Chapter 369: Like an old friend
"My, my! You two look radiant,"
It was clear that Lady Persephone tried to give her voice a livelier tone, and although she didn’t outright fail at it, the enthusiasm wasn’t quite there.
Right behind her, walked Katherine who had a warm smile on her, even though it was also a tad meek.
"Good evening, my Lady," Arabella immediately stood off her chair to curtsy.
"And to you as well, my darling," upon taking a seat next to her daughter in law, Persephone breathed in a deeper puff of air, "You know, while I do not expect you to call me mother, I sure hope you will find a better title than Lady for me, given our freshly established familiar ties,"
"Oh!" Arabella’s cheeks turned red like little cherries, "I didn’t know if it would offend you that was why I kept the old honorific, but if you’re alright with it, then I’d love to call you mother,"
"Are you sure?" Persephone slowly clasped her hands together before laying them on her lap, "I couldn’t imagine asking you to call me mother. That would be unfair of me,"
"I do not mind since I used to call my birth mother mama,"
"That is most convenient then," she chuckled, "I miss the days my own child called me by that same title," her eyes drifted towards Silas at those words.
"Morgana will be arriving in a few, let us be ready," Silas straightened in his seat despite his already perfect posture.
"Oh, come now! Don’t be so shy. We were all children once. There is nothing to be ashamed of,"
Still, Silas refused to meet anybody’s eyes in that room, but Arabella was determined not to let him live it down.
The glint in her eyes alone told it all and he avoided it as though not seeing it would make it go away.
From the looks of it, Katherine was biting at her tongue in order to keep her cords tied.
But then again, perhaps she was holding her breath for a different reason. Perhaps it was the looming revelation that madame Morgana would bring about that snuffed the joy out of her.
It wasn’t long before Carlton made his appearance in the lounge room where they all sat to announce the arrival of the witch.
"Thank you, Carlton," Silas declared dryly.
As the man bowed and prepared to take his leave, the vampire spoke again, "It is past sundown, Carlton. We’ve already spoken about this. If not under special circumstances, you are to stop all work by the moon rising,"
"Understood, Mast- I mean, my Lord," the butler bowed a second time upon taking the words in then exited the room.
Even though it had come from a good place, Arabella thought Silas was a tad too harsh on the man. After all, it wasn’t that long past sundown. The vampires had only risen less than forty minutes before that moment.
She made a mental note to ask her husband about the reason that pushed him to reprimand him in that sort of way.
But that needed to wait since shortly after his exit, madame Morgana made her entrance. Her figure and stance alone commanded the attention of the room.
Her presentation was, in many ways, similar to Persephone’s standing. Much grace and care went into every step that woman took.
"Thank you, thank you for answering present, Morgana," Persephone greeted her like an old friend without standing.
"Of course, my dear Persephone. Anything for your beautiful eyes,"
They even addressed each other like old friends.
Silas, Arabella and Katherine, on the other hand, stood off their bottoms to properly welcome their guest.
"Please, take any seat you please and do tell us about your recent trip," the Lady had a faint smirk at the corner of her lips.
"It was one of the most boring I’ve ever taken and to be frank with you, it was quite odd," Morgana unwrapped the black velour shawl that spun around her neck and put it by her side, "Why don’t you come along for the next one. How long has it been since you’ve poked your beak out of this mansion?"
"Barely a week now,"
To Arabella’s surprise, Persephone’s shoulders tensed a bit.
"The spring equinox does not count," the smile on Morgana turned crisp, "Remind me again of the last time we traveled together. How long ago was it?"
"Over a century ago," Persephone breathed.
Those words left Arabella stunned in her seat. Her astonishment so apparent it had caught the attention of Morgana who chuckled at the sight, "Yes, I am over three centuries old. Three hundred and forty-five to be precise so, Persephone and I go way back. I know I didn’t make any mention of it the last time I visited as I saw no use in that," she beamed.
"How... Lovely," the young woman whispered.
By all accounts, witches were known to live no longer than a century or at best two, closely similar to humans in terms of lifespan, but it seemed that Morgana had somehow cracked the code to longevity.
That alone explained a lot. For example, it cleared the mystery of her far ahead advancement in skills compared to other witches.
Utter silence returned when Silas cleared his throat, "You may catch up on each other in your own free time. I’d rather cut to the chase immediately," cold as ever his voice was.
"Right," the witch took a deeper breath, her eyes snapping onto Katherine, "My poor Katherine... tsk, tsk, tsk," she clicked her tongue against her palate, "What have they done to you?"
"Worry not, madame. I have fully healed since then. I only-"
"It only appears so, my dear," that shut Katherine up at once.
"Is she still ill?" Arabella leaned forward in her chair, eyebrows furrowed.
"I wouldn’t say ill, but whatever they put in your body was so potent, its residuals linger to this very day," Morgana’s eyes darted all around Katherine’s figure, studying something nobody but her seemed to spot.