“Thank you,” she said, meaning the two words from the bottom of her heart.
A few months ago, she had been busy catching up with her own life where she had to bring in money to run the house and then to forget the loss of her mother but with Damien entering her life, there was not a single day which was dull. They had started like cat and dogs, or maybe here cat and mouse but things had changed to something so much better that she could fall down the cliff on his word knowing he would have a way to save her.
“What are you thanking me for?” he asked her, touching the tip of her nose back and forth making her laugh.
“What are you doing?” she continued to smile that had him staring at her.
“Making you smile,” Damien Quinn, was unpredictable with his mood swings but right now all she received was his warmth and love, “Hmm? Are you crying?” he asked seeing her eyelashes turning wet and her nose red as she tried to hold it back.
Penny blinked back the tears quickly, “You are making me cry.”
“I did? I thought I did it more than enough in the theater gallery. If I knew you had more tears I would have continued there without stopping,” he grinned looking at her, “I wonder what goes in that head of yours. It makes me curious, actually. Whatever happens in the future, don’t believe others’ words. You are a wonderful woman, Penelope.”
“You are a wonderful man, Damien,” she returned back the compliment.
“That I am. You are a very lucky woman to have me,” he started and she couldn’t agree more.
“I am very lucky,” as if remembering something, she got up from the bed.
“What happened?” he asked her curiously.
“I want to give you something. Umm, can I-” she asked looking at the white sheets for him to nod. Penny took the cover to wrap her and went to the cupboard, searching for something. Damien in the meantime took hold of the pair of trousers, slipping into it before coming to meet her halfway in the room.
She held something in her hand, clutching it in a way that he couldn’t see what it was. By the smell of it, Damien could tell it was a metal, “Close your eyes,” there was eagerness and excitement in her voice and her expression, her fatigue of the body forgotten while she waited for him to close his eyes.
Damien gave her a curious look but nevertheless closed his eyes, doing what she said. He felt her put something over his head, feeling the cool metal which undoubtedly was a chain, “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”
With not wearing the shirt he could feel the cold pendant that rested on his chest. He opened his eyes, looking down at his chest to see what had made him wear. It was a silver chain that held a flat triangle pendant below. Red stones placed in there with three lines that touched the ends of the sharp edges.
“You made a charm stone,” he commented, picking it up in awe as Damien had never had one before. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford one but because he had never had taken an interest in the charm stones after learning how most of them were faux. But to have Penny make one just for him, he couldn’t tell how special it was.
Penny stepped closer, standing on her tiptoes so that she could look at the pendant along with him to explain about it, “It is very similar to what Lord Alexander has right now but I added some more elements, so it is more full-proof from any harm. From now you will be able to step on to the lands of spilled magic.”
He looked up at her, “I don’t know if I should punish you more or not right now,” a crooked smile forming on his lips before he went back to looking at the red stone, “How did you crack the code?”
“Lady Isabelle tapped into forbidden magic to keep her son safe. I used my blood the way she did to keep you safe,” she explained.
“Thank you for this,” he said, raising the pendant and then dropping it back to his chest, “I will treasure it well,” Penny beamed seeing that he was happy about the pendant.
“I asked Lord Alexander for the chain. He told me it would be a gift from both of us,” Damien rolled his eyes.
“He must be joking about it.”
“I wasn’t sure about how to cut and place it so I did this,” she continued to explain.
“I think it’s great. I love it,” leaning forward he went to her lips but then moved up to press his lips on her forehead, “Thank you.”
When the next morning arrived, Damien made sure to put the chain outside so that he could show it off to the people who were yet to see what his lovely mouse had made for him or rather what had been gifted to him. Telling it out that she had made him for him could be suspicious, therefore Damien decided to just place it on the top without a word.
At the table during breakfast, Damien cut the apple into little rabbit-shaped, arranging it on the plate and passing it to Penny who sat next to him. Alexander didn’t bother with the apple arrangement and instead continued to eat like he saw nothing special at the table. But it wasn’t the same for Elliot and Sylvia, having never seen a man especially doing something artistic out of the apple, they ate their food slowly without making their eyes on the couple too obvious.
Elliot started the conversation by asking, “How was your date with Lady Evelyn? She sent a letter to Lord Alexander telling how miffed she is. But I read the letter and she seems to be outrageously angry, just waiting to blow up.”
“What did she tell in the letter?” Damien couldn’t stop the wicked smile that appeared on his face, his eyes twinkling in amus.e.m.e.nt.
“It said that you took her to a shambles, broken and if I remember right, torn and ragged. That you set up a meeting with Mr. Precely, a man who has no manners and kept trying to get closer to her. She said she was absolutely embarrassed for what you did to her. You think she will do something?”
Damien raised his fork in the air where he was still chewing his food, swallowing it down he said, “If she wanted to do something she would have done it by now. Evelyn might try it in the future but for now, there’s nothing to worry about her. She cannot take the matter to the council which will look utterly silly and she knows that,” he took another bite from his plate, chewing it and then saying, “It serves her right. Tit for tat.”
Penny continued to eat her food, basking in the rays of the sunlight which passed through the windows where the curtains had been drawn to the sides.
“I see you gave it to him. That was very quick,” Alexander said, giving a look at what Damien was wearing, his eyes shifted to Penelope, “Did you use the book to cut the metal and stone?” he inquired. Lord Alexander had asked after the maid who had been serving them had stepped out of the dining room, leaving only the butler to handle the rest.
“Yes,” Penny replied to Alexander’s question and he gave her a curt nod before going back to eat his food. Penny completed eating the apples which Damien had cut for her when they heard Elliot ask,
“Do you plan to have babies any time soon?” he asked the couple who were sitting in front of them to receive an elbow jab from Sylvia, “That was a decent question!”
