Penelope and Damien had not returned back to the council and they only walked deeper and deeper into the forest. Speaking about what happened back in the Morgeuatory.
“Last evening, Evelyn came to the church,” Penny informed him as she hadn’t got the time earlier to bring what happened yesterday. Yesterday had been eventful.
“Why did she come?” Damien asked slightly surprised, “If I am not wrong, she is currently working on a case that belongs to a person who is in Wovile.”
“She said she was there for an inspection check. She said someone informed the council about the church creating malicious weapons against the pureblooded vampires,” Penny iterated as they continued to walk on the wet grounds of the forest, “She looked into the rooms and found Father Antonio who is correctly working on the truth potion.”
“What a development,” Damien commented before saying, “Why didn’t you go back home?”
“I thought you would come to pick me up,” Penny smiled.
“I apologize for not coming to get you. If I knew it would take the time I would have sent a word,” Damien said and she nodded at him. Damien had been dealing with the black witch as he was on an errand, “You were there in the church, did she say something?”
“About that,” Penny gave him a queasy smile before saying, “I think she has a doubt that I am a witch.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed to ask her, “What do you mean to doubt?”
Penny wet her lips which had gone dry, “She made me inhale the spray which the witches are allergic to,” if Evelyn hadn’t reported or caused a ruckus yet, it meant she was still in doubt but it would also mean the vampiress would try to get the bottom of it as a doubt had been planted in the council woman’s head.
“Going to the church is not safe anymore. I know Evelyn well that she will send the witch hunters to guard the church to observe your movements from now.”
“I guessed that,” Penny replied back to him, tucking her hair behind her ear as the wind blew across the forest to move the slightly wet trees as it had rained the previous night and was only drying up in the presence of the sunlight, “Murkh mentioned about the council exam that it was her who brought it up in the council. Do you think she has something to do with the witches?”
“I don’t think so. The woman is too prideful to mix herself with the likes of the black witches or white witches. Given the opportunity, I am sure she would live to blow every single head of the witches,” Damien wondered if Evelyn was ruled out of the options of the suspect, who had brought the subject in front of her that had made her go and speak about it, “He would need to find if it was someone from the council or if it was an outsider.”
“Also…” Penny said, making him worry now. It seemed that her night was as eventful as his, “On my way home, I met Mr. Varreran. Instead of taking me back to Quinn’s mansion, he ended up taking me to his mansion.”
“Did he do anything?”
Penny shook her head, “He is odd though. I don’t know why but something about him is very off. Have you known him for a long time?”
“Not much. I have met him during the tea party’s but I don’t think we ever had a proper talk between us apart from greetings. What did you find odd about him?”
“It is hard to say,” Penny didn’t know why she felt it to be so. Was it because he had a slave who had been physically abused? But then the man had told it was her previous owner who had her hurt her.
“The pureblooded vampires who are of the lesser class can be like that. Let me take you back to the mansion,” Damien proposed and Penny nodded her head as she had nothing else to do here. She had to find a way to stop the magic being spilled out that had been locked so that it could not be accessed the way the black witch was able to come back alive today in the council.
After Damien took Penny back to the mansion, he returned back to the council to head straight to the head council’s room. He knocked on the door, and heard Rueben say,
“Come in.”
Opening the door, Damien noticed that Rueben already had a company who belonged to the elder’s class of the council. There were three of them, one woman and two men who spoke to Reuben.
“I don’t know what is going on but the land has been unsafe lately,” said the woman who looked as old as in her seventies. She was a human and the only woman to be part of the elder council, “We need more men being put up at the checkpoint,” the woman wasn’t talking to Reuben but to her fellow councilman who sat to her immediate right.
The man smiled looking at her, “Councilwoman, we already have placed enough men who only end up dying.”
“Then we need to find better ones to be replaced. Your way of the examination has dropped and so has the quality of people to serve the lands,” the woman turned her head with a huff and Damien knew where this was going. He had come on time.
“What do you propose then?” the councilman asked her, his eyes sharply looking at her. Another human. The one on the far right was a vampire who appeared to not speak a word.
“Have another council exam being placed. It was already brought up in the meeting a few weeks ago,” said the woman, her eyes turning from the man on her right to look at Reuben who sat in front of her, “We don’t need the first exam, we can have the second exam that will require strength. A physical exam which will be more than enough to-”
Damien couldn’t resist himself but be part of the conversation, standing against the wall with his back touching it, he said, “What you are asking is brainless idiots to be part of the council, milady.”
