CHAPTER 427: NO ILLNESS

With her heart cramming her throat, Arabella sat, impatiently waiting for news to come.

Alas, all day long, nothing came.

"And so, it acts as yuniper?" one of the tributes in Ada’s herbology class had asked.

"Not exactly," Ada walked over to the young woman that had voiced that question, "Sybil’s will is a plant that isn’t as dangerous to consume for humans as Yuniper is. As you should know by now that in great quantities, yuniper becomes toxic for humans as well, but Sibil’s will can be consumed on a daily basis. On its own, the plant presents no danger to nightwalkers, however once it is introduced into a human body it is metabolized and broken down into various other substances, one of them being the active component that turns yuniper poisonous to vampires and such,"

So calm, so poised Ada was. It was as though Arabella had a completely different person in front of her eyes.

One thing was for sure; the woman knew her thing very well.

Ada’s voice only wavered a little upon noting the soul that walked through the lounge room doors in that moment which brought Arabella’s attention to it as well.

Arumina looked neither left nor right as she walked over to Arabella’s chair, "My Lady, Madame Morgana has arrived and wishes to see you,"

"Thank you, Madame," Arabella sprung to her feet.

"Arumina will suffice," the older woman bowed slightly forward and smiled, "Your guest sits in the main lounge room,"

With one last glance at Ada and the book she held in hand, Arabella exited the room.

As informed, Morgana waited by herself and her tools on the table in front of herself.

"Have you found anything?" that was the first thing Arabella threw at her upon laying eyes on the witch.

"If it is the missing vampiress you enquire about then no. Not a sign of life so far. Whoever took her knew damn well what they were doing,"

Arabella’s shoulders slumped at once as she plopped her weight onto the chair facing Morgana.

"Your case, on the other hand, seems to have yielded a few secrets," the witch tilted her head to the side.

"What did you find?" the young woman’s back straightened again.

"First and foremost, you should know, I came to see you yesterday but since you fell asleep your husband still allowed me in to examine you while you were out of it,"

Hearing that, Arabella’s cheeks flushed a little pink. She hoped Morgana got to see nothing too embarrassing of hers. Basically, nothing she’d wish for anyone else but her husband to witness.

"I got to see what the doctors and Silas saw, but I had to admit, I beheld nothing quite like it before," Morgana’s head shook slowly.

"Right," Arabella looked down at her lap, "Silas told me it looked like my heart and the area around it belonged to a different body," she mumbled.

"That was what it looked like at first, but one of my spells killed that theory. No, those cells belong to no one but you. They are of the same making but...," the witch trailed off, looking curious.

"Yes?" the wait was way too painful to withstand.

"Well, ... They are yours yes, but they belonged to another version of you to put it simply,"

To put it simply? Nothing sounded simple about that!

"What?"

"It looked like they had traveled through time and space. I am not sure how else to put it other than the cells around your heart are much older than the rest of your body,"

It made little to no sense at all.

"It is quite confusing, isn’t it?" Morgana had a strange grin about her.

"But... It doesn’t seem to confuse you all that much," Arabella half asked, sounding very cautious of her own words.

"No, indeed. I did say I had never seen anything like it, but then... I remembered that the only difference between you and every other creature under this roof is that you have, multiple times now, consumed Silas’ blood and...," her eyes drifted to the side, drawing further and further into a faraway land with every second.

"And?" Arabella nudged her verbally.

"Never you mind about that. I was reminded of something that has nothing to do with your case, but for the time being, just know that you are safe,"

"How so? How would you know if you’ve seen nothing like it before?" she clutched at the fabric of her gown.

"It is simply your body’s way of getting over the effects of his blood," the witch started, "When was the last time you’ve ingested his blood if I may ask?"

Arabella’s cheeks flared red as the most recent time had been in his office when her body was sprawled over his desk.

"A few days ago," she murmured sheepishly.

"Then that holds," Morgana nodded, "It would take about a day or two for the effects of his blood to start weaning away and I should know since I was entrusted with the test results of his blood centuries ago. I had simply never seen how it gradually faded as the body expelled it. No one that I know has ingested his blood more than twice or so,"

Arabella was not all that convinced for Morgana’s tone shifted around certain parts. Even though it remained impossible for the young woman to put her finger on it, its smell lingered right under her nose.

"So, you are saying that I am still healthy and that this is no illness," Arabella half asked again.

"Yes," Morgana stood off her chair, "I reckon Zarveth and Damiana will reach the same conclusion through their own tests as well. I just thought I’d save you the agonizing wait,"

"Thank you so much," Arabella stood after her guest. Her smile then dimmed a tad, "Please, keep me informed if anything comes up about Allegra,"

"Have no worries," The witch turned and began walking towards the door with Arabella on her heels, "I will be taking some time off my practice to focus on this issue. Allegra counts as one of Persephone’s daughters after all,"