Lenon was intrigued
He knew that he had to get back right away, but the sight before him was the only excitement he's had in a while and he wasn't going to pass that up.
He watched as the slave trader Jard Groot, talk to his next victim, a rather fetching young lass. if Lenon didn't have his son and daughter to worry about then maybe he'd consider helping the girl but attracting the unwanted attention of the Groot gang was not on his to-do list, they were a nasty group that took residence in this very forest as most people know, they also know not to wander around these woods without protection
If they didn't want to be robbed, raped, sold or killed so that made him wonder what the young lass was doing here alone, with that beautiful beast that would make any man go from a common peasant to the richest man in Hills Valley. Lenon's guess was that she was an escaped noble, probably escaping from an arranged marriage or wanting a silly thing called freedom.
He chuckled quietly to himself, he'd bet that if she was given a choice now between marrying her chosen intended or getting sold to some perverted old noble she'd pick the former in a heartbeat
"Oh dear, is she injured?" Dot said adding just enough concern in her voice to fool the fool and Jord seemed to have been fooled because his disturbing smile grew even more disturbing
Today really was Jords lucky day he thought, the girl believed his lie now all he had to do was get her into his cottage without runnin' into anyone from his gang, he wouldn't wanna have to kill anyone because if someone from the Groot gang saw this girl then Jord wouldn't get to have her all to himself ... and Jord wanted this girl like he'd never wanted anything else before. So he put on an act that was enough to fool his ever keen mother or so he thought
"I'm afraid so, Miss" Jord said sadly he even got a few tears to come out making his demeanour seem sad and innocent "Her health isn't good and were too poor to afford a physician, I'm worried that she will die at any moment"
Dot put on a heartbroken expression, one that she had perfected over the years " Now we can't have that, I came from a village nearby it's not far from here, one of my companions is a skilled physician I'm sure he'd be happy to help" she said and then heard the man curse silently
"Companions?" Jord said making the man perched upon the tree bite his lip to block his laughter, he had to give the girl credit, she was smarter than he thought even though it was obvious that she was travelling alone and there was no village near hear for miles, but the moron won't be able to figure it out
The corner of Dots lips twitched but other than that no other emotion showed on her face except concern
"Yes, I'm travelling with my father's hired guards, I'm getting married you see but he's a sickly man and can not travel a long distance so I'm heading to his estate instead" Jord couldn't help but curse the heavens above and hells bellow, just his luck that the girl had people that will look for her, and even more it sounds like she's from a family of nobility.
Lenon was grinning, other than his little girl, the beautiful, kind and smart girl she was that it sometimes made him feel like what he offered wasn't enough he'd never met a woman as clever as her. Most noble women would not have found the man suspicious and would have gone ahead in an attempt to help and unknowingly gotten themselves killed
Now he was waiting for Jord Groots response, and seconds later a response was given and it was one Lenon anticipated
Jord rushed forward startling Dot and Tris with a knife that came from nowhere aiming for the horse. The Groots were not only known for their cruelty but also for their speed and agility, Jords smile that sent a chill down Lennon's spine, the smile was that of a predator having caught the prey, it was damn creepy if you asked him kinda made him feel sorry for the girl, but not sorry enough to get involved
That was until the girl suddenly looked up and he met her eyes, eyes that made his body freeze almost instantly, eyes that made him literally stop breathing. The minute his eyes met hers it felt like everything suddenly disappeared, the tree he was crouching on disintegrated into nothing and suddenly he was surrounded by nothing, they were standing a few feet from each other, if he reached his arm out he would only be able to touch the tip of her nose
Unlike before he could now see her clearly if he thought she was beautiful before now he would be able to look at another woman without comparing them to her. It was her eyes that got him the most, they were stunning, powerful, and... dangerous. He could tell that she was much more than he thought she was, she was... so much more. They stood there for what felt like hours, but which was only a few seconds, and just like that the white blank world that they were in disappeared, and he was back to reality, where he was still crouched on the tree branch and the girl was still seconds away from her death
And then suddenly he wasn't on the tree branch anymore, he wasn't hidden behind a thick branch of trees, instead, he was on top of the Groot gangs most notorious member Jord Groot Hastings with a silver short sword already slicing his throat from one side to the other
At that moment all he could think about was that Mellow, his six-year-old daughter was going to kill him