Bambi and the Duke

"Let me dress you up. The weather is cold and I don't want you falling sick. Your health is something we both need to look after," said Leo before helping her into the nightdress. Getting into the bed, he helped her fall asleep with his hand brushing through her hair and scalp lightly until her eyes which were already heavy had begun to droop down.

When she finally fell asleep, Leo was yet to close his eyes. He had successfully put his beloved to sleep but there were things that occupied in his mind. His thought going back to the time he had killed her parents. He didn't forget that night, every single scene and word which was spoken was etched into his mind.

The fear in their eyes flashed in front of him. Similar to the person who laid in his arms in the bed, he didn't feel the guilt. Leonard had been brought up with moral virtues by his parents on what was right and wrong. To follow the path where the sun shone.

In the morning when Vivian woke up, she found the bed to be empty. Hearing the clinks of teacups, she turned her body, pushing herself up to see Leo who was preparing something at the table. From the bed, she could smell the bread which had been toasted in the heat with something else that lingered in the air that could have watered anyone's mouth.

But she lacked any appetite. If possible she could have stayed in the bed all day long but where would that get anyone anywhere?

Glancing at the clock that ticked with the bird that had not cuckooed even once, it made her feel if she had slept deeply for her to not hear it in her sleep.

"I made tea," announced Leo, holding the two teacups, he brought it to her.

Receiving it from him, Vivian looked down at the cup as it smelt different, "This isn't tea," she commented seeing the green leaves that looked bright which had settled below in the cup.

"Sister Isabelle had given it to me once. It helps with the headache and will relieve the discomfort that you are feeling in your chest," Vivian's eyes widened and she discreetly looked at him as he took a seat next to her, "You didn't think I didn't notice it."

"I didn't," she answered, bringing up the cup to take a sip before scrunching her face, "It tastes horrible," looking at his cup she saw he had finished the entire cup in one gulp, "You didn't wake me. What about work?"

"It is not necessary for us to go to the council every single day. Work can be done at home too and I am your senior. And right now your senior believes you need sufficient rest and break."

"Others are going to feel you being partial," she stated. Taking a whole gulp to finish the entire tea she felt him take it from her.

"So what if they did? You are the only person who matters to me while the rest I have no need to concern with," he direct answer made her smile, "Lancelot said he would be keeping an eye on Abel for a while."

At the mention of her uncle's name, Vivian slightly shifted in her seat.

"Do you want to-"

"No," came out the quick reply from Vivian, "I...I am not ready for it yet. I need time to think."

"Of course. Take all the time you need," that was before he would kill Abel for his wrongdoings, thought Leo to himself.

Vivian rewrote her reports that were sent by Hueren after his attendance with Lionel. With the way it looked, it seemed that Hueren couldn't keep up with Lionel's tempo as he had scribbled words where some sentences hardly made sense to the point that she had to take Leo's help in understanding it.

She tried to occupy her mind with work, burying herself to the point where she had finished the reports and has started to draft for the case they were working. Discussing it with Leo but the memories in her mind lurked at the back of her head that refused to leave her alone. During the time of noon, Vivian looked out at the window to see the snow that had been blistering down from the sky stopped in calmness, covering the ground to a heavenly sight with no sight of a person or animal. Even the birds who sometimes sung during the time of rain couldn't be heard or seen as they had perched themselves in their nests securely.

Turning her head on the other side of the study room, Vivian saw Leo who had his eyes cast down on the parchment that was on the table. As if feeling her eyes on him, his eyes moved to catch her looking at him.

"I want to go to the lake of Bones," she bit the inside of her lip. She knew Leo would not refuse it and she needed to do this to get things off her chest.

"What time do you want to leave?"

"Now," she answered.

Leonard pushed the parchment back in the drawer, "I don't mind taking you there, Vivi but you will find nothing. Everything in there is a mass of fog and smoke which belongs to several bodies that have been pushed and dumped."

"I know," her voice went soft as she realized what he meant.

Undoubtedly, he would take her there but there was nothing she would be able to see. The lake of bones as the name went was made of dead bodies. It wasn't a cemetery where she would be able to find one grave where she could talk to. If she were to speak, it would be to a whole mass of bodies who weren't alive.

"I will get the carriage ready," he informed her before going out of the room to speak to Jan.

Reaching the lake of bones, the lake didn't look the same as when she had last seen it. The continuous snow made it look like the lake didn't exist anymore but the corners where the lake stopped there was a slight tinge of hue which emitted out to make one know where the lake started.

"Do you want some space?" asked Leo and Vivian shook her head. She didn't have anything to speak to her dead out loud, not when there were other spirits who could eavesdrop to what she would speak, "Alright," he stood next to her as she stared at the lake that was in front of her.

