[Reunions and Separation – Part 1]
Kiera found it hard to affix her usual expression on her face while she greeted the servants as they bowed and greeted her. As the wife of the Head Butler, Kiera Reyes was treated with respect by the servants and though she was a servant of the Greaves-Crawford Household herself, she found herself being given some sort of authority over the servants. She supposed it also had to be something in the way the Mistress of the household had also made her some sort of an unofficial babysitter and teacher for the young master and mistress, particularly in their younger years. It also did help a lot that she was considered a close, trustworthy friend of the family.
Still, her current source of concern had little to do with her position within the Greaves-Crawford family. Kiera brisk-walked through the corridors as quickly as she could without running outright so as to not attract any attention or concerned questions, but her worry made it difficult. She was not even sure what her usual neutral expression was anymore as Kiera struggled to wipe the frown from her brows.
A familiar pain began to throb in her stomach, but Kiera knew her limits as she continued rushing down the corridors. It was an old pain from the bullet wound in her abdomen that she had received many years ago when she had helped protect the young master of the family during an attempted-kidnapping session. While she had been lucky to get the wound sewn up quickly back then, she had been too busy trying to make sure that the fevered young master was well when they returned to the mansion that when Young Kyren had finally been settled, Kiera had found her wound reopened and become all infected. She had been sent to a hospital and almost lost her life back then. Kiera supposed that she really had to thank her lucky stars that all she got out of that horrible incident was a terrible throbbing pain whenever she tried to run or rush.
Looking left and right, Kiera could not find anyone that she was looking for even as she rushed through corridors after corridors that had made parts of her home for the past few decades. She had enjoyed her days within these four walls of the mansion, but they felt like a maze now that she was desperately trying to get a hold of people.
"Stanchion." Kiera panted as she came to a stop in front of one of the older generation of servants. Stanchion had been a servant of the Greaves Household and had been brought into the Greaves-Crawford Household after the marriage.
"Breathe, Miss Kiera. Are you fine? You look terribly pale." The old man held on to her arm to steady her, and she had not realized how much she had needed it until she felt the sturdiness of his hold.
"It is an old injury." Kiera had a hand pressed over where the scar would forever remain on her body with no regrets. "Have you seen Keyron or any of my sons?"
"Has there been an emergency, Miss Kiera?" The old servant observed with worry in his eyes. The white beard almost covering his lips softened the face of a strict servant, but Kiera –and everyone else who knew Stanchion –knew that his eyes spoke of familial love that he extended to everyone in the Greaves-Crawford Household. Stanchion was a man who neither married nor fathered children, but he was not without family. Everyone in the Greaves-Crawford Household was his family.
"I cannot confirm until I talk to Keyron." Kiera struggled to catch her breath now that the old wound had decided to give her hell for trying to ignore her limits. "Do you know where he is?"
"I cannot confirm, but I was made aware that Master Brandon's schedule today includes a meeting in the garden, and that they would remain there for Master Brandon to receive a little sunlight while he works. Do you want me to go fetch Keyron, Miss Kiera?"
Stanchion's offer gave Kiera a clue of how bad she must have looked. Servants and maidservants knew never to tear the Head Butler from the Master or Mistress of the Household unless there was an emergency, and here Stanchion was offering to fetch Kiera's husband just because she was looking for him in a hurry.
"No, I will go to him. I cannot confirm if it is an emergency just as yet. Thank you for the offer, Stanchion." Kiera was reluctant to relinquish the strong support holding on to her, but she braved herself to do it anyway, forcing reluctant feet to move one in front of the other to bring her to the garden.
"Miss Kiera, are you sure you do not wish for my support? The journey to the garden is not short, and I do not wish to be rude, but your facial color does not look good." Stanchion offered, beginning to dog her footsteps, but Kiera did her best to manage a replying smile instead.
"I will be fine, Stanchion, thank you. If the news I bring is not an emergency, then I will have dragged you away from your duty, and I don't want to be held responsible for any consequences from it." Kiera offered, patting the elderly man on his sturdy, steady shoulder before continuing her way down the corridor with pure grit-teeth determination to not let the man see how much the pain was getting to her.
She might have kept her strong façade in front of Stanchion and most of the servants, but Kiera was a stumbling mess leaning against the walls by the time she reached the entrance to the garden. She had already tried to alleviate her pain by walking slower, but her body was simply still being punished for her previous desire to rush as a pain that only lost to childbirth radiated through her. Halfway, she had briefly considered taking a break before restarting her journey, but the nature of her business could be a real emergency.
