Marcus' POV:

A pit formed in my stomach as I stared down at the envelope that I just pulled from Lord Vanderwood's mailbox.

The same script 'B' that I had branded on the back of my thigh glaring up at me from the wax seal.

My pulse began to race as I tried to think of anyone else this could be from but found no other answer.

This letter was from Lord Bronwyn.

From what I knew back when I served him, Lord Bronwyn never sent a letter to another Lord let alone this one.

And as much as I wanted to deny it, I felt like I knew what this letter was about.

Nico didn't give me much information about why he had to leave when he did, but the very fact that he decided to free me and have me drive them out told me that what he was doing wasn't approved or even known about by Lord Bronwyn.

And I doubt Nico told Lord Vanderwood whatever the reasoning was.

I could feel sweat beginning to bead on the back of my neck.

It just suddenly felt Like Lord Bronwyn was watching me.

"Woah, dude. You look like you just witnessed a murder,"

I glanced up to Carlo, a fellow slave, as he shuffled through some envelopes in his hand from across the mailroom.

I cleared my throat before speaking, hoping that my nervousness wouldn't be heard through my next words.

"Yeah well uhh-,"

Well, that failed.

Carlo's brows rose a bit before he walked over to me and looked at the envelope I held.

His eyes widened before he took a step back, hissing through his teeth.

"Yeesh. Isn't that the Lord that you came from?" He asked.

Carlo was one of the only other slaves that actually attempted to get to know me the moment I was announced to be in charge of him and the other slaves on that floor.

In fact, he was the one in charge before I showed up, and surprisingly wasn't mad at all about the fact that he had to step down

And we actually hit it off pretty well, and I ended up telling him about where I came from and how I got here. Although I left out the last couple days before we left.

The rest of the slaves were a bit avoidant or nervous whenever I was around. I guess since I was on good terms with Nico they thought that I was a snitch or something.

I didn't worry too much about it though. I knew they'd come around in time.

Plus Carlo was super easy to get along with, despite being barely a year older than me.

I never got acquainted with any of the slaves older than me at Lord Bronwyn's castle.

His joyful disposition was something that I think every slave here could learn from.

"Yeah...,"

Carlo blew out a sigh.

"Do you think anything about you is in there?"

I bit the inside of my lip, looking back down at the envelope.

"I don't know... Maybe? I'd like to hope not, but I feel like I wouldn't be this nervous if I wasn't."

And since this was a letter from another Lord, I had to deliver this right away.

Carlo suddenly threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Nah dude you're gonna be fine. Even if you are mentioned in there, so what? You're still buddies with the Prince so there's no way anything's gonna happen to you."

I looked down, subconsciously comparing his light brown skin to my barely tanned skin.

"I really hope you're right," I admitted with a small -partially nervous- laugh.

Even if im 'buddies' with Nico, that still didn't get rid of the fact that Lord Vanderwood could easily dispose of me, or send me back if he so desired.

He let out an over-exaggerated laugh, his dark brown hair that fell down to the bottom of his jaw whipping back as he threw back his head dramatically.

"I'm mostly always right. Now let's go. I can go with you to deliver it if you want since you lowkey look like you're gonna pass out any second now." He said, his grip on my shoulder tightening a bit as if I was really going to.

Honestly, I might.

Maybe that would be better.

"I'll take your offer, but if I do pass out, do me a favor and just leave me there."

Carlo snickered, placing the envelopes he held into his back pocket.

"Well see, now let's get this over with."

We left the mailroom and stepped into the elevator specifically for slaves, scanning the keycards that allowed us access to the royal floors before heading up.

My nervousness seemed to grow with every beat of my heart.

I couldn't be like this in front of the Lord! If anything, it just made me seem guilty!

Which I wasn't... I don't think?

It was weird knowing that the answer to all of this suspense was literally in my hands.

The odds of me even knowing what's in this letter are very, very slim, so I shouldn't even be worrying about it, right?

I drew in and released a large breath, beginning one of the breathing exercised I another slave taught me a few years back to calm myself down in front of a vampire.

It worked... a little.

At least so I thought before Carlo spoke up again.

"Marcus... if you're really gonna pass out, give me a warning first."

I laughed, my nervousness more evident than ever as I placed a hand on my forehead.

