NIGHTS OF HALLOW

The Church members after being escorted out of the castle boarded the two carriages they had come with. Headchurch Donovan, Churchman Theodore, Churchwoman Aurora boarded the first carriage, while Churchman Welsh and Churchwoman Martha boarded the second carriage.

The second carriage which Mr. Welsh and Martha boarded left a few minutes after the first carriage departed. Inside the second carriage, Churchman Welsh and Churchwoman Martha sat facing each other, though Mr. Welsh had his face turned out of the window.

The vehicle continued to move along the snow-covered ground, the white cold flakes hindered the wheels of the carriage and the hooves of the horses that pulled the carriage from moving forward.

No one spoke to each other for a good amount of time, only the sound of their cloaks being adjusted because of the harsh weather could be heard. After a while, Martha was the first to break the silence by questioning Churchman Welsh.

She asked, ”What do you think of what Lady Rosamonda reported that happened in the castle?”

Churchman Welsh who had been looking out the window on hearing Martha’s question turned his head towards her direction and answered, ”Knowing the numerous cases of the King engaged in one act or the other and also about the subtle little war between Lady Rosamonda and the king, either one of them could be saying the truth.” His answer left a vague meaning, indicating to Martha that whatever he thought about the case he was keeping to himself.

Martha’s black eyes narrowed on her fellow human seated in the same carriage as she. She continued to ask, ”What if Lady Rosamonda was right after all and we left the culprit go scoutfree?” Martha paused as if in thought, meanwhile, she knew everything she wanted to say. She went on, ”The green-eyed woman at the table today confirms the suspicion that what she reported could be true.”

Churchman Welsh shrugged his shoulders and remarked, ”Maybe you could be right or maybe not, but it is best we don’t assume anything without a proper investigation done, don’t you think?”

Martha stared at Churchman Welsh as if amused by what he had said. She let out a low chortle and stated in a flat tone, ”You talk about investigation as if any done to uncover the deeds of the King has been fruitful. We should take the beast by the horn and pin him down, don’t you so too, Churchman Welsh?”

The subtle mock smile on Martha’s face faltered and was replaced by a serious look as she gazed expressionlessly at Mr. Welsh who equally returned the look.

With annoyance slowly seeping into Churchman Welsh’s body, he countered with a narrowed look. ”As I had said, Churchwoman Martha, we should leave everything in the hands of the investigating team and not to add, the Headchurch member doesn’t know about this discussion going on here and I wouldn’t want to continue to be part of it.”

”Oh, please,” Churchwoman Martha waved her hand dismissively with a roll of her eye. She remarked with an evil glint in her eyes, ”Cut the acting crap, Churchman Welsh. I know you work for Head Minister Pristine.”

The sudden declaration from Martha made Churchman Welsh have an abrupt shock to his bones. His face equally had a disbelieving expression which he tried to conceal. He asked in a shocked voice almost sounding like a whisper, ”What did you just say?!”

At the same time in the first carriage, the conversation about the King and Lady Rosamonda was also ongoing between Headchurch Donovan, Churchman Theodore, and Churchwoman Aurora.

Headchurch Donovan’s voice resounded in the carriage as he questioned his fellow church members, the same question Martha had asked Churchman Welsh. He quizzed, ”What if she had been right about this report she made?”

”Without concrete evidence, what she reported will remain in doubt.” Churchwoman Aurora chimed in as she looked from Donovan to Theodore.

”The green-eyed Lady at the table today,” Donovan stated in a suggestive tone. This made Theodore to have equally interject.

He said, ”That is not enough evidence Headchurch Donovan. As Churchwoman Aurora had said, we need concrete evidence, not some made-up stories.”

”We do not even know if the Lady you mentioned has a brother to begin with.” Aurora added to support Theodore’s point.

Donovan nodded his head as he thought about what Theodore and Aurora had said. He spoke up after contemplating in his mind, ”To get the desired concrete evidence, we need to conduct some investigations then. What I just want is peace and order to reign.” Donovan let out a deep sigh and paused in his speech while Theodore and Aurora patiently waited for him to continue.

