The Ghost's Diary 👻 ✓

55(Part III). Breath of Azrael

Sorry? Knightley-

Yep, we're all related to Meredith.
Percival and Dannoso were first cousins.

It takes a few moments to let that all sink in. My shoulders slump, while a palm of mine supports my now drooping head.

Later on, the same hand falls down till it rubs my own chin.

So, that's where mine and Dylan's chin rubbing habit comes from...

Fun fact: Our family tradition of learning Italian is because of Adelia.

Floyd, her brother, was told that Benito died by a sunken ship, and Adelia and her unborn child died at hearing the news.
Heartbroken at his only sibling's death, Floyd then taught his children Italian, in honour of his sister.

That's why we, the Knightleys, still learn Italian.

"Made my mother think her only sibling didn't want her through a forged letter."

The exact combination of chocolate brown hair and green eyes... a combo that I thought only Dylan and Granddad Christopher shared... it makes sense...

Dannoso's sigh disrupts my drooping expression and makes me look up.

"Corvo, I have done and will do many things-- questionable things-- but they have always been for our own conservation and preservation.

"I shan't question your actions, and I hope that, at least, you understand mine."

Meredith fiddles with her hands, but ends up nodding at him.

Did he seriously nickname her Corvo? Italian for crow.

Think of the household name and then of the nickname. You shall find a connection.

My mind scrolls through all that it remembers from Religious Education class in secondary school. We were mostly taught morals in that class, with occasional religious stories.

Isn't the crow the bird that gave Cain the idea of how to bury Abel?

Yes. The crow, in a way, 'helped' Cain with disguising the murder.

Dannoso considers Meredith's birth to have 'helped' him for his 'questionable' deeds.

Well, that's-

"All right, enough of this. Have you practised the incantations I left you?"

Staring at him, she taps on her bed and then draws two waves in mid-air.

The bed rises and falls down with a soft hymn. It rises again and comes back to its place.

"Excellent," he praises Meredith, earning a smile from her, just as the clock from outside strikes seven times.

Both of them still, till the clock ticks away its last sway.

"Off to bed now."

Meredith turns to gaze at Dannoso's now standing figure.
He gestures her to lie on her bed, with a wave of his head.

She reluctantly does so, by pulling her legs onto the bed and throwing a sheet over herself.
Meredith remains straight in her bed, with her arms interlocked at her stomach.

Dannoso bends down and strokes her hair.
Her hair now seems to be somewhere in between light and dark brown, like the bark of an ash tree.

"I love you, Corvo," the echo of his voice masks the later muttering that comes from him.
Whatever he mumbles, it makes Meredith fall asleep almost immediately.