Belle Âme (SAMPLE)

Chapter 9: A Jar

Mr. Curtis leads me into the manor, weaving through countless halls until we arrive just outside the library. He doesn't make a move to open it, and I get the impression that I shouldn't as well. I strain my ears when muffled voices filter from inside. As if Lady Esther is having an argument with someone. I bet that someone is Master Ares.

Seconds turn to minutes until the large double doors finally swing wide open. I am immediately yanked to the side by Mr. Curtis so as not to crowd whoever is about to step out.

"Ares! Do not turn your back on me, young man!" Lady Esther calls behind a fuming Ares as he angrily stomps out of the library.

"No, Mum! Stop bloody treating me like a child; I'm a grown-ass man! I'm making my own decisions now," Ares yells to his mother but keeps his head straight. His face is flushed with anger, his body practically shaking with rage as he continues to stomp past us now. He doesn't notice us at first until my feet shuffle uncomfortably.

How can he treat his mum like that? As someone who very recently lost a mother, I can't help but feel a pang of envy and... anger towards Ares for being so rude to his mother. Lady Esther is nothing but gracious and kind and loving. I know for a fact she only wants the best for her son. He's freaking lucky he even has a mum-No, Callie. Don't go there.

He stops in his tracks and turns his head to us, his angry eyes boring into me before I cast my own eyes down at the floor. Mr. Curtis greets him a lovely evening, but I keep my mouth shut and my head cast down. As much as I want to spend every waking day of my life looking at him, I don't want him to see right through me with those piercing green orbs of his. He huffs before striding past us and turning into the hall towards the grand staircase as I release the breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Go on, Callie," Mr. Curtis urges with a soft nudge, snapping me out of gawking after our young master.

I gulp and nod before entering through the wide-open double doors. Lady Esther sits on the high-backed chair facing the large glass windows, a book on her lap and her head resting sideways on her hand. She looks troubled as she gazes out the window to the later afternoon sun. My feet take me closer to her as the gentle thud of the doors closing resonates in the silence.

The sound snaps Lady Esther from her reverie. She turns to look in my direction, her chestnut eyes considerably softening and a smile lifting the corners of her lips. A few wrinkles show at the corners of her eyes and some laugh lines around her mouth, but overall, she's still a very beautiful woman for her age.

I really do not understand why Sir Karl left her... how he could leave his family really. I don't know what he looks like and he hasn't paid a visit since I moved here five years ago. Has Ares even seen him since Sir Karl left? I suppose he's visited his son at his boarding school, or maybe Ares spends his summers with him? I've always wondered why he never came home during those school breaks.

"Caroline, dear, come and take a seat," Lady Esther offers, her hand gesturing to the couch adjacent to her chair.

I do as she says, adjusting the loose dress I am wearing and placing my hands on my lap, subtly wiping the sweat off on the raggedy cloth. I'm unaware that I'm mulling my lower lip until she offers me some tea that's sitting on top of the table beside her chair.

"No, thank you, Lady Esther." I shake my head and go back to biting my lower lip. I need to stop doing this. I don't know when I started having this nervous tick.

She takes a small sip from her cup before placing it back down and looking at me. I gulp, my nerves getting to me.

"You must be very devastated, dear. I remember when my mum died. I was about a year or two older than you are. I was utterly broken." Her voice is dripping with a long-forgotten sorrow as she stares off into the distance... perhaps seeing the memory flash before her.