Flowered Storm | a Strom and Silence Fanfiction

Several Attempts of Murder

The prospect of an unpaid feast is a mood booster for everyone, including Mr. Ambrose. There is something both of us agreed in: if it has free food, I am not going to say no.

Unless it's a ball.

We were sitting at the table, in a large room, doing everything not to make eye contact. Not after our little exchange of secrets upstairs.

Obviously, there was a huge elephant in the middle of the room, but I wasn't going to mention it, and I bet my salary Mr. Ambrose isn't either.

Speaking of huge elephant in the middle of the room...

'Mr. Ambrose, where's Karim? I haven't seen him since after you came back from your walk.'

He stated at the menu for a while, probably counting to ten, then he closed it and looked at me.

'Taking care of matters.'

'Which are?'

'None of your business.'

The...... man.

'Did you send him to find a man that could kill me without leaving trace? I would thank you for sparing me of the inconvenient of going back home to my aunt and her suitors, just please fulfill my last wish and make sure my sister will be fine.'

I said, joking more than being serious, but when I looked at him, he was eyeing me with, surprise of surprises, a inquisitive look.

'I know you have five sisters, but you keep talking about your sister, singular. You said that back at the office, when I informed you we were coming, and now. Why is that?'

The mention of Ella made me miss her a bit harder. I remembered the moisture running down her cheeks when I was packing and her big, bright, blue eyes looking at me with so much life in them.

At this time she's probably in her rendezvous with Edmund.

'Ella was the one I always had a better relationship with, the only one that, after being stuck with me for so long and from so close, never let me down, even after seeing how terrible of a person I could be.' I eyed the people, I eyed my plate then I eyed Mr. Ambrose, he was looking at me, waiting for me to continue. 'She's beautiful, so pure and innocent and so positive and delicate. I guess in a way she's everything I've always wanted to be, but never could. And I love her for that.'

It seemed like Mr. Ambrose was going to say something, but he was interrupted by the arrival of our food, since he didn't say anything afterwards, it was probably only me.

Why would he give me an answer when he could just be silent, something he was so good at? What could he even have said anyway?

The important thing was, I had succeeded at making the elephant disappear. I just ended up putting a huge hippopotamus in its place, which wasn't much better truth be told.

I couldn't rely on Mr. Ambrose to make it vanish, though, I had to take the matter onto my own hands and pray I would really succeed this time, and not exchange the hippopotamus for a bull.

'Humm. Ah yes, definitely the best memory I'll take from Portugal. This is delicious! It tastes even better that what I had for lunch!'

Mr. Ambrose ignored my remark about lunch and kept on eating almost unbothered, almost, because his jaw was twitching.

And no, it wasn't because he was shewing.

'You have no idea what you lost for not coming for lunch. It was marvellous!'

'Mr. Linton, for the sake of your salary, refrain from mentioning the banquet I was forced to pay after you left in my carriage leaving me behind when we were on the other side of the city.'