NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The dining room fell silent when Sthena finished his words. Daemon bowed to the king and swiftly left to carry out the King’s order while the others in the room awaited the arrival of the church members even though some of them didn’t know why they had come to the castle that morning.

Lady Rosamonda had a proud subtle smile plastered on her face while Prince Regan held a slightly worried expression. Knowing how King Sthena worked and also knowing it was because of his mother informing the church members what had transpired the day before, they wouldn’t have made their presence known in the castle. They were another annoying pest that was hard to eradicate which he too hated.

King Sthena on the other hand held a passive look on his face. He sat relaxed in his seat as he drank his blood that was being refilled by a maid.

Just as everyone simultaneously dropped their cutleries after they were done eating, the maids were quick on their heels to clear that table, and at the same time, Daemon re-entered the dining room with the church members following behind him.

”Milord,” Daemon bowed and went to the left hand of King Sthena to stand as he watched the scene begin to unfold.

”A beautiful morning to you, Your Majesty,” The church members chorused as they all bowed in greeting. The church members consist of Headchurch Donovan, Churchman Theodore, Churchman Welsh, Churchwoman Martha, and an additional Churchwoman Aurora.

”A beautiful morning indeed to get an impromptu visit from the church members,” Sthena replied, wearing his calm but mischievous smile on his handsome face. ”I would have loved to offer you all a sweet warm breakfast, but it seems you came at quite unfortunate timing because we just finished eating immediately before you came in.”

Said the one who asked Daemon to let them in so the church members could join them at the table for breakfast. Perdita thought with an inward shake of her head while the fear of being recognized by the church members intensified.

”It is quite unfortunate indeed, Your Majesty, but sadly we are not here for breakfast but to have a few words with you.” Headchurchman Donovan agreed to Sthena’s words well aware of how the king behaved that even if there was a table filled with food, the king would have found another excuse for them not to join since he was not the one who invited them to the castle.

Sthena turned to look at the church members and gestured with his hand towards the available seats, he said, ”Make yourselves comfortable then,” Without his gaze flickering from the church members, he ordered, ”If not breakfast, serve the church members some refreshments as they seem to have journeyed so quickly to come this morning.”

The maids-in-waiting were quick to carry out the order of the king by serving the church members freshly baked biscuits and glasses of fruit juice.

”Thank you, Your Majesty,” Headchurch Donovan thanked with a small bow. He continued now looking around the table, ”We are sorry to have interrupted the breakfast of the royal family though I seem to see an additional number.”

Lady Rosamonda not letting the opportunity to speak slip was quick to keep her glass of blood on the table. With a sweet smile adorning her white face, she responded to Headchurch Donovan’s words, ”There is no problem with the interruption, Churchman Donovan since it seems you have a very important matter to speak to the king about.” She dabbed her mouth while deliberately not saying anything about the additional person at the table.

”That’s very kind of you to say, Lady Rosamonda.” Donovan smiled, his gaze returning to look at Perdita whom he had been observing. ”Your face does look familiar to me. Have we met before, My Lady?”

Being the center of attention of everyone, Perdita felt small under the scrutinizing gazes of the church members. Churchman Theodore didn’t need to be told where he met her, because he had recognized her the first time he stepped into the dining room even though she was now dressed like royalty. The other church members stared in curiosity as they seemed lost in Perdita’s captivating green eyes and mesmerizing beautiful face. It was only Churchwoman Martha who had a frown on her face as she stared at Perdita.

Perdita cleared her throat as she looked up at Donovan who had questioned her. But before she could open her mouth to speak, Sthena beat her to it.

”Headchurch Donovan, I believe you are here to have a few words with me and not to question my guest?” Sthena’s gaze hardened as he shot Donovan a cautioning glare. He continued to speak in the same clipped tone, ”My guest here, Lady Perdita, you might have met her in Woodbridge village, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to disturb her. Am I clear?”

Donovan nodded his head in understanding and replied, ”There is no problem with that, Your Majesty, though I have recognized her now. I together with Theodore had questioned her about the missing village man and woman. The couple we were not able to find till today.”

Mr. Perkin and Mrs. Perkin! Perdita exclaimed in her heart as she felt the beating of her heart accelerate which she tried to control considering the vampires who were present in the room. She had forgotten about the troublesome village couple because of what had happened since the day Sthena abducted them for her. Oh my, what was she going to do if the church members discovered the truth now they recognized her? What will happen next?!

