Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 1}

~Chapter 52: Hunting Around the Pond~

Jiu rejoined the guests the next morning, after Henry had insisted to his grandmother that he would be joining them no matter what. For some reason, unbeknownst to Jiu, Henry had chosen to do hunting, with the guests, for the first day of his wedding week. Leora had mentioned their father used to hunt, perhaps he'd learnt it from him. So, early in the morning, they left for the fields in the manor; so the air was still warm from the summer, but had a nice, cool undertone to it as they made their route around the large lake-like pond belonging to the Mohan manor. Master and Mistress Mohan had refused to join them, saying that the noise of gunfire tried at the old man's nerves, and Mistress Mohan could not bear to leave her husband's side. Henry was clearly not opposed to this, and was instead, quite eager to abandon his grandparents at the drop of a hat. Marjorie Cook also refused, saying her baby, Clarence, could not handle the loud gunfire either. So, the rest of the guests made their way out; the men were ready to hunt, and the women were ready to simply watch and bring encouragement. Henry and Julian were in the front during the walk, holding their guns with an eager sort of gleam to their eyes, quite excited to let out some sickly intent on some unsuspecting wildlife.

Behind them was Leora, who'd been forced to walk beside Lord Bramston. They clasped their arm and arm, with Lord Bramston stroking at her arm as he walked with his gun. He talked avidly about his business to Leora, and the girl met it with a weak smile and a forced nod. Jiu was behind them, talking with Lady Gwendolyn, Dorian and Basil; despite not originally liking Dorian, he found him much warmer now, and much more palatable than Lord Bramston or Julian Frost. And then, behind them, was Lord Bernard and Jacques Baudelaire, discussing something odd about the French economy and how they dealt with the poverty in places.
"I'm surprised Henry wanted to go hunting," Jiu murmured, casting his gaze at the group he'd been lodged into.
"You are?" Lady Gwendolyn smiled, tilting her head," Noble men love it."
"Some love it," Basil corrected, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Do you not, Basil?" Jiu hummed.
"Not particularly," Basil shrugged," I must say, it's a little too... barbaric."
Dorian nodded," I agree with Basil. Though, I don't much mind it. There's a thrill to the sport, don't you think?"
Basil made a face like he felt otherwise, causing Dorian to let out an elegant chuckle. After a moment, Lady Gwendolyn and Basil seemed to slip away from Dorian and Jiu, and Dorian leaned close to the ghost, bringing his voice to a low, whisper.

"Any more hauntings?"
Jiu frowned, thinking, before shaking his head," Not that I know of."
"You think Leora may?" Dorian frowned.
"It's possible," Jiu sighed," She seems...off this morning."
"She's always 'off' when her grandmother appears," Dorian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck," It's a particularly tricky time for the girl, they never have been family, even when everyone was still, well, alive."
Jiu glanced over at Leora. He watched as she nodded along to Lord Bramston, with that tiredly-tragic expression in her face; and he suddenly felt a wave of sympathy wash over him for the young lady.
"Everyone - be still!" Henry hissed, batting his hand subtly at the guests to stop.
In the pond were two swans, a man and a female; swimming elegantly among each other. It was a romantic sight, to say the very least.
Henry turned to Julian with a smirk," Shall we do one each?"
Leora blinked in shock," Henry, that's revolting. The swans belong to our estate."
"And if they belong to us, we can do what we wish," Henry shot his sister a dogged glare," And as it is my wedding, I chose to shoot the swans."
"Isn't it wrong to kill a swan?" Lady Gwendolyn frowned, fanning herself.

Lord Bernard nodded," Her Majesty herself said we mustn't. Mark of the royals."
"Oh please," Henry hissed," These are my swans, not Her Majesty's, and I say, I want to hunt swans!"
Before anyone could stop them, there were two, consecutively loud gunshots, that echoed across the field, as both Julian and Henry fired at the graceful creatures. The lovers swooned, and miserably fell into the waters like Ophelia; a lovesick red staining the waters. Jacques cowered in an instant and the gunshot noise, covering his ears. Leora hid her eyes with her hands, letting out a whimper of repulsion at the brutal nature of her brother and the doctor. Jiu, himself, felt a horrid sense of disgust seeing the two men look so satisfied by their kill.
"Oh Harry, Dr Frost; how horrible!" Dorian cried, looking at the miserable corpses, bobbing in the water.
"Now, now, they were bound to perish at some point," Julian shrugged, his expression awfully cold.
Basil studied it, with an artistic eye," I should like to paint this, a good thing I brought my oil paints and canvas. Henry, do you mind?"
"Not at all," Henry shrugged," I doubted you'd want to hunt anyway."
Lady Gwendolyn had gone to comfort Leora, frowning at the two men," Imagine if Her Majesty knew!"
"Let her," Henry shrugged, smugly," I am her favourite subject, you didn't know?"
Lord Bramston scoffed, and decided to smoke instead of judging the careless action.