✥ 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕽𝖊𝖉𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖆𝖗 𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗 ✥ open

[amithethird]

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𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘,

It is with great sadness that we write to you today. We are writing to announce the death of our father, Enoch
Redbriar, whose health, as you know, had been ailing for many years. He passed in the company of all his children
and beloved servants, and by all accounts, it was peaceful. It would bring all of us great comfort if you would attend
his funeral, which will be held at the Redbriar Manor. He shall be buried on the family plot, and you are all welcome
to stay at the manor afterwards while we sort out his affairs.

Yours,

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖉𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖆𝖗 𝕱𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖑𝖞

✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

The ceremony is simple, but sentimental. The burial is marked by rain. Now the sun rises the day after the
funeral, and though their father is gone, the Redbriars and their guests still have duties to attend to. Friends to
catch up with. And secrets to hide. There are more people in the manor now than there have been in years, and
the excitement and pressure is stirring up all kinds of feelings and tensions that have laid dormant before now.
With miles and miles of countryside between them and the largest city, there's no telling what might happen among
the guests of the Redbriar Manor.

✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

[amithethird]

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1. I care less about post length and more about post content. If you can write something others can
work with and throw around new ideas, you're golden.
2. PM me reservations, and I'll send you the link to the discord. If you're not active for two days after that,
I'll start bugging you.
3. If you're not cool with the gays, you're not gonna have a good time.
4. Realistic faceclaims
5. This is set during Victorian-ish times, but staying 100% faithful to the time-period isn't really a big deal
6. While I have some pre-made characters laid out, you can absolutely make your own from scratch, and they
can be whatever you want them to be. Servants, Redbriars, visitors, whatever.
7. Because of the aforementioned point, this RP won't necessarily close to new members unless we somehow
get an absurd number of people. We can start once we have at least a few characters in each section.
8. Feel free to muddy the waters with new connections between your characters. Make them siblings. Make
them exes. Make them mafia bros. If you ain't causing drama, what are you even doing here?
9. What else do I even put here? You guys know your semi-lit etiquette.

discussion page

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[amithethird]

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕽𝖊𝖉𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖆𝖗𝖘
✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

...........

The Oldest Son
Wilbert Redbriar
27
Male

Recently returned from
traveling across Europe with
the Butler, he has become
distanced from his family and
friends in his absence. Why
was he gone so long?

kalo

The Oldest Daughter
Coraline Redbriar
26
Female

The lone head of the
household after her older
brother left the country,
she's keen on keeping her
family together this time.
What did she do while she
was alone in the manor,
though?

rose petals.

The Youngest Son
Lancaster Redbriar
21
Male

Rebellious and stubborn,
he's only had eyes for the
Servants' Child ever since
they were young. But such
a romance would be most
unseemly. The question
is, does he care?

mtuan,

The Youngest Daughter
Genevieve Redbriar
20
Female

Engaged to her Fiance,
who is the son of a family
friend, her marriage has
been arranged since she
was young. The wedding
is soon, and her feelings
are mixed. Can she go
through with it?

querencia

...........

The Middle Child
Hazel Redbriar
24
Female

She broke ties with her
family as soon as she was
able, and hasn't been seen
or heard from in years.
Now she's back for dear
old dad's funeral. How
will her family receive
her?

razzberry

The Widow
Cynthia Redbriar
46
Female

The widowed matriarch of
the Redbriar family. She's
not exactly devastated by
her husband's passing, but
their relationship has been
strained for years. What
has she been hiding?

J.Sparrow

6/6 claimed
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𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝕲𝖚𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖘
✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

...........

The Fiance
Percy Sawyer
21
Male

Engaged to the Youngest
Redbriar Daughter, he
wants to do right by his
bride-to-be, but he's gotten
himself in trouble that
still follows him. What
has he done?

amithethird

The Rival
Sterling Kildare
24
Male

Has always loved the
Youngest Redbriar's
Fiance and can't
understand why he's so
settled on a woman who
is clearly getting cold
feet. Will he do
anything about it?

dxisyy

The Politician
Bernadetta Sharp
Age
Female

An old friend of the
Redbriars, she's made
her way in the world
advising governors and
noblemen. She's heard
rumors in the city and
fear the Redbriars have
gotten themselves into
trouble. What has she
heard?

guh-huh!

