It was the tips of the mansion that she first saw as the trees which were part of the forest-covered it in every direction. The trees that held green leaves as they were traveling towards it had started to change to orange, red, and brown. The closer they got the larger the place appeared to be making her wonder what kind of family lived in here.
Both this and Quinn's mansion could be called to be as castle instead of mansion due to their size and the way they were built far away from the crowd whom they didn't want to do anything with. Considering most of them were lower than them.
She heard Damien say, "This is the other side of the lake of bones," the carriage continued to travel in the path of the snowy road where the snow had fallen down here. It was the time of Winter and some parts of the Bonelake had started to freeze, turning the placeas white as heaven or as gloomy, as one could not see anything but snow-covered land.
The castle stood tall with the ends of the building standing high and mighty. The carriage stopped, the hooves of the horses coming to a halt when the coachman pulled the reins of the horses.
Penny was the second person to get down after Lady Maggie, her head titled backward to look at the white and cream building which appeared to look old. Lady Fleurance and the others stepped inside the castle-like building where Damien and Penny were the last ones to enter.
Like them, there were some other guests who had come to visit the remaining people who were left unharmed while paying respect to the dead.
Walking inside, two maids helped the guests in removing their coats, taking one by one in time while having their head bowed every time they waited at the front of the hallways. The place was carved beautifully, every single little detail which looked as if the architect had taken his own time to lovingly carve it.
"The closest solution that we have right now is taking your help, Penelope," she heard Damien say while he smiled at one of the guests who greeted him from afar, "Father Antonio doesn't know about your ability. It is up to you if you want to let him know what you can do or keep it to yourself and work on it alone or."
Was he giving her the option of if she wanted to tell the priest she could purify the solutions she touched? "I don't think I will," she answered. Right now she didn't trust anyone. Even if the man was a white witch who had helped her in findingsome answers she had come looking for, she didn't want to take a chance. The existence of Bathsheba told that not every black witch was bad while not every white witch could hold back the cravings they saw in the power which came from tapping into the black magic.
"It is your choice. If the stars have aligned at a crucial time like this where you will be able to put it to good use, then you are the chosen one to fix what the black witches are trying to disrupt," he spoke in a low voice so that only she could hear.
"Will I be able to do it?" there was doubt in her voice. Not once had she been able to turn the liquids when she wanted. It happened without her control and she didn't know how it happened.
Damien stopped himself from walking further, "Nothing is impossible if you try hard enough. Look at us right now. If I didn't work hard we wouldn't be holding hands," Penny blinked at him, her eyes falling on their hands linked together and she quickly pulled her hand away. He chuckled, "Don't be so cold, Penny. Come here and let me hold you."
Damien raised his hand where his step-mother who was not too far behind them turned around to give them a dirty look. Penny wanted to hide and die somewhere in the corner. They had come to visit people who were mourning over the loss and this man was in his own bubble. Maybe having a corrupted heart and stubbing the emotions wasn't so good after all as there was a lack of sympathy or empathy to be shared by the person.
An old couple who had come here to pay their respect looked at Penny with their jaw that was set firmly as they looked at her.
Raising his hand up to his lips, he chuckled, "You're so easy to be fl.u.s.tered. Hold my hand before you get lost," Penny sighed not wanting to receive more attention that was being given to Damien and her.
"This is a big place with only a few servants working in here," she murmured looking at the two servants who they had walked by one who served them drinks.
"There were many before but they were all killed. At least more than twenty to twenty-five of them," Penny couldn't help but raise her brows in shock. More than twenty? That was a lot of death, "Ms. Adam's is the only survivor in the family where her mother and father have both passed away. The reason being corruption. Both Mr. and Mrs. Adam's happened to kill their servants after getting corrupted. The girl just turned out to be fortunate to not be killed by her own parents."
The maid who was serving regular tea along with the blood tea asked the guests to take a seat so they didn't have to stand waiting which was considered to be an inhospitable action. Penny excused herself, wanting to use the powder room where the maid guided her.
Standing in front of the mirror, her eyes fell on the bruises which were yet to disappear. No wonder the couple was looking at her oddly, thought Penny to herself. Trying to cover the bruise on her forehead by pulling the sides of her hair forward, she finally stepped out to hear whisperings that came from the corridor she had walked by to come to the powder room.