The Magnificent Mÿlanian Silver Bird Al'Frjdian

The New Guest

A long long time ago, there was a mansion, isolated deep
in a forest. In the huge building, a butler served his master
and his family. They were a rich family owning a wealthy
company and many times a year they invited important
business people to banquets. It was an autumn morning
and the butler was pacing around the mansion, supervising the preparations for the upcoming thanksgiving banquet this evening. Thanksgiving was always the greatest banquet of the year. Even days ahead, the butler had already so much to do and organize that he barely had time to supervise the usual household or manage the errands and deliveries. Not to mention his own, private life of course. This would have to wait until after the banquet when he would be able to get a day off.
The butler was tall, in fact 210 centimeters tall and he
was muscular, yet had a slender figure. His straight raven
black hair fell to his waist if he didn't tie it up to a bun.
For his work, he usually does so, so most of the other
servants wouldn't even know just how long it exactly is.
Many male and female servants admire his beauty and his
ever calm character, friendliness and an unshakable way of motivating the other servants. With this special attitude, it was easy for the team to prepare everything in time.
Half an hour before the banquet started, the first guests
arrived at the mansion. The butler stood at the great doors
of the main entrance and greeted each and everyone of
their guests. Meanwhile, the family welcomed them in the
banquet hall and the servants offered them an apperetive.
Every guest the butler knew their name of, was greeted
with a friendly nod, a kind "good evening" and then the
name.
Suddenly there was one guest who stood out from the
rest. Even as he stepped out of his carriage, the butler
caught his appearence in the corner of his eye. The guest
had long locks of blonde hair and was tall. The butler kept
on stealing glances at him while greeting the rest until the
man stood before him. His height was close to his own
height, which impressed him immediately. The chestnut
brown eyes smiled at the butler.
"Bon soir," the guest said, pulling the butler back into
reality.
"Good evening, sir..."
"My name is Francois Chastain, it is my first time to be
invited to this manor. My pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine," responded the butler, gave him
a nod and then the guest went inside. While he greeted
everyone else, the voice as well as his smell and
appearence still lingered in the butler's head. Even when
the banquet had started, the butler never lost him out of his sight. Most of the times Lord Chastain responded to his gaze with a friendly smile. The hall was packed with
guests. There were a lot of tables to sit at, but many people stood and talked in front of the buffet or in front of the small stage, where a group of musicians accompanied the banquet with slow, classical music. Everything was lit in the dim and warm light of the chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The buffet was huge and the butler
always made sure everything was made from only the best ingredients. The same of course also held true for the
wine. While standing beside his master's chair, the butler
silently watched the people drinking, cheering and talking.
By looking at their faces, he figured that a lot of the guests were talking business. His master was also talking about new business ideas with his colleagues, but these topics didn't interest him. He rather let his gaze roam across the hall, while he focused on the music. The banquet lasted until deep into the night, but in the end only half of the guests where left. These were the guests that would also stay for a few days. They were businessmen coming from far away in order to attend meetings at this residence either to promote their own companies or to form contracts. Lord Chastain was obviously one of them, but the butler had never seen him before. Nobody present on the banquet seemed to know him though, which was pretty rare. Usually people were invited by being recommended by one of the guests. Someone must have recommended him though since he stood on the guest list.
At one in the morning the first guests started to retire to
their guest rooms. Most of them already knew the
residence and thus didn't need to be led. While the butler
wished the retiring guests a good night, Lord Chastain
came up to him. The butler had watched him drink a lot of
wine. Now that he stood next to him, he could see just the
slightest hue of red on the Lord's cheeks. His speech
however didn't seem to be effected.
"I would like to retire as well. If you please could be so
kind to show me my room?"
Hearing this deep and clear voice so close to him almost
made the butler shiver.
"Of course, Lord Chastain. Please follow me."
With a candelabra in his hand the butler went ahead to
show Lord Chastain the way to his room. As if he knew it
was one of the furthest rooms, the Lord started talking to
the butler.
"I've been wondering...you know my name but I still do
not know yours."
"My name is not important, I'm a mere servant."
"But how should I call you when I need something?"
