All Those Letters by Francis Wells

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Birds chirped outside the patio that had Penny walk towards the open s.p.a.ce, feeling the morning chill on her skin. She rubbed both her hands on her arms. Closing her eyes, a long yawn pa.s.sed her mouth before she could completely hide it behind her hand even though there was no one here right now to see the etiquettes. 

Two arms came to surround her from behind and she felt Damien pull her to his embrace, "You woke up early. Not able to sleep?" he asked, his head settling on one her right shoulder as he watched what she had been viewing a few seconds ago. 

She shook her head, "Wasn't able to sleep," Damien pressed his lips against her neck.

"Don't take this too deep into your mind. Not unless it is something you cannot let go," he spoke next to her ear, "There are many things in this life which you will find to be disagreeable or disturbing. And it's more than you can count. If you pick every burden of a person, it will wear you down."

She enjoyed him holding her like this along with her arms being restricted right now, "Is that why you had a sound sleep?" she asked. 

"I had a sound sleep because I have you next to me," Master Damien was being romantic the first thing in the morning, "Though...it is hard to fall asleep knowing you are having trouble sleeping."

"I will take your advice," turning around in his arms as he loosened his hold, Penny wound her hands around his neck. She was going to stand on the tip of her toes when Damien picked and placed her on the railings of the patio. Her hands quickly gripped tight around his neck, not letting it go, "You are planning to kill me, aren't you?" 

A grin formed on his lips, "That I am. What kind of scandal would that turn out to be," Penny bit into his shoulders for it. 

"Don't kill me right now," She pulled away from his neck and moved back, coming to look at his face.

Damien chuckled hearing her nervous voice, "Do you fear the height?" his own hands going around her waist to make sure she would not fall down. 

"I used to not before," she was fine with heights until her mother had decided to push her into the sea which was next to Quinn's mansion. 

She wondered how shocked her mother would be if she were to find that her sister-in-law was still alive. Alive and breathing who had met her daughter. She smiled at the thought of it as she couldn't wait to see the shock of disbelief on her face. 

"You don't have to be scared of it. You are no more a human but a white witch with extraordinary abilities that no one possesses here. I will be right here if you were to slip to pull you back," he a.s.sured her. 

"I know, you will," she smiled looking up into his red eyes that had started to fluctuate, "When did you last drink blood?" she asked him, her hands reaching up to his face to trace the lines on the skin where the nerves had raised themselves up. 

"Last night. Looks like the corruption is up again," it wasn't too long, she thought to herself. Leaning forward to hear him say, "You look worried."

She then said something that made him stop to look into her eyes, "You are mine to worry, aren't you?" According to the little lecture he had given her a few minutes ago and what to worry about and what not to, she said, "I will continue to keep looking for a cure for the heart condition you have right now. If not able to cure, at least have it toned down so that it doesn't affect you as much as it is doing right now," her fingers continued to trace and then stop to the sides of his face, "I don't have many people to care for."

Damien leaned forward, pressing his lips on her forehead, "I feel very loved right now," one corner of his lips pulled to the side, "After we go back to Bonelake, would you like to be officially engaged to me in the public's eye?" he asked.

A goofy smile came upon her face which had a hint of mischief in it, "I was wondering when you would ask. I don't want to be an Artemis," she cringed, saying it out loud to him. 

"You have been a Quinn since I placed the mark on your neck. Feel free to use it," this brought a wider smile on her face. She was a Quinn?

When the time of breakfast arrived, everyone was seated at the table, having their food quietly. The maids continued to bring food from the kitchen to place it on the table while the butler guided and got the food to everyone on their demand. After finding a few irregularities from the files and from the villages that had turned to ghost villages, they had decided to take another trip and enquire this time about it. 

Penny, who was eating, found two members at the table sitting in different seats today, Elliot and Sylvia. Did they have a fight? asked Penny in her mind but they weren't together last evening as they had gone to different towns. 

Hearing the bell ring at the front of the entrance, the butler took his leave and returned back after a minute with a bunch of envelopes in his hand. 

"Milord," Martin said, finding a particular letter to give it to Alexander.

Alexander was still having his meal when he took hold of the letter to see who it was from. Tearing the sides, he pulled out the letter to read.

'Lord Alexander we would like to invite you and your guests to our humble home for a late lunch on this Sunday on the account of prosperous land we have been living in...' he read the rest of it and lifted his head to say,

"The Artemis' have invited us for a late lunch."