The Thorn in My Shed-Chapter 26: Acting Lord Evans

"I think this mystery may be slowly unraveling. Although, there are far too many paths for my liking." Briggs said with a huff as he let his neck fall back over the backrest of the couch, his feet were propped up on the coffee table in front of it, one leg crossed over the other.

Marix stared at his feet, waiting for him to get them off his coffee table but once he realized Briggs wasn’t going to do it, he rolled his eyes.

"We have to follow through every single one." Marix confirmed.

Briggs crossed his arms and let out a sharp exhale through his nose.

"The spy’s mother must’ve come into contact with someone from Norain at some point."

Marix wiggled his mouth from side to side as he thought.

"Possibly. She could’ve had some sort of situation like with Vasis where she ended up with specialty coins. Or she got them from somewhere else in the North."

"I doubt Lord Evans would allow his precious daughter to travel up there either." Briggs added. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Marix nodded in agreement, "If it’s the truth, it’s clear she hasn’t been outside of that estate. However, it’s also entirely possible that her mother is from Norain herself."

"How would they have met? Lord Evans....has he ever been North? I don’t recall anyone from the North coming down here."

"Or maybe Norain is aligned with Sola. Maybe, she’s both the illegitimate daughter AND a spy. Of course who better to gather intel than your naïve secret daughter?"

Briggs gasped, "I hadn’t thought of that."

"Do you think we can get a hold of a maid or a former maid from the Evans Estate?"

Meanwhile at the Evans Estate Lord Evans lay in his bed, where his dreams returned him to memories of the past.

He sat at the head of the table in the simple dining room. His hair was a chestnut brown that was neatly slicked back and he had a devilish smirk that would have any woman fall for him.

His suit was well fitted and highlighted his muscular build.

Before him were plates full of high quality meats and exotic vegetables.

For the past year, he had been acting as Lord Evans on behalf of his father, the previous Lord Evans, who had been ill on his death bed. Now, his father had passed and he had officially gained not only the title, but the massive fortune that came along with it.

His father had always been a frugal man who, despite his wealth, pinched pennies and refused to spend frivolously.

Evans was sure his father would be rolling over in his grave at the cost of this singular meal, but he had to celebrate such a joyous occasion.

"Tomorrow I want the designer to be called. It’s time this dump was updated and befitting that of a Lord."

A servant who looked to be in her early 20s smiled wide, "Lord Evans, may we get new uniforms as well?"

He glanced up from his meal, still chewing a piece of meat as he examined their uniforms. To be honest, he’d never taken notice of them before and after she mentioned it he realized he didn’t even know what they looked like.

Seeing them now, brought a grimace to his face.

Various holes were patched with mismatched fabric, threads were hanging and the hems seemed to be practically disintegrating.

"Yes, of course! New uniforms for all of you! The servants downstairs as well!" He declared with a joyous tone, waving his fork at them.

The servants smiled and bounced excitedly, clasping their hands together and whispering amongst themselves wondering what their uniforms would look like and how much better they would feel.

An elderly maid then entered the room and bowed, in her hand was a white basket with a pink woven blanket.

"Lord Evans, someone has.....dropped this off for you."

She placed the basket down on the table, its opening facing him.

"Let’s see what we have here. Quite a large gift for me, probably a congratulatory gift on my new title."

He peeked inside.

"There are other boxes that have been sent as well. The others are bringing them in."

Lord Evans let out a horrified gasp and retracted his hand as if he’d just touched something that contained some sort of incurable deadly virus.

"What on EARTH is that?!"

"They gave this note." She said, handing him a letter.

It was addressed with gold ink ’Acting Lord Ixei Evans’ with a silver seal.

He tsked and opened up the letter and read it aloud.

"Dear Acting Lord Ixei Evans,

We bestow upon you your one-month-old daughter, Eilownia Evans, child of Kalara Mavely. Due to the unfortunate circumstance of Kalara’s death, we have no choice but to send Eilownia to live with you, her father. Included in the delivery of her to you, we have provided means to secure her future and support living costs.

Sincerely,

The Mavely Family."

The corner of his nose lifted upwards as his corners flipped down.

"This thing cannot possibly be mine." He said, waving the letter towards the basket, all the while cursing that ’wench’ in his mind.

"Lord Evans, weren’t you engaged to a Kalara? Is this not your fiancée?"

He sucked in his cheeks as he glared at the servant.

"I-I’m sorry," She said, curtsying immediately, "I must have been mistaken."

"My appetite has been ruined. Someone do something with this.....this...THING!" He crumpled the letter up and threw it down onto the table before he stormed out of the room.

The servants gathered around the basket and slowly peeled off it’s pink covering.

They all gasped at the sight of her lying there sleeping.

"Oh! She’s darling! She has Lord Evans’ eyes and nose!"

"What an adorable little mouth shape she has! And those eyelashes! Her mother must’ve been beautiful!"

Then, her tiny little eyes fluttered open. Her mouth formed into a pout as she looked around at all the women cooing over her.

"Oh my goodness!" They gasped.

"Look at those eyes! Now that they’re open, their shape is a little different isn’t it?" One said.

"Yes! How exotic!" Exclaimed another.

Eilownia’s eyes scanned the group, searching for her mother, but when she did not find her, her bottom lip jutted out and tears filled her eyes. Slowly, her mouth started to open before she burst out into a full on wail.

Days went by and Eilownia cried long and hard for a mother that would never come. Lord Evans had appointed a maid to look after her.

He barged into the small, pantry sized nursery, his face red with anger.

"WILL YOU MAKE THAT THING SHUT UP!"

The maid gasped and clutched Eilownia to her chest in offense.

"Lord Evans, she is probably just missing her mother. Babies are attuned to things you know. Don’t you know how hard it must be for her? She’s in a new place with new people. It must be so scary. Why don’t you try holding her? Maybe being with her father will help."

The maid placed Eilownia in his hands and she immediately stopped crying and stared up at him with a look of awe.

"See? She just needs her father."

He glared at her with disgust and quickly dumped her into the bassinet, dusting off his hands and wiping off his sleeves afterwards, which sent Eilownia back into a crying fit.

"Disgusting! Don’t ever place a stain on me ever again. Yugh!" His body shivered, "Shut that thing up right now or throw it out!"

"Throw it out?!"

"Yes! Throw it out like the garbage it is!"

The maid picked Eilownia up and began to rub her back and bounce her gently.

"Lord Evans! Shame on you! Garbage?! She’s your little girl! Did you not see how she looked up at you? She loves you! How can you say that about her?! THIS IS YOUR DAUGHTER!"

He stared for a moment then turned to leave. He stopped in the doorway.

"Put her down and come with me."

The maid huffed in frustration and did as he requested.

Suddenly, when they were halfway down the hall, he grabbed her wrist painfully.

"Lord Evans what are you doing?! You’re hurting me!"

"Good!" He hissed as he got in her face, his spit spraying her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, "Know your place wench!"

Her eyes widened in shock and she let out a scream as he dragged her through the halls. He threw her into the wine cellar.

"I have no daughter! I am childless." He hissed before locking her inside.

A few weeks went by and a butler was assigned to take care of Eilownia. Construction was done on the house as well which drowned out the sound of Eilownia’s cries.

"Hey. Have you been hearing screams at night?" One servant whispered to another.

The other shot them a look of unease.

"I have...it’s a bit scary....."

"It started around the time Lira disappeared..."

"You don’t think...?"

"No.....Lord Evans may be harsh but....certainly he wouldn’t do something like that...."