"You may ask the other servants, I am busy serving my
master and supervising. I'm afraid I will not be available."
Lord Chastain didn't enquire any further so they continued in silence until they arrived at the room.
"Thank you very much." As he the Lord said that, the
butler's eyes lingered on the other's lips long enough for
him to notice. Subconsciously, the butler even opened his
lips, just the slightest bit. When their eyes met again, Lord
Chastain gave the butler a warm smile. His hazelnut eyes
were gazing right into his soul. With all his might he was
able to rip himself from this gaze.
"Have a good rest," the butler said and bowed. Lord
Chastain went into his room, gave one last smile and then
closed the door behind him. The butler was relieved and at the same time couldn't stop thinking about the situation.
He had actually gazed at the Lord's lips and he was very
sure that he had noticed it as well. He felt embarassed and
wondered why he was so captured by him. On the way
back to the banquet hall, he recalled the Lord's appearance in his head. He did stick out from the rest. The butler hadnever seen another man having the same length of hair. It fell so beautifully down to his waist, curling in golden locks that had shone in the candle light. Fitting to the colour of his hair, Lord Chastain had worn a blueish-
purple coat and a green neckerchief. On his coat there was
a small metal emblem, holding a red "F". In his mind, the
butler followed the blonde locks upwards again, up to his
eyes, his lips. Suddenly he stood dead in his tracks.
Subconsciously he turned around and paced back the long
hallway until he stood in front of Lord Chastain's door.
Why did he come back here, what did he want? He felt his heartbeat up to his ears, growing louder by the second.
After a long moment though, the butler clutched the
candelabra tighter, turned around again and went back to
the banquet hall finally. He continued with leading some
guests to their rooms, and caring about the drinks. About
an hour later, all guests as well as his very drunk master
had retired to their rooms. His master's wife had gone to
bed hours before and the butler made sure he came back to his room safely as well. When everyone was in their
rooms, the butler went back to the banquet hall to
supervise the clean-up. He himself helped clearing the
table and drying the washed dishes in the kitchen. Only
after the whole dishes were cleaned and the kitchen was
tidied up, did he thank the last servants and allowed them
to retire themselves. As the last one of the house, he could
finally retire to his own room. It was very small,
containing only the bed, a desk and chair and one
wardrobe. He had taken the candelabra with him and
placed it on his desk. In it's warm light he got his
nightgown out of his wardrobe, and went to the bathroom,
right next to his room. He undressed, washed his body and then finally went to bed to fall into a deep sleep.
With just a few hours of sleep, the butler rose before
sunset to start yet another day full of work. Early in the
morning he supervised the cooking of the breakfast for
everyone. Every time the master invited business guests,
he wanted a grand buffet for breakfast to start successfully into the day full of meetings. Shortly before the breaksfast started, the butler and the servants would eat themselves in the kitchen to gather enough strength for the day. When everything was served, as always, the butler stood behind his master, silently watching over the people. About only half of the guests had stayed overnight to do business with the master. Being the newest guest, Lord Chastain sat very close to the master, smiling brightly and trying to talk to him every now and then, but he was still hungover from his drinking, so he didn't really answer. He just ate his breakfast silently. The butler wondered how he would be able to attend the meetings this afternoon, but in the end he would manage, just like every other year. Realising that it had no sense to talk to the master right now, Lord Chastain conversed with the other businessmen around him. He happened to sit next to Mr. Hanceworth, the master's brother-in-law. His wife, Lady Hanceworth was the master's sister and since they worked for their parent's company, they were always present at such banquets or any other events. They had long taken over the business of their parents and worked together when it came to any and all decisions concerning the company. Besides the master's wife, Lady Hanceworth was usually the only woman present and the butler knew her very well for engaging in heated discussions at every meeting. She was indeed a very good businesswoman. Talking to the Hanceworth couple, Lord Chastain's interest seemed to bloom. He was visibly looking forward to the following days. Watching this scene made the butler's heart feel at ease. He was content and put a smile on his own face.
