Damien placed his hand on the edge, looking back at the town where the amount of fire had reduced, “This is the place where the white witches started their lives, this is the place where they cast their spells on the race of the black witches, closing the gate in a way that left the other sisters handicapped. I think it is the right place to be setting up the massacre and harvesting the energy so that they can unlock everything that was once locked,” his eyes had turned back to their usual red after reaching Penny back in the forest, “There’s a woman who is still alive and there are many more witches who are running freely, you should keep an eye so that the incident doesn’t repeat.”
Lord Herbert nodded his head, “Thank you for saving my land and the people today, Councilman Damien. I would be grateful for the help you have provided.”
“Don’t worry. I was only saving her. We just didn’t realize that the white witch had laid a trap for us by pretending to have the inn to be secure with the spilled magic,” which was true. Damien was a careful man, and it was he who laid traps and not the other way round.
“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Lord Herbert asked the permission that had Damien turning to look at him, “The girl…is she a witch?”
Both Damien and Herbert stared at each other before Damien answered, “Yes.”
“I ask because I am aware that the ritual needs a white witch, at least that is what some of the artifacts say but I really doubt that they are looking for a white witch. The black witches aren’t aware but it is not the white witch’s sacrifice that will help in the unbinding,” the young man’s brows knit together in concentration as if he himself didn’t know the answer, “For what you have done today, your help, I will keep my lips sealed for who she is.”
“That is a very easy trade,” one side of Damien’s lips pulled up.
The young Lord smiled, “It indeed is. Councilmen’s deals and trades are usually heavy to pay back. We need to find the easiest and settle the deal that is why.”
“I shall accept it,” Damien replied in a heartbeat. It wasn’t like he was interested in any favours and instead he found it to be a fair one.
“You can stay here as long as you wish to. My mansion is your abode. I won’t file in the entire report and will only mention how you were here to stop the massacre,” with the both the men agreeing on it Damien said,
“I don’t intend to stay long here. The land of Wovile has been quite troublesome every time I step in here. If possible I would not like to come here for a while at least,” the land which was once the land of the white witches, he wasn’t interested to stay longer and have trouble come and bite both Penny and him. He wanted to take her far away from her mother, a vacation from all this chaos. He knew they would have to step back again but with everything that was happening one thing after another, they needed break and he needed time with Penelope.
“I am sorry to hear that,” there was a common way of response when a person replied back or would have replied back the Lord if it was another person and somewhere the Lord was used the response he received that he was ready to accept the- it’s alright, the land is not that bad and instead got to hear,
“All the lands have some defects in them which makes me dislike it but we end up choosing which is less defective,” came Damien’s reply nonchalantly. The Lord of Wovile cleared his throat.
“Well, I will ask the butler to send both of your meals up here to the room,” giving each other a nod, Lord Herbert walked away as he had tons of paperwork due to the attack that took place last night as well as what happened two days ago.
Going back to the room, Damien picked up the books which looked burnt at the edges but the inside was still intact. It made him wonder if it was made out of something durable against heat and fire. Placing the book back on the table, he stepped closer to the bed where Penny was asleep. Sitting down next to her, he remembered the time of yesterday when he had only woken up surrounded by fire.
He had never seen her that broken, his heart broke looking at her. Her eyes wet along with her cheeks. Gently, he moved his hand to push the hair back, leaning forward he kissed her forehead. He wondered if she knew that her mother was part of the ritual, having her sacrificed. If she knew, he could tell that it must have destroyed her. To know and to see were two different things.
Like Damien had said, they didn’t stay long and once Penny had got her consciousness back they had left after the next meal in the carriage. On the way, Penelope was still tired and he let her borrow his shoulder as she laid her head and tried to catch some more sleep and not ready to talk about what happened at the inn. Damien not having the patience to travel and not wanting to get into another trap decided to discard the use of carriage by waving the man off with a good old gold coin before he traveled to Valeria, his cousin Alexander Delcrov’s mansion.
When they did reach the mansion, entering the large gates by foot, Penny asked Damien, “Don’t you think they will find it strange that you came on foot?” she asked. Master Damien walking on foot? She would have told it was going to rain frogs if one told her that in the past.
“They are used to it.”
An old man came wearing the clothes of a butler. His appearance lean and ghost-like with a scar that ran down on his face. If Penny met the man at night she was sure to scream by looking at him.
“Master Damien, welcome back,” the butler spoke in a stoic voice where his face remained expressionless.
