Bambi and the Duke

She didn't know why he had gone to use her entire name when just councilwoman Vivian would have been sufficient. 

The man offered her a smile, "Are you done with your work for the day?" he asked.

"I will be taking it home today, councilman Abel," her nerves had begun to jitter, making her chest ache slightly out of nervousness as she felt uncomfortable to stand in the presence of this man, "How about you?" she said trying to keep her calm.

"I have a lot of work pending at my desk. I thought it would be pleasing to have a walk and have a little chitchat with others before I go back to it," said Abel with a small smile that didn't reach up to his eyes, "I don't know why but I feel we have met before," he commented and if truth to be told, Vivian felt the same way. Every time she had seen him in the beginning, it had always made her wonder as to where she had seen him before and she doubted they had met before. With him always in the council and her only entering the council weeks ago, it wasn't possible, "Have you come to the council before this year?" she heard him ask her. 

"No," her answer was firm. 

A man who had a hand in letting go of the black witches when they were captured, Vivian told herself to be careful about him. If it weren't for his family's involvement in it, the black witch who had gone to poison many minds wouldn't be alive today and so many lives could have been spared. 

"Hmm, I think I know," his eyes sparkled, "My sister had a very similar nose like you, her features close to yours but not the same," it made the man wonder about it. His calculative red eyes staring at her. 

Vivian wasn't sure how to respond back to it. How could she take it as a compliment by being compared to his traitor sister, "Pardon me but I am running a little late," she bowed her head hoping he wouldn't wish to converse with her anymore. 

"Is it a new case?" when Abel glanced at her hand that held files she had been meaning to carry back home, her fingers clutched on it tightly, "Let me take a look and give you the pointers. You will have less work that way once you reach home," he offered, his eyes continuing to stare at them. When his hand almost reached it, she pulled it away from his reach.

"I wouldn't want to trouble you, councilman Abel. It would be very rude of me to be burdening you with it but if I do have questions I will be sure to come to you," she put up a bright smile upon her face. She saw him purse his lips before smiling back at her.

"Sure. My department is on the second floor that is the fourth room in the right," he guided her. Giving him a short bow, she left for the man to continue looking at her. 

Until now, Abel Harlow hadn't realized why the girl who was married to Duke Carmichael appeared to be someone he had met before. But as they spoke, he came to realize that she did resemble his deceased sister. The same sister he had sacrificed to save his neck when he had helped the black witches escape.

He had no shame for what he had done nor did he feel guilty over it. If he had to do it again, he would do it without a doubt in his mind. 

When the time had come the Harlow's had sent their own daughter away to God knows where due to the shame it would cause them in the society though it was understandable his niece was their blood child. With putting the entire blame on the Harlow's, the council had asked the Carmichael boy and the Lord of Bonelake who at that time was in charge of the case. 

They had been killed by them, the last three of the Harlows as who knew the girl would have already been dead as there was no trace of her. He had visited the slave establishment but she wasn't in there and after a year he had given up. 

Vivian didn't turn around to see if the man was still standing there, instead, she walked to the carriage which Leonard had left her which would take her back home. Getting inside, when the door of the carriage closed, she looked through the window at the building and that Abel who had previously been standing there wasn't there anymore. Leaning back against the seat, she wondered over his words and the man whom she had come to know from Leonard. 

He had eyed on her files as if wanting to know what they were currently working on. With what she knew, the cases and the evidence a team received was confidential. Maybe that is why they were gathered all together and placed in the room. The council had been running for decades, and for every case, that was solved or unsolved along with the belongings of the councilmen or councilwomen after they had passed away, she could hardly imagine how much of data and how vast the room could be. Surely, it wouldn't be the size of an average library. 

She felt her chest pain again as if several little needles were trying to prick her every time she went to inhale making her exhale quickly. At first, her thought was that she had skipped her meal but she hadn't. She remembered eating her lunch which made her wonder why was her chest causing her certain uneasiness. When something began to rise in her throat, she quickly tapped on the front window to get the coachman's attention. 

"Please stop the carriage!" she said a little out of air. The coachman gave her a confused look but nonetheless he pulled the reins of the horses and before he could step down to open the door, Vivian had already unlocked the door and had run a certain distance to finally stop at a tree. 

She bent down and emptied the contents of her stomach of what she had eaten. A minute passed by and when she returned back she asked, 

"Do you have water to drink?"

"Ah, it's already used- I mean I have touched it," he said unsure if that was alright with the lady after all he was a peasant and she was the master's wife. 

She raised her hand, her speech a little errant as she could still feel the bile that had rose from her stomach to her throat. The coachman quickly went to the side of the saddlebag he placed below his foot stand to pull out the water bottle to hand it to her. Vivian quickly unturned the little knob and gulped the water quickly.