She took in a deep breath when she turned into the doorway that led out of the garden, glad to see the men of her family. Her Master sat at the table that had been set up in the gazebo in the middle of the garden, face full of attention as he read through the documents that had been brought and spread out on the table in front of him. Opposite him at the table stood Kiera's beloved, caught in serious conversation with his Master with him sporting a folder opened between his hands as well.
The distance was daunting, but Kiera held in the deep breath, did her best to push away the pain and took her first step out into the garden.
Despite all her determination, her body was unprepared for her decision. The pain made her lose her balance even before she could firm her first step. Embarrassingly, Kiera found herself tumbling to the floor, the excessive movement of falling creating crazy waves of pain through her.
"Kiera!" She heard her beloved call her name and when her wits returned to her, Kiera realized that she must have blacked out temporarily because her husband had already flown the distance between them and was in the process of gathering her up in his arms from the floor. "Kiera, what happened? Are you okay?"
Blinking weakly against the sunlight and looking up at the man who held her in a bridal carry, Kiera grasped weak hands over his hard arm muscles flexed holding her.
"Keyron..." Kiera wanted very much to rush to say the words, but the pain took it away as she gasped and lost her breath.
"Kiera, what's wrong?" She heard the second voice, and turned to her master hovering close to her worriedly as well. "Dear me, you're looking extremely pale! Grow a brain, Keyron, and bring her indoors instead of standing out here under the hot sun."
"Master Brandon..." Kiera attempted to holding on to her master's hand, and he got the signal quickly, capturing her limp hand and holding it tightly. "Kay... Kaylen."
"Breathe, Kiera. You're going to be fine. I'm calling for a doctor." Keyron's rush and worry over her was touching, but there was more to worry about than her condition.
"Kaylen..." Kiera was mildly apologetic for digging her nails into her husband's skin to convey her intentions to make him stop from rushing without listening to her labored words. They had moved a few steps back in the shelter of the mansion, but thankfully had not moved too much yet. "Miss Kaylen is missing."
"What do you mean?" Brandon's alarm was understandable. The doting father might care a lot for his butler and his butler's family members, but the man's own flesh and blood took precedence over Kiera's current situation. Kiera could not blame him at all. "Isn't Kaylen with your sons?"
"Kylar and Kyvan... dropped her off at my place... saying Miss Louise had instructions for them." Kiera could not help tightening her hands over the things that she was currently holding at the sudden stab of intense pain, and felt extremely apologetic that she must be crushing her master's hand with hers. "I left Miss Kaylen to do some drawing... while I baked cookies... I got a call that Kylar and Kyvan were going to town to do an errand for Miss Louise... Then I found out Miss Kaylen was missing from the house... I searched... everywhere."
Kiera looked up when a gentle butler's sleeve came up to wipe the sweat she hadn't realized was coating her forehead, and she met eyes with her beloved with a tightly controlled expression looking down at her. He could not show his smile as a butler, but he could damn well show it in his steady black eyes that said a million words in a single shared moment.
"Were there any clues or signs of struggle to show that she was taken? We taught Kaylen to leave clues if she was taken against her will."
"No. But there is no reason... for her to start playing hide-and-seek all of a sudden." Now that Kiera was in a lying position –draped leaning against her husband's strong chest and arms –the pain was beginning to alleviate ever so little bit. It was still hard to speak in long sentences without a break, but she knew that she was already past the worst.
"Have you told Louise?" Brandon asked this time, and Kiera turned to her master with apology written all over her eyes.
"No, I knew Miss Louise was to attend... to a very important meeting right about now..."
"Very good. Thank you, Kiera, for rushing to us and not bothering Louise about this." Brandon nodded with a reassuring smile. "We've got your message; we will find Kaylen. You have done very well."
"I was the one who lost her..." Kiera closed her eyes briefly to tide against the pain. "It is my fault I did not keep my eyes on Miss Kaylen."
"Kaylen is nine year old, Kiera. If she was not taken away, then it means that she probably found something interesting and ran out. There's no fault in you letting her do what she wants, and if anything, Kaylen should be blamed for not telling you before running out the door." Brandon's answer was easy, patting Kiera's hand in his with his free one. Kiera made a conscious effort to uncurl her hands from around her master's, retracting it before she could make another infraction on instincts.
