. She grinned toothlessly and her foul odor filled the room with an unbearable stench.
"Are you sure you've come to the right place?" Eriol asked, his lips thinning into a severe line, his face totally inscrutable. He indicated to the servant that she may go, and she obeyed, gently shutting the door.
"Of course, I've come to the right place," cackled the woman as she waved away that ludicrous idea with her bony, withered hand. Her face changed abruptly. "I've come to warn you." Strangely enough, her speech did not have a trace of the heavy accent usually evident in the slums where such a woman could be found; on the contrary, she spoke with perfect clarity and elegance…as if she were well acquainted with the speech and customs of the elite class.
"What do you have to do with my fiancée," he demanded quietly, "and what warning?"
"Ah…impatient, are we now?" the woman chuckled, rather nastily. "May I have something to, ah, drink first?" Not tearing his eyes away from her, Eriol acquiesced by inclining his head jerkily, and pulling the bell cord that summoned the servants. "Brandy would be heavenly," she said in answer to his questioning look.
"Madame would like a glass of brandy, if you please," he told the answering servant. The manservant immediately brought a glass of the strong liquor and left them alone in the privacy of his study.
"My thanks," said she, smiling wickedly. "And now…the warning…You musn't marry Tomoyo," she said, leaning forward to face him over his desk. "You'll cause her suffering and more hurt. I'm telling you now. That person is coming after you. She'll destroy you both."
Eriol stood, towering over her small frame. "What are you talking about? Who is 'she'?"
"Tomoyo's mother," she hissed softly.
That convinced him. Eriol was absolutely sure that this woman was insane. Tomoyo's mother was dead, wasn't she? "I'm afraid you're mistaken," he said to her, smiling a humorless smile. "Tomoyo's mother is dead, and she was nothing like the person you described. Now if you'll excuse me, do you mind leaving me alone to work?"
The woman stood, clutching her black, shapeless hat. "She's alive," she whispered, "She's somewhere out there. She's waiting to hunt you down, the animal that she is! She's waiting for the right moment when the time is ripe.
"You'll know when she comes," the hag cackled. "You watch and see. She has her eyes set on you like her eyes have been set on so many others in the past. You're her newest challenge, and even her daughter will not be allowed to get in her way." The woman quietly stepped out of the room.
In front of him, the glass filled with amber liquid sat, untouched, as uneasiness and foreboding began to prick Eriol's mind…
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What did you make of this chapter? I wanted to make it longer, but being the lazy person that I am…well you know the routine. Just wanted to ask: Are the titles too mushy? I think that the titles themselves aren't mushy; rather the story highlights the significance of the titles, thus lending some of its mushiness to it. Wtvr. Hope you enjoyed this chapter; my brain was trying hard (seriously 0_o) to best depict a part of my plot…to be revealed later. Oh, and just taking a poll, do you want a lemon scene? I can't promise anything, but I might put one in if you guys want one.