CHAPTER 31: HOW PATHETIC!

Forneius suspended the other mistresses of their duty. None of them were to be trusted. To him, they were nothing but foolish prostitutes. And besides, he needed less pleasure and more progress with his plans. The fun could wait.

'I'll have the elders now,' He signalled Uziel to let them into the room.

The silent room was now filled with the whispers of the elders as the spoke uneasily amongst themselves.

'How nice of you to join me friends,' Forneius smiled and gestured for them to take seats.

'Welcome to the manor fellow leaders. My honest apologies for the short notice. My reason for requesting your presence are urgent,' He continued to speak. The Lords sat anxious yet interested in their seats. They gazed at Forneius' lips quite keenly as he spoke. They knew him too well, he was clever and his ways were underhanded. Choosing not to attend at whether a short or long notice, would be prejudicial. Some of them noticed Araphel's absence. They were sure the 'news' going to be interesting or at least worth their time.

'We have all heard about the incident with our professed queen and some humans. It is unfortunate that the queen who is supposed to protect us from our nemesis is unable to protect herself from an unbaked plan of foolish humans.' He said and paused to see the reactions of his contemporaries; frowns, scoffs.

'However, I have thought of…' Forneius was saying when he began to feel dizzy. He head began to ache and his feet were too weak to carry him. He stumbled and fell to the ground on his knees. His body was so hot that thin smoke emitted from his garments.

'Master?'

'Forneius'

Confusion grew in the room.

'Are these theatrics or is he really in pain?' Celeste, a healer asked in a whisper. She wore an alluring white gown that complemented her fair skin. As the leader of the sixth and weakest coven, it was her fashion for meetings as this. It was said that only her own blood could stain it. She was the only notified of the meeting an hour ago, but she got to the manor as quickly as she could and now the host was on the floor scheming!

'How pathetic!' She thought as she glared at him. She considered not coming, but reminded herself of who Forneius was and how everything he did was part of a big scheme. She couldn't imagine what he would do to her, being the only female lord if she didn't play along.

Celeste's thoughts weren't very different from those of the others. They called his name from a distance with angry and worried looks on their faces. Some were sincerely bothered but were careful and didn't go any closer. Curious eyes watched as Uziel tried to revive his master once again.

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Willow could see the manor from where she stood. This particular mountain was her favourite place to be. The wind in her hair, the chirps of birds she couldn't identify, the clouds were so close, she could almost touch them. On the rocks she stood, earnestly hoping the wind would blow away the pain and rejection she felt. She wanted to cry. The young master had a few other mistresses but he never rejected her before. He humiliated her.

Maybe she wouldn't feel this bad if she had accepted her place as a mistress. But how could she? He was everything she wanted; she was a noble, he was rich, tall, everything! She was in love with him. But from his recent behaviour, he didn't feel same. In the end, she was just a mistress.