   I did come back to clean up after myself, but I elected out of remaining in the dining room and switched positions with Marie. When they were done eating, the group moved to the common room, and then to the west wing that Lord Evenus didn’t allow anyone to venture to. I wondered what they were doing up there, but my curiosity was satisfied when I heard a harp and piano reverberate through the castle walls.
   “What are you doing with your ear pressed on the wall like that?”
   Marie’s voice made me pull away from the wall before turning to look at her. I was at the foot of the stairs, just below the area with the lord’s quarters above.
   Marie raised a brow at me, and I felt a need to explain myself. “I—”
   “Hush. Run along now,” the older woman said, tapping my shoulder before walking past me and climbing up the stairs with the tray of filled wine glasses in her hands. I didn’t until she was out of sight. I retreated to the Common room the Lord and his guests had left hours ago. The place was a mess, so I went about cleaning it up before taking a seat on one of the armchairs. Troy was in the Common room, taking a nap on the Lord’s favorite settee.
   My eyes kept fluttering close and peeling open when a new song would start upstairs. I was flipping through a page in the book I had picked up when I heard a Low Tenor and Baritone voice sing along to a Latin hymn.
   My hands reached for the book in my lap before bringing it to my chest. My grip tightened as a third voice joined the singing. Deeper than the other two— bellowing. Shivers ran through me.
   The Lord did sing.
   I could pick his voice out of the rest, and even though I didn’t understand what was being said it was a beautiful song. A smile made its way to my face, and Troy raised his head and looked up at the ceiling.
   “They’re singing,” I said to the dog, getting up from the armchair I was sitting on before walking over to the settee and taking a seat beside Troy. “I didn’t know he sang so well,” I muttered, running my hand through the dog’s fur as memories of the small choir I had the opportunity to see when I went to the next town with my mother popped up. I spent the rest of the evening listening to them and humming along when I recognized the tune of a song. After a few hours, the singing stopped entirely, but I waited a bit to make sure that the songs wouldn’t start up again.
   They didn’t, and it was then I decided to get up and leave the common room. My guess told me that they had all retired for the night, which made sense. The halls had grown darker as the light from outside dimmed to a glossy blue. Marie had lit the candles in the hallway, providing a warm yellow glow that pierced the faded blue.
   I spent the next half hour cleaning about the castle. I fed Troy and retreated to my room to spend time with myself. The next few hours consisted of me stitching up holes in some of my clothes and humming the songs I had heard the trio sing while listening in from the common room. My eyes would flutter close as I would try to picture myself in the room as well. I didn’t know what was behind the west wing doors, but now I knew there were instruments. Why would the lord want to keep a drawing-room secret? I didn’t know.
   It became darker over time, and soon it was time for me to go and check up on the Lord for the night. I hesitated to leave my room as my face warmed up from the earlier encounter, I had with him and his guests. Some of the questions I had were answered there. It seemed the Lord liked to sleep around—Well, at least that was what I could gauge from the reaction from his friends. Maybe he wasn’t as religious as reliant on God as I was? I wondered why that could be.
   With a few minutes of deliberating if I should go and check on the master, I decided to head upstairs. I left my bedroom chamber in a nightdress and an oil lamp. My hair bobbed around my face, still long and due for cutting. The Lord had asked me if I would like him to help, but he hadn’t gotten the time to do that for me yet. The soles of my feet were cold against the wooden stairs. Winter might be drawing to a close, but the nights were still cold.
   When I reached the door to the Lord’s chamber I knocked.
   “Come in.” I blinked, not expecting an answer. Most times he was already asleep.
   “No need. I came to check on you…” I trailed, letting go of the knocker before making to turn.
   “I know, but won’t you stay for a bit?” His voice was closer now, and before I knew it, the doors creaked open to show him. He was in a white shirt and brown breeches. His eyes seemed tired, and his locks bobbed around the nape of his neck. “Come in,” he said, stepping aside. Not saying anything, I stepped in with the lamp in my hand.
   “You can drop that on my drawer,” the Lord said, making to sit on the armchair placed at the corner of his room. I did as he said before looking about while I clasped my hands together. There was nowhere to sit but his bed, but doing that would be rude, and besides, Troy was already sleeping on it.
   “Come sit here.” I looked over at him, feeling my chest squeeze up at the sight of him tapping his lap.
   “Sir, I’m not a child—”
   “I didn’t say you were,” he cut me off, giving me a playful smirk. My face warmed up, and I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
   With a little sigh, I did as he said, walking over to him before carefully sitting on his lap.
