The Secret in the Mist (Random Updates)

Chapter 5

A shadow cast upon the book she was reading, snapping her out of her story and back to reality. She jumped when she realized that Cirro was standing in front of her. "Dinner is ready."

"Oh," she whispered as she slid her bookmark in between the pages she was reading before shutting it gently. She walked over to the bookcase and put it back in its place before leaving the library. Cirro watched her then shook his head. He pulled the book off the shelf and sat it on the table before following after her.

Entering the dining room, she walked over to her chair when a throat was cleared. She turned to see Raine standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. "You're supposed to sit in the head chair, Duchess."

She shook her head, "I'm not a d...d...duchess, that's Duke's chair."

"The duke is no longer here," Raine explained, "you are now the lady of the house. That means you sit in the head chair, Ma'am."

Her head turned, making her wavy hair mask her eyes for a second before she pushed it over her shoulder. As her eyes cast over the mahogany wood and dark red fabric, an image of Duke sitting in it laughing at something while a younger version of her squealed in excitement in the matching chair next to him while clapping filled her mind. "I can't," she shook her head.

Raine couldn't help to notice the dark shadow that seemed to veil over the new duchess' head. 'What could be troubling her so much over a chair? Last I knew, she didn't remember the duke that much or the time she spent here? I will just have to let the others know to keep a close eye on her. We don't need any negative energy tampering with the spirits here,' Raine thought as he watched Evangeline take a seat next to the head of the table.

"There again?" Cirro asked as he came back into the room and started making everyone's plates.

"F...f...feels wrong," she mumbled as she looked down at her hands.

"I thought you didn't even remember the duke?" Cirro asked as he handed a full plate to Wolf.

"I r...r...remember some," she spoke as she sat her glass of water back down. "Not a lot but some. He did...did...didn't treat me differently for loving b...b...books. He accepted me. I w...w...wasn't allowed to come here a lot as a c...ch...child. My father," she gulped and tightened her grip on the napkin in her hand, "didn't get along with D...D...Duke. They f...f...fought a lot. But Duke said th...th...this was my spec...sp...special chair," she smiled fondly as she trailed her finger along the armrest. "I'm always with him here. If I move..." she trailed off then shook her head. "I c...can't, this is my spot and D...D...Duke's is there."

"What did they fight about?" Raine asked as he watched her. There was something off about her.

She tilted her head slightly as she thought back to her childhood. "L...l...lots," she murmured, "Duke w...w...wouldn't let Father sk...s...skip interview processes and give him a j...j...job, wouldn't b...b...baby him, lots of things, and," she frowned as she tried to remember something else. It was right there in her mind but fuzzy, as if it was distorted. She could remember her name being mentioned but the voices sounded garbled, "Some...some...something else but I don't know." She shook her head, "they y...y...yelled every time they talked so they didn't bring me a lot. That's p...pr...probably why I can't remember him as much as I want."

The three men looked at one another and she looked back down at the napkin that was twisted in her hand. She knew they were silently communicating and were probably furious that she was even there in the first place. She already knew she was going to be a bother to them and mess up the routine they already have for this place. Maybe Mr. Thomas was wrong and there was some sort of loophole to where she could just stay in her apartment and let them continue running all of Duke's things the way they have been so she wouldn't be a problem anymore.

"After dinner I will need you to take the duchess to her place so she can pack some belongings for a few days and then we can start planning on moving her things here," Raine said while looking at Wolf, snapping her out of her spiraling thoughts.

Wolf's jaw clenched before he nodded and went back to eating. She looked up shocked, 'well that answers that' she thought as her phone started ringing. "Evangeline Willows," she spoke after Raine handed it to her. "Mrs. Johnson, how can I help you?" She asked as she held the phone between her shoulder and cheek while taking a bite of her burger. "Oh, yes Ma'am I can give you an update. I am about sixty percent through translating the first edition and I am halfway through the second edition." She froze and sat her burger down before she wiped her hand and stood, turning her back on the men and table. "I understand that Ma'am but I cannot just rush through the books that you gave me to translate. That first edition is in poor condition and I have to be very careful so there is not anymore damage to the pages, not to mention I will need to create a whole new binding since you are wanting me to repair the book as well. On top of that both books include ancient hieroglyphics and there are notes in multiple languages written in them so there is more transcribing than normal. It takes time and I explained all this when we first communicated. I understand you want these books done as soon as possible but I want to ensure that I am translating properly so I will not rush my work." She sighed and dropped her head a little bit. "Yes Ma'am. Yes, okay, have a nice night, Mrs. Johnson." She hung up her phone and slipped it back into her pocket. "Alright Evie time to get back to work," she murmured to herself as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

She turned back around and froze, she forgot where she was for a moment. "Eat," Cirro demanded as he pointed to her plate.

She kind of shook her head and clasped the crystal hanging from her neck, "Work," she mumbled.

"Do you have your work with you?" Raine asked calmly as he rested his elbows on the table. She shook her head, "then you can't work right now. Finish eating and then Wolf will take you to your place and you can grab it with your things and you can work once you get back. There is plenty of lighting in the library or you can work in Duke's office."

Seeing how that makes more sense she nodded and sat back down at the table.