After the breakfast, most of the guest went outside to take
in some fresh air. Just as usual, the butler helped the other
servants collecting dishes to clear the table. All of a
sudden he saw a slender hand decorated with one silver
ring on the ring finger reaching for the same plate as him.
His eyes traced up the purple sleeve until his heart skipped a beat when he looked into these hazelnut eyes. Lord Chastain smiled, took the plate and put it ontop of the stack on the serving cart.
"Mylord. Please. You should catch up to the others for a
walk."
"May I ask you personally to show me around the garden?
You must know every corner and the most beautiful spots
to catch a breath of fresh air."
The butler sighed inwardly. In fact he would love to show
Lord Chastain around the garden and of course his
favourite places. He had a lot of them, places he loved to
retreat when he had a break and needed a moment to catch a breath from all this hustle.
"I am truly sorry, but I am not able to take a break just yet. For me, my work just started and I need to help the other servants preparing lunch."
"Then...may I ask when you are available for a short
break?" Lord Chastain asked so friendly and innocently
that the butler couldn't help it. Secretly, he was very happy to have the Lord ask him, but he needed to stay
professional at all times so he suppressed showing any
signs of joy. Instead, he let out an audible sigh,
straightened up and answered honestly: "I might take a
short break once the business meetings are over." The
butler took out his pocket watch and opened it.
"I might have time for at most an hour until I have to
prepare dinner service." Lord Chastain beamed a smile
and then gave a nod.
"I am looking forward," he said and then left the room.
With this meeting always in the back of his mind, the
butler continued with the work as usual.
"Lord Chastain seems to be very kind to you, don't you
think Mason?" Liz suddenly said. She was one of the
younger maids and to Mason she was more like a good
friend than just a colleague. She was also the only one
who would dare to tease the head servant like that.
"He is a very kind man," was the only thing Mason
answered. Liz smiled and sighed.
"I wish he was just as kind to me, but I am just a maid..."
"Don't say that Liz, you are a beautiful woman."
"Thank you Mason...I'm really happy for you that he
asked you to show him around, enjoy it!" Liz winked at
Mason and then continued with her work happily. Mason
almost dropped his plates on the floor when he heard her
say this. He placed them on the serving cart, collected the
last ones from her hands and then shoved the cart to the
kitchen without a single word. Liz couldn't help but let out a giggle before following him. In the kitchen, the butler was back to his usual seriousness as if nothing ever
happened. After about an hour the guests came back and
had some more free time in which they strolled around in
the mansion. Since the meetings would only start after
lunch, they would read in the library or spend more time in the garden. Today was a sunny autumn day. The leaves
had long turned golden and red and the garden looked as if it was burning. Whenever the butler had a quick glance out of the windows, he stopped to adore the colours. He
couldn't wait to go outside to be able to feel the autumn
wind and smell the leaves.
After lunch, the first meeting of the day started. Mason
was not present at the meetings, he rather went through the mansion to look if everything was in order. When the
meetings were over about five hours later, Mason went to
the room of the meetings and opened the door for the
master. He stood next to the door and informed that dinner would be at eight in the evening. Everyone was getting up and collecting their things. One after another they left the room to get a break. The butler waited patiently until almost everyone was gone. Of course the last one coming to the door was Lord Chastain. He had taken off his coat and carried it casually over his shoulder. He wore a white shirt underneath which was tucked neatly into his black dress slacks.
"Finally! I am glad to go back into the garden." The butler
nodded, closed the door behind the Lord and then went
onwards through the hallway.
"How were the meetings?" he asked on the way.
"Exhausting. But very interesting. I was surprised that
most of the time Mrs. Hanceworth spoke. Your master
barely spoke, he mostly nodded along."
"She is the elder one and the actual head of the company,"
Mason explained.
"I see...so, where are we going?" Lord Chastain asked.
"To one of my favourite places, just as you asked,
Mylord."
Lord Chastain smiled contently and followed the butler
quietly. They went through a lot of hallways and walked
down the stairs in the main hall until they finally arrived at a back door which led directly into the garden. Since the estate was really extensive though and they had a bit of time, Mason chose to show him the adjacent forest that
contained of a lot of chestnut trees. The moment they
entered the golden forest, a warm feeling spread through
Mason's whole body.