"Put Kiera to bed and get the doctor. I'll get started on looking for Kaylen. She should not have gone far if she went missing within the past hour." Brandon instructed his butler this time, who looked nothing but ready to obey every single order.
"There is no need to get the doctor. This is old injury acting up." Kiera put in quickly. "Keyron, put me down. You can go with Master Brandon to search for Miss Kaylen."
"You're an idiot if you think I'm going to let you go back alone. I'm putting you to bed, and you are staying there until you feel no more pain." Keyron's scolding was so sudden that both Kiera and their master was startled for a moment.
"That's not a way to talk to your wife, Keyron." Brandon frowned.
"It is when she's pretending to be tough when there is absolutely no need for it." The butler's words were accusative as he shot a warning look over to his wife, who wisely kept her mouth shut. "She acted like a hero when Kyren was five and she got a bullet in the stomach and almost lost her life. Now Miss Kaylen has just gone running off on her own, and she ran her face all white delivering news."
"I get it: you care for her, you idiot." Brandon answered, hitting his butler lightly on the head in chide. "But she is a woman who chose to marry you knowing you would become the Head Butler of the Greaves-Crawford House. She's allowed to have one or two crazy heroic moments on her own. It's a trait of the Reyes family. Anyway, tuck her in bed and search for Kaylen around your place. I'll look around a bit myself, but don't alert anyone. Most importantly, don't tell Louise."
"You don't want to tell Miss Louise?"
"You heard Kiera. She's too busy with business and telling her about Kaylen will only worry her when she cannot do anything to change the situation. I don't have work due soon, so you and me, we'll go out to find her without alerting anyone. If Kaylen can't be found anywhere on the estate, chances are that she sneaked away and somehow got on the car that brought your sons out to town. We'll find them in town." Brandon answered steadily, running off after his instructions were given clearly.
Keyron stared at the retreating back of his master. Days like these forced him to remember that Brandon was no longer the childish and innocent twenty-two year old who first inherited the title of Head of the Household. Brandon had grown up to become a much more stable and reliable man, and Keyron had had no problems adapting, chasing and overtaking his master in the area of reliability.
But in moments like these, Keyron was forced to remember that Brandon was still running and chasing after him.
________________________________________________________________________________
The door closed quietly with a very soft click, the twins stood at the closed door, breathing a small sigh of relief. The temporary relief was all they would allow each other before they spun around to meet a sight they had never ever thought they would see –their uncle sitting and waiting for them patiently at the low table, a look of expectance written across his face.
After more or less confirming his identity, the man who was supposed to be their uncle had cut short any attempt at questioning when he announced that he had spared enough time for the both of them and Miss Kaylen, and that he had to attend to Kyren. The twins had been extremely alarmed to know that Kyren was nearby (having scoured almost the entire town and never finding any traces of their young master), and when their uncle had led them down (with a very confused Kaylen following along) a few streets, they had found Kyren asleep, lying on some stairs to led up to some apartments.
Their rush to greet their young master had been held back by their uncle, who had gently lifted the sleep-addled Kyren in his arms. Kaylen had surprisingly been able to hold back her excited squeals at the sight of her elder brother again, but Kylar knew that her lethargy also contributed much to that. From the tear stains on her cheek, it was rather safe to say that his young mistress had somehow gotten out to town, gotten lost and cried her eyes out before meeting their uncle and mistaken him for her parents' butler. The crying had exhausted the young lady, and it made sense that she had more or less almost been nodding off to sleep when the twins' uncle declared that they could seek shelter in his apartment, which happened to be one of the apartments of the building that Kyren had been sleeping outside.
Ever since entering the apartment, Kylar and Kyvan had both busied themselves making sure their sleeping young master and mistress were treated and tucked in bed well, and had largely ignored the decorum of the place or the owner of the place (though they kept very close attention about the possible security threats that could be posed against their young master and mistress).
The wordless gesture was given for the both of them to take their seats across him at the low table, where two cups of water had already been set out and waiting for them. Kylar and Kyvan exchanged confirming looks before taking their seats quietly, studying the man who sat across them. He looked rather similar to their father –there were slight differences now that they looked carefully –and there was really no denying the fact that they were twins.
But what mattered the most was the fact that the man sitting in front of them was a legend. He was a legend that not many knew of –because the things he did were so hard to believe that the twins' father and master had worked together to wipe news of this legend from the public sphere to avoid curious souls from questioning too much.
