With her mother who almost reached the spot where she was, Penny closed her eyes, trying to calm her mind and the raging of her heart which had been panicking for a while now. When she felt she was much calmer than before, she opened her green eyes to see her mother standing in front of her.
“Did I tell you that your father had green eyes too? Just like yours, so very rare and beautiful,” her mother commented, playing with the knife that she had been holding in her hand.
“No, you didn’t but I guessed that was the case. That I had taken after him and not you,” Penny replied back, pulling her leg again in an attempt to escape from the binds of the roots.
“What do I hear in those words? Are you happy or sad about it?” her mother tilted her head, a grin on her lips which looked more hideous in the appearance of the black witch.
“I am definitely happy about it,” They both knew it therefore she didn’t see why she would have to beat around the bush.
“I am sure, daddy would be very proud of you,” her mother patted her head and Penny tried to get the hand away from her.
“What did you do to him?”
Before Penny’s question could be answered, a horn echoed through the forest, loud enough from where it was created that had both Penelope and her mother look in the direction of where it was heard.
“Oh, dear. I think it is time for me to go. I will see you soon, daughter,” the appearance of her mother started to change back to one which adorned as a human, the features turning soft and pleasant on one’s eyes.
“Wait!” Penny said as she was not done receiving the answers she had been looking for but her mother didn’t stop walking and instead disappeared in the thicket of the trees and snow, leaving her alone there with her legs bound to the floor of the forest.
Alone in the forest, Penny tried to get the roots that had made past her ankles and now to her knees which was subtly trying to move up which made her worried. Whatever magic her mother had put here, the spell still continued even with her absence. Looking around she couldn’t find a stone near her, where ever she was now, she was surrounded by nothing but white snow.
Digging her hand through the ice-cold snow near her, her hand tried to reach for any possible stone so that she could use it in breaking the knots that had formed around her leg.
“Ahh!” she screamed looking up at the sky in pure frustration before stopping her hands from moving around. Where was Damien? She didn’t know exactly how this soul bond which he had placed on her worked, or at least that is what Penny thought it was.
Though the bond which Damien placed was special there were certain restrictions when it came to it. The feelings could be felt stronger when the person was near. The farther the distance, the weaker the link turned out to be where detecting the partner’s emotions were hard to do.
It wasn’t like they could talk telepathically but she hoped he would feel her distress right now. And he did. After more than twenty minutes had passed Damien came into the forest searching for her to find Penny who had her back lying against the floor of the forest.
When Damien had reached the local inn, the room was empty and Penny had gone missing. He hadn’t bothered to enquire as he could already feel her. Her emotions were calm by the time he had made it to where she was, deep inside the forest. To a person who would have taken a glance at her right now, one would tell that she was meditating with her eyes closed.
Hearing the footsteps, Penny opened her eyes to see him upside down, “How did the meeting go with the Lord of Wovile?” she asked without going to sit up. She continued to lay down on the cold floor. If it weren’t for the thick coat that she wore, her back would have frozen by now.
Damien looked at her confused, “What are you doing here?” His eyes then caught sight of the roots which had bound her legs and over her dress up until her thighs.
“What happened here? I thought you were going to stick to staying in the inn,” he had at least hoped that she would occupy herself with the books that were there to be read. Walking past her head and making it to her feet, he pulled out a knife from his sock which he often placed.
Starting to cut it one after another, Penny was finally released from the roots and she could finally sit as she pleased. Taking Damien’s hand, she stood up, her expression slightly off.
“I planned to stick to stay in the room,” Penny stated for him to raise his brow.
“What happened then?”
Penny stared into his eyes, her lips pressing before she said, “I met my mother. We spoke,” Damien was alarmed by the fact that the black witch had followed where Penny was. She herself didn’t know how to put everything into words, seeing the inability, Damien asked,
“Are you doing okay?” to his question she shook her head.
“I hoped she would be empathetic, thinking there was still a part of her which I had known since I grew up that cared,” Inhaling the air, she let it out. She was far from doing okay. It was one thing to know that her mother wanted her dead and another thing to hear it from her very own lips.
“Come here,” Damien pulled her by her hand seeing her quiet expression where she was trying to contain down her emotions, “You’ll be okay,” he whispered for her to nod her head.