"You look very content," Lord Chastain noticed. The
butler smiled at him.
"I am. I enjoy coming here in my free time to collect
mushrooms or chestnuts."
"Chestnuts. There are plenty around here." Mason grabbed
one from the floor and held it up between his and Lord
Chastain's eyes.
"I think their brown is so beautiful, but your eyes are
lighter. Your eyes are the most beautiful hazelnut colour I
have ever seen." Lord Chastain's eyes widened.
"Thank you. But your eyes are also very special. I have
never seen a pair of blue eyes with different hues of blue.
One of your eyes is a little darker than the other. And they
look like the ocean."
"A lot of people say that." While speaking, the butler kept
collecting chestnuts. Once he had a handful, he put them
in his chest pocket of his penguin suit and kept one in his
hand. With his relatively long nails, he was able to peel off the dark and thick outer skin. He roughly scraped off the lighter inner skin as well and then handed it to Lord
Chastain.
"They taste better roasted I think, but you can still eat
them like this," the butler explained and started peeling
one for himself. Lord Chastain scruitinized the object in
his hand and then took a careful bite. While chewing, he
seemed to like the taste.
"If we collect enough I can roast and serve them after
dinner. You will love the taste even more."
Lord Chastain seemed to be excited and started collecting
alongside the butler. In the end, all their pockets were full
of chestnuts and since the butler had to go back to work,
they started going back to the mansion.
"Will there be wine again for dinner?" Lord Chastain
asked curiously, in the same tone a child would ask for
sweets.
"There will be, but not as much as yesterday. In the next
few days there will be meetings in the morning and
afternoon." The Lord sighed and nodded. A few moments
later the two arrived back in the mansion and Mason got
back to work. He had taken all the chestnuts and showed
them to the kitchen maids and cooks. Especially Liz was
really happy and put them all in a basket. Mason would
help her later to roast them. While they prepared dinner,
the guests had more time to rest or play pool in a special
room with pool tables.
After dinner, everyone once again gathered in the lounge
to drink, snack on the chestnuts and simply celebrate the
successful start into the week. The master had even
demanded female dancers who performed on the lounge's
stage. The dim light of the candles illuminated their curves and made their golden and silver accessoire glitter. Mason stood next to a chandelier, always watching and always at the ready when someone demanded a drink. He spent some short glances at the dancing women, but he couldn't help but sigh and let his gaze wander across the crowd. It didn't take him long to find Lord Chastain in the audience.
He sat on the left side on one of the seats further in the
back. There was less light, so he could barely see his face.
He could recognize however that he was also not
interested in the performance on stage. Much rather he
was looking back at Mason. He was not staring, but they
had looked for each other in just the same moment. They
didn't hold the look for too long, but with this single
glance they both had communicated that they were not
interested in the performance. It was so subtle nobody
present would ever grasp the meaning even if they had
seen the glance. It was like a shared message, a secret. The butler's heart was beating fast. On the one hand he wanted to steal another glance to see if Lord Chastain would send him another secret message but on the other hand he didn't know if that was a good idea. He couldn't help it though and after a few moments, he looked again. As expected, Lord Chastain returned the glance. Even more so, he shifted his weight onto his left side, turned a little into Mason's direction and intertwined his fingers in his lap. Then he raised the corners of his mouth into a smug smile, deepening his laugh lines that made him all the more attractive to the butler. Lord Chastain raised his right eyebrow and let his eyes roam freely over the butler's whole body. Mason shivered, he could practically feel the Lord's look touching him all over. At last, he gave one single glance to the stage and right back to Mason's eyes. Mason felt like his brain didn't get enough oxygen. He took a deep, unnoticable breath. He was up for a
challenge, he wanted to discuss this out, but he was afraid
the other guests would notice their play, since he could be
seen by everyone. So after assuring nobody was watching
him but the performance, he only responded with a twitch
of his eyebrows, a deep look and a quick glance to the
stage. No, you get on stage...
"Mason," the butler suddenly heard his master calling out.
He almost gasped audibly in shock, but when he saw the
empty glass, he just nodded and went over to fill up the
glass. After this, he spent more attention to his guests and
was able to cool down from his heated discussion.