But the twins had not been spared from bedtime stories. Stories of things that this man sitting in front of them had once been capable of. Stories of the things that this man did, the things he sacrificed just so that the twins could live as comfortably as they did currently. Stories of how a man had been raised in a completely different world from them, and how it turned him into a monster that nobody knew until the very last moment.
"You're supposed to be dead." Kylar started the ball rolling, taking a jump straight into the deep end.
His uncle only smiled gently –one that Kylar could only describe as serene –back. Now that they were in close proximity, and Kylar had little other things clouding his mind, he studied his uncle's face. The unmistakable glassy look of his right eye was as his father had described –Kylar remembered asking his father once how this legendary butler had been able to accomplish so many things while being blind in one eye. 'One-Eyed Butler' had been one of this man's many nicknames.
"There are many things I'm supposed to be." Kyrano Reyes answered. "Will the two of you accept me as an uncle?"
"I don't know." Kylar answered honestly, always the one trusted between the twins to speak in representative for the both of them. "If you do not wish us harm and explain yourself to us, perhaps I may start trying."
"I will never harm any one of you. You will sooner kill me than find me harming anyone from your household." Kyrano's declaration was strong and decisive. Spoken with an even butler's tone, it sounded like an unbreakable promise. "But as for an explanation, I will do my best. There are secrets that I cannot share even if you hold threat over me, and things I cannot do or explain the reason behind my inability to do. But for all things else, I will explain to the best of my abilities."
"Will you tell us why you pretended to be dead?"
"There are multiple reasons behind that, but the main reason is that I could no longer serve Miss Louise as her butler. If I were to remain alive to them, Miss Louise would never have accepted your father as her butler." Kyrano admitted.
"Could you not have remained to serve Miss Louise and Dad serve Master Brandon exclusively? You were a Reyes butler too; you could have helped Miss Louise."
"Things are not as simple as it may seem to you. I am not sure how much your father has told you about me, but for me to be known as having survived all this time will only spell downfall for your master's household. It is our combined wish that the Greaves-Crawford Household remains in power as it has been built up to be thus far, and so my survival must be kept an absolute secret." Kyrano picked up the pen and paper that had been left in between them on the table and scribbled a series of numbers before tearing off the small portion that held the number, handing it over to Kylar. "I might not be a butler employed under the Greaves-Crawford Household, but do not be afraid to call me if you require help outside of the Household or are restricted by your master or mistress's orders."
"You... You are still willing to help us out even though you went through so much to escape the Crawford Household?" The young man accepted his uncle's offered phone number, taking a quick glance and making sure to memorize it before passing it to his silent younger brother who did the same.
"I am Miss Louise's butler, and Miss Louise's butler alone. Even if I cannot help her directly, I can help the people around her to ensure that she meets into no danger and less troubles." Kyrano's declaration was so factual and normal that both young butlers stared at their uncle with wide eyes.
They remembered their father recounting stories of how scary the Butler in Black's loyalty was to his mistress, and how common sense did not apply to Kyrano when it came to his perception of loyalty. They had found it hard to believe that someone like that existed, but now that they were talking to their uncle in person, they were not sure if delusional was good enough a word to describe Kyrano. Worse, the man in front of them was so capable and doing so well keeping his survival a secret that neither Kylar nor Kyvan dared to imagine the things that Kyrano must have been doing within the shadows to support his mistress.
"Wait..." Kyvan was not sure how his mind suddenly made the connection, but it did and he began to realize the amount of secrets that had been kept from him and his brother thus far. "When Kyren was being exiled from the Household, our father told us that we did not have to worry too much because he assured us that he would have someone watching over Kyren. He was ordered by Miss Louise explicitly to not help or instruct anyone within the Household to help, so he said he was going to find someone outside the Household. It was not a coincidence that you knew where Kyren was just now, was it?"
"Now that it has come to this, I suppose there is no point keeping it a secret." Kyrano nodded seriously. "Yes, your father contacted me and told me about Kyren's exile and begged me to keep watch over your young master. I did my best to let Miss Louise's intended lesson sink in, but it was rather unfortunate that I had to step in personally to maximize the efficiency of Miss Louise's plan."
"You stepped in? How?"
Instead of answering steadily like how he had been doing for the past questions, Kyrano stood up and walked to the curtains that had been drawn ever since they had arrived. Without so much a warning or a flourish, Kyrano threw the curtains back and waited for his nephews to adjust their sights against the sudden evening sunlight that shone through the glass doors to the small balcony. Their attention, however, was less on the evening view from the apartment, and more on the stacks of files and folders that had been arranged there neatly, hidden by the curtain.
