Varian Watch chapter 58 – Lars and Violet

So, I'm taking some liberties here and giving some background to some characters, or at least a little peek. I almost feel like I'm writing Downton Abbey right nowˆˆ I'm curious to how it will be recieved.

Elfried walked as calmly as she could towards the corner of the building, and all the time she had to fight herself from looking back over her shoulder. But the moment she reached the corner and walked past it, she grabbed her skirts and speeded up her steps a bit more, almost running. As she reached the first door she found that lead directly to the servants walkways, she dared to take one glance behind her and see if he had followed her. Relieved when she saw no one, she ripped the door open and dissapeared inside, closing the door so quickly she almost caught her skirts inbetween.

There, she covered her mouth with both hands and allowed the sob she had chocked down her throat to escape. Another one followed, and before she knew is, she hid her whole face in her hands, unable to hold back neither the sobs or the tears that followed.

But after less than a minute she forced herself to stop. «Oh, gather up, silly woman!» she sniffled and removed her spectacles with one hand to wipe her eyes with the other. «What's the matter with you, you're done with that man!» she cleared her throat. «He's not worth it… he doesn't deserve your tears…»

She drew her breath deeply and slowly to calm herself, and repeated this a couple of times till she felt the lump in her throat finally dissapared. Then she forced her thoughts on to other matters, and they wondered on to the reason why she had forced herself to og through this.

«That poor boy… how could this happen?» she mumbled and leaned back towards the wall, going into deep thoughts a moment. «Whatever he's done… He's still so young. It's not right… It isn't!»

Drawing her breath one last time, she let it out in a calm sigh.

«Alright then! Time for some action!» she started walking, but gave the door a glance with small eyes. «You don't have to worry, Captain! The truth about the boy… remains with me! No one will know who he is!» she allowed herself a sly smirk.

«But the girls still need an explanation…» she chuckled. «And I'll give them just that!»

She made her way among the stairs untill she finally came to the guestroom quarters. She came out in the hallway from one of the hidden doors and walked untill she found a half open guestroom door. There she saw Diane, Sarah and Karen come out. They were in full chatter, but they stopped when they discovered her. All three girls ran towards her and flocked around her and asking questions over eachother.

«Elfried; Did you find out?» Diane asked eagerly. «Who is he?»

«Was it our fault?» Sarah asked terrefied. «Has anyone else found out yet?»

«Who did you speak to?» Karen asked curiously. «And has His Majesty spoken to any more…»

«Enough; there's no time now!» she raised her voice just a bit and held up a hand to silence them, giving them a steady look.

«I found out what's going on, and all will be explained, but now now. We gather at supper, all of us. We need to have an emergency meeting!»

«Oh no! Is it that bad?» Sarah asked, biting her nails.

«It is bad, but it's not impossible to for us to fix. Trust me, I have eveything under control. Now, let's finish off today's chores so we might get that out of the way!»

She grabbed one of the dusters Karen was holding and walked past them. The girls stood and watched her, not really sure of what to think.

"Is is just me, or does she look…different?" Sarah asked.

«She seems more… confidant than normal? Is it?» Diane replied, equally confused. «Almost… like she had something planning?»

«Come along now, girls!» Elfried called ahead of them.

«We better get going!» Diane said, and the three girls followed the elder, all of them looking like questions.

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«My word, Your Grace. Have you really looked everywhere in the Castle?» Violet said as she checked behind the last curtain in the corridor.

«I'm ceritain!» Lars replied, standing up from after looking under a clothed table. «I just don't understand how he does it- every darn time!» He gave a heavy sigh. «Oh, I shouldn't have been so… I always thought Helga was being too kind with him. But heck, I can't just let him get away with everything just to please him. He'll grow up some day, and what's gonna become of him then?»

At last Lars seemed to remember that he wasn't alone, as he suddenly noticed the elder maid giving him a look of compassion. He started blushing so his face matched his red hair.

«Pardon me, I… I just…» he stuttered, loosing his tunge for a moment.

«If I may be so bold, I know just what Your Grace is going through.» Violet smiled and chuckled. «I've had my share of raising children on my own. Being alone with two daughters wasn't always easy.»

«Oh… So you are…»

«A widow, yes. Twice actually!» she smiled calmly, the way only a wise old woman would smile. «It's a long time ago… And only one of the girls are still alive as well.»

«Oh… I'm so sorry.» Lars said, suddenly feeling selfish.

«It's quite alright. She did give me a granddaughter though; the young girl Your Grace met the other day, Karen.»

