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The Chevalier Manor

It had been one year since Cécile's death. One year since Janelle had met Anthony, who would rather people call him Tony than Anthony saying that Anthony reminded him of his late grandfather.

Tony had convinced Jean and Julian to let him live with them in the Chevalier manor, in where only Jean, Julian and Janelle had been living. Their father chose to stay away from France for the time being, still mourning over his wife's death; a reason that everybody had given to Frédéric Chevalier's sudden resentment of staying in Toulouse—well, on the outskirts of Haute-Garonne to be specific, their manor was situated near the Forêt de Bouconne.

The peaceful, quiet and generally reserved area had been where the Chevalier siblings, and most of the bloodline of the Chevalier family, had grown up in. And to tell the truth, they were all quite happy with it except a few who chose to live in the city but they kept a close connection with the family, not at all cutting the relation.

Jean, Julian and Janelle were quite happy with living near the forest. And they weren't that far from the city, only thirty kilometres, give or take, away from it.

Jean, only twenty-two years old, was the oldest of the Chevalier siblings and the current heir to the family as Frédéric was the current Lord. His hair was blonde and wavy, much like Janelle's, but he kept it short and only past his ears. His eyes were also the same greyish-blue colour that Janelle had, but were more harder and pointer around the edge while Janelle's were rounder and softer.

Julian, the second oldest—only younger than Jean by two years—and the middle sibling, was taller than Jean, something that he used to tease his older brother with from time to time. His hair was straighter and longer, and he always had it in a messy ponytail. He didn't shave his beard, unlike Jean who liked to have a clean face. One of the dissimilarities between him and his siblings was that he had dark brown eyes, something which he inherited from their father.

Jean and Julian were inseparable, almost like twins. They did everything together and cared immensely for their little sister, notably after the death of their mother. Their father was constantly travelling to make sure their business, winemaking, was still running in other countries—but the last three years had him almost always away. Their brand of wine was one of the most known brands around the world, and Jean being the heir of the family he would be following his father footsteps. Julian had promised him to be by his side when that time came, joking that he would never leave his brother alone to mess everything up.

It was now around eight in the morning, the four of them sat together in the dining hall, enjoying their kind of basic breakfast, while the maids were rushing back and forth cleaning the rooms and feeding the horses, and the cooks were already thinking of what they would make for dinner.

"When are you leaving for England?" Jean asked Janelle, forking a piece of the pancake in his plate then put it in his mouth.

"I don't know. Tony hasn't mention anything about England lately," she answered and drank a bit of her orange juice. "Why? Did grandmother send a letter?"

Jean nodded his head. "She has been waiting for you for one year now, she's very excited."

"I knew it was a wrong idea to tell her I was coming," Janelle mumbled, making Jean and Julian laugh heartily at her. Tony stayed silent, reading what was on that day's newspaper that was brought in by one of the servants, and even though he could understand French, he didn't bother translating what they were saying. He was busy translating what he was reading...and they were talking a bit quicker as well.

"Come off it, Jella. She hasn't seen us for what? Ten years? You were a just a baby when she had last visited." Julian grinned at the glare Janelle sent him.

"I was two, definitely not a baby." She huffed, absentmindedly pushing away the bacon with her fork.

"Still a baby to us," they sang together before bursting out in laughter, earning themselves a confused stare from Tony, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Don't ask," Janelle spoke in English after noticing Tony's lost expression.

"We do understand English, little Jella." Came Julian's teasing voice.

"And I do understand French, but I simply didn't want to intrude." Tony laughed, but he really didn't have any idea what they were talking about. He got tired of translating everything just so he could reply.

Janelle didn't know what 'intrude' meant so she simply stayed silent and resumed her breakfast.

"Say, Tony, when are you leaving for England?" Jean asked, taking a sip of his bitter coffee. Janelle made a show of gagging, making Julian, who also hates coffee, laugh heartily, giving her a pat on her back. Jean shot them a glare—those two never tired from mocking his taste for bitter coffee—as he waited for Tony's answer. He returned his gaze back to Tony when he started speaking.

"I don't know yet." Tony shrugged his shoulders then winked at a passing, beautiful maid, who blushed at his obvious flirtation. The Chevalier brothers rolled their eyes.

"What are you waiting for? It's been one year."

"A permission," Tony said passively. Jean understood immediately and nodded his head.

They deliberately talked in English in front of Janelle, in hopes of her becoming familiar enough with the language so she wouldn't have a trouble in England. Another reason was that Tony wasn't as fluent in French as they were in English, so they made it easier for him by speaking in his native tongue as well.

"Have you done your homework yet, Jella?" Julian asked, clearly not interested in the current subject.

Janelle nodded her head, her blonde curls bouncing as she did so. She opened her mouth to say something but the ringing of a phone stopped her. All eyes turned towards Tony, who excused himself from the table and went out to the garden to answer. Janelle, being the curious girl that she was, contemplated following him. Her thoughts were probably obvious as a hand gripped her shoulder firmly but gently. She looked up and saw Jean shaking his head at her.

"Give him some privacy." He muttered.

She frowned but nodded her head.

"I can go and spy if you would like, young Lady." a familiar voice murmured close to her ear. Janelle started at the sudden sound. She looked behind her and saw one of the maids' spirits that lingered around in the manor.

It was a maid who died young, she was about sixteen years old when Death gave her a visit. The cause of her decease was an illness that didn't have a cure back then. She had told Janelle that she remembered being summoned to this world because her mother wanted to be with her at all times.

Janelle immediately formed a close relationship with the young spirit, despite her being a hundred and something years old technically.