”I know. It is the case I asked the church members to forfeit since they couldn’t do a perfect job on it.” Sthena remarked nonchalantly bringing Perdita back from her reverie while his eyes lazily went from one person in the room to the other. He added with a smirk on his face, ”It makes me question why the church members would come here uninvited when they cannot get anything done right. It makes me think that you all are incompetent in my kingdom.”

Annoyed and offended, Churchwoman Martha quickly interjected with a measured glare directed at the King, ”I plead to disagree with your words, Your Majesty. We are not incompetent, we—”

”You are not?” Sthena questioned back, his eyes holding mirth in them.

”Yes, Your Majesty. We are not incompetent,” Martha responded and paused to get her next words right, ”The case of finding the village man and his wife remained unsolved because the vampire who kidnapped them must have probably killed them.”

”And the vampire who abducted them then?” Sthena questioned.

Martha stopped speaking because she knew she had said something she shouldn’t have uttered and speaking more would bring up more questions. She simply replied, ”I don’t know,”

”You don’t know,” Sthena shook his head disapprovingly. He continued to question, ”And how are you sure that it was a vampire that abducted them?”

”We—we,” Martha began with a stutter, unable to form any direct answer. When she did, she said, ”I mean it was assumed it was a vampire that abducted from what the villagers said that they saw some vampires wandering in their village.”

”There goes the incompetency I just talked about,” Sthena remarked with a shake of his head. He went on to say, ”I am a very busy man who has his kingdom’s welfare to attend to than to sit here and have talk about incompetent church members.” Just as Sthena finished speaking, he stood on his feet ready to leave the dining room.

The church members all shared confused looks with each other with the exception of Churchman Theodore who had a slight smile on his face over the actions of the king.

”Your Majesty?” Donovan called in slight apprehension when he saw Sthena made to leave. He also stood up and said, ”We haven’t discussed what we can here for yet, Your Majesty.”

”Is that so?” Sthena questioned back. ”If I remember correctly, you specifically said to share a few words with me to which I have fulfilled the request, didn’t I?”

Donovan felt perplexed not knowing what to say at that moment. The request the king said he fulfilled wasn’t even about what they came for. Donovan took a while to gather his thoughts together as the king was bound to make one lose his sanity at any moment. He said, ”Your Majesty, the reason why we came here is not because of what we discussed just now. We were merely recalling a past action.”

”I see,” Sthena nodded as if in acknowledgment. ”If that is the case, I’ll advise you to always get to the point anytime we meet. Not to add, you visited uninvited and I’ve been hospitable enough to serve you refreshments and talk with you.” ℯℯ𝑙.

”I apologize for my negligence, Your Majesty, but could you spare us some more minutes of your time?” Donovan asked in a gentle pleading voice. ”We were informed that there was a life-threatening action that happened in the castle the day before and we have come to confirm if it is true.”

”Headchurch Donovan,” Sthena called as he turned to stare at the dark-haired human whose black eyes seemed to waver under his intense gaze. He spoke, ”You don’t bite off more than you can chew. I have limited time and this topic is new to my ears as I didn’t notice any change in the castle unless you are trying to forge a lie so you can search my castle?”

Sthena paused, his red eyes briefly shifted to look at Lady Rosamonda, he asked, ”Dear Stepmother, might you have noticed anything or any change in the castle yesterday? Any life-threatening action?”

From Lady Rosamonda’s seat, she silently cursed at the king as she answered, ”I don’t think so, Your Majesty.” She immediately lied so as not to expose herself that she was the one who informed the church members about what happened in the castle that led to the disappearance of Perdita’s brother, Marco.

”You see why I said you are making things up, Headchurch Donovan. Even my dear Stepmother who is always actively aware of everything that goes on in and around the castle saw nothing happen as you have claimed. Which makes me wonder who might have given you such information. Such a waste of my time.” Sthena clicked his tongue in annoyance and added, ”Perhaps you might take a stroll around the castle with your new informant, Headchurch Donovan?”

Without wasting another minute, Sthena made his way out of the dining room. At the door, he stopped and turned his head to the side, and said, ”Follow me, Perdita.”