NIGHTS OF HALLOW

On one side of the castle walked Marco and Lady Bethany who now and then would peek to look at Marco before looking shyly looking away.

”You keep staring at me that I’m starting to think you brought me out here to look at my face.” Marco slightly turned to look at the girl who reached almost below his shoulder.

Shorty. He called her in his mind.

Lady Bethany blushed upon hearing what Marco said. After a while, she replied, ”I didn’t think I would ever since you again since the day of the Hallow ball.”

”And we are here,” Marco responded to the delight of the Lady.

Lady Bethany nodded, a small smile on her face. ”Yes, we are here. I didn’t know you knew the king. Must be here for work?” She asked as that was what she had deduced from her inspection.

”No,” Marco replied, a frown slowly appearing on his face. ”I’m not here for any work. I am a guest.”

Lady Bethany’s mouth opened in awe. She voiced her thoughts, ”The king must hold you in high esteem to invite you to stay in the castle. How long have you been here?”

The frown on Marco’s face deepened. He paused for a moment before he answered Lady Bethany’s last question. ”A few weeks at most. And no, I’m not here because the king holds me in high esteem. I came from a village.”

Marco let the Lady know before she started harboring some silly thoughts about him in her small brain. He had seen the way she kept staring at him, even at the Hallow ball to know she was smitten by him. Women and hassle were like twins and he had no strength to entertain such things. At least not now.

Lady Bethany’s high horse seemed to have come to an abrupt stop as her mouth formed an O. A moment later, her face brightened again. She smiled and said, ”Well, knowing the king makes up for it.”

Marco abruptly turned to look at Lady Bethany. Women. How did their brain work sometimes? Was the first question that came to his mind. Why were the little demons in them different from one another?

There would have been women who would immediately stop walking with him once he mentioned that he came from the village. But this one? She had gone ahead to use him knowing the king to make up the fact he was not a high society member like her. Ugh. This was exactly what he thought about. Women and hassle.

”Who was that woman seated beside you in the dining room?” Lady Bethany quickly changed the topic as they walked deeper inside the castle. She pulled the heavy fur coat draped on her body closer to her neck in an attempt to shield herself from the cold.

She continued when Marco did not respond immediately, ”I think she was the woman who danced with the king at the Hallow ball. Her green eyes are striking not to recognize her.”

Also, at the same time in another part of the castle walked Perdita and Mr. Fredrick. They walked slowly beside each other while staring ahead of them.

”So—” Mr. Fredrick began, breaking the silence that ensued after his last question about Perdita’s village. He went on to speak, ”You have been living in Woodbridge since little?”

”Yes,” Perdita answered while keeping a cautious eye on Fredrick.

”How little?” Came the next question of Mr. Fredrick.

”Since birth,” Perdita promptly replied. Her expression not giving away her lie.

Mr. Fredrick hummed and nodded his head in understanding.

He continued to ask, ”And your parents died when you were young too?”

”Yes,”

”Is it too much if I ask how young you two were?” Fredrick continued to probe, his eyes watching every move and reaction made by Perdita.

”We were very young when they were killed, I can’t remember all the details. But one of the surviving families was kind of enough to take us in.” Perdita added the details so Fredrick wouldn’t be suspicious of her and Marco.

”And they didn’t know you two were turned vampires?” Mr. Fredrick probed and noticed Perdita pause in her steps.

”Seems like you too know about it,” Perdita remarked. Displeased that Serena told her fellow witches they were vampires.

”Should I apologize?” Fredrick’s brows rose in question which Perdita knew was a mock question.

She subtly eyed him and answered, ”You don’t have to, Mr. Fredrick.”

Mr. Fredrick smiled warmly at Perdita which only turned her more wary of him. They continued to walk in silence again, both thinking of how to phrase the next question. But it was clear to Perdita that for Mr. Fredrick to ask her to accompany him take a stroll, he was doing it for a reason. The first reason was to question her about where they came from. She prayed that he bought the lies he fed with and did not find anything suspicious.

They paused in their steps as they neared one of the many gardens used to decorate the castle. They stepped down the small flight of stairs and entered the small garden wafting delicious-smelling flowers.

Mr. Fredrick walked toward a flower with pink, blue, and yellow petals forming a bud. He plucked one and returned to stand beside Perdita.

He said, ”Did you know this flower is very useful yet dangerously harmful?” He began to explain when he saw the questioning look on Perdita’s face.

”One petal is for curing sickness, another one is poisonous, and the last one is neutral. Nothing happens when you use the last one.”

”If you pick the wrong petal to cure any illness or disease, the person dies within a heartbeat. Phew!”

Perdita’s grew wide as she internally questioned herself. Why keep something as such in the castle then? What if someone uses it to poison another?

”You must be wondering why it is here in the castle. Well, you can question the King about it.” He smiled and brought the flower closer to his eyes to inspect.

Perdita stared at the flower. He had piqued her interest to know more, and she would make sure she asked Sthena about it. She also noted how he skipped telling her which petal was dangerous or not, and also the name of the flower.

”You know about this flower because you’re a witch?” Perdita drawled the question with her head tilted to the side as she deftly brought up the topic she wanted to discuss with Fredrick.

Fredrick smiled again, something he liked doing. He said, ”It is not about being a witch, Ms. Kartar. It is about reading books of different categories.”

Yes, that was another thing. Books. She needed to read about the different creatures that were in existence. Another thing was the way he said her last name as if telling her he knew something and was hiding it. Perdita wondered and brushed the thought off again.

”You’re right, Mr. Fredrick,” Perdita agreed with a nod. She went to stand beside a flower that filled her nose with its fragrance but she didn’t pick it as she was now cautious of the flowers she knew there was poison in them.

”I heard Mr. Frederick—” Perdita began as she had not gotten what she wanted to know. She went on, ”—That witches have magic at their disposal?”

Fredrick laughed making Perdita wonder what amused him. He told her, ”Just like the abilities gifted to some pureblooded vampires so it is when it comes to people like me.”

”Ahnn—” Perdita nodded and remarked. ”Just like how you make a fire come out from the thin air with a snap of your hand?”

Fredrick nodded, and Perdita further said, ”It truly amazes me how one could manipulate and do things the way they liked.” She smiled, her face filled with admiration. ”How do you even make a fire come out like that?”

Mr. Fredrick did not answer immediately. He suddenly became quiet as if he was straining his ears to hear something.

”Is anything wrong, Mr. Fredrick?” Perdita slowly turned her head to check for any suspicious move.

”It is time,” Fredrick answered while behaving as if he didn’t hear Perdita’s initial question.

”Time for what?” Perdita turned confused.

”Time to treat your brother. Lady Serena has called for you. Let me walk you back.” Mr. Fredrick threw the flower to where the others were planted and started to walk.

As they climbed the small stairs again, Perdita quizzed, ”How did you know?”

”Know that Lady Serena is calling you?” Fredrick turned to the side to look at Perdita and saw her nod her head. He said, ”We can speak telepathically with each other.”

Witches could do that? Perdita internally asked herself. She had learned two things from Mr. Fredrick but the main reason for accompanying him had been about her last question of how witches created fire. But the man had subtly dodged it.

This action of his confirmed her suspicion of them being up to something. For the man to personally ask her for a walk, and not to add, he had been asking her questions about their childhood and parents, they were definitely here for something. And that something might involve her and Marco. She had to be extremely careful from now on.