Still Doll

“Just look at you,” Kanon laughed. “Your clothes are all dirty!”

Alexander narrowed his eyes at his own sleeve and frowned. He reached with his hand to touch his hair and cringed away. It was certainly a mess. His hair had gotten loose, and had a touch of dirt on it as well. He sighed and slowly began laughing.

“It’s frightening,” he said and smiled.

Kanon looked at him and asked, confused, “Your hair?”

Alexander chuckled. “No, no. Not my hair. The way the servants are going to react when they see me like this!”

Kanon nodded. “It is,” she muttered.

Asriel was in Kanon’s hands, safe and secured. As safe and secured she could be, that is. There was no telling when she could be running off again. She was a tricky little bunny. It had taken hard work and sore muscles to have been able to catch her. Though it was all thanks to Alexander. Kanon didn’t know what she would do without him.

Alexander opened the door to the servant’s working place and stepped aside for Kanon to enter. She did so, immediately catching the attention of one of the servants there. Alexander and her walked over and laughed nervously, already knowing what the servant’s wide eyes were saying.

“What on earth…?”

“We had some troubles,” Alexander explained, “catching the rabbit. I’ll have to get myself clean.”

“Are you hurt, master?” the maidservant asked, checking him for any bruises.

“Just sore,” he said. “The little thing was fast.” This made Kanon giggle.

“Hilda!” an elder voice cried. “Have you seen the master yet?”

“Right here,” the servant replied, glancing at the door, from where an elderly looking maidservant came through, looking anxious and impatient.

Alexander came forward and said, “I apologize for the mess-”

“Master!” the elder maidservant interrupted, grabbing Alexander’s sleeve and taking two breaths. “Master, we have a visitor!”

Alexander blinked, surprised. “We do? Who is it?”

“Your aunt!” she said, eyes wide.

Kanon stepped forward, looking at Alexander’s reaction. He was standing there, frozen; his eyes wide and his mouth slightly dropped. She looked back at the elderly maidservant, who seemed to have calmed down now that her news finally got a reaction. A very worrisome reaction.

“What’s wrong, Alexander?” Kanon asked gently.

The maidservant blinked at her, then said, “What is she doing here, master?”

Alexander stayed for a moment or two silent, still frozen there. Then he came alive, took Kanon’s hand, and advanced towards the door. Kanon held onto Asriel tightly with her other hand, holding the little bunny against her chest. If he had been any more faster, she would have dropped her!

“What’s going on, Alexander?” she demanded, still being pulled along.

“My aunt’s here” was all he said.

He pulled her through the last two halls, and then Kanon realized they were headed towards the greeting room. They were going to meet his aunt now? Kanon glanced at Alexander’s dirty appearance, and began to feel very anxious. What would she say if she saw Alexander like this? What about Kanon? She wasn’t ready; she couldn’t do it. She had to stop him.

“Wait-”

Too late.

“Alexander.”

Kanon stood still, hoping things would happen without her. She felt unusually uncomfortable under this woman’s gaze. She seemed to be looking intensely and openly at her, and she knew Kanon knew. It only made her more anxious. Like the slightest mistake in words would upset her…and Kanon didn’t want to find out what would happen if she did.

“Aunt Cornelia,” Alexander said, his voice strained. “You came…early.”

Aunt Cornelia was a slender woman, with her gray-white hair tied into a bun, and her cold, cynical eyes were a light green. She didn’t even look that old, with her few wrinkles and bony hands. She would have looked quite young for her age-which Kanon had heard was sixty-two-if it wasn’t for that strict and grim expression she seemed to always have plastered on her face.

“Is there anything wrong with that?” Aunt Cornelia said, straightening up from where she was sitting. She eyed Kanon for a second before turning to her nephew and continuing, “Can I not come here to see how my nephew is doing?”

“Of course you can,” Alexander said quickly.

“All right, then.” She seemed satisfied with herself now. “Now, my goodness, what happened to you?” Finally, she noticed Alexander’s dirty and disarrayed appearance. There was a disapproving tone in her voice that sounded a lot like a mother, Kanon noticed.

Alexander looked down at himself guiltily and told her, “We had a little problem in capturing a little…rabbit, and I…fell.” He wasn’t completely telling her the truth. He had actually thrown himself at the ground to capture Asriel, even though he obviously didn‘t have to, but there was nothing in Kanon that wanted to disagree.

“I see. Who is this?” Aunt Cornelia nodded at Kanon and waited for an answer.

“This is Kanon,” Alexander replied carefully. He glanced at her, and gesture for her to come closer. Kanon stepped forward gingerly, then stood beside Alexander, though a little behind him as well. “My new guest.”

“Huh.”

Kanon swallowed and watched nervously as Cornelia walked to her, looking at her, as if she was debating inside her head whether to scold her, too. Aunt Cornelia made small noises-like “hmm” and “mm-hmm”-and continued to study her, clearly aware that she was making Kanon uncomfortable.

And then Kanon realized she had forgotten her manners.

“Good afternoon, miss Cornelia,” Kanon said and curtsied, bending her knees and putting one foot in front of the other. She straightened and smiled, in spite of the small feeling self-consciousness that poked at her. “I’m Kanon. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“I see,” Cornelia said. Then, abruptly, she turned to her nephew, making another sound of disapproval at his clothes, and told him, “I think it’s about time she finds her own place, don’t you agree?”

“What?” said Alexander. Kanon just watched.

“She’s lived here for about enough,” the old woman said. “You were kind enough to help her when she was injured, Alexander. She’s fine, she’s healthy; now it’s time for her to leave.”