The Scoundrel
Tobias Killian
26
Male

His family use to do
business with the
Redbriars, but now he's
moved on to other things,
and he's heard some very
interesting rumors about
the Politician who may not
be so squeaky clean. What
has he heard?

J.Sparrow

...........

The Family Friend
Yuval Baek
21
Male

His family has been friends
with the Redbriars for years,
but extenuating circumstances
have prevented the rest of
the family from attending the
funeral. He's here on their
behalf.

mtuan,

3 wildcards available

5/8 claimed

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𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖘
✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

...........

The Butler
August Holmwood
26
Male

Has served the Oldest
Redbriar Son faithfully
for years during his
travels, and he fears the
feelings he may have
developed for him.
Will he act on them?

amithethird

The Maid
Ellery Osric
23
Female

A reformed criminal who
the Redbriars took a chance
on, she knows the Scoundrel
but isn't sure if they
recognize her yet. How long
can she hide?

razzberry

The Servants' Child
Josephine Barnett
20
Female

Born and raised on the
manor grounds, her
family has served the
Redbriars for generations.
She's aware of the
Youngest Redbriar Son's
affections, but she
doesn't want to compromise
his position. Will she
anyway?

dxisyy

The Groundskeeper
Franklin Lowe
25
Male

A friend of the Rival's,
he's watched and
listened in the background
for years. He knows
something that could
compromise his friend's
reputation. What is it?

somnolence

∞ wildcards available

4/∞ claimed

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𝕺𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖘?
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none so far


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[amithethird]

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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗
The house itself is large with plenty of room to entertain guests. The first floor has a small ballroom, a banquet
hall, a private dining room, a parlor for entertaining, a music room, and an adjacent greenhouse for getting sun in the
winter months. The second floor has numerous rooms for both residents and guests, a drawing room, a study, and a
substantial library. The kitchens, pantry, and servant's quarters are all on the basement level. The manor also has a few
secret passageways that even some of the manor's residents aren't aware of.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖘
The manor grounds sport beautiful gardens complete with a fish pond, a hedge maze, and a stable where horses and
the family carriage are kept. It's a peaceful place and beautiful no matter the season.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖞𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊
Bordering the manor on one side is large swaths of farmland, and on the other, thick woods that the men of the
family and their friends have often gone hunting in. It's easy to get lost away from the grounds when you don't know
your way, and one never knows what they might stumble upon in the trees.

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖁𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖆𝖌𝖊
Not far from the manor is a small village. It has a few shops and a train station, though it's mostly home to
farmers and craftsmen. Some of the servants live here instead of in the manor or have family here.

✥ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ✥

𝕾𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖔𝖓
late summer

𝖂𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗
cool, cloudy, drizzling rain

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𝕯𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖕𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘

day 1 - day of the funeral
none so far

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[amithethird]

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𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓

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[amithethird]

________________________

⁂ Anthony August Holmwood
⁂ the butler
⁂ male - 26 - questioning
⁂ location: front hall
⁂ tagged: will/open
________________________

The service was nice, though August wouldn't have expected anything else. Regardless of how she felt about her husband, Cynthia wouldn't allow herself or her family to be disgraced by having anything less than a proper funeral for Enoch. And so, the man was properly honored and buried in the family plot, and when it was over, everyone in attendance made their way back to the manor as the gray skies above began to open up and scatter bitterly cold drops of rain across the countryside. You could say what you wanted about England, but the skies above the island nation always seemed to know what sort of weather was appropriate for the occasion. How else could one explain such a drizzle in the midst of the dog days of summer?

He'd almost missed the dreariness. You just didn't get gloom like this across the Channel, which most would see as a positive thing. He liked the countryside's rainy days, though. There was something hauntingly beautiful about the way the clouds hung over the low hills and trees, sometimes drifting across the ground as thick banks of fog, and the cold air always breathed a shock of life into him to contrast the day to day monotony of manor life.

