The Moonveil Manor
Chapter 2
The Manor Position
855 Words
5 Min Read
12 Jul 2026
Eleanor POV:
The morning cold air brushed against my skin as I stepped onto the dew-coated grass.
Mother caught up to me just before I reached the gate, pressing a small cloth parcel into my hands.
"Your lunch."
I smiled, tucking it into the satchel slung across my shoulder.
"I'll be home before dark."
"As always."
I followed the familiar dirt path towards the village. As I reached the heart of the village, something unusual caught my eye.
A crowd.
More than twenty people had gathered around the old notice board beside the village well. That alone was strange.
The notice board rarely attracted more than a passing glance. Most notices were ordinary things—lost goats, grain prices, market schedules, or requests for help repairing fences after storms.
Whispers floated through the gathering. "...never heard of wages like that...""...no one stays..".
I slipped between two farmers until I reached the front.
Pinned neatly to the weathered wooden board was a single sheet of thick cream paper sealed with dark red wax.
Moonveil Manor seeks a Household Assistant to serve the Lord of the Manor.
My eyes lingered on the final line.
The wage.
It was nearly four times what Mrs. Hawthorn paid me at the apothecary.
Four times.
Enough to repair our leaking roof.
Enough to buy Father's medicine without counting every coin.
Enough that Mother might finally stop sewing until her hands cramped long into the night.
A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the morning air.
I glanced once more at the notice.
Moonveil Manor.
The name itself carried weight in the village.
It had always existed on the edge of every ghost story, every warning told to children who wandered too far into the forest.
Yet I felt no fear.
Only curiosity.
And perhaps something far more dangerous.
Hope.
Almost immediately, I dismissed the thought. Besides, Father would never agree to it. Neither would Mother.
With one last look at the notice, I turned and continued toward the apothecary.
The familiar scent of dried herbs greeted me the moment I stepped inside.
Bundles of lavender hung from the ceiling beside rosemary, sage and thyme. Glass bottles lined every shelf, Mortars and pestles sat scattered across the long wooden workbench and noticed Mrs Hawthorn simmering something medicinal in the backroom.
She barely looked up , " You're late".
I blinked, "I'm sorry"
She grunted before disappearing into the store room.
The rest of the morning passed in much the same way. I labelled bottles, measured dried herbs, Ground bitter roots into powder until my wrists ached.
Normally the work settled my thoughts.
Today it did the opposite.
My mind kept drifting back to the notice board. Four times the wages with accomodation. Enough to change everything for my family.
The Rumours hardly concerned me.
"You've been distracted all day."
Mrs. Hawthorn's voice startled me.
"I have?"
She fixed me with her usual stern expression. I looked down.
She was right.
***
By the time I reached home, rain had begun to fall.
Water dripped steadily through the familiar hole in the kitchen roof into the old metal bucket Mother always kept beneath it.
After the meal, Mother emptied a small leather pouch onto the table.
A handful of coins scattered across the worn wood.
She counted them once.
Then again.
Her shoulders sank ever so slightly.
Mother smiled.
It wasn't a happy smile.
Later that night, rain tapped softly against the window as I lay awake staring at the ceiling.
Sleep eventually claimed me.
I found myself standing before enormous iron gates entwined with black roses. Beyond it stood a vast manor its dark stone walls disappearing into the night. The windows glowed with warm golden lights yet the manor was impossible silent.
Without warning the gates begin to open on their own - only the slow screech of the ancient iron breaking the silence.
A chill settled over me as I stepped through the gates followed the stone path towards the manor.
The moment my foot crossed the threshold, every light vanished at once.
Darkness consumed everything.
I woke up with a sharp breath, my heart racing unable to shake the lingering feeling of the dream.
***
Morning sunlight streamed through my window. I lay there for several moments, staring at the ceiling.
The dream left me with a strange sense of certainty as though it wasn't a warning but an invitation.
I shook the thought away. Dreams meant nothing anyway.
What mattered was my family and I already knew what I was going to do.
It felt necessary.
If I never tried, my life would remain exactly as it was.
Before I could lose my nerve, I slipped quietly out of the cottage.
Mother believed I had gone to work early.
Instead, I walked toward the Village Council Office. The elderly clerk behind the desk barely glanced up.
"You've come about Moonveil Manor?"
"Yes."
He finally looked at me properly.
"You know where it is?"
"I know of it."
"You understand it's isolated?"
"I do."
"There are...certain rumours."
"I've heard them."
He sighed as though he'd had this conversation many times before.
Without another word, he opened a drawer and produced a single application.
I filled it in carefully.
Name: Eleanor Whitemore.
Age: Nineteen.
Occupation: Apothecary Assistant.
Can you read and write?
Yes.
Previous employment?
Village Apothecary.
Relevant skills?
Organising records.
Medicinal herbs.
Basic housekeeping.
When I handed the paper back, the clerk folded it neatly.
"It will be delivered to Blackwood Manor this afternoon."
I nodded.
"Thank you."
He gave a small, unreadable smile.
"You'll receive an answer...if they're interested."
I stepped back into the morning sunlight, the door closing softly behind me.
As I walked toward the apothecary, I told myself nothing would come of it.
After all, there was almost no possibility that I'd be accepted.......
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