The Lores of Lyra - Rising Star [Book I]

Chapter 9 - Secrets

Chapter 9 – Secrets

Miriam tried to steady her rapidly beating heart. She hadn’t even started yet, but she still felt like she had run a marathon. Jumping on the spot and shaking all her limbs carefully, she took three deep breaths before she—with soft steps—snuck out of her room.

With her hands braced against the wall, she tried to sneak through the hallway. When she came to the corner, she peeked around to make sure no one was in sight.

“May I ask what you are doing, Miss?” Gustavo’s voice came from behind her. Miriam jumped up in surprise and with a hand on top of her beating heart, she turned around to face the butler.

“Gustavo! You scared me,” she scolded.

“I am very sorry, Miss,” Gustavo apologized with a little bow. When he straightened, he looked at her.

“I was just playing,” she explained before walking away from him.

Don’t look so amused, Gustavo… It was a legit sneaking. Miriam wanted to pout at him—it wasn't funny.

She hadn’t actually been playing. After the talk with Blake, she had decided to try searching her mother’s private office in the library. Now she scolded herself for thinking that it had been a good idea, for she probably looked like a sinful spy. Straightening her back, Miriam shook her head and resumed her  walk to the library.

Stepping inside the library, she was pleased to find it empty. Her gaze drifted over to the far right corner, where a sizeable red curtain with the family Hertz crest embroidered in the middle hung slightly open, so that a little bit of sunshine shone through. The two Star lions and five snakes encircling the massive star, in various gorgeous colors, always managed to make her feel happy. The faint smell of books in the library calmed her down enough to enjoy the peaceful silence, but only for a minute.

Behind the curtain, slightly off to the side of the window, was a door, which led to her mother’s office that seemed to call out to her. She had been in there a few times before, though only with the company of her mother.

Reaching out Miriam tried to turn the door handle, thankfully to find it unlocked. She wasn’t surprised—Veronica wasn’t one to lock things up.

The office itself was dark, each color solid and murky. Unlike the rest of the house, this area had dark brown drapes that covered the windows; giving off an eerie yet comfortable atmosphere. Placed in the centre of the room was a large, mahogany desk that was filled with high stacks of paper. Beside it, a century old computer sat, collecting dust from never being used. Her mother rarely used it and Miriam never thought to use it herself.

The shelves beyond the desk were organized neatly, and the books stacked upon them were mostly work related. Miriam knew that her mother hid many of her ideas in the closed drawers. She looked around and wondered where her mother could have placed the missing pages. Taking a closer look at the paper stacks on the desk, she realized that Veronica wouldn’t have them lying on the counter if she truly didn’t want her to see them. Her mother had never before shielded anything away from her, so why would she even think that she would now?

Because the feeling inside me is telling me something is very wrong.

Miriam sat down in her mother’s comfortable, oversized chair and opened the bottom drawer to peek inside. Inside sat a bottle of whisky, along with office essentials—post-it notes, scissors, and several pens.

Moving along to the next drawer she found more papers, though once again they weren’t what she had been looking for. Mostly they contained her mother’s work ideas and letters. At the bottom, she found some drawings that she had made when she was younger. A pang of guilt rushed through her, and she hastily closed the drawer again.