"Are you alright, milady?" asked the coachman worried that the lady had suddenly fallen ill. Was it that...he wondered if the lady was pregnant and he tried to look closer at her when her eyes looked up to meet his red eyes stared and he had to blink to get his vision right to see black eyes there. 

Vivian nodded her head, "Yes. Thank you for the water," she responded and got back inside the carriage. 

Though she had vomited, the uneasiness in her stomach continued to proceed that made the journey back to the mansion to be an uncomfortable one. 

By the time, Leonard arrived back to the mansion he found Vivian resting on a chair out in in the patio with her legs spread straight as she stared at the sky where the snowflakes fell from the sky. She had covered herself in a blanket, wearing gloves in her hands and socks on her feet. 

As if sensing his presence, she turned around to see him.

"Leo," her voice appeared to be dull making him worry if something had happened. 

Going to where she was seated, he crouched down to level himself as he stared into her eyes. He placed the back of his hand on her cheek, "You will fall sick if you sit here any further."

"But I am covered with a blanket. Won't you come join me?" she asked him scooting away to make a place for him.

"I think I would need more than that to fit in," he chuckled, looking at her eyes he noticed that she looked tired, "How about a bath instead?" he asked her. Taking her smile to be a yes, he scooped her in his arms, walking back inside the room. 

During the time of night, Leonard made love to Vivian in the bed, exploring every inch of her as his fingers lit her skin on fire, letting both of them get lost until they fell asleep within each other's arms. 

Her eyes flickered behind her eyelids as she stepped into her dreams.

Vivian felt her chest tighten as she stared at the sight in front of her. Leo sat the foot of the bed, blood spread out around him which soaked his trousers wet. How many times had she come to see this dream that every time it ended the same way that now she had come to memorize it even during the hours she was awake. 

When he dropped his hand from his chest, a hole could be seen. After a few seconds passed by, his eyes fell distant and vacant. 

Her heart broke at the sight, her throat clogging up where she couldn't bring out the words to call him. Hearing something drip down from her hand, she looked down to see her hands covered in blood until the length of her wrist. Looking front at the mirror, she caught sight of her eyes that were red.

With a soft gasp, Vivian woke up from her sleep where the night dominated the sky. 

"Bad dream?" 

She had woken up Leo along with her. She nodded her head. Getting closer to him, she pressed his lips as if they were sharing the last kiss. After confessing in the church, Leo had come to know the trouble Vivian was having when it came to her sleep. And though Sister Isabelle had said there was nothing to worry, he knew deep down there was a reason why his beloved kept dreaming the same dreams. 

Once she pulled back, a little reluctantly, she informed him, "I fell sick when I was returning back home."

"So I noticed," Leo ran his thumb below her under the eye, "What happened?" he placed his hand on her stomach, feeling the smooth skin while also shifting her mood as she giggled.

"Do you think I am pregnant?" her question was filled with hope and anxiousness. 

"You are too young to bore children, my dear Vivi. Do you want to have children now?" he asked her, his eyes took in her expression.

In turn, she answered his question with another question, "Don't you want any?" They had never discussed children until now but now that it had come up, Vivian wanted his views on it too. 

"Of course, I do. More than anything in this world. To build a family with you, to live long..." his voice trailed to quietness, "I want to spend every possible time we have together. What did you see in your dream today, Vivi?" he came directly to the point. She was hoping somewhere he wouldn't. 

"It was the same dream."

"What did you see? You look more anxious than the previous days, how did you see me die?" he asked her casually.

Thinking about it was difficult and talking about it painful. She had seen her eyes flicker from black to red to black again, and she was sure that Leo had noticed it too. They didn't know if her pureblooded self was coming forth but she was scared. 

She shook her head in response not wanting to speak about it, "Sharing your trouble will ease your chest and mind, Bambi. I am your husband. If I can't shoulder so much I would feel ashamed of myself for not being able to do anything," she heard him speak. 

"There was blood on my hands," her voice was feeble but the room was quiet enough for him to hear what she was saying, "Blood that was yours but I was a vampire"

A few seconds silence passed between them before Leonard spoke, "I won't die that easily, Vivi. And if that is what is written in fate, let us try to change it together than you worry yourself alone."

"I am scared," she whispered as he took her back into his arms.

"I know," he hugged her, kissing the top of her head. To lighten the mood he then said, "For someone who is scared to kill a fly, your imagination does run wild," he chuckled, a small smile coming to settle on her lips, "Everything will be okay," he assured her as she got closer to his chest to listen to his heartbeat. 

"Everything will be okay," she repeated his words.