They pulled the trigger and the sound of the gun echoed in the silence. Birds flew around, scared away by the sound."Ah!!! I didn't miss our target!" Henriette exclaimed and Oliver lowered the gun."Did you see that, Callum! It was right in the middle!" The lord didn't say anything, while Henriette was still exhilarated."Oliver, thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Can I call you Oliver? ""Please, do.""Shooting together seems to bring people closer. " She joked."It's how the army works, sometimes," Oliver replied."You said you were in Germany, correct?""Yes, My Lady. ""Henriette. If I call you Oliver, I'd like my teacher to call me by name. ""Henriette, then." They exchanged a smile and she continued"Was it recently?""I left for Hanover years ago.""And then?""I.." Oliver glanced back at Callum who was listening intently "I quit and did something else. ""Oh, I see. Do you somet

The guests finished their meals shortly after and it was time for them to retreat.Callum passed by the tray where the staff kept the decanters and filled his glass with brandy.He went out into the hallway just as Liam was coming out from one of the rooms. His brother eyed the glass."Are you all right?"Callum nodded "Perfectly fine.""Last time Edward said that he disappeared for days.""Well, I'm still here." He headed for the stairs and Liam caught up with him."I spoke to Henriette."Callum looked around but didn't hear anything or see anyone. That of course didn't always mean no one was around, but he still went on."And? What did she say?"He sat down on the stairs. Liam looked stunned."You want to talk here? We can't just sit on the stairs.""Why not?""What if someone passes by and sees us?""Then tell them I fell."Liam shook his head and sat down next to

As soon as they  they were out, Callum relaxed heavily on Oliver. “I will...I will most probably need help not only undressing. “ Oliver took his arm and draped it over his shoulders. “What happened? Lean on me. “ The Lord did and Oliver felt his body sag against his. The next thing that he felt was the strong copper smell and he clenched his jaw.  He had been right, then. “Do you think you can take the stairs. “ Oliver looked at him and from that close he saw Callum’s hair was wet in the roots. His pale lips were pressed hard together, but he said. “Yes, I think I can. “ “We need to call the doctor, Cal. “ He felt the Lord suddenly stiffen and it looked like he’d gathered all his strength left when he growled. “Don’t you dare. “ “We have to. ” “No. “ Callum cut short and clenched his hand around Oliver. “I don’t know how bad it is.” “It’s not. No

It was so quiet, he could hear the clock's hands moving, the only thing breaking the complete silence.  Oliver was in his nightshirt, reading the book he'd taken from Tennyson's study. He'd never read Dickens before, but he was sure that wasn't the real reason why he couldn't really follow the narrative, the words and letters in front of him were only black spots on the white paper, making no sense whatsoever , as his mind kept drifting to what had happened earlier today. That, and the fact he hadn’t seen Callum in a while was making things everything but make sense. The only person that had come talk to him that day was Della. Neither Adellia, or Jenny and Percy had inquired after the night Callum had gotten home and Oliver decided they’d probably assumed he had just been drunk. Oliver was beginning to hate the fact how everyone dismissed everything that happened to the Lord because of his habit.   It was soo

"I found a spider. " Jenny announced and sat heavily on the chair, pulling it closer to the dinner table.  "There are spiders the size of cats in here!""If you cleaned better, we wouldn't have them, " Percy said and she tore a piece from the bread near her and threw it at him.He caught it and ate it.                       "Hey, that was mine, " Della complained, and Adelia scolded them "No shouting, eat your meals, come on."Oliver gave Della some of his and she smiled briefly before muttering a "thank you “.They were just finishing with their dinner when Thomas appeared and told Oliver he needed to be upstairs. The butler never ate with them, which was both to their relief and annoyance, as the man mostly thought of himself highly enough not to share his meal time with the rest of the servants.Oliver gave the ot