Across the Valley
It had not been the intention of Count Charles Xavier to return to the isles so soon, but business had proven to be difficult and he needed to see to his Countess sister besides. Nevertheless, it wasn't without trepidation that he watched the mansion grow larger outside of the carriage window, embedded in a cloud of snow with frosted towers and turrets. Alone the sight of the pale brickwork evoked memories in him he would rather have left in slumber.
Countess Raven met him at the gates, and Charles dismissed the carriage in favour of a brisk walk with suitcase in hand, which was too light to be burdensome. His journey to the States had left him a few possessions poorer, he was sorry to conclude. Albeit a few experiences richer.
"I trust you did not run our parent's home into the ground while I was away?" Charles spoke light-heartedly, and let Raven loop an arm around his. He took a moment to take her appearance in - made note of the free flow of her hair, which she wore after the latest fashion, and the determined shine to her eyes which alluded to a maturity he had failed to be present for.
"My dear brother," Raven humoured him, and she still looked away when she laughed. "I went mad in your absence, naturally, and made away with the chandeliers, and the silverware and broke Ma's vases. And you should see your study..."
Raven eased Charles' homecoming as only she could, a bright light in the midst of the listlessness of winter. All this land - the blanketed fields and rolling hills, patches of woodland as well as a scattering of farms - would have wilted away without her presence. Even her mind was warm when Charles was allowed to seek it out, a rare but valuable occasion.
"What news of the estate, then?"
"I am afraid to inform you that the Summers brothers are leaving their farm in the wake of the imprisonment of the Elder Summers-"
"- a shame, truly -"
"Mrs MacTaggert is as keen as ever to pair you with her daughter Moira and her frequent visits are beginning to wear my patience thin-"
"Poor girl, but that's the nouveau riche for you, so eager to establish themselves..."
"Oh, I nearly forgot: remember the abandoned country house down by the river?"
"What of it?"
"Well, in the past months there has been quite some noise coming from the river creek. I had a chat with the maids who wander over there from time to time for their laundry and they spoke of a man, a bachelor in his thirties, who was doing paintwork and roof-patching and the like at the house. After a few inquiries, I was made aware that this man is a certain Mr Erik Lehnsherr, without a known title or position."
"Lehnsherr... Is that German?"
"Oh, what do I know? I suppose if one were to find out it would be you..."
They had arrived at the entrance of the mansion, and, sobered by the promenade, Charles did not find the enveloping warmth of the interior disagreeable in the least. A faint smell of dust lingered in the hallway, but between his sister's and his own wanderlust, it was nothing of surprise. Neither of them spent a great deal of time at home. He excused himself from his sister's company with a speedy press of his lips to the back of her hand and rushed to his study.
Things were as he had left them: there were the papers littering his desk, the knocked-over bottles of ink long since dried, his journals and books scattered haphazardly over the backs of chairs and lampshades. It was not the most beautiful of sights - but a comforting one which lulled him into a sense of comfort only a home, and a good one at that, could provide.
To re-acquaint himself with his work would be too Herculean a task to take upon so soon following his return, so he decided to leave it to the morrow, and held Raven company over dinner instead.
It was not until much later into the evening, the mansion quiet and the servantfolk retreated to their quarters, that he found himself standing by the window in his study to watch the eerie moonlight turn the lands fluorescent. It was a calm evening, and Charles expected to turn in early - that is, until he caught sight of a distant set of lights.
It was by the riverbed that he observed this phenomenon and his thoughts went to the man Raven had mentioned of - Mr Lehnsherr. If he was living in the country house by himself, which, if he were indeed a bachelor, was very likely, he certainly was something of a night owl.
The intrigue was something that Charles could not deny that he was aware of. A stranger come to this part of the country, his identity a mystery - he had never been one for gossip, but he was in this instance genuinely interested. A yearning inside of him urged him to seek this man out, at the very least if only to satiate his curiosity.
With a sigh, he pulled the curtain over the window closed, and returned to his chamber, telling himself that he would go over first thing. It was very late now, after all.
Yet he could not for the life of him fall asleep. The bed was not to fault - the eiderdown-duvet and feathered mattress the very essence of luxury - but he twisted and turned and his mind was somersaulting, leaving Charles restless.
After a tiresome battle with slumber that would not come, Charles gave up. He slipped out of the bed and into a Russian fur-coat and high boots of which the leather no cold could penetrate. Lighting a lantern to guide his way, he left the mansion with as little noise as possible and made his way through the snow toward the river.
It was a fool's errand, of course, and were his Pa still alive, Charles would have been chided at the spot, adult or not. It was not recklessness that made him go anyway, although it was not entirely out of the question, but in the Americas, Charles had learned not to squander opportunities. This night, he let his gut commandeer him instead of his reason.
The world was soft and the darkness without edges at this hour, besides. Even the sky, pregnant with cloud, spared him the asperity of winter. His figure in the light of the lantern cast long shadows over the white - it could have been the illustration of a storybook, how he made his way down the valley, leaving a trail of tracks behind. Charles reached out with his mind and whatever living creature was out there had soft thoughts and tranquil dreams.
He was warned of the river long before he arrived at its bank - the snow was wetter, the vegetation richer. The river itself had frozen half-way in its journey to the sea, in some places the holes of laundry-women and fishermen visible like the eyes of a giant white-skinned serpent. Willows wept over the edge of the bank and their tears had frozen into icicles. Charles avoided those with care.
The old country house came into view, and it was true what the maids had relayed - the paint shone fresh over the wooden framework and the roof was free of holes and bird nests. More comforting still was the steady light spilling out of the windows - undeniably electric, of the sort you would normally only see in the capital. A man of his own liking, Charles mused.
External senses sated, Charles proceeded to let his mind wander. Steady as the electricity a presence within the walls emitted resolution and heat, and something else that was new and of an unfamiliar, metallic taste.
Before Charles could investigate further, the presence of the other became stronger still as the man - Mr Erik Lehnsherr himself - stepped out on the porch of his house. Charles had let no sound give him away, yet Mr Lehnsherr still turned to observe him. The metallic taste in Charles' mind became near overwhelming.
"Can I help you?" Mr Lehnsherr queried, his voice flavoured by an accent that Charles could not quite place, flustered as he was.
"I am sorry," he stammered. "I was just... I do not... I am Charles... Sorry, I am Count Xavier."
As he spoke, his mind reached out further, and there was a flood of wonder within him as he recognised the oddity of the other man's aura. He recognised it because it was the same oddity he himself held within his heart.
After a whole lifetime of searching, and dreaming and yearning, after nearly coming to accept that Raven and he were the only ones of their kind, Charles had seemingly found another mutant.