“As you know people are marked when they enter the slave establishment. There’s one on Heidi. Will you be able to erase it from her body?” Nicholas asked seriously. Heidi looked at both the men before her eyes settled on Lord Alexander. Would he be able to remove it? thought Heidi to herself.
“I haven’t tried that sort of thing. It may or may not work,” Lord Alexander answered frankly and turned to look at her, “I am sorry to hear what happened.”
“I am alright,” she responded back to see Lord Alexander look straight into her eyes and then drift to Nicholas’ to talk to him, “You have to be careful how many bodies you pile and destroy. One of my men in the council informed me that things around are going to get much more difficult as there are plans of disintegrating the council and bringing the lands under one single rule.”
“That’s news to me,” Nicholas raised his brow in interest, “And when exactly did you hear it?” the butler who had left, came back with a tray of tea cups and kettle in his hands. Bending down, he began preparing tea, handing it to the lords and her after it was prepared.
“Must be before the time I was taken to Mythweald,” and then his demeanor changed when a woman entered the room who was followed by a red headed man.
“Lord Nicholas,” the girl bowed her, her wavy black hair bouncing at the corners of her head which was probably the work of the wind outside the mansion, “Hello, I am Katherine Wel-Delcrov,” she smiled bashfully after correcting her last name.
While the man who had come with Lord Alexander’s wife introduced himself, Nicholas stated, “She’s pregnant. You must be riding on clouds,” Nicholas smirked at the happiness bouncing off the girls face. She didn’t show any signs from outside but Nicholas had sensed the change. Noticing Lord Alexander look around and sigh inaudibly, he wondered what was that about, “I am surprised that you’re letting her go around.”
“She has Elliot hovering around and babying her. She will be fine,” Lord Alexander’s gaze went across the room and then gave his wife a smile when their eyes met. Thankfully, no one had accompanied them back from their visit to the cemetery. Going to her side, he kissed her on her mouth, “Aren’t you tired?” he asked to see her shake her head.
“I am fine,” Katherine smiled, looking up at her husband.
At dinner, Heidi realized that the lord of Valeria had placed a soul bond on his wife, just like Nicholas had done on her but there was no mark on her neck. The couple were too in love and she had noticed how Lord Alexander’s eyes constantly fell on his wife in constant intervals of time even while he spoke to the others. His wife, Katherine was a simple and a kind woman, by appearance gentle to look at. She accompanied her when both the lords wanted to talk about work, exchanging few details of their past and present. After an hour of spending time with Katherine, they went back to the drawing room when Martin came to fetch them.
“Lady Heidi. I hope you wouldn’t mind if we start the process right now,” Process? Oh yes, removing the branded mark on her skin, she realized and nodded her head. She wasn’t sure how it was going to start though. Was she supposed to reveal her back for it? “For starters, you can sit here. You will only need to hold both my hands,” he said taking a seat on the couch while giving her enough room to sit next to him. Nicholas took a seat in front of them while Katherine stood behind her husband. Heidi saw the butler bring a bowl of glass filled with water and placed it on the table near to Lord Alexander.
“Your hand,” she placed her hand in Lord Alexander’s, a little nervous at the moment, she glanced towards Nicholas who sent her a smile of encouragement.
The room was silent. Heidi waited for something to hurt but nothing happened, it made her wonder if whatever Lord Alexander was doing was going to work. She didn’t mind if it didn’t work but there would be a slight disappointment after the hope of removal had been born. The branded mark was light on her skin but at the same time it weighed heavily in her mind.
When Lord Alexander, dipped his other hand in the bowl of water, she started to feel something pull across her body as if suddenly the flow of blood and every element in her body had turned its direction to the hand that held hers. Looking up at the lord, she saw him concentrating on something before a black residue began to accumulate on the surface of the water. After minutes passed she felt something being pushed back into her body, it felt uncomfortable with the inside of her skin feeling as if she was getting pricked by millions of needles. The whole ordeal took more than half an hour and by the time it was done, Lord Alexander ‘s eyes had come to fall upon her as he stared at her before breaking away eye contact.
“It’s done,” he stated, “You might feel a loss in your energy, possible fatigue and tirdeness for a few hours but you will be fine.”
“That’s good news. Thank you,” Nicholas thanked the man and in time he caught something that lurked behind Alexander’s eyes.