More than an hour or two had passed since Penelope and Damien had come to the forest, listening to the crickets and the leaves rustle against each other, they spent their time talking about each other. Penelope listened to Damien’s memories as they appeared to be filled with mischief compared to hers.
“Mrs. Keith used to be the one at times to look after us and we would often give her a slip. She is a kind lady to have tolerated Alexander and me,” said Damien while looking far away into the trees. When he looked back to look at her, he stated, “You have been smiling for more than ten minutes now.”
Penny’s smile only grew wider, “It is good to hear your childhood memories. Wasn’t your mother angry when she found the blood on you?” she asked him after he had told her the story when they had gone to find black witches.
“It’s hard to say if she was angry,” Damien leaned against his hand which he had used to support himself while they had taken themselves to sit on the rocks, “I would say she was pleased to hear that I had killed a black witch.”
Somewhere Penny felt Damien’s mother was strict and ruthless yet there were parts of her which showed how prideful the woman was when it came to her family.
“I went to visit her two weeks ago,” Penny informed him as she hadn’t done it earlier.
“Did you now,” Damien didn’t show any change of expression, “What did you speak?” he asked, she could tell that somewhere he was curious.
“Something between her and me,” Penny grinned before asking, “Do you miss her?”
She saw Damien pull his body back from the leaning position and stretch his legs, “Sometimes I do,” Penny nodded her head.
“Oh, another thing…I don’t know why but I feel like I have been meeting Mr. Varreran often now. Like we keep running to each other,” Penny let Damien know.
“Where did you meet him?” inquired Damien.
“When I was leaving the cemetery. He had come to visit someone he knew,” Penny didn’t know why but even though his appearance was soft and kind, gentleman-like, something always sparked a doubt of question in her mind.
“I went through his files in the council. It tells that his parents were killed by witches when he was around twenty. Since then the man has been living alone. Strangely I couldn’t trace back any relatives which would mean his parents were a single child to their parents,” said Damien from what little he found out about the man, “But I did find something very interesting from the black market. It seems he enjoys buying slaves very regularly.”
Penny thought about it and said, “When I was at his mansion, I didn’t see any of the slaves. The one we saw, when I asked about her he told she was resting.”
“Mouse,” Damien called her, “No matter how a master treats the slaves, it is out of any of our hands. There are many slaves who get abused but once a person’s life is brought, there is no turning back to it. They are stuck for life. The master or mistress can do what they please and no one can have a say to it.”
Penny was aware of it, yet she wished something could be done with respect to putting down laws for the slaves as well as masters. And she also knew the council members would never come to implement such things.
“You know when you brought me here, Maggie had told me how you disliked the existence of slaves and it used to make me wonder why you bought me if that was the case.”
“But now you do.”
“I do,” she nodded her head, “I heard from Caitlin that Mr. Wells has been taking Maggie out during the weekends. I am glad your father approves of him.”
Damien chuckled at it, “If my father didn’t approve it would mean he was being partial with his children. I have chosen you to be my life partner, my wife, and my companion for the rest of my life. It wouldn’t be right, also,” he paused briefly to say, “I think he did partly to make Grace understand that she needs to stop manipulating and badmouthing her very own family she is part of. I thought she would change, of course, I did not hope, but I expected correction in her character which appears to be the same even after breaking her fangs. Most of the people have a character change over time but my half-sister is a lost cause which I think all of us have established. Were you able to crack the code that was given by Father Antonio?” he asked her.
“Nothing so far.”
“That bad huh,” he commented.
“I checked with Caitlin and she can’t read it either. It isn’t witch writing but something else.”
“Take your time. It’s not like the witches have taken themselves to attack us with their binding magic,” said Damien to her, “You know, you are a destined alignment of the star. If you weren’t there in the council exam, the matter and events right now would be different.”
“But the black witches have advanced and they have been trying to finish one ritual after another. Do you think there would be a point where they would unleash the black magic?” she asked him worried. It was something she thought about since she had finished the exam.
“Let’s hope that day never comes because if it does, it would be that much harder in stopping them,” saying this he stood up from the stone he was sitting on to walk towards her and she stood up, “We should head back,” he said, bringing his hand forward and offering it to her.
“What’s the matter?” it seems like you have something to tell, said Damien as she hadn’t moved.
“Is the black witch still there in the dungeon?”
“He is. Why do you ask?”
Penny shrugged her shoulders with a smile, “I wanted to learn a few things,” sheplaced her hand in his, and in less than a second, the forest was left empty as the couple had gone back to the mansion, straight to their room.
