I wrote the whole of this chapter in the last 3 hours or so and somehow I'm happy with it *^*

Chapter 8

They were all shocked, to say the least.

The whole staff were gathered together, lined up in the foyer as the earl slowly made his way past them, pausing every now and then to announce a name, effectively relieving them of their position in the household on the spot. His choices seemed somewhat random; none of these people had done anything notably wrong recently, as far as Ian was aware. Ian had, though. He must have. He would have to return home, empty-handed, to his family. He'd failed them. As the earl came closer to his place in the line, Ian grew more and more anxious. But then the earl passed him by. He took two steps more past Ian, and then stopped, glancing at the servant beside him.

"Edmund."

And he kept walking. Ian's heart sank. He dared to sneak a quick look at his friend and watched as he took a long breath in, closed his eyes almost in acceptance, and breathed out again. It was as if he was expecting it. In fact, Ian noted, it was as if everyone was expecting it. Everyone but him. The others that were named all reacted with shock, confusion; one or two even dared to try and reason with him, beg him to reconsider, to no avail, whether on their own behalf or for their friends' sake. But all fell eerily silent at that name. An unspoken sadness hung in the air. When Ian looked back along the line at those who'd come before him, he spotted Agnes. Thankfully, she'd be staying, but now she was looking at Ed with a sympathetic expression, much like some of the others, her brow furrowed. Then she locked eyes with Ian, and didn't look away for a few seconds.

He couldn't help but feel she was trying to communicate something to him. Something she couldn't tell him, no matter how much she wanted to.

Of course, he'd figure it out years from now.

This had been the plan all along.

– SUCH SWEET SORROW –

Ian later dared to break the apparent unspoken rule.

"Please, my Lord, let Edmund stay...!" he begged but the earl scoffed.

"I see no reason to. You're already pulling his weight for him, what would be the use in paying two boys to do the job of one?"

"Why choose him, then? I haven't the experience-"

"You're well enough trained for the position, it's time Edmund moved on and you took on a more challenging role, don't you agree?" he didn't gave him a chance to respond, "Besides, there's the business of our agreement, with your family's situation, need I remind you? Do you think you could possibly strike such a deal with any other employer? Or were you planning on returning home with nothing?"

Ian's eyes dropped to the floor, "... No, my Lord..."

"The audacity. I'd expect someone in your position to appreciate it more."

"Yes, my Lord. I'm grateful for your generosity."

"As you should be."

– SUCH SWEET SORROW –

"Will you be alright?"

"Well," Ed sighed, barely looking at him, "That's the question, isn't it?"

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know. Maybe I can rent a room somewhere until I find another job. If I'm lucky."

The room fell quiet for a moment. Ed was gathering up his things from their room while Ian sat on the edge of his bed. He lay back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Do you think this is some sort of punishment? For us being friends?"

Edmund laughed a short, humourless laugh.

"Maybe. In part, at least."

There was another moment on silence, then Edmund straightened up.

"Well," he said simply.

Ian sat up.

"... I wish I could write to you. I'm getting there, but it's a bit slow."

Ed offered him an encouraging smile, "Keep at it. I'll write to you when I have an address I can use. It'll give you some motivation to practice."

– SUCH SWEET SORROW –

After Ed was gone, Ian could only find solace in talking with Agnes. He was grateful to spend even a single minute in the kitchen with her. She was there to comfort and guide him through these losses, encourage him and help get his mind off of his troubles. She became like a mother figure to him, when his own mother was far away.

When he did finally get to visit home again, his family were shocked by how much he had changed since they saw him last.

As much as he was kinder and much more polite, and more eager to help out around the house and farm, he was also more nervous, always on edge and quick to apologise for the smallest thing. His limping and faded bruises didn't go unnoticed, either. After dinner, his mother told Alice to go and play while she and their father spoke to him.

"Ian. You know how grateful we are for what you're doing, but... you don't have to go back. You can come home for good, you know. We'll figure out another way, we can-"

"No," he shook his head, looking scared, "I can't. This is our best choice, no-one would pay more than the earl."

"You don't have to work," she sounded desperate, "We could get by before. We'll be alright."

"I can't," he insisted, "You shouldn't have to just be alright. I'm fine. I can handle this."

He wouldn't be persuaded.

He couldn't give up the money. He couldn't leave the friend he still had. He couldn't give up and run away after everything Edmund had been through.

If the earl lost the only other option he had for a page, he'd just hire a new one.

And Ian couldn't burden someone else with his life.

When he was alone with Alice, she admitted to him how scared she was for him; he seemed so different now.

"I'm still your brother, that's the most important thing. I still have your flower," he patted the spot where it was hidden, "I'll still always come back to you."