Consort

Chapter Five: An Odd Proposal

Chapter Five

     The shadowed figure of the recently-titled Lord, Daniel Khaos, could be seen sitting within the dimly-lit confines of his drawing room, cradling a glass of wine as he thought to himself about the day to come. Just the night before, an older man by the name of Alvisio Gravo had requested the use of the boy's deceased parents' laboratory and research space, in order to conduct his own personal research. Daniel, at the time, had no qualms nor protests against such an idea, although now that the very day had arrived, the adolescent now had a different perspective on such a visit.

"I do not wish," he muttered to no one in particular, as he tended to do when on his own (which, for the record, was rather a lot), "for someone who is virtually a vaguely-acquainted stranger to use my parents' facilities, whether it is for the sake of 'worthy' research or not." Of course, surely the research which this Mr Gravo wished to conduct may be deemed as "worthy", for why else would the man wish to use the previous workspace of two former, now-deceased government-employed scientists?

The large house was, apart from Daniel's soft voice, otherwise silent; only hours before, the boy had sent home his maids, having no more work for them to do, but had promised them a full day's pay, nonetheless; the boy was not entirely heartless, and despite the fact that society saw these maids as beings lower than the young lord himself, he still could not help but treat them as normal humans, as his parents had taught him to act as such.

The doorbell rang, shrill and ear-splintering, and Daniel dragged himself up out of his seat, making his way wordlessly into the candelit hallway and towards the large front door. The house, as lovely yet oversized as it was, never failed to send his imagination over the edge, thoughts and images of what may have been lying within the darkest corners of the dimly- and rarely-lit rooms never failed to send him into a strange state of paranoia.

He opened the front door to meet the peculiar blue pair of eyes belonging to Alvisio Gravo, the very man Daniel had been expecting and had anxiously awaited to meet for the second time in under twenty-four hours. The man seemed intriguing enough, sharing a mutual interest in science and biological studies with the boy; however, unlike Daniel, Alvisio's interest had not diminished to a dire point in which it rather ceased to exist, which Daniel's had, especially after the death of his parents for the sake of their studies, their government and their religious leaders.

"Ah, Mr Gravo, I had not expected to see you just yet." Daniel greeted the man with a handshake and a rather (however indeliberated) sheepish smile, before allowing the man to pass, leading him through to the drawing room as they spoke between themselves idly.

"Well, an afternoon visit was agreed on, yes? And so here I am." Alvisio took the seat Daniel offered him, as well as handing the boy his rather expensive-looking black coat, which was quickly hung upon a rail in the corner, by the window. After offering the man a glass of wine, which Alvisio insisted be in a rather tall glass (a gentleman drinking large measures of alcohol at such an early hour of the day? How absurd!), Daniel sat opposite his visitor. "Do your maids never answer your door, nor tend to your guests, Mr Khaos?"

"I insist that you call me Daniel." The younger man settled down, before sighing deeply. "I sent them all home for the day, seeing as the house is already immaculate. There is no need for maids doing what I myself am highly capable of doing, and so today they are unneeded."

"You are of your own species, boy. Most peculiar." And this man wasn't?

"And what would your definition of peculiar be, Mr Gravo?" Daniel asked, rather curious.

"The workings of the government, and of our religious elders. But of course, peculiar is not quite the correct word. To give the correct word would mean death."