The Seahorse and the Spice 🪼🎩✔

28: Deja Vu and Something New

Salem
I don't know what's come over me but every time I look at that Minerva girl, I get this sense of... home... I don't know how to describe it really. It's something that nags at the back of my head every time she's near and I've wanted to speak with her for a while. Ever since I woke up from a bout of pneumonia, I have been a changed man. I used to be quite the rake, chasing women's skirts and sneaking into homes to pervert them. Now, I tell them that I am saving myself for someone special, which somehow made me even more desirable, but the fact of the matter is that I don't know who I'm saving myself for. It's in the back of my mind, knocking at a locked door that I cannot open.
I met with Andrew in the study and he poured me a glass of wine.
"What did you do about the maid?"
"I told you, I scolded her."
Andrew lifted an eyebrow. "I've seen you go into a tantrum and I heard nothing in here. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing... really... you've been on me about that since I got better."
"It's like once you recovered from your pneumonia, a new man was born. Did you promise God that you wouldn't do anything if he let you live or something?"
I laughed. "No, nothing like that happened. I'm not sure what it is..."
"Well stop it. You're getting even more attention and all you've done is be polite. That bit about saving yourself is a pretty bold statement. You knew it would make you more desirable, didn't you?"
"Nothing of the sort. If that were the case, I would have been using that line a long time ago."
"The difference between now and then is that then you wouldn't have been serious, now you're truly serious about it."
"What of it?" I growled, sipping some win. "Is it wrong?"
"No... it's just the complete opposite of your nature."
I sighed, tired of talking about this. It was all Andrew ever seemed to talk about. Also, I don't remember actually having pneumonia...
"Andrew, can I ask you a strange question?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"You say that I had pneumonia but... I don't feel any of the aftereffects of it. From what you told me when I woke up, I would have trouble breathing at times of quick breathing such as running or sometimes have pains in my chest. I don't remember anything about being ill and I don't remember coughing up phlegm... and I ran away from a dog yesterday and haven't had any problems."
"First of all, why were you running from a dog? And second, I just know what I was called in for to you help you with."
"I was doing something and I ended up having a dog chase after me. It doesn't matter." I said, crossing my arms.
Andrew decided to ignore that and we talked about some other stuff.

Minerva
I walked into the house and met with three pairs of eyes staring at me.
"Well?" Bastion asked, looking at me anxiously.
"No, not today."
"Damn it!" Eadric growled.
"Watch your language, young man!" I growled at him.
"Sorry... it's just... you'd think he would have been triggered by now."
"Whatever his trigger was is obviously something that isn't something we can do about it. No sense getting fussy... but, I think he's trying to remember though."
"Why do you say that?"
"Remember when I was at the duke's before and he wanted me to be his personal maid but at the time things weren't right?" The two nodded. "Well, he asked me to be his personal maid again."
"Is that good?" Eadric asked. "Last time that's why you got fired, because of us..."
"This time though when I told him about you all, he asked to know your ages and then said for you all to come to the manor."
Xerxes smiled. "We're gonna be a family again?!"
I sat down and picked Xerxes up into my lap.
"No, sweetheart, I'm afraid it's not that simple. We must give the duke time to find his trigger. There will be many things he thinks of and has feelings about, but until he hits the trigger he created for himself, we will have to be patient. He wants you all to come to the manor and he will put you to work to earn some money."
"Aw... I didn't want to have to work..." Eadric said, sitting down. "That's not how it was supposed to go."
I made a face at him. "You seemed to have settled into the alternate reality of our nobility quite well, it seems."
"I miss that..." he said dreamily.
Bastion rolled his eyes but leaned against the doorway.
"So are you going to let us come then?"
"That's what he wants... I can tell he has feelings for me, even if he doesn't understand why yet, and maybe seeing you all will help him as well."
"What do we call him, Mama?" Xerxes asked.
"You must be very polite to him and call him Lord Barma, Duke Barma, milord, or sir. We cannot call him by his given name or we will be thought of as rude."
Xerxes frowned, crossing his arms. "I wanted to call him Papa..."
"I don't think that would be a good idea, X." Bastion said. "If you do that, they will think Ma had a secret relationship with him and is trying to do something underhanded."
"What's that?"
"They'll think she is trying to get the duke's money." Eadric explained.
"Oh... Well Mama wouldn't do that."
"Of course not, sweetheart. We all need to be on our best behavior and endure this for just a little more. Salem wouldn't have picked something too hard to recover from." I said, hoping that I was right.
"Well, we should pack some stuff. Come on, Eadric; come help me." Bastion said.
"Me too!" Xerxes yelled, jumping from my lap.
I watched as the boys packed their things and hoped that whatever came from this ripped the veil from Salem's face. It has been far too long and I am getting impatient. I want Duke Barma and I want him soon... before it's too late and another version of his father's life happens.