«Oh her, yes…» Lars said, recalling. «Poor thing. Caught up in the middle of…»

«Of the hurricane stew pot we got poored over us.» she smirked. «By the way, I hope the one I managed to cook up for dinner wasn't half as bad considering the circumstances?»

Lars coudn't help but break into laughter. After gathering himself he smiled at her. «I enjoyed it, really… despite the circomstances.» he sighed and suddenly became serious again. Feeling rather exhausted, he sank down on a bench by the window. «Dear me… I can't recall the last time I had a good laugh. Even before Helga…» he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Violet looked at him, allowing herself to sit down, not to close, beside him. «May I ask, how long is it since…»

«Almost two years.» Lars sighed and sank down on the porch by the wall. «He was always more attached to her, and he hasn't gotten over her yet. He wasn't… easy to handle then either, but after she died it got… he got three times as bad.» he sighed again. «It's my own fault really. Daniel was the only thing that made her happy, so… perhaps I shouldn't have let her spoil him like that. She let him get away with everything; he did nothing wrong in her eyes, he was her little angel. And whenever I tried to interfere, she made me feel like… as horrid as my brothers are to some of their children.»

He rubbed his forehead. «I'm not gonna lie; I come from, I choose to believe, the most… horrid and brutal family ever existing whose only goal has been to marry into only the most wealthiest, richest and top ranked families to exploit their fortunes. It's quite ridiculous!» he looked up at her. «You know, the first thing my brothers did when they arrived at Helga's furneral was actually to try to have me engadged with potential new women. They had already made arrangements for me to meet them, they even brought contracts with them for me to sign. Even before my departed wife had been sendt underground!»

«That is indeed preposturous!» Violet said horrified, not hiding her disgust.

«I know, right?» Lars replied. «Damn Caleb and his sceems! Damn Franz for his intrigues! Damn them all! I swear on the red hair we were all worn with, that I I'm forced to take a second wife, it won't be from their list!»

Then suddenly, Violet was the one to give a chuckle. «Well, Im not gonna lie; I shoudn't be the one to say anything there! My second marriage was something more… practical than my first.»

«Oh?» Lars asked curiously.

«You see Sire, shortly after I lost my husband, my daughter Millicent's best friends Alice lost her mother. And since the girls were practucally already like sisters, we thought it would be easier if we just… united our families, one could say. It got easier for the girls at least, and neither of us had to be alone.»

«Well… I can see how that works.» Lars said thoughtful. «So… I guess that's how you got two daughters?»

«Indeed right.» she sighed. «And ironic enough, he died a year after. But at least Alice wasn't alone then.»

«Fate…» Lars sacid sighed.

«Indeed…» Violet replied silent. «And now Alice is gone too.»

«Karen's mother…» Lars suddenly made a conclution. «So that's what she meant the other day when she said…» He almos regretted when he saw the look she got on her face.

«That I wasn't her Grandmother.» Violet sighed heavily and nodded.

Lars saw the pain in her brown eyes, and spoke gnetly. «It was allot of stress the other day, she probably didn't mean it that way.»

«Oh, I'm afraid it's more complicated than that.» she gave a heavy sigh. «I… We made the mistake of not telling her that part, and she found out in a way that just shouldn't have…» Violet shook her head and broke herself off, partly because she wasn't in the mood of talking about it, and partly because she had gotten a bit off the trail. «Oh Your Grace, I'm so sorry for pooring my family's trials on you when you have your own. Forgive me, I… I'm just an old woman babling.»

«No no, don't worry yourself about that. It kind of helps to know I'm not the only one who struggles with my own.» Lars said sincerely and smiled. «You seem like a wise woman, and I assure you any advice or experience is more than welcome.»

«Thank you, Your Grace.» Violet nodded and smiled, blushing a bit. «In that case, I… I don't mean to be prying, but perhaps… if not for Your Grace's own sake, but for the sake of the young Prince… sometimes, it doesn't have to be the end of the world with a new mother involved. And say, if this was someone you yourself meant was... Well, how about it?»

«I… I confess that I have thought of it, but… I…» he sighed again. «I fear Daniel would frighten them all away. It's the same with wetnurses and… even teachers; I could offer them a castle with servants of their own, pay them in gold and whatever they desire, but I haven't been able to keep them for more than a week.» He gave a short harsh laugh. «Even Annebelle has kept her ladies-in-waiting longer than Daniel kept his teachers.»

«Oh dear!» Violet was a bit shocked.

«He causes so much trouble, he pull praks at everyone, have fun scaring people… there's even times where he bites!

Violet gasped.

«And when I try to talk to him, he reacts with such anger that sometimes he appears more like an animal than a human boy.»

