Bambi and the Duke Chapter 223 Friend or foe- Part 1

She stood in front of the mirror, looking at her side as she tied the delicate ribbon at her back with both her hands. Picking up the cloak that was on the stand she was about to wear it when Leo stepped in, taking the cloak from her and helping her into it.
"Were you able to find the whereabouts of Sister Isabelle?" she asked once she had got both her arms into the two sleeves. Initially, she had planned to go visit the church but she hadn't expected her stomach to act which had shifted her concentration to herself from Sister Isabelle making her go home straight.
"Nothing as of now. Father Connor wanted to tell something but there were other officials who had come to station at the Church and the village around," other officials? Vivian gave Leo a questionable look. They were supposed to be the only ones who were sent for the noon patrol, "Councilman Creed's men had come to take a look at the Church."
Feeling Leo pull her by her cloak, she felt him tighten the lace around her waist to keep her warm as the weather particularly today was dire than the rest of the days, "Why are the two teams being involved for one missing white witch?"
"It is something to reckon now, isn't it," hummed Leonard, they stepped out of the room descended down the stairs to be greeted by Jan who had a couple of letters that he had received for the Duke, "Keep them in my study," Leo ordered the housekeeper as he didn't have time to read it. There were other pressing matters this morning, where one of them was Sister Isabelle who had disappeared without a word to the council which wasn't good.
When the white witches were allowed to roam through the four lands, the edict of having to comply with the council's rules was forced to make sure no similar mishap took place as the black witches. Years ago, white witches had performed the rituals very much similar to how the black witches were currently working on. Though they had stopped the ritual aeons ago, it had instilled fear in the humans and also the vampires.
In Leo's knowledge, it wasn't the first time for Sister Isabelle to leave these lands but she had always returned after two or three days. Right now more than a week had passed and there was no indication as to where she was and if she was going to return any time soon.
His team closely worked with the elder white witch and there could be a possibility that the higher elders in the council didn't believe they would be strict enough to pass down the punishment for the white witch's deed.
"Are they still at the Church?" Vivian held his hand and got inside the carriage. Taking a seat while moving to the other end, she waited for Leo to get in and the said, "Will we be going there?"
To her burning questions, Leonard nodded his head, "I need o find what father Connor was trying to say. Creed's team is looking over the place like a hawk," he admitted which brought in enough suspicion that something was going on or was being waited before something happened.
"Is Abel in there?" asked Vivian for him to shake his head. Of course, he wasn't there, thought Vivian to herself as she had seen him at the council building yesterday before leaving to the mansion.
"There are other three men of his. Capable and yet stupid enough to hover around. You have a task, Vivi," Leo informed her. She waited for him to speak, interested to hear what this task was about, "I will divert them but what I need you to do is to go to Sister Isabelle's attic."
"Do I need to fetch something from there?" she asked him curiously.
"I need you to see what has happened. If something happened that is. We cannot trust anyone right now as matters have already started to spiral out. Even if the white witch left the Church without a word, she would have left something behind, if not for us but for you, Vivi. You are the girl who can read objects, I am sure she would have left something for you to read," Leonard informed her. His eyes narrowed as something went at the back of his head, "Though it is her belongings, now that she has left the Church unattended for days, there is a possibility for the council members to take everything that is there under their name. This would make it difficult for us to get our hands on anything once it is under their acquisition."
"You mean the forbidden room," she noted for him to glance at her.
"Yes, the forbidden room."
"Is it really true that only head council Rueben is allowed to go in there?" she inquired wanting to know if there was a way she could get a peek at the room.
"Reuben and some of the elders in the council who have lived far more longer than the rest of us," so there were people who entered the forbidden room and it wasn't selected only to the head council. Reaching the Church, the carriage Vivian was riding in came to a halt and they stepped out to see another carriage which was closely stationed right beside the church.
Walking through the double wooden doors of the church, Vivian caught sight of father Connor who had only stepped out of the confession box with a young girl who bowed at him before walking past them. Upon seeing them, the color on Father Connor's face came to appear slightly as he exchanged a curt bow with them before being approached by one of the councilmen who were in the church.
Vivian recognized the man as she had come to meet the man in more than one occasion.
"Duke Leonard, what a pleasure to see you here again," Lancelot Knight, one of the councilmen whom Vivian had previously conversed greeted her husband with a leisure smile.
Not heeding to the small talk of the men, Vivian took in the condition of the church where it appeared to be quiet and peaceful. There were no visitors apart from them who had come here to continue the inquiry of the white witch who had come missing.
The council could come up with many possibilities. Aside from the white witch plotting against society, there was also a probability of something that could have happened to Sister Isabelle but then she doubted that was the case. With what Vivian had come to know about the white witch, she was a strong woman who was intelligent enough to stay away from trouble unless she planned to invite it in.
While Leonard spoke to Lancelot Knight, whose eyes once in a while drifted to look at Vivian when she moved away from the men to go greet Father Connor, she spoke,
"How have you been, Father Connor?" she kept her tone light as if Sister Isabelle hadn't gone missing, "The snow must have filled up the thermal chimney," she commented for him to nod carefully.