He'd actually been worrying about how he was going to slot back in with the rest of the staff here. Of course, he'd always been an adaptable person, so he couldn't imagine it would be difficult to get back into the swing of things around here, but still. It had been over four years since he or Will were last on the grounds. He'd gotten so used to moving around, staying light on his feet, never allowing himself to completely relax. Now they were going to be staying in one - arguably safe - place for an indeterminate period of time until Will felt it was time to leave and get back to his business, and it all felt very strange, which was a strange and amusing thought in-of-itself.

I just wish it were under better circumstances.

Enoch had his flaws, but August had certainly never wished any ill will upon the man. Even so, he found it hard to be genuinely sad about his passing. They'd known for some time that Enoch was ill, and nothing the doctors tried seemed to fix whatever was ailing him. It had only been a matter of time before this day came, and he doubted anyone here had been genuinely unprepared to deal with the consequences of that.

August folded up the umbrella he'd been carrying as they stepped into the front hall, careful not to splash anyone as he placed it in the drying rack. There were a lot more people here than he might have expected. He recognized some of the Redbriar's old friends and acquaintances, though others he struggled to place. But of course he knew the rest of the Redbriars, even though some of them had changed a lot since he last saw them. Evie and Lancaster especially had grown up, no longer awkward teenagers. It made him feel so old, thinking about it. What else had changed around here?

Christ, I sound like my aunt.

He was briefly reminded of his family, still living in the village after all this time. He had yet to visit, though they knew he was coming, and he was looking forward to seeing them all in person after so long. But he shouldn't get ahead of himself. He still had work to do, after all. Now that the service was done, there was still a will to be read, an event that he was sure would demand his full attention. He turned back to Will after putting the umbrella back in its place.

"I believe everyone is gathering in the parlor," he said, "though I haven't been told whether or not your mother wants the reading of the will to be a family only afair."

He suspected he knew the answer already, but it wouldn't be particularly polite to speculate and say Cynthia might have it read in front of everyone just to add to the chaos.

_______________________

✒ Percival Erasmus Sawyer
✒ the fiancé
✒ male - 21 - gray-aro/ace?
✒ location: front entrance
✒ tagged: evie/open
_______________________

Now this - this right here - was the part Percy had been dreading. He hadn't started this day alone, but he would certainly end it that way. Almost as soon as the burial was completed, his parents said their brief goodbyes, offering up excuses about how poor Mrs. Sawyer's arthritis couldn't handle this bad weather, and disappeared down the road in their carriage, heading back home to their own estate which wasn't that far away from the Redbriar manor. Probably to avoid even the possibility of being roped into the latest Redbriar family drama, which he honestly couldn't fault them for. As his mother was fond of saying, the Redbriars were lovely in small doses, but as everyone knows, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. So he was alone, and he wasn't looking forward to handling this crowd all by himself. He'd been able to avoid socializing with anyone else thanks to his mother's predictable nosiness, but now he was off script. Loose in the wild. It was terrifying. He hardly recognized anyone, and the one person he was able to pick out of the crowd, he hadn't spoken to in person for far, far too long.

Part of him wanted to just avoid her, but he silenced that thought immediately. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't a child, and avoiding his fiancée definitely wouldn't make things any better. The past two years were already a somewhat disgraceful mark on his character, even if one didn't know the details. Best not to aggravate that problem. Not that he expected most people would have even noticed his absence. Most of the time no one seemed to notice him at all, except for when it was most inconvenient.

He put his hands in the pockets of his black funeral jacket and walked shoulders hunched through the drizzle towards the front entrance of the manor, all ivy and columns with wrought-iron lamps guarding either side of the massive wooden door. The rain was more bearable in the shadow of the house, but he suspected they would still feel the cold, even inside, until the fireplaces inside the manor were lit. As everyone filed in through the front entrance, he picked Evie out of the crowd, stumbling and dancing his way around people, apologizing in hushed tones to those he narrowly avoided running into, until he found himself walking next to her.

