There are two periods of the day Aliona enjoy the most; when the sun rises gradually with its its warm rays painting the sky red, beckoning creatures of the day with a soft promise of hope and a new dawn. And when the sun is below the horizon, its dark golden yellowish tail, bidding farewell with the pact to be back the next day.
Aliona sat on one of the benches in the garden, enjoying the crisp cool evening air playing on her face and the sweet scent of her magnolia flowers as they teased her nose. Waiting for Josephine to come as they had agreed to meet there, away from the curious ears and eyes of the servants, except for Vivian who had accompanied her.
"I hope I have not been keeping you waiting for too long, darling" Josephine tendered an insincere apology, she had deliberately taken her time, relishing on the idea of being waited on by the soon to be evicted Lady of the Manor.
She rubbed her large stomach as her maid helped her on her seat. She signaled to the maid to give them privacy and Ali did the same to hers. Vivian had garnered from Jane who had heard from her beau that he had seen a suspicious man going towards the path that led to the Argonark wood, the description had fitted Lord Richard's coachman going to the infamous woods being known to be the habitat of tainted witches, this had made Vivian more concern.
She had been looking after Lady Aliona ever since she was a lass and had respected her, her kind behaviour and fair treatments of lesser vampires and other creatures had sprouted an unwavering loyalty within her. She couldn't help herself than look for a way to warn her mistress not to fall into lady Josephine's trick. Knowing that whatever discussion they want to have would be about having a baby, she subtly read Lady Josephine's lips to pick up some of the things she was saying.
''Mimulke has reached out to me, I know where she is but I'm afraid you might not be comfortable going there?"
Curious to know where the old woman is, "where?"
"she has settled in the Argonark woods" she watched Aliona's face as it widened.
"That is a dangerous place to settle. Is she a tainted witch?"
"Actually, she is but not by choice" she lied, knowing the only way to convince her is to lie or else Aliona might be discouraged. She knew how easy Ali pity people, especially one that is unfairly treated, she cooked up a story.
"She trusted a fellow witch who tricked her into using a portion, unknown to her that it was dark magic. That was how she got corrupted, fortunately, it didn't ruin her too much but her coven ostracized her."
She smiled inwardly as she watched the empathetic look on Ali.
"ever since, she has stayed away from her people and didn't associate with the tainted. I understand if you don't want to have anything to do with her." Adding quickly to sound genuine after seeing a doubtful look surfaced.
Josephine glanced towards where their maids stood, seeing the quick jerk of movement of Ali's maid, she suspected her to had glanced their way, with a quick rush of fury, she appeared in front of her and a resounding slap was delivered on her face, "how dare you?"
Ali rushed towards them, "what happened?" she demanded
"I don't understand how you maintain discipline among your servants, imagine this lowly servants, reading our lips after being instructed to allow us privacy! Do you know that you could lose your life for this!" Josephine shouted.
"Please my lady, I'm sorry" Vivian dropped to her knees, "I'm so sorry my lady, I only raised it just once, I didn't mean to." She shivered out of fear.
Aliona looked at her maid who was kneeling and begging Josephine frantically. She knew if she didn't do anything at that moment, Josephine will dish a harsher punishment which might involve losing her maid.
Opting for the lesser punishment, she pulled her up and slapped her again, causing her already split lips to split wider, "how dare you?" She spoke and shouted at the guard which she knew were lurking around, one of them surfaced, she instructed them to lock her up in the dungeon till further instructions would be made.
She watched as her maid was dragged off, her mind settled seeing how it played off, better than what Josephine would have done if she had allowed her punish her.
As they settled back down, Josephine resumed their discussion, "when would you like to visit her?"
Still in doubt about Josephine's witch, she decided to trace the mysterious woman Josephine's maid and one of her servants had mentioned the previous day who had also drank the potion. She would find out more and compare both stories, she needed to think about it thoroughly, "I'll think about it and get back to you."
As Aliona undressed with the help of another maid, she thought about her discussion with Josephine while waiting for her husband, "that would be all, you can go" dismissing the maid, she took on a dark cloak and stepped out to check on Vivian.
The cool air she felt at dusk had turned chilly, the guards bowed as she walked in, "my lady" Vivian stood from where she had been squatting when she saw her mistress, "i'm sorry for putting you in a difficult situation, I was only looking out for you" she explained, understanding that the only reason her mistress had slapped her was to help her escape Josephine's wrath.
Ali nodded, knowing Vivian would understand the reason behind her action. She checked to ensure she was well fed and had an extra blanket to shield herself from the cold.
When Ali turned around to go, Vivian spoke, "I know it is not my place to say this but I would like if you don't believe everything Lady Josephine said."
With her back still turned to her made, Ali only stopped to hear her talk and continued her walk back to her quarters.
"Took you long enough to meet your husband. How was Vivian?" Nikolai asked as his wife stepped in, Ali wasn't surprised that he knew what went wrong between Josephine and Vivian, "care to tell me the serious discussion you were having with my sister-in-law in the first place?"
With less enthusiasm, Ali narrated almost everything, leaving out the location of the witch.
"You know these people cannot be trusted, don't you? Why would you want to have anything to do with them?" His voice raised, showing the beginning of his anger.
"I know, which is why I'll ask the other woman myself"
"No, invite her to the Manor. Tell Herbert to send a carriage to get her. I want to be there when you question her" with a note of finality, Nickolai ended the topic and strode out.
***********
A curt knock was heard which broke Nickolai's concentration, he had been immersed in paperwork right after he left his wife in their bedchamber. He looked around to see that the morning sun was slowly coming up.
Henry came in and spoke "i just received word from one of our men that the Demon King and Lord Richard will be meeting today."
"Excellent! Now will be a good time to know what they're planning" Realising he had spent the larger part of the night in his study, he called for Herbert who came in swiftly.
"I need you to send a carriage to pick up a woman. Lady Aliona will tell you where to find her."
He cleared his desk as he pick his coat to set out, "make sure she gets here by evening, I should be back by then."
Herbert nodded, watching as his master made his way out in search for his wife.
Nickolai turned to Henry, "how far is their location from here?"
"They're using an Inn in the outskirts of the Demon King's territory."
"A carriage will not be necessary then" concluding to use their ability to get there because of the far distance.
*************
A crooked smile set upon Lady Josephine's lips as soon as she found out Nickolai and his right hand man were not in the Manor. With Aliona's maid still in dungeon, there was no way she would let this opportunity slip through her fingers.
Bearing the thought in mind, she went to look for Aliona. Sighing with relief when she sighted her, "there you are. I just received words from Mimulke that she will be embarking on a journey tomorrow. I don't know for how long, if you're still thinking of seeing her, now would be the best time"
"Now? As in today?" Aliona asked and she nodded, "yes. Now."
Torn between waiting for her husband about questioning the woman and seeing Mimulke today before she leaves, not knowing when she would be back, her longing eventually outweighed her rationality. Since time was of the essence, she looked at Josephine, "ok."
"Beautiful, I'll tell my coachman to prepare the carriage."
Not comfortable with being ridden by Josephine's person, "would it be alright if I use my carriage? You coachman can ride with mine for directions.
"As you wish. Now listen to how exactly to find Mimulke"
Ali's heart throbbed in anticipation and in fear of the unknown, she needed to go on time and come back before her husband. With that in mind, she informed Herbert of her outing, giving him a vague location.
"Should I prepare a carriage?"
"Yes."
Unknown of what was ahead of her, Aliona set out on a mission to seek the fruit of a womb.