"Feel free to peruse." He invited, and it was a well-taken invitation as both his nephews rushed to the files, each randomly taking one and helping themselves to the collated information. Earlier in the day –when everything had still been going according to his plan –Kyrano had rearranged the messy files that Kyren had left in his wake and had intended to leave it all in the apartment for the reinstated young master of the Greaves-Crawford Household to retrieve once he handed the rights to the company over to Kyren. His plans were all haywire, but at least the files were a good proof of the work that Kyren had done in the past few weeks.
"Kyren has been staying with me for the past few weeks and helping me run the business that I set up for the sake of guiding him. These files are the result of Kyren's hard work the past days." Kyrano introduced as he watched the stunned expressions of his nephews as they scanned through the papers one after another, taking note of their young master's handwriting, of Kyrano's handwriting. Occasionally, Kyvan would look up from the file and gape at his uncle with something like shock, awe and admiration in his eyes, but Kyrano did not offer a smile as he waited for either of his nephews to form an opinion.
"You own Lyca Trading? Kyren has been the one managing Lyca Trading the past weeks?" Kylar finally finished his file enough to make form questions, and Kyrano nodded in confirmation as he returned to the low table, leaving his nephews reluctant to leave the treasure trove of information.
"The recent success of Lyca Trading can only be attributed to Kyren. He has inherited his parents' ability to make and find business. I am aware that Greaves-Crawford Holdings have been trying to come to an agreement with Lyca Trading recently. I assume that either of you are the one responsible for researching about Lyca Trading?"
"Both of us." Kylar confessed. "It was supposed to be a high-profile assignment for the both of us –and Kyren, if he came back. We didn't know he was the one running the business, or that you owned the business."
"I was planning to give Kyren Lyca Trading from the start. But if you want to make news, I can arrange it so that the three of you become big winners in the end." Kyrano offered, but both his nephews shook their heads almost immediately in unison.
"We can't use you to push ourselves up like that. Lyca is the business that you built."
"I built it for Kyren's sake. I guessed that Miss Louise would do her best to shelter her son from managing a business all by himself, but a hands-on method worked best for her in the past, and I believed that it would work best for Kyren as well. I built Lyca Trading for Kyren to use as a hands-on experience to learn, and he used it well. It was a present to him in the first place; how he plans to use it will be none of my concern after I release the legal documents of my passing the business to him officially."
"You created a business just for Kyren?" Kyvan asked, but his twin clearly had another question in mind.
"You were planning to give Kyren Lyca Trading from the start?" Kylar questioned.
"I would have created an empire if I believed that it would be efficient in helping him learn." Kyrano answered the younger twin first before turning to Kylar. "My plans included having the two of you find him and dragging him back to the mansion today before he realizes that I have gone missing, and left him the business. Unfortunately, I go as far as to admit that I did not anticipate Miss Kaylen's presence, and hence my planning has gone off. Regardless, I have backup."
"Backup?"
It was ungodly timing, but Kyrano was rather glad that the bell rang at the time it did, because he had promised to give his nephews as much answers as possible, but they had been the perfect butlers and asked all the correct questions that would reveal almost too much about his life outside of the Greaves-Crawford Household if they actually spent some time to consider his answers deeply.
Leaving the twin butlers to get their caution up all over again –as if the arrival of someone was reason for them not to trust him as much as they thought they could while it was just the three of them. Had Kylar and Kyvan trusted that they would be able to overpower Kyrano if a real situation happened in which the twins would have to go against their uncle? While it was heartening to know that the young butlers had confidence in their abilities and skills, the truth was that Kyrano had been trained and experienced in too many things to be cornered by a pair of fifteen year old, even if both of them boasted the Imperial Academy's golden coat of arms.
Besides, there were little reasons for Kylar and Kyvan to get their defenses up, because Kyrano's backup was certainly a familiar individual.
"You took your time." Kyrano greeted as he opened the door because there was only one person who knew to knock on this particular apartment door at this particular time.
His expectation that his backup had come alone was ruined, and the moment dragged out for long. His backup took in a deep breath and held it in –from fear or anticipation, Kyrano was not sure.
What he was very sure was the sight of a fist flying through the air and landing heavily on his cheek.
"You fucking bastard." Brandon Greaves spat.