The Bewitched Soul - Chapter 17 Scars Are Beautiful

Both spent time, discussing the main event which was about to take place next month.

The council comprises of all the four provinces, conducting meetings for the smooth functioning and maintaining peace between them. Lately, the head of the vampire army found a strange golden box with many glass pebbles inside. This created many speculations of a revolter who might have entered the Land of Ostbarrow. Luckily, Alexander got a chance to discuss this with Lord Gerard.

“About the box found in one of the towns in Brookville, do you have any idea?” Alexander asked as he sipped from the glass of red wine.

“Those are soul stones. One can contain another’s soul in it,” Gerard continued.

“As per records, those pebbles were destroyed long back. Surprised to know that it still exists. One can easily fall into the trap of it, especially humans. Let’s see what the council has to do with it. The witch army is searching for the missing revolter. I shall take all necessary actions.” Gerard assured him.

“Can they make those pebbles this easily?” Alexander thought for a while before speaking.

“This is not the work of a single person. Someone did lend a helping hand. And it has to be one who has a higher rank than those black witches.” Gerard spoke and his eyebrows furrowed, forming deep fine wrinkles on his forehead.

“A white witch?” Alexander spoke, his voice was calm.

“Maybe,” Gerard didn’t hold back to show his disappointment.

“The Dragon King’s orbuculum might be the only way to find out the traitor. Anyways, the council will decide. Didn’t you say you wanted to visit the palace gallery?” Gerard smiled.

“Yes, can we go now?” Alexander smiled as he stood up, carefully placing the wine glass.

The art gallery had many collections, some were about a century old, preserved carefully. Beautifully painted, they were a delight to the eyes. After seeing the masterpieces, they headed out to their respective rooms. As they were walking through the corridor, Gerard stopped.

“Alexander, to your left.” Gerard gestured him to take a left turn.

“Yes? I thought we were going to our rooms,” Alexander was confused.

“This will take a few minutes,” Gerard carefully opened the door.

“Get in,” he asked him to get in.

It was a huge L-shaped room. A golden chandelier was hanging in the middle. The bed was neatly done. The huge mirror in front of the bed was stainless. It looked like somebody still used the room.

“Whose room is it?” Alexander asked curiously.

“Lady Rowena’s,” Gerard smiled.

Alexander stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened in disbelief.

“Mother’s…?” he couldn’t speak anymore.

“This used to be Rowena’s room. It still is. This room gets cleaned once in every two days,” Gerard spoke as he kept walking.

“Come here, this way” Gerard motioned his hand.

It was a small, isolated part of the room, where a huge board covered with a white sheet.

Gerard carefully removed the sheet, and what Alexander saw was a complete shock to him.

“Father?” Alexander looked at the painting in front of him.

“Lord Randolph… your father,” Gerard smiled as he placed the sheet on the table beside him.

“The masterpieces which you saw in the art gallery, half of them were Rowena’s. She was an artist too. She was good in every field, the reason why people still remember the great lady,” Gerard continued.

“This was a painting which took her over a month, still incomplete.”

Alexander couldn’t help but smile while tracing the painting. It’s been several years now, this painting reminded him how beautiful his father was.

“It’s been years, this exactly looks like him.” Alexander kept smiling looking carefully at the painting.

A child no matter how strong he grows up to be would always yearn for his parents. He, being the most powerful king, looked helpless and restless. One’s past may not be always happy or worthy to be remembered. Memories are the keys to one’s past, be it a tragic or a happy past.

“You should’ve come earlier, Alexander.” Gerard looked at the sculpted side view of Alexander.

“The painting was securely locked inside my father’s wardrobe. It was too late when I found out.” Alexander took a deep breath.

Staying there for a while, both returned to their respective rooms for the night. Alexander had just entered his room when he heard the knocks.

“Come in, Julius” Alexander ordered.

Julius smiled as he entered,

“Master, do you need anything?” he bowed.

for visiting.

“Nothing. More two days to go, Julius” Alexander spoke casually.

Julius stared at Lord Alexander, taking a deep breath he spoke

“I shall work upon it, Master. I will try to get as much information as I can. It’s not that easy to dig into the matter. A friend of mine will be visiting tomorrow. If you wish, I can introduce him to you. …If possible.” Julius stopped, not sure of what he was saying.

“Are you thinking of dragging him to me?” Alexander laughed.

Hearing this, Julius was shocked. His brows furrowed as he tried to speak, but all he could do is exhale air.

“Surprisingly, till now you didn’t realize that I could read minds.” Alexander smiled as he opened an old parchment kept on the table.

Julius didn’t know what to say next.

“You knew about my nightmare before, didn’t you?” Julius felt guilty thinking about how careless he was.

“Yes, on the day itself when Jacob died and you were crying while caressing his face,” Alexander spoke as he read the parchment carefully.

“I wanted to hear it from you, Julius. But, nevermind. It’s never too late,” he smiled as he looked at Julius.

“Forgive me, Master.” this was all Julius could say at the moment.

“Get ready for tomorrow. I want the work to be done perfectly. I hope he stays hidden.” saying this, Alexander got up from the chair and walked towards his wardrobe.

“Yes, Master. I shall now take my leave.” Julius spoke as he left.

Alexander slipped into a set of fresh clothes and went to sleep.

When reality hits you hard, it’s either hard to accept the truth or you expect to know more about it. The secrets were revealed all of a sudden but he felt like he missed something important. The secrets were revealed but, there were more hidden secrets which were hidden behind the revealed secrets. It was like a secret vault with no key.

Whatever Lord Gerard spoke was only half of the truth he knew. Alexander could easily read his mind. Something was bothering him as he spoke the truth. Seeing him all tensed while speaking, Alexander didn’t ask further. The secrets need to be revealed one at a time at the right moment. He respected how Lord Gerard hadn’t revealed to him his identity for this long. To know more about him and his so-called own family, he had to wait.

Patience is the key.

He looked up at the ceiling as these thoughts hit his mind like tides. The whole conversation with Lord Gerard replayed in his mind like a movie. He carefully tried to concentrate on each word Lord Gerard spoke.

‘David is still searching for Emilia’s daughter, this is another problem.’

This is what got stuck in his mind for now. He tried searching for the little girl for many days after the massacre had taken place. Assuming that she must have died, Alexander asked his councilmen to stop searching for the little girl. After reading Lord Gerard’s mind, he actually came to know she survived.

‘Listen to me, Alexander. You need to be prepared for what is in your future. It’s dark. One more chance, if you fail, you lose her forever. There are going to be many serious events if you both become one.’

As Lord Gerard mentioned that the lady was alive too which he thought was impossible. He was now pretty sure that the ring on his ring finger glowed for a reason back then.

He had a brother who died as he took birth. He got replaced and didn’t have a chance to see his mother as she died soon after giving birth to him. Being a warlock, high on ranks, the death of his mother was rather strange. A white witch cannot die or be killed easily. Lady Rowena who led the witch army had super-powers which made her a class apart. This was something important Alexander needed to know.

He hoped that what Julius had planned for the next, turn out to be a success. Tomorrow is a crucial day for him. Thinking about this, he carefully rotated the ring, the crystal facing upwards. It sparkled as moonlight passed through it. Looking at the sparkling crystal, he went into a deep slumber. The night sky was cloudless, unlike the cloudy sky in Brookville when they had left for Ostbarrow. The sky was clear like an endless diamond sky. The moon looked pretty with scars on it. Scars are beautiful.

Meanwhile, in Brookville, a small white flower bud appeared on the tree.