God, what was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to open this conversation? Really he just wanted to know how she was holding up, but was he...allowed to just ask that with no preamble? Should he apologize first? Was this even a good place or time to do that? Maybe he should just say hello first. Unless she'd take offense to that. "You stopped talking to me for two years, and that's all you have to say?" No, he had to find something better than that. Unfortunately, the longer he thought about it, the more muddled his thoughts became, so, like always, it was up to his mouth to take the wheel. For better or worse. Usually for worse.

"Uh, Evie, you, um..." he paused and cleared his throat as a little voice in the back of his head demanded to know what exactly he thought he was doing, "It's, uh...i-it's been a while. Um...how are you doing?"

No, no, no, that's what we said was going to upset her! God, you-. Ok. Just apologize. Just apologize, and maybe you can salvage this.

"I'm really sorry, by the way. For everything. This isn't the way I wanted to come back."

Better. Now don't screw it up.

A tall order, to be sure.

[rose petals.]

𝒞𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝒹𝒷𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓇
|eldest daughter|26|bisexual|location: parlor|tags: open|

Coraline's hand was covered in a delicate black lace as it danced over the skirt of her black funeral dress. Several layers of smooth black fabric separated her from the damp, rainy weather. While her left hand rested gingerly by her side, Coraline's right held a small lack umbrella over her head, protecting her from the water. Everything seemed still as her father's coffin was lowered into the earth. Coraline's face remained neutral however, she never let her features display too much emotion, especially now, when anyone could be counting on the fact that she would be weak.

If there was somehow one positive thing about her father's death, it was that the Redbriar children were all finally home again. It had been refreshing being the only one at home for so long, although, after a while the long hallways of the estate were lonely by herself. Keeping the family together was very important to Cora. A strong, tight knit group was to be respected, especially one with the surname Redbriar.

The walk back to the manor seemed longer than normal, and Coraline didn't socialize with anyone along the way. The mansion was comforting as she stepped inside, and the quiet tick tick tick of her heels that normally haunted Cora wherever she walked was drowned by the echoing footsteps of their guests. Entering the parlor, Enoch's firstborn daughter didn't bother to put on a smile, as this was a somber occasion, a smile would be far to inappropriate.

Coraline paused to take a seat in one of the expensive, plush couches. As a respectable lady, especially one in mourning, she had every right to sit down. She sat with skillful posture, and seemed to just watch the guests calculatingly, they probably all had their own angles. Enoch's death was a tragedy of course, but she doubted that many of the guests cared enough to pay their respects. Cora couldn't help but wonder if they were here for other reasons.

[kalo.]

( ♚ ) ────────────── 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐑
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl( eldest sibling ) ( tags; august ) ( mentions; coraline ) ( location; rebriar manor ) ( wc; 565 )

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indentSilence. Will stayed silent throughout the whole ceremony. His expression stone-cold but his eyes clouded with frustration. Frustration at everyone who was here. Acting like they knew what their father was like. Acting like this was such a terrible occurrence. Will felt his jaw grow tense with the thought, digging his nails into his arms. He could feel the presence of his sibling besides him, Cora, which only made his anger start to dig deeper. All the years of being away from his family manifesting in this moment. So he kept his mouth shut. But his body language was tense. It wasn't unusual for Will to be like this unfortunately. Even as a kid he was tense and hot-headed. And he blamed his father. All the years of unrealistic expectations and negligence. So, no, He wasn't sad. He should be sad. He should be upset. Like his siblings. But he wasn't. And some part of him hated it. Hated this corrupt feeling.

