Lupine's Diamond (girlxgirl)

Chapter Twelve

Freya had been assigned to look after Mr. Ambermore himself that day because Victoria was away with her mother for the day. Mr. Ambermore—who Freya remembered from her previous position at the mansion was named Kenneth—was fairly easy to please. All he asked was a cup of tea every few hours or so, and sometimes to deliver messages to other staff members. Even his lunch was far simpler than Freya would have expected, with him only asking for a simple sandwich made of leftovers from the night before.

Over the course of the day, Freya grew to understand Kenneth just a touch more. He was a simple man with simple pleasures. He was a family man, though he didn't know quite how to show it. He enjoyed the simple things in life, and had achieved great wealth simply for the benefit of his children. Well, child. He enjoyed work, though he wished that it didn't take up as much of his time as it did. Freya knew all this because he had told her.

Upon entering at the beginning of her shift, Freya was greeted by a casually dressed Kenneth, reclining in his office chair. Carefully placing his breakfast and coffee on his desk, Freya was about to leave when Kenneth stopped her. He asked her to have a seat, and she did; she obviously couldn't deny her employer. Kenneth turned the picture frames on his desk to face Freya and casually sipped his coffee. Freya noted that while his greying hair was certainly cut nicely and easy to style, Kenneth hadn't seemed to have put much effort into it that morning.

She supposed that made sense considering that he had no meetings set up for that day and that he was simply dressed in a green golf-polo and black slacks. For a few moments of silence, Freya listened to Kenneth type a couple phrases on his keyboard before shutting it off. Freya only knew that it was shut off due to the ungodly noise that erupted from it to signify the shut-down sequence. She hoped that by the beginning of the new millennium, the sound would be eradicated from the earth.

"Do you know why I have invited you to sit here, Élaine?" Kenneth asked a moment later, followed by another sip of coffee.

"I do not, monsieur," Freya responded, accent in place. "Do you need some more caffée perhaps? Thé?"

"No, I am alright thank you," he responded easily. "It is because I need company is all." he paused for a moment, seemingly questioning why he was telling her this. "I miss my wife and my daughter when they are away. Everything I have created has been built for them. I wish that my children would never have to worry about financial difficulty. Well, I suppose my child. I had always hoped that we would have more than one child, but my wife had enough difficulty carrying Victoria to full term. Losing a child mid-pregnancy is hard. Thrice, that is another matter. Oftentimes I wonder how my wife amanges to cope with it all.

"Losing so many children...it was hard enough for me to go though. I can only imagine her pain. I wish that I knew how to show her that. That I care, I mean. You see, I was raised to be strong, have a thick skin, and hide all traces of emotion. I suppose the same goes for many young men, but I always found that to be the most difficult lesson that my father ever taught me. When I finally understood though, I never lost it. Now, I struggle even to show love towards my own daughter. I have but one simple, yet odd request: Can you help me show her just how much I love her?"

Freya was silent for a moment, processing his words. She had known from his file that Kenneth was a man that grew to his position through hard work and even harder nerves, but she hadn't realized just how much he struggled outside of work. She realized that at times, she was the same; other than Juliana, she couldn't remember the last time she had actually told someone that she loved them.

"I am not sure if I can, monsieur," Freya responded. "I am sure that Ms. Ambermore already knows that you love her very much."

Kenneth was silent for a moment, processing her words. "Perhaps you're right. I suppose I question this only because I never spend any time with my daughter. I am always in a meeting, or in my office. I wonder if she knows that I do it all for her? That I have sacrificed our time together now so that we may spend eternity together later."

"Perhaps you should just tell her that." Freya suggested.

A small smile cracked Kenneth's features. "Perhaps I will." He stood up and placed his now empty coffee mug on Freya's tray. "You wouldn't mind fetching me a pastry would you? I just love a good treat after my morning coffee."

Freya smiled and stepped out of the office, just in time to hear the telltale sound of Kenneth dialling his phone. Freya hoped that Victoria enjoyed the call. She took her time fetching the pastry and a cup of tea for him, giving him and Victoria all the time they would need to have their talk. The chefs down in the kitsch were slightly annoyed that Freya was taking one of the pastries for that night's dinner, but after explaining that the demand came from Mr. Ambermore himself, they eventually agreed.

Making her way back upstairs, Freya could hear Kenneth murmuring on the phone, seemingly trying to keep his conversation private while obviously frustrated. Freya hoped that Victoria wasn't on the receiving end of his frustration, though she wasn't quite sure as to why. Freya could just make out Kenneth's side of the conversation, which gave her just enough information to assure her that Victoria was not in any trouble with her father.

"—taking so long?" Kenneth yelled into the phone. "It's been nearly a month. You said this could be quick and painless, John. This doesn't seem to be from where I am standing." There was a moment of silence while the caller responded. "Another week?" Kenneth exclaimed. "You got the first one finished in two, and now you expect me to wait six! Are you insane? I expect it to be done by the end of this week. No later, or I will report you."

More silence. Freya took that moment to rap lightly on his door, knowing that there was no sense in listening to the rest of the conversion. She already understood the most important parts, though she wasn't sure as to what they were exactly bartering over, though she wasn't sure it mastered. She slowly pushed the door open and set the tray on Kenneth's desk, to which she received a nod, though his eyes still scowled. It was obvious that he was reaching his breaking point with whomever was on the other line. Freya left the room and listened to the door click shut behind her. She knew that her next task would be figuring out who this John was. Not for Kenneth, Victoria, or the prize, but for Corvus and the Kingdom. 

There you go! Latest chaoter has been published! Sorry if these updates sart slowing down. I'm going to be accepting more shfts at work so I'll probably have less time to write overall. Let me know if you guys are enjoying this book. Here are your questions: 

- Who do you thnk is this mysterious 'John'?

- What do you guys think of Kenneth now that we've introduced him as a character just a bit more?

- Of course, what do you think will happen next?

As always, thank yu for tking time out of your days to read my writing. Let me know if there are many gramatical mistakes or if something is unclear. Thanks!

~Alley