   “I hope you didn’t take what Lady Agnes said to heart,” the Lord muttered after a bit of us sitting in silence.
   “No, I haven’t,” I muttered, feeling the Lord hold on to my waist. “But can I ask if her words are accurate?”
   “A man has to attend to his bodily needs once in a while,” Lord Evenus said. “When you become thirty without a wife or children it gets lonely,” he added. Resting his head on my back before humming. I thought about what he said, staring at the lamp I had dropped on his dresser. I watched the flame flicker wondering what that must feel like. He lived in this castle in solitude for the best part of the year, and when he was out around people, he was in war campaigns and being stressed over the possibility of him losing his life or that of any of his men.
   Lord Evenus let out a long sigh. “Tell me about yourself, Manfred.”
   The shock of his request wore off after a bit. I’ve forgotten that my love has been one-sided for the past five years. He didn’t know anything about me, and I knew a lot about him on the virtue of him being my Lord.
   “Well, I’m here because my family couldn’t afford the tax…” I trailed, and Lord Evenus chuckled, hugging me closer to him. His scent was soothing. It loomed over the room, soaking into my skin. There was a faint smell of smoke—tobacco, but he must have smoked a pipe on the balcony before I had knocked.
   The Lord’s voice fanned my ear. “I should feel bad about reaping you from your home, shouldn’t I?”
   “No,” I said, feeling my face warm up. I was sure I was red not, and I was glad we weren’t facing each other. It was a nice feeling to sit on his lap. It wasn’t soft, but the feeling of being held and coaxed in the presence of someone I was enamored with was pleasant.
   “I like to sing,” I said, and he hummed. “And you seem to like to sing too.”
   He laughed at that, kissing the nape of my neck. “I do. I sang a lot as a child,” he informed me. That explained all the beautiful hymns from before.
   “I’m not very interesting,” I said after I had searched my mind for something I could speak to him about. I could speak of my favorite meals, and memories from my childhood, but I didn’t want to bore him. The room remained quiet.
   “Sir?” I called when he didn’t say anything in response after a considerable time.
   “Hmm?” He sounded sleepy, and his hold on my had softened a bit.
   “What do you think of God?” My voice was soft, and the pause that came after made me feel like Lord Evenus might not have heard me.
   “Why are you asking me that? Is it Agnes?” Lord Evenus asked and I shook my head, even though that was part of it. “Is it because of how I’ve approached you, then?” A sigh left my lips and I nodded.
   There was a low hum. “Have you seen me leave the castle for a service, Manfred?”
   “No,” I answered.
   “There you go—”
   “But,” I started, cutting him off before taking a deep breath. “Why did you protect my parents? Everyone?” I asked. The Lord knew what I was talking about. The few villages up south were having a hard time continually rejecting investigation orders from the church. “Surely, it must be easier to hand us over to the church as heretics?” I asked.
   “I’m not fond of innocent people dying,” the Lord said as I picked at my fingers and licked my nails. “Remember I didn’t inherit this place. It was given to me by the last Lord. I was his right-hand man, and I took his name and property at his death bed when he willed it.”
   There was a pause.
   “He would have wanted me to protect the protestants.”
   There was a softness to the way the Lord spoke of the man. It was filled with respect—and dare I say affection.
   “Also,” the lord started, taking a hold of my shoulder before turning me to face him. I stared down at his dark eyes and observed the way the orange light from the chandelier above reflected on his features. His pink keloid scar looked bright red under the flames. “My father was a protestant preacher, and my mother had a distaste for the church. They did die under the decree proclaiming the reformation movement as heresy. I got into the army to survive,” The Lord continued, taking a hold of my hand before bringing it to his lips to kiss.
   “Has anyone told you that you have the prettiest hands, Manfred?” And just like that, the tone of the conversation shifted. The lord kept teasing me as he kissed my fingers. He pulled my face down so that our lips met in a kiss. It was the same chaste closed mouth peck, but I was tired of it. I moved forward when he attempted to pull away.
   “Oh my,” he laughed, giving in to my attempt to initiate something more. Our warm tongue met, and my legs shook.
   I could taste wine and tobacco on him. He grinned against my lips when we pulled away, kissing my cheek repeatedly. My eyes were shut, and I smiled, receiving the love he showered me as thoughts of his past that he had just relayed to me lingered in my mind.
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