The next days went on like this. Every day was filled
with the same tiring routine. Lord Chastain had brought a
light into the butler's daily life and with every hour of his
teasing and flirting, his wish to reply to it, to tease back
grew stronger. But he needed to stay professional. On the
last day after the last meeting there was yet another
festivity, almost as big as the first banquet. It was the last
night before the guests would leave in the morning so the
mood was very good. The butler was just about to leave
for the basement to get some more wine bottles, when
Lord Chastain caught up to him and laid his hand on his
shoulder.
"Where are you going Mason?" Ever since he had heard
the master call the butler by his name, he had done so as
well, even if the butler had never told him himself. The
butler turned his head and the silver ring caught his eye.
He had never seen it up close. The ring was a big,
magnificent bird with two tiny diamonds as its eyes. It had a golden beak and huge wings spread out as if it was
gliding across the back of the hand. Looking into Lord
Chastain's face, he saw that he had drunken even more
alcohol than on the first banquet. This time, his way of
speaking was also effected, even while just asking this
simple question. Mason looked across the banquet hall,
where everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves.
Then he took the hand from his shoulder, grabbed the
wrist and left the banquet hall, pulling the Lord behind
him. He initially thought he would pull him to a broom
closet, but since he needed to go to the basement anyways
and nobody else would go down there, he might as well
use this place to confront Lord Chastain.
"Hehe...quite eager today?" With each tease, the butler
held the wrist tighter and went faster. Lord Chastain
almost stumbled while being pulled down the stairs. When they entered the wine cellar, the butler shoved the Lord against the brick wall. The man gasped but before he could catch his breath, the butler was looming over him, with an irritated look on his face.
"Respect. I didn't expect you to ever lose your patience. I
really am-" literally speechless. The blonde was
interrupted by the butler's lips pressing on his. It was their
first kiss. Lord Chastain leaned into the touch, but once
Mason loosened his neckerchief and opened the first
button of his shirt, he faltered. A single kiss was fine, but
he couldn't go any further. He would lose control over this body. While being busy teasing the butler, he didn't think it all through. He couldn't hunt down his prey yet, he wanted to play a little longer. But having it so close to
him, smelling it made it so hard to withstand...The butler
kissed him again, moaning when they tasted each other's
tongues. He pressed their bodies together, but Lord
Chastain gathered his last strength and pushed him away.
"No..."
He breathed deep, buttoned up his shirt and picked up the
neckerchief from the floor.
"What no...?" the butler asked with a frown.
"I'm sorry for teasing you like this."
"What does that mean?"
Lord Chastain looked to the side briefly and then
approached the butler again.
"You know I will leave tomorrow."
"Yes. So I thought-..."
"Shush...Listen. I will come back on Christmas. Let's
make this our Christmas. The most memorable one."
The butler's irritation faded from his face like something
written in sand that was washed away by the next wave. A
big smile spread on his face.
"As if it was our last," the butler said and Lord Chastain
nodded. "May I give you one more kiss? You taste like
wine."
"I do. Right, you don't get to drink the wine, do you?"
"I don't need wine right now, you are so much more
alluring." With that the butler leaned in again and they
shared another, very passionate kiss. It lasted a long
moment until they pulled apart and looked into each
other's eyes. Lord Chastain was not the only one with a
light blush now.
"I need to bring the wine into the banquet hall," Mason
said. He breathed deep when he went to grab two bottles.
Lord Chastain opened the doors for them and they walked
back together in silence. For the rest of the evening, they
both avoided looking at each other.
Only on the next day after breakfast did the butler go to
Lord Chastain's room to inform him of the arrival of his
carriage.
"Let me help carry your luggage, mylord." Lord Chastain
nodded and let the butler inside. With one suitcase in each
hand the butler went ahead. The Lord followed right
behind with one last suitcase in hand. They loaded the
carriage and then the butler opened the door.
"See you soon, mylord." He bowed down and didn't look
up until Lord Chastain had gotten inside. He closed the
door and then watched as the horses started pulling the
carriage.