10 Lord Haundrake's Secret

"He's lying! I know he is!" I shouted, clenching my hands into fists. 

"Uhhh… " The maid stood awkwardly in front of us, holding her hands behind her back, and looking as if she were about to open her mouth to speak.

"S-sorry about that… ," Ausu told her. "Merribelle… sort of loses her head sometimes… "

"Oh?" The maid looked shocked at this. Then she replied: "I see." Looking uncomfortable.

"Ummm, you haven't told us your name yet." Unah told her openly.

"Well, you see the Lord doesn't care about it; I've never told anyone my name before. Everyone just calls me 'maid'."

Does anyone else think that's strange? I wondered. Could she want to hide her true name? Is she afraid we'll recognize it?

"WHAT! That must be so- you must feel so- excluded." Unah exclaimed.

"Y- yes, I do. My name's Ono." The maid replied anxiously.

"Right. Ono, show us around." I anounced.

"Right."

Ono led us down the hallway into a large circular room with a long table in the middle which was draped with red satin, the walls were dark green, with dark brown trim, and all the walls were lined with circular windows, which each had their pair of red silk curtains.

The table was circled in chairs, and a rug ornate with white roses lay on the dark wood floor at our feet.

"This is where our feasts are held." Ono announced.

"Wow, it's so… Christmassy!" I told her, eyeing the green and red curtains.

"Yes, well the Lord's favorite color is red, and then green." 

"How do you know?" Ausu asked.

"He told me." Ono explained, blushing furiously.

"O-oh," I answered, trying to think of something to say to break the awkward silence. "So, can we see the next room?"

"Of course!" Ono replied, walking out of the room, she let us down a dark hallway, and I noticed a large window that was painted black. I pressed my face against the cold glass, and heard an ear piercingly loud roll of thunder that made me jump, and I quickly receded from the window, but then noticed I had been left behind.

so, guessing which way my tribe might have gone, I rounded a corner, and jumped a second time when I saw Ausu standing there waiting for me, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Ummm… the others are in there." He told me, gesturing to an open door.

I, feeling timid, crept slowly into the room, and saw a long wooden bench where a short boy of fourteen sat.

It was located in front of a chalkboard, where a light brown haired, and brown eyed woman with glasses stood, a pointing stick in hand. It looked as if she were teaching the boy, like a mini school, where he was the only student.

The boy had pink hair as well, like Lord Haundrake, but it was a shade darker, and was cut shorter. And he also seemed to have Lord Haundrake's grayish skin.

Unah and Nicolu stood next to me in the doorway. The walls of the room where light Coral green, and two windows brought in the darkness and noise of the storm. They had no curtains like the other windows had had.

From the ceiling dangled a large crystal chandelier, which sparkled shards of brilliant light all around the rim, reflecting off the walls in all their brilliance.

I jumped for a third time as Ono whispered in my ear: "Try to be quiet because they're having a lesson." 

"But WHO are they?" I asked her in a whisper at the same volume as hers.

"The boy on the bench is Hanu Haundrake, Lord Haundrake's brother, and the woman is Icuna Jasuki, Hanu's personal advisor and teacher." Ono whispered back.

I nodded. That makes sense. I thought. Hanu and Lord Haundrake do look a lot alike.

     *           *            *            *             *            * 

Far away, on the far side of the castle, Lord Haundrake was alone, pacing around his bedroom, a worried expression crept over his face.

"They know," he muttered to himself. "I knew they were trouble when they walked in." 

"They're going to steal our family's reputation! They're going to ruin us! Why did I let them in in the first place?! You knew they were trouble!" a harsh voice scolded, which seems to be coming from a dark brown coffin trimmed with gold.

The coffin looked very out of place next to Lord Haundrake's large four-poster bed with red hangings, red blankets and red pillow cases, and next to the red walls with a green trim and red carpet, and red shades over the windows.

Lord Haundrake didn't even seem a bit flustered that a voice from inside of a coffin was speaking to him, but as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"What will you do when they leave?" The harsh voice asked.

"They know too much already!" Lord Haundrake announced, his expression changing to determination. "I won't let them leave!" He told the voice, then he pulled off the outside jacket of his suit, and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, and instead, where the arm should have been, was a large curved sword, it's blade gleaming red in the moonlight which streamed through his curtains, then he sliced a chunk of the skin on his left arm until his blood ran cold red, and tripped down the blade. He held the blade sword up to the light, and smiled indignantly. "I will kill them!"