CHAPTER 411: FLESH AND BLOOD

Had it not been for the fear of bringing unwanted attention onto himself, Lauden would have run to the witch that promised him answers.

It wasn’t like him, but his desire for confirmation caused shivers to ripple through his entire body.

Twisting the knob to the final door that separated him from what he wanted turned out to be more difficult than predicted, heavier on his hands...

It was as though it was no mere door all of the sudden, despite him using it daily to get in and out of his own room.

Nevertheless, he no longer paid mind to that once his eyes landed on the witch that had sprawled her accessories across the floor around herself.

"Are you sure no one else will come in here?" her bright eyes fell on him the moment he crossed the threshold.

"These are my private chambers. No one other than the Lord or the Lady themselves would dare open this door without knocking and even then, I’d hear them coming," his irises could not rest upon one object or trinket.

There were powders in bowls, dead animal skins, herbs, old stained and stinking parchments and many more demanded his attention which he could not divide more than was already done.

"I thought you were a servant," she raised her chin, "How come you get your own chambers?" one of her eyebrows climbed up her forehead.

"I’ve earned it, but never your mind about that, Elphaba," Lauden took out the thin red hairs his hands had managed to thieve from an unsuspecting Allegra, "Can you work with this?"

"For as long as she is not a witch, one hair on her head would do the trick, of course," she chuckled.

Taking those fair threads between her filthy looking fingers with care, Elphaba immediately dumped them into the mixture she’d been busy cooking that whole time.

Greenish that substance was until the hair fell into it, disintegrating before their very eyes when connecting with the gluey recipe.

The content of the bowl shifted to a brownish hue the same instant the last ounce of hair vanished.

"And now for the last touch," the witch murmured, "And you are sure this hair belongs to Darrick," she half asked.

"Positive," he said simply.

Upon adding it... Nothing happened. No change in color or cohesion...

"Oh...," her mouth remained agape as her eyes opened wide.

"Is it done?" Lauden fought his hardest to keep his poise, but the rigidity of his motions betrayed him, "What’s this supposed to mean? Is she his daughter or not?"

"Most definitely, darling," slowly, her eyes rose to meet his as a grin that reached as far as her ears gradually consumed her features.

Lauden exhaled a long one as though pushing a heavy weight that had settled upon his lungs out.

"This is all tied to that pretty little raven haired still, isn’t it?" Elphaba’s rotten teeth remained on display for the vampire to see even against his will.

When his face maintained the dubious air, she continued, "You know exactly who I mean," she laughed, "The one Edna’s been trying to get rid of with all of her might," the giggles continued some after her sentence.

"Edna is the only reason I chose to pay for your services instead of another witch, but I am curious, what do you know about Arabella?"

By then, Lauden had given up on trying to conceal his true state of mind.

"Right!" Elphaba’s hands flew up as she had her eureka moment, "Arabella was her name! She’s quite the survivor that one! She even managed to outlive Edna," yet another cackle filled the room.

Through his clenched jaws, he hissed, "Is that all you have?"

"I’ve crossed paths with her once in that old fool, Kallum’s shop. Managed to get a good whiff of her and all on that day, I did!"

"Did Edna ask you to do that?" he kept his stance straight in front of the witch, not once slouching.

"No," she shook her head, "She paid me good money to,"

"So, you two weren’t friends," he half asked.

"Did you consider her a friend?" Elphaba stood to her feet and started gathering her things.

"Answer my question!"

The strict tone in which he spoke made her freeze in place for a second, but her grin returned very quickly, "I see why you two got along, but... If I can tell you one thing about Edna, it’s that she had no space in her heart to carry friendship. Believe me, I tried,"

"That was all I needed. You may leave now," he stepped aside to no longer block the door, "Thank you for your service,"

"For as long as my price is met, I will serve and serve," she picked the rag that served her as a bag, but right as their shoulders passed each other by, the witch stopped in her tracks, "Although, I am curious as to how this whole thing ends so, will you keep me posted?"

Lauden did not flinch or look at her for that matter, "I will reach out if I need your services once more, but until then stay away. I don’t need you to compromise my position and make sure you remain unseen!"

"Don’t worry! No one saw me come. No one will see me go,"

The little wink she sent his way caused every hair on him to rise and that was quite the feat to accomplish for anyone.

Elphaba disappeared and took her cackling with her but left the stench of her potions behind.

Lauden’s first action was to open the windows and invite some much-needed fresh air inside before sunrise came knocking at the horizon.

His first and only thought however, swirled around his new discovery about his Lord.

Managed to keep his dirty secret for over a century that man did!

A lot of things started to make more sense all of the sudden. Lauden had always been aware about the presence of a rat under the Eleazar roof who served Dragomir, but never in a million years did he expect it to be his own flesh and blood.