"Are you worried about his lordship?" he asked, a concerned frown creasing his brow now at her strange reaction.
Belle shook her head, fear choking her throat at the possibility of that being something of the future. With the ability that came with having a dead soul attached to her, she could see death when it drew near or if it had happened. This wasn’t something that had happened, but something that would.
"I’m worried about you. Can you do me a favor, Rav?" she asked softly, walking up to him.
"Anything, my lady," he replied and lowered his head, wondering why she would be worried about him when nothing had happened and he was here, safe and sound.
"Don’t stray too far away from home. Stay close by, and do let me know if you’re going anywhere from now on," she told him seriously. In her vision, what she saw hadn’t happened anywhere near the castle or anywhere she recognized. And the blood on him had not come from a wound, but from his mouth, eyes and ears.
The vision was vivid enough that she had seen it clearly.
Rav, confused as to why she said that, still nodded his head. "Yes, my lady."
"Thank you." She smiled faintly, looking into his light red eyes.
---
Rohan didn’t return until late that afternoon. He was in a foul mood, but he didn’t let it enter the house with him. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
He found his wife and son right outside the front entrance, where Belle was crouched down with her dress gathered around her and her long blond hair let loose down her back, writing letters with charcoal on the ground. She was showing and pronouncing the words for Angel, who was bent over on his palms and knees, trying his best to repeat them after her in his innocent, babyish voice.
Angel was the first to notice him and swirled his head around with excitement. "Papa!"
Belle looked up from the ground where she was writing and saw him walking from the gate, his blue hair in disarray and his coat draped over his bent arm. Angel shot up from the ground and ran to him with his arms wide open, giggling happily.
"Stairs, Angel, don’t run!" Belle called out. But if her son heard her, he was far too happy to see Rohan to stop or even slow down.
Rohan used his vampire speed to close the distance between them and caught the boy before he stumbled on his small legs. He flung him up higher in the air, earning a delighted squeal, and then caught him under his arms as he scolded gently, "If you’re not careful, you’ll hurt those little legs before they become strong enough to climb down any stairs."
"Papa, up, up, up!" Angel squealed, and Rohan threw him into the air once more before catching him swiftly.
"No more, up, Max," Rohan chuckled, steadying him against his chest. "How many of my parchments did you use today?" he asked as he walked up the stairs to where his wife stood, smiling as she watched them.
Angel proudly held up five little fingers in response to his father’s question.
"Five? Hmm..." Rohan narrowed his eyes playfully. "Why do I find that hard to believe?" he teased, ruffling the boy’s soft hair.
Belle waited for him to come up to her, then opened her arms to hug him sideways while he still held Angel. She wrapped one arm around his narrowed waist, and he pressed his lips into her hair, breathing her in like he always did when he hugged her.
"How was it with the king and the witch hunt?" Belle asked, looking up at him from where he tucked her under one arm.
Rohan tightened his hold around her as he inhaled the familiar fragrance in her hair and said quietly, "I have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"Is the bad news so bad?" she questioned as they stopped walking at the few flights of stairs that led to the front double castle doors.
"It depends on how you will take it. Let’s sit here for a while," Rohan mused as he sat on the top step and pulled her down to sit next to him. He balanced their son on one of his thighs and put one arm around her shoulder to hold her close to him.
They sat there quietly for a while, leaning against each other as they gazed at the dense forest trees beyond and along the sides of the castle walls.


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