"Is it that obvious?" I questioned.

For the first time ever, Carlo actually looked worried.

"Dude you're literally trembling."

"Am I?"

I looked down at my hands, and sure enough, I was.

I guess being reminded of Lord Bronwyn... remembering the last time I saw him... those golden eyes and sickening smirk he gave me as he watched my blood pour from different wounds on my body that he inflicted, just to sink his teeth multiple times into my shoulder.

He wouldn't stop or ease up no matter how much I begged him to.

A shiver ran up my back without warning.

I guess I thought I'd never had to worry about him again, yet here he was.

"Weren't you like his favorite slave?"

"Yeah... at one point,"

I bit the inside of my lip again.

Carlo just kinda looked me over for a second.

I knew the bite marks I had were covered by the collar of my shirt, so he definitely couldn't notice them.

"I feel like there's more to your story."

"There is."

"Am I gonna hear it?"

"...Maybe one day?"

Carlo returned to facing towards the elevator doors, "Fair enough."

Thank God he dropped the topic.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

I took small steps off of it, yet Carlo still stayed right by my side.

Retrying my breathing techniques and really just trying to focus on something else, for the time being, I glanced to the left, then to the right.

Let's see and this time of day on a Thursday...

I pulled out my pocket watch.

...The Lord would be in his study.

We took a left.

Memorizing the Lord, Lady, and Prince's schedules was one of the first things I had to learn here.

The Lord's and Lady's were fairly simple and repetitive. Nico's was more sporadic and last minute and Alexander... I never know where the hell he is no matter what.

Both Carlo and I held our heads higher and stood as straight as possible as the guard came into our view.

We both instinctively went into professionalism mode, something that came quite naturally to me at this point.

Although my inevitable nervousness might screw me up this time.

The guard recognized us, yet still had to ask.

"What's your business?" He asked, harshly per usual.

I took a step in front of Carlo, bowing my head a bit as I presented the letter.

"A letter from Lord Bronwyn, sir."

Surprisingly my voice didn't shake.

He looked it over for a moment.

"I see," He knocked twice on the door before opening it, "You may proceed."

I took one last breath before walking in, Carlo only following me into the room a single step, before sidestepping and standing beside the door.

Lord Vanderwood glanced lazily at us as we walked in, seeming almost bored at our arrival.

Usually, the Lady was here too, but I didn't see her.

"What?" he bit out

"My Lord," I recited with a bow, "You've received a letter from Lord Bronwyn."

The Lord rose a brow, my words definitely catching his attention.

"Bring it here," he said before extending his. hand across the desk.

I did as he asked me, taking a couple steps back after placing it in his hand.

He extended one of his nails to a  sharp claw before ripping open the top and unfolding the letter.

I watched somewhat expectantly as his eyes shifted from left to right as he read.

His brows furrowed the deeper he got into the letter.

Then his eyes flickered to me for barely a second and I think my heart stopped.

The hair on the back of my neck stood through the next passing seconds.

I don't even think I was breathing.

"I see...," The Lord murmured before slowly setting the paper down and turning his head to me, his eyes fixed in a glare.

I wonder if now was a proper time to give Carlo that warning.

"Marcus, this letter is to stay between you and me, and if it doesn't," He pointed to a certain spot on the letter, making my already limited breath catch in my throat, "I'll be more than happy to send you back where you came."

I swallowed hard, "Ye-Yes, My Lord."

I couldn't lie to a vampire, but there's no reason for this to come up with anyone, right? No one else besides Carlo even knows about it so I don't have anything to worry about...

But part of me felt a lost guilty.

Was this something that was going to get Nico in trouble?

If so... After all he's done for me, shouldn't I warm him?

No...no that risk... I didn't want to take it.

I can make it up to Nico later.

"Good. You are dismissed," he said, waving me off with his hand.

I gave another bow before turning and walking towards the door.

I could barely see the look of concern on Carlo's face in my peripherals.

The look on my face couldn't have been good either.

Just as Carlo was about to follow me, Lord Vanderwood spoke again.

"Carlo."

Carlo stopped, and I nearly followed his lead but decided that getting out of here was my best bet.

"Yes, My Lord?" He responded, much smoother than I did earlier.

"Stay. There's something that I need you to do."