Vivian wondered if she told anything to them if it would matter. She wasn't a little girl anymore but a fully grown woman for them to realize who she was. She was sad, unhappy to think about how fate had played with both her and Leo and there was nothing they could do to change their fates. The thread of death that connected their families was the sam thread, sharing each other's fates.

After having spent some time at the lake of bones, the discomfort in her chest began to grow again. The weather had turned to gain momentum again, the wind beginning to howl through the land as it passed through several trees to reach them. The wind blowing as it picked up the surface of the snowflakes that rested on the lands turning the sight where they were whiter in appearance as minutes began to pass by.

Getting back at the carriage, Leonard held Vivian when she swayed a little before she could get into the carriage.

"I feel weak," she whispered to him, her breath getting tighter along with her throat. The back of her head hurt and it reminded her of the time when the man in the snow mansion had tried to squeeze her throat.

"Hang in there. We'll get back home soon," he assured her as he held her, helping her to get inside the carriage he ordered the coachman to hurry. Leo wasn't sure what was wrong as her temperature felt fine. He had made sure that she had eaten her food without skipping meals while also making her get enough sleep.

He wondered if the lake of bones had affected her.

The lake of the bones was a place where not everyone wandered to. There was a reason why it was feared. The locals didn't know the reason why the council had prohibited the folks from going near it. People who went near and close to it never returned back. In the years it turned such that the place was considered to be haunted due to the aura that felt overbearing when a person went close to it.

Before the carriage could reach the mansion, Vivian had started to gasp for air.

"I can't breath," she said, her head hurting furthermore and the air that she took in turning lesser with every passing second. She tried to take a deep breath but that only added the stress to her body.

They had to stop the carriage, and Vivian stepped down and away from the carriage where Leonard was hot on her tail, following her until she came to stop in the middle of the trees.

"What is happening? Speak to me, Vivi," Leo was vexed at the thought that something was going on with her. Her lips had started to lose colour and so did his face as he saw his beloved's knees give away and fall down on the snowy ground.

He quickly went to her side worried to his very soul.

"I am okay," she whispered though she wasn't doing alright. Leo could tell that she looked far from being okay.

"Is your heart hurting?" at the question, Vivian who had one of her hand on her chest and the other on the cold ground where her hand was clutching tightly she nodded her head.

Without a second thought, he raised his hand and was about to bite when Vivian placed her cold hand on his arm, "We have already gone through this. Don't waste your blood," her voice came out hoarse as she spoke. She had drunk his blood last time and she doubted there could be any different this time if she drank it again as nothing had changed. She still had the ability to heal.

"When it is you nothing is waste," Leo bit into his wrist, drawing the blood out that trickled down, inking red on the white snowy ground, "Drink it," he said offering his hand for her.

She stared at him and then his hand where the blood dripped down one after another without stop. with the clean atmosphere that they were surrounded in, she could smell the faint smell of the blood wafting to her nose. With trembling hands, she took hold of his hand and closed the space between her lips and his skin until the taste of blood burst through on her tongue and she drank it.

Leo looked close at her as she drank the blood. At first, her movements were feeble and shaky. It was like she didn't know if it was right or wrong but three seconds later, her lips had completely closed in on his wrist, sucking the blood with her eyes closed. The movements fastened and he let her drink as if he were seeing a person who had been left to starve for days or weeks and was suddenly given food.

Her complexion started to return back, the pink colour hinting her cheeks and her health. Leonard hadn't taken her blood lately considering her health which sometimes had fallen weak. Drawing blood from her would only push her current difficult health to an edge which he didn't want taking a risk from. Instead, he took a bite and not more than it. With several minutes that passed, he could feel his arm turning weak as Vivian sucked his blood out from his wrist.

Her mouth slowly began to fall lax around his skin, moving her head away he saw blood smeared across her lips. Listening closely to her breathing as well as her heartbeat, the worry on his forehead had slowly come to diminish.

When she opened her eyes, Vivian felt much better and it took her a while for her to understand what had just happened. Like a hungry woman, she had taken his blood more than one would drink a glass of water, her eyes that hadn't fully opened and which was cast down slowly moved up to look at Leo.

She saw him stare at her, his eyes looking at her intently, "Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, feeling the iron taste in her mouth.

"You can drink more if you want," he offered and she quickly shook her head.

"No," she didn't know what to think of it. She had taken his blood. At first, the taste had been strange but it had turned better with every suckle that at a point she couldn't stop herself from drinking his blood.

Leo came closer to her and wiped the blood from his lips, to put his finger in his mouth, "Much better," he stated, taking away the evidence of her drinking blood from her lips.