After a moment of silence, Donovan went on speaking, ”For the success of this investigation, we will start by finding out if the woman, Lady Perdita as the king had called her has a brother indeed. To achieve this, we will start our investigations in the village of Woodbridge where the Lady lived before staying in the castle, though I wonder what prompted such relocation to happen. If I am not wrong, it could be during the time when Mr. Perkin and his wife went missing.”

”Isn’t that the case the King asked the church to drop?” Aurora questioned as the event happened when she was not yet promoted to join Donovan and his team.

”Yes, it is,” Donovan confirmed with a thoughtful look on his face. ”It makes everything about the King, the green-eyed Lady, and the missing village members now suspicious.”

Churchman Theodore craned his head to the side as if to crack his neck. His dark red eyes subtly narrowed because of Donovan’s words. He knew that Perdita had a brother because he had been there when the King himself together with Daemon rescued them during the exorcism ritual and somehow he also knew they were involved in the disappearance of the couple.

Taking that lead as Donovan mentioned, would likely expose the King and the Lady save for if the King intervened like he usually did. Theodore shook his head at his thoughts. What he didn’t understand yet was Lady Rosamonda’s claims that Perdita’s brother went missing because of the involvement of witches. Could that really happen? Under the watch of the king? If it did happen, then it meant that the witches were very powerful. What was really going on in the castle?

Headchurch Donovan’s voice brought Theodore out of his thoughts when he said, ”To achieve our goal, an investigation would be carried out in Woodbridge village, and Churchwoman Aurora, you would be in charge of it.”

Churchwoman Aurora’s brows rose in surprise as she wasn’t expecting to be the chosen church member considering how she was a newly elected Church member.

Headchurch Donovan saw through the look on Aurora’s face and clarified his intentions. He remarked, ”I appointed you because of your efficiency at getting things done since you were elected, and also I didn’t send Churchman Theodore or Welsh or Martha, because they have been to the village before and some of the villagers know their faces as church members and they might refuse to speak or reveal anything to them.”

”But I am a Vampire and I know the people of that village do not welcome vampires.” Aurora voiced her concerns as she had heard a lot of things about the infamous village.

”More reasons for them to obey and quickly answer your questions,” Donovan assured and his words brought a grin on Theodore’s lips who remarked,

”Are you finally agreeing to the fact that despite the anger of humans towards the vampires, they are also quick to succumb to the wills of the vampires they hate?” Donovan being a human himself knew that this was true, but he couldn’t acknowledge the truth. He glared at Theodore without replying, making Theodore chuckle at his reaction.

Back in the second carriage, Churchman Welsh repeated his question when Martha did not say anything to reply to him. ”What did you just say, Churchwoman Martha?”

Martha on the other hand continued to stare at Mr. Welsh with an amused look on her face without uttering a word of response. When she did speak, she said, ”Churchman Welsh, let us not play the ignorant game and cut to the chase. I know about you working with Minister Pristine because of his dead son whose death he laid accusations of on the king. True or false?”

Martha asked the shocked man who couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had been subtle with his actions. How did Martha find out about him working with Pristine?

”What do you want?” Welsh questioned, his voice sounding annoyed at the end.

”What do I want?” Martha quizzed with a small laugh. She said, ”Wouldn’t it be nice or should I say more spicy if you use what is happening to your advantage? I know you have been looking for evidence against the King which has proved futile since who knows how long?”

”I see,” Churchman Welsh nodded in response as he thought about what Martha said even though she didn’t directly request anything in return for knowing his secret. After a moment of silence, Mr. Welsh commented with a smile, ”You know so much about me, Churchwoman Martha. It makes me think you are also working for someone behind the scenes, aren’t you?”

Martha chuckled. ”Don’t let your imaginations run too wild, Churchman Welsh.” She tapped on the carriage’s body and the moving vehicle slowly came to a halt. Without acknowledging or refuting Mr. Welsh’s claims, she stepped down from the carriage. She turned midway closing the door and remarked, ”It was just a suggestion, Churchman Welsh and I believe you know what to do about it if it is your wish. See you at work.”

With that, Martha shut the carriage door and watched as it continued down the snowy road.

In the first carriage, Churchman Theodore who had his face turned towards the window had noticed and heard the faint sound of the of the carriage stopping behind. He stuck out his head a little out of the small window of the carriage, just enough to look outside and at the same time, his red eyes locked with Churchwoman Martha who had equally turned in his direction before walking into the nearby forest.