Secrets of the Night

Chapter 18

It was shortly past 8 when Marcus woke up the next day. The sun was peeking through the curtains that he had been too lazy to close last night. He had tossed and turned for the past hour or so, trying to avoid the light that was streaming through the halfway closed curtains, but it had been useless. Finally accepting that his sleep for the night was done and over, and that there was no way to return to his sweet dreams he finally opened his eyes.

Talking about dreams. He hardly remembered what it had been about but one thing had stood out clear as day. And that had been Willow. If he remembered correctly they were riding through some fields together. Then they were in the woods at the lake and she just pushed him into the water. He caught onto her wrist though and pulled her in with him.

For a short moment the cool water had left them both speechless, but the next moment they both fell into a fit of laughter. They had splashed each other and Marcus felt like the soft sound of her giggling was still present in his ears, even though he was fully awake now and obviously she was nowhere near.

It hardly happened that Marcus was able to remember his dreams, but this one stuck for some reason. And he was glad that it did, as it left him with a soft smile on his lips all the while he was getting dressed. He threw a quick glance in the mirror but stopped when he saw his reflection. The smile still evident on his lips he wondered what Willow saw when she looked at him.

Did she notice the small scar on his chin? It had faded for the most part and you would have to look really closely to see it at all. Especially now that it was covered by a little stubble. It had probably been too dark for her to notice such small details, or had it?

Did she... find him attractive at all?

Ugh, this was nonsense! He had to get her out of his head. Not forever of course, but he couldn't be thinking about her constantly. People were starting to notice. You hardly even know her, Marcus had to remind himself, and there are more important things to think about than a girl you happened to run into.

For starters that would be breakfast. Marcus was starving. In a quick pace he made his way downstairs and found himself in the breakfast room not more than a few moments later. He knew he was late for breakfast, but at this point no one really cared all that much anymore. Ever since he had returned from his travels he might have been up early enough to enjoy breakfast with his family once.

His mother had tried to force him to get up earlier, but it had led nowhere and after 3 attempts she couldn't be bothered to stand at his door knocking for half an hour.

Marcus had barely sat down, when Edgar, their main butler waltzed into the room, a plate with breakfast in one hand and a few letters in the other.

"Good morning, your Grace!" Marcus was greeted as the plate was placed in front of him.

"G'morning, Edgar." he replied back, an amused smile at the butler's appearance. No one could enter a room with such swift movements as Edgar, it always seemed like he was floating, dancing almost.

"These two arrived yesterday, your Grace. And that one just this morning." Edgar explained while handing over the letters to his master. Marcus thanked him and off he was once again.

Dropping the letters on the table, Marcus decided that breakfast was more important right now than any letter possibly could be. And so he digged in, not caring about any manners or etiquette at that moment. No one was here to see him anyways so why bother. Also he was hungry. Really hungry. Being on horseback hunting all day yesterday had drained him quite a bit and he had pretty much fallen right into bed once he got home.

He was just stuffing the last bits of scrambled eggs into his mouth, as his mother entered the room.

"Marcus!" She exclaimed loudly, clearly not pleased with his way of eating whatsoever, as her son just sat there utterly stunned and more embarrassed by the second. Why did she have to walk in in the very worst moment possible?