One noon Heidi sat with Stanley next to her as both of them read different books. More than two hours had passed since she had started with the new book, tired with it, she flipped through the pages in one go until she reached the last page before she went to the next page in a backward direction. It read ‘Moon signs’ and curious she began reading the content which didn’t go more than one and a half page.
“Lady Heidi, good afternoon,” someone greeted and when she looked up from the book she found Mr. Timothy Rufus standing at the door.
Heidi stood up from her seat and bowed at him, “Good afternoon, Mr. Rufus,” she wished the blonde vampire.
“I hope I am not disturbing you. I heard Nick is in the bath and I am not sure when he will be out. That’s a good place to h-”
“Mr. Rufus, Lady Heidi is busy studying,” the butler interrupted Timothy before the man would say something unnecessary, “If you could please step out until-”
“Stanley!” Timothy gave the butler a big smack on his back, “Always so harsh with your words. What are you reading?” he took one of the chair and dragged it around to sit next to Heidi.
“All the edicts that have been filed and passed down by the council,” Heidi answered.
“Wow, that’s required?” he asked with an astound look.
“Ah, actually you see,” she lowered her voice even though it didn’t make a difference, “Stanley brought a lot of books today saying he was being too lenient with me. I picked the one which looked interesting,” Timothy nodded his head in understanding.
“It must be really tough. Stanley can be worse than a governess. Isn’t that right Stanley?” Timothy asked to get no response from the butler, “As Stanley is known to be meticulous at his job, once Nick let one of his acquaintance borrow him for his young son which didn’t go down well.”
“Is that so?” she laughed softly.
“It is. Stanley was sent home the same day as he had the boy crying,” the man commented to see Stanley get up from his seat.
“It isn’t how it sounds,” the butler spoke in his defense.
“It is exactly how it sounds,” Timothy confirmed, “Oh, what’s this? You’re reading about the moon signs. It has been a while since I stumbled upon these. May I?” he said taking the book from Heidi. Stanley looked at the book and wondered why the single page had been binded to the edict book as it was unrelated.
“There are quite a lot of animals listed out here comparing a vampire’s reflection as it says. Is it true? Do they really reflect the nature?” she asked intrigued.
“I wouldn’t say every line holds true but some yes. The book was written long ago, before the four empires had come into existence and it was written by a human out of spite. You will find very few words which is in favor of the night creatures and only the worst of what they are. But I wouldn’t believe something like this. It is even a wonder how it is here. When people found out about it, the previous to previous vampires were furious and it was ordered to burn any and everything that contained about the moon signs. I had got my hands on it too when I was young but after my father found it, it was burned like any other book,” Timothy explained before skimming the lines, “You won’t find it in the open, not even the black market.Does Nick know about it?” he leaned back with his chair so that he could see the butler.
“I am not sure,” the butler replied.
“Mr. Rufus,” a maid arrived at the door, “Lord Nicholas is waiting for you in the main hall.”
Both Lord Nicholas and Timothy left the mansion in the carriage to the Isle valley which was the place where the elites in Bonelake went to shop or buy things.
“Are you alright with dropping the gentleman persona?” Timothy asked with his hands and legs crossed who has taken a sear behind while Nicholas sat in front of a mirror.
“Who spoke about dropping it,” Nicholas stated while running his fingers over the upper part of his left ear that had been pierced to fit the thick metal on the helix of his ear, “It was time I made a few changes in my appearance.”