Violet became silent, like she wondered what to say next, but then she spoke. «Padron me, You Grace, but… have you simply just… allowed him to mourn properly?»

«What? Mourn?» Lars looked at her like a question.

«I recall how my my husband used to look at my little Millicent; she was his little trinket, and she adored him. So when he died, she reacted with anger rather than sorrow; she was simply angry that he was gone, she refused to accept it. She even refused to participate him his furneral.» She drew her breath, suddenly being overwhelmed by all the memories. «But after I had a long talk with her, and I allowed her time to just cry her tears and even though there were a long time with nothing but tears… she overcame it and made peace with it in time.» She looked excusing up at him.

Larsh sighed. «Perhaps that's where I made the greatest mistake?» Lars pondered. «I didn't let him take part in the furneral, mostly because I was afraid of how my brothers would react on him, perhaps they would even try to arrange a marriage for him as well. Aaand maybe I feard he would misbehave.» He smiled embarraset. «But also I thought… Daniel's just a child. He shouldn't have to feel that kind of pain.» Lars looke out in the air, looking a bit lost.

«But Your Grace, that's exactly what he does; he feels it, stuck in his heart like a thorn under his skin, and though it appears like the would is healed, the thorn is still there causing pain, but he doesn't understand what it is. And it's not like she's coming back, even if that might be what he hopes for.»

«I know…» Lars looked out in the air, staring at nothing, and Violet felt sorry for him seeing how lost he appeared. But she got disturbed when she heard the sound of running steps. She looked up. «Oh, there's Your Grace's brother.»

«What?» Lars looked up and found Jonas running towards them. Both he and Violet rose as he approached. «Brother? Any luck?»

Jonas slowed down and stopped beside them, catching his breath and leaned towards the wall with a hand, suddenly realizing how tired he was. «I'm… I'm sorry... Nothing yet… But this place is… twice, if not three times as big as your chatou….» he coughed and swallowed. «I fear he's been managing to avoid us.»

«Come on, there has to be one place we haven't looked.» he flung his arms up in the air.

«Look no further, Uncle! Your search is over!»

All three of them turned around ot find the most peculiar party imagined; Princess Annabelle along with Pete and Stan. The two guards walked behind her, and as they approached they saw the guards struggled to carry what appeared to be a white sheet wrapped into a sack. The Princess herself appeared rather pleased, she was smiling confidently as she approached them.

«I hope you'll remember me for this, Uncle Lars!» she snapped her fingers towards the guards, and stepped aside.

Pete and Stan took a step forward and lowered the sack, that they now saw was moving, when they dropped the sack, the struggling figure of Prince Daniel came rolling out of it, his red hair a mess and his face red from sweat and anger. The boy was clearly furious, but seemed rather confused from suddenly being on solid ground again.

«Daniel!» Lars and Jonas cried out.

The young Prince froze when he heard his name being called, and looked up to face his elders; his expression quickly becoming panicked.

Lars placed his hands on his hips as he gave his son a stern look. «Are you even aware of how much trouble you are in now, young man?»

The boy was about to turn around and flee between the legs of the two guards, but Annabelle had clearly prepared the two guards, cause she gave them a look, and they were just a tad quicker than the boy, grabbing him by his arms before he could flee. The boy kicked and waved to free himself, but in vain.

«Well done, lads.» she gave the guards a condecending smirk, and the skinny one got a rather foolish look on his face.

«Anytime, My Lady!»

Violet couldn't help but notice, and rolled her eyes in the background while shaking her head quietly, and Stan beside him sighed silently to himself.

«Where was he? How did you find him?» Jonas asked. «We've been looking all over the place?»

«He was hiding and causing trouble in the servant corridors.» Annabelle replied nonchalant.

«And something tells me we've been to the kitchen as well?» Violet said, noticing the boy's mouth and cheeks were covered with jam and greace.

«He's eaten up all the cherry croissants!» Pete said, obviously still upset about it.

«My words…!» Violet's eyes widened.

«Why am I not surprised?!» Jonas said.

«Well, it looks like you don't need any dinner today, or what?» Lars said stricktly.

The tension between the looks being exchanged between father and son was something that was almost something to be touched. Lars didn't see it, but Violet looked at him, then at Daniel, and then back at Lars with a concerned look in her eyes. She had a careful look up at Princess Annabelle, who was too obviously satisfied with her triumph, and then at Jonas, who met her eyes, his green eyes revieling the same concern for the relationship between father and son.

Okay, got a bit longer than I intended, especially the conversation between Lars ans Violet, but I guess it was nessesary.