indentHe wanted to walk back to the manor alone after the ceremony. To collect his thoughts away from everyone. To let out some frustration maybe. But he should have expected August to follow with him. To walk with him. It was somewhat pleasant for Will. To just stay silent and walk with the butler. The silence was heavy and Will feared it would deter the butler away from him. But he knew better. August was the one person, besides his mother, that he trusted with sensitive information. So as the duo made their way into the manor Will couldn't help but clear his throat, "knowing her it might be just the family and a few selected people. I want you there." Will crossed his arms behind his back as his eyes scanned the room. Watching as his sister quickly left his sight. He wasn't upset by that. Coraline and Will never had the best relationship growing up. Or now. Will had left before he could even consider mending their broken relationship.

indentWill took a moment to run his hands through his hair to rid of the water that lingered on his head. He cleared his throat, a nervous tick he picked up while working throughout Europe with August. His dark eyes scanned the room of guests. Nobody really caught his interest if he was being honest. He did see the youngest sister, Evie, which brought a small smile to his face. A pained one. He did regret leaving the youngest sister. She didn't deserve to be left alone in the manor. But what would Will know, he left before any of his siblings. He didn't stay in touch. He didn't know who left and who stayed. All he knew was that his mother had written him a letter about his father's death. He was obligated to come. Collect his part of the inheritance, which would be hefty. Being the eldest and the heir of the family he expected enough money to make up for the wrongdoings of his past. Enough money to give to August and get him out of this mess. Will let out a sigh before motioning towards the guests. "Remind me to have a talk with my mother later tonight after the reading of the Will. I have some personal, issues, I need to discuss with her."

indentWhat did Will have to discuss? Well father Redbriar of course. Who else?

[nocturna.]

──────. ✧|𝐂 𝐘 𝐍 𝐓 𝐇 𝐈 𝐀 . 𝐑 𝐄 𝐃 𝐁 𝐑 𝐈 𝐀 𝐑|✧.──────────────
- - 𝐈. female | 𝐈𝐈. 46 yrs | 𝐈𝐈𝐈. the widow | 𝐈𝐕. feeling; sly | 𝐕. location; the manor | 𝐕𝐈. mentions; the guests, wil | 𝐕𝐈𝐈. tags; open

The Lady Redbriar had started her day much like many others around the manor; as not much had changed in her routine even after the passing of her husband. Enoch had been Cynthia's first, marring him when she was but a young woman. In the beginning, their relationship was awkward... but cordial. Affection did eventually blossom between the two, but neither could said that what they had felt was love. The Redbriar family and the Clarke family had a great many ties to one another and as such, from the time they both were children, it was expected the two would one day wed. Of course, Cynthia had a few other suitors at the time, and the marriage to Enoch wasn't "arranged" per say... but if the outcome wasn't what either family wished, consequences were to be had.

Cynthia did her 'womanly duty' by marring the the Redbriar heir; though it took much time for the young beauty to give up entertaining suitors. Overtime she did though, Cynthia adapted and grew to love her position as the lady of the house. How could she not? It came with numerous perks; society's respect and adoration being her chief favorite. So when it was discovered that Enoch had sired a love-child with a maid (of all the...), it sent Cynthia into a tailspin. Granted, she too had been unfaithful on a couple occasions, but for Enoch to actually accept this... child as a full Redbriar... Few of the house staff survived the woman's mass firing.

For the many months Enoch had been ill, the last two he'd been fully bedridden, Cynthia had fully taken on the role of a loving and caring wife - appearing to even be his nurse when in the presence of doctors. But this too, had been an act. In reality, Lady Redbriar couldn't have cared less for her husband's failing health. As soon as the physicians left direct view, she turned cold and callous to the frail man; often ignoring him for days on end. The staff weren't blind to this, and soon damaging rumors began to circulate in town. Had the lady wanted her husband to die? That was sure to be whispered again at least a few times during the wake. Now, a normal woman would have perhaps tried to dispel any of these vile accusations in order to save face - not Cynthia. If fact, it seemed to do just the opposite for the woman's ego.