"Oh, you gave me a fright." Janelle sighed out in relief, not noticing the frowns that adorned her brothers' faces, especially Jean's.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you, young Lady."

"It's okay." Janelle nodded her head dismissively. 

"I am more concerned about the looks that your brothers are giving you, you might want to speak in the mind-link, young Lady." The spirit chirped, a bit amused than Janelle would've liked.

Janelle did look at her brothers to confirm what the spirit had told her, and true to her words, they both were looking at her intently. She shook her head and resumed her breakfast. They, however, didn't avert their gazes; only once, though, to look at each other in suspicion.

"Go, and see who he's talking to," Janelle ordered, and the maid obeyed at once then floated after Tony.

Janelle was too young to be a shaman, and not experienced enough to summon spirits, so whoever lived in the manor before them—one of her relatives, of course—was either a Shaman or the manor was somehow haunted by spirits that were summoned long before the Chevaliers existed. She had tried asking one of the spirits but they told her that since their summoning, they had forgotten who summoned them and only another shaman with that ability can send them back to the Other World.

"I see him, young Lady," the spirit whispered through the mind-link. "I think he doesn't see me yet."

Janelle nodded to herself. "What is he saying?"

"He's talking to a man; he calls him sir. They're talking in French as well."

Janelle frowned. "That's...strange."

"Young Lady! He's talking to Lord Chevalier!"

Janelle's eyes widened. That means her father or her uncle. She quickly crossed out uncle Bates; he and Tony weren't exactly fond of each other.

"My father?"

"Yes, yes! He's talking to your father, they're talking about," she paused, trying to figure out the subject of their conversation. "About England! They're talking about England."

"England?" She was getting even more confused now. She tried reasoning what would cause her father to give Tony a call when he rarely did that with his children. Her father knew about Tony, of course, as he had been living with them for three years. He and Tony seemed to know each other well before the death of her mother; just like how her uncle recognised him immediately during that incident in the dead forest. Janelle shivered at the memory.

"They're speaking about where you will stay in England." The spirit answered after some time. Janelle almost forgot about her.

Jean and Julian noticed Janelle's weird facial expressions but they didn't comment on it. They knew, and they were sure of it, that it had something to do with the spirits around them. They knew about her...abilities. Tony had told them after their mother's funeral. It was why they had decided that Janelle would continue being home-schooled, they didn't want to take any risks and if anyone found out she was a Shaman, she would be dead in a blink of an eye.

Which was why they refused adamantly to call her a Shaman. She just had those weird powers that let her see and talk to spirits. She wasn't a Shaman.

"Travel, permission, Lady Chevalier, week," the spirit listed off words that she heard Tony saying, the subject was too clear now. "...Lords Jean and Julian!"

That surprised Janelle. Her brothers?

"What?"

"Young Lady, Mr. Barnett seems to sense my presence, should I get inside?"

It took Janelle a couple of seconds to realise that Mr. Barnett was Tony himself. She shook her head then remembered that the spirit couldn't see her. "No, stay there, walk around, act normally, and don't talk to me. Just report to me everything when you get inside."

"As you wish, young Lady," the response came quickly and full of obedience.

Everything was silent, even Jean and Julian weren't there. A quick look around, she saw them in the garden, talking to each other, before making their way towards Tony who was waving his hands around as if her father could see him. Well, it was good her father wasn't there at the moment; he disliked such gestures.

No longer than five minutes, the spirit appeared suddenly before Janelle, who was startled and shrieked rather inelegantly. The girl put a hand over her racing heart in an attempt of calming herself down.

"What?" She, once she was calm enough, asked in annoyance.

"Lords Jean and Julian went to the garden just as Mr. Barnett finished his call," the spirit paused.

"Then?" Janelle urged her to continue.

"He seemed...relieved that he saw them before telling them what your father said," she ceased talking again.

Irked, Janelle nodded for her to continue.

"Your father said something about staying a week in England, Mr. Barnett was opposed to the idea."

Janelle glared at her when she stopped again. The spirit got the message then resumed talking.

"He said that a week isn't enough..."

"Isn't enough for what?"

"He didn't say," the spirit lowered her head.

"Continue," Janelle ordered.

The spirit nodded. "Your father then said that your brothers are to come with you to England."

Janelle's eyes widened in disbelief.

The spirit nodded again as if confirming what Janelle had heard then continued, "your father is unaware of the fact that you're a Shaman—"

"—No. You can go now," Janelle waved her hand in dismissal. The spirit obeyed and walked away.

Janelle's back hit the back of the chair as she sighed, long and loud. She closed her eyes, feeling suffocated all of a sudden as if she was going to cry. She shook her head vigorously, getting angry at herself. She wanted her father to know, she wanted to tell him. Maybe if he knew, he would be here more often, with them. But again, maybe he would act like her uncle.

She jumped in surprise as a hand was placed upon her shoulder.

"Pardon me, young Lady, but are you all right?"

Janelle took a long look at the maid in front of her.

"Yes, I was just thinking. You can go back to your work now," Janelle mumbled, then stood up and walked away after realising that she was still in the hall and not her room.

The walk to her room had never been that long, but she guessed that after what she had learned she became tired. It wasn't even afternoon yet, heck, it wasn't even nine yet. She entered her room and headed straight to her bed, flopping down ungracefully on it.

Her travel to England was what she was waiting for since her mother's death. Tony promised her that he would tell her what happened, would tell her why she saw and talked to spirits, would tell her what exactly being a Shaman meant. Were they evil as uncle Bates had proclaimed? Did people kill them because having them around meant more deaths?

Her mother did speak to her after all during her death, did that mean she was somehow the reason behind her mother's death? Did she kill her mother simply by being a Shaman?

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