Chapter 370: Reveal the evil
Katherine stood still and held her breath as Morgana hovered around her, but she wasn’t the only one that had turned stiff as a board in the room.
Indeed, Arabella’s stomach clenched on itself so very tightly, the young woman had to put a hand over it just to soothe it.
Morgana’s eyes widened at times then narrowed at others. Her mouth would open and close as she examined the vampiress.
"I am going to need a strand of your hair for the next test, my dear," Morgana turned to her pouch bag and pulled a pair of scissors out of the black leathery thing, "You do not mind, do you?"
"No, of course. Anything you need," Katherine’s spine straightened further than Arabella thought it capable of doing.
Nobody said a thing and merely watched as the witch snipped the smallest of strands before placing it on the table next to her bag.
Dipping her hand in it again, Morgana took an even smaller pouch out of it plus a little vial that contained a sheer yet red liquid in it.
With two fingers she picked a pinch of the powder that filled the tiny pouch then sprinkled it into the vial.
"If you don’t mind me asking, what should this test reveal?" Persephone still had her graceful posture as her black eyes followed each and every one of Morgana’s motions.
"To be frank with you, I’d rather complete it first before chatting about it," said Morgana right when she plugged the vial in order to give it a good shake between her fingers.
The silence returned, allowing the witch to proceed by unclogging the flask and throwing Katherine’s hair inside.
Arabella’s eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets upon witnessing the snippet of hair grow and beat with life within the bounds of the vial.
"What is the meaning of this, madame?" it seemed as though Katherine’s patience ran dry before anyone else would dare ask.
In reply, Morgana took the deepest of breaths, getting ready to speak, "Well, as you all already know, a witch’s hair is unlike any other species’. Had I put my own hair in this potion, nothing would have happened because mine is dead as a doorknob. However, yours," she pointed at Katherine, "Isn’t. See, even though you can only feel your hair through your scalp, every lone hair on your head is alive and breathing. Everything you ingest or are subjected to, your hair receives and...," she put her index finger up, "Your hair is the last part of your body to eject any substance or toxin. It will still suffer any ailment you go through for months after you’ve healed from it,"
"So, my hair still suffers from it," the vampiress half asked, her eyes strictly on the flask that threatened to shatter due to the pressure from her ever-growing hair.
"More or less, yes," Morgana sat beside her, "The potion I’ve used is a sort of cleanser," her eyes rested upon the flask as well, "And...," a long sigh followed her words as she trailed off.
"And?" even Persephone sat at the edge of her seat.
"And... I must admit that I’ve never seen anything quite like this before," the witch slowly shook her head, "Whoever did this to you either truly wanted you dead or... They messed up royally,"
"So, there is no chance for the cause of her illness to have been natural?" Arabella’s fingers twiddled together on her lap.
"My dear, I deal in witchcraft, not in medicine. This potion isn’t meant to cleanse illnesses but evil,"
"That is something we’ve already suspected. What we really wish to know is what sort of evil was she subjected to," when Silas spoke, only his mouth moved. The rest of his body remained still. Aside from his chest which rose and fell that was.
"She was blighted by something so potent even I wonder how she still breathes," Morgana’s eyes narrowed, soldered on Katherine.
"Come now, old friend, you do have an idea as to what cured her," Persephone looked no one in the eyes at those words. Instead, she had a distant stare that lingered on the floor tiles beneath them.
Arabella’s head snapped so quickly towards Persephone that her neck almost cracked. How and why would Morgana know about Silas’ blood curing a vampire?
"Oh... I see," Morgana looked Katherine up and down before her eyes ended on Silas who showed no reaction.
In the end, the young woman’s mind traveled back to the part of their conversation where Persephone and Morgana revealed they went way back. That might explain how the witch would know about Silas’ blood. She might have been part of the research team back in his childhood.
"That is most interesting indeed," Morgana kept on talking to herself, a strong glint in her eyes, "Well, then, I will have to see if I can extract the poison out of your hair before leaping to any conclusions. May I have another strand of your beautiful hair, my dear?"
"Yes, of course, you may take all the hair you need," Katherine answered almost immediately.
"I will refrain from asking any further questions for the time being," Morgana’s eyes turned to Persephone and Silas, "All I can say for now is that she is out of danger,"
Arabella exhaled a sigh of relief as though she’d been holding it for longer than it was meant to be kept.
That got her Morgana’s full attention.
"My dear Lord, how could I be so impolite!" the witch exclaimed, standing off her chair at once, "I was so taken by the sight of an old friend that it had completely slipped my mind to congratulate the newlyweds in the room," her smile was much brighter than any she previously offered, "The first human ever to join the family! Congratulations for your new daughter, my dear Persephone,"
"They make them quite well in Lustris, don’t they?" the vampiress chuckled.
"Oh yes! They do!" Morgana eyed Arabella with the same beam.