A widow in black, as it were, perused through the parlor as the masses arrived to give their condolences; but Cynthia was far from an idiot. She knew that many were likely here to see if they too were recipients a sum of cash from the late Redbriar. An actress for whenever the occasion called, Cynthia played the grieving widow almost too well. A small flock of family friends surrounded just about her every move from the wake to graveside. The ceremony was pleasant, much more than Enoch deserved in her opinion. But again, that was apart of the pageantry. Cynthia gathered everyone back into the parlor, a subtle dab here and there to her watery eyes for effect. "I want to thank you all again from the bottom of my heart for attending today." Silvery words echoed throughout the crowded room. "It gives our family such full spirits to see just how many lives Enoch had been a part of." A shaky hand was gingerly brought to the woman's chest as she pressed on. "Family and a few chosen friends of the family will be meeting in the library shortly for a private gathering. This shouldn't be long, and you all are welcome to stay for refreshments on into the evening." Another sorrowful smile was expertly timed before piercing eyes set out to find her children - namely, her eldest, Wilbert.

[querencia]

. 𝘎𝘌𝘕𝘌𝘝𝘐𝘌𝘝𝘌 𝘙𝘌𝘋𝘉𝘙𝘐𝘈𝘙 .
──────────────────────────────────────────────
. youngest daughter . 20 . questioning/pan . location: front entrance . tagged: Percy .

Altamira Cave. Spain. Evie had been in Spain when she'd gotten the letter, almost a week late. One of the assistants back at university had it sent forward to her, the initial messenger having stressed the importance of her receiving it. It felt like a nightmare then, kneeling in the dirt and looking up at the sounds of hurried footsteps, only to find out that.. that father was gone. She hadn't even known he'd been that ill these last few months, she'd been gone so long this time. Still in shock, Evie could remember how her professor, her mentor, urged her to get moving, go back, and she did, but the world felt like it had been moving too fast around her. She'd almost been late for the service, arriving the night before, and she'd never have forgiven herself if she had. From the looks of many guests, they would never have let her forget it either.

Now standing before his grave, wearing a rather simple black dress and umbrella in hand, Evie felt empty, sorrow biting at her frayed nerves, but the trip had worn her out physically and mentally with the added strain of why she was returning. Three sites, three countries- England, France, then Spain, she was supposed to return after that but now it felt too late. Perhaps not the kindest man but Father had always been there for her despite everything. he was the entire reason she left to study. She bowed her head as the ceremony finished, released a shaky breath, and started back to the manor at the back end of the crowd. Silently, she hoped to blend into the crowd as much as a Redbriar, a bastard one at that, could do.

Back at the front entrance, Evie peered up at the manor. It usually looked so beautiful but now it loomed over her head, full and dark under the clouded sky. It looked more like how the manor seemed like a child- terrifying, lonely, a trick or jab at every corner. Water dripped from the edge of her umbrella onto her face and she lifted a hand to brush it away, it was cool. After her travels, the weather always shocked her, but for this occasion, it was fitting. To Evie it seemed that even the sky was sad.

Evie was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice someone appear next to her, and she turned in surprise when Percy spoke. It was surreal to see him, even to hear him, it had been 2 years since the letters stopped and Percy disappeared. Evie had decided that it was for the best at the time, she was an illegitimate child after all and who would truly want to marry her? Their engagement had been based on making the best of their individual situations and as the youngest of their families. She had finally come to terms with it, the worry and hurt then the acceptance. Evie had just hoped Percy was alright, wherever he ended up and not.. not dead. Now he was here, and suddenly words were difficult again.

"It's.. I, um, I didn't think you were.. coming back."Evie said after a moment, did her voice sound as strained as it felt? Her thoughts felt like they were running a mile a minute and empty at the same time. "I hoped you were alright, somewhere better. I'll... be okay. Just not now" She didn't want to bring up how worried she'd been 2 years ago when he disappeared, they weren’t especially close but the letters always made her happy, helped her those first few months at university. She'd been hurt, but she was used to that, the worry that knawed at her was different and she feared that she'd find out one day that he’d died. She couldn’t figure out if the knowing or not knowing was worse now. She could feel her eyes begin to sting, her fathers death and now this, it was too much but she fought the feeling down. She’d already cried so much. ”Were you okay.. at least?