"It has been giving a lot of trouble. The snow has been blocking the top chimney which I have to keep getting on and removing it. If I don't it will clog the smoke and the visitors of the church will have to experience," worried marred his forehead as he spoke about the inconvenience caused by the weather.
Vivian gave it some thought until she turned to find one of the councilmen who had come along with Mr. Knight to be standing near the first row of the benches doing nothing particular, "I am sure the councilmen would love to help you with it," she spoke loud enough to gain the attention of the man along with Leo and Lancelot, "Father Connor is having trouble with the chimney, could you be kind enough and give it a look as it might save him some time and effort," her speech was polite and soft on people's ears that the man though not keen on helping couldn't refuse her and instead complied with the request.
"Where is the chimney?" the councilman asked Father Connor.
Father Connor looked skeptical about it but then said, "Follow me," he said and Vivian went behind them while leaving Leo with Lancelot. She who was already well aware with the church's architecture, she decided to follow halfway before deviating her path back to Sister Isabelle's room which was built secluded and away from the visitors prying eyes.
Reaching the room as she made sure the other councilmen didn't catch sight of her, she entered the room and closed the door behind her. The room looked almost empty except for a few things. The last time she had been here to test and advance her ability of sight, there were little bottles in the far corner of the room along with candles that were lit to drive away from the darkness. But right now there were hardly five to six bottles that she noticed. The candle hadn't melted until it's last full potential and it seemed that it had been blown away in the middle of it being burnt.
Most of the objects were missing too and it made her wonder if the council had already taken away her belongings as Leo had stated they would do.
Running her hands across the walls and the little desk, she concentrated to get something out of it but it was of no use. The white witch had been powerful enough to hide whatever was in here which was until she came across the old papers which were covered in dust. To Vivian's surprise, the papers were untouched, it made her question if the councilmen had come in here or not now. Maybe they hadn't yet and the bottles were thrown away or hidden somewhere safe?
With that thought, Vivian first went running her hand through the little bottles. These bottles were very similar to what Murkh possessed in his lab room. So similar that they looked almost identical. For someone like her, who had been a former maid going through the items what the market place had to offer, she had never come across these.
Opening the cork of the bottle she brought it close to her nose to smell it to scrunch her nose due to the pungent smell it held within itself. She turned around the bottle to see a little label where Sister Isabelle must have written the name 'Fluer Delcrovent' in cursive handwriting. Not knowing what it was, she placed it back before picking it up again. Bringing her hand up and forward, she poured the cold liquid on her hand which emitted white smoke which was very similar to the smokey fog that one saw in the lake of bones.
The smoke fleeted from her skin up in the atmosphere to disappear in the air and as the smoke started to float around her, she closed her eyes upon hearing the voices in her head. They were the voices of Sister Isabelle and Father Connor. It took her vision some time to drift to the past when she finally started to see the time when this potion was created,
"Will this work?" came the question from Father Connor who stood behind Sister Isabelle. They were somewhere deep in the forest, away from prying and questioning eyes as the white witch brewed something dark in her pot.
The white witch pulled out a bottle from a little bag which clinked around to indicate the presence of more bottles in there, "It should work fine," she turned the cap and poured a drop into the pot for sudden smoke to pop out of the pot, "Just make sure to keep the perimeter clean without any wandering eyes. It would be troublesome if someone is loitering around the forest at this hour," Vivian who was listening to them speak looked at the sky to see the sky to be somewhere dark which was only turning darker as time passed meaning it was past the time of evening.
"Why not let the council know on it? I am sure they will be happy to know that you are creating a potion to repel the presence of the black witches," stated Father Connor who stared at the crow that had perched on one of the branches of the tree looking down at them, "Isn't that Lord Nicholas' bird?"
"It is," confirmed Isabelle without looking away from the pot she was brewing, "The boy has an annoying habit of sending his bird everywhere but that is alright," she smiled, "I am sure he knows to keep a secret."
"Why though?" asked the man, his brows which had drawn together to knit in confusion, "You will earn-"
"The council doesn't build its values with the trust of merits, father Connor," Isabelle interjected him, "Witches like me, have no place there and trust is the last standing word with them," Vivian wondered what that meant, "Even if we eradicate the last of the black witch, they will still hold the past against us for what my ancestors have caused," she smiled, "The night creatures especially, they didn't take their annihilation that well."
Father Connor who had made a whole circle of round around the forest came to squat down in front of her, to say, "I am happy that we weren't born during that time. The war must have been quite a sight, isn't it?" he asked her.
War? Vivian stepped closer to them to make sure what she heard was right.
"We have to fix what we can. The white witches halted their plans which angered the black witches and they turned vile taking a portion of what the white witches had started," did that mean the white witches were at fault for the hate and the power in these four lands? "Connor, I need you to fetch the dust wand which is on my desk. I will need it to complete this last bit."
"Of course, let me go immediately," the man didn't mind the little errand and turned his back before he ran back in the direction of the church.
Sister Isabelle who was turning the spatula which she had been twisting around the pot then spoke, "Now that we are alone, we can speak, Vivian," Vivian's eyes widened.