In the evening, the elderly man came back. He brought a mountain boar home this time and some rabbits. When he arrived, she saw his wife cooking dinner in the kitchen.
"How is the girl?" he asked his wife again while putting his haul on the ground. "She's better. Ate the congee earlier and fell asleep again" his wife responded. "I see.. You know, Clare, when I went to hunt earlier I heard rumours of a massacre that seems to happen last night" said the elderly man.
"A massacre?" the elderly woman called Clare turned her head and looked at her husband. "Yeah, it seems to happen to house Beryl up in the mountain. But the details are not known yet" said the man.
"Derek, you don't think…" Clare asked her husband.
"I don't know. We don't even know what exactly happened or why it happened. I just heard some people went hunting near house Beryl earlier today and saw a lot of officers near the house. They said they saw a lot of blood stains from the forest up until the gates of the house."
"Blood stains.." the elderly woman pondered. The condition of the girl was indeed not normal. Which young girl would have bruises all over her body and got washed up in the river? More over the bruises all bled profusely that made her clothes turn red in color. Whichever way you think about it, it's just not normal.
"Well, she could have met a bear or something in the forest and ran for her life" the man commented again. That's plausible, thought the woman, though which young girl would come in the forest at night, except she went before sunset but got lost and unluckily met a bear.
"We should just ask her when she woke up again. She might be willing to tell us more tomorrow" said Clare. "I hope she is really chased by a bear. If she's from house Beryl and is in trouble, she might bring trouble to the village by being here" Derek commented. "I know, but what can we do? I can't just leave her alone at the river while she's bleeding like that" said Clare. "Beside, house Beryl has been our governor for years and we benefited a lot from them as well. If she's really from the house, it's all the more reason for me not to abandon her" added the woman. "Right. They didn't really do much if you ask me" said the man. He didn't feel anything for the noble house. Having a grand house in the mountain with countless servants and eating good food everyday, while the commoners struggle to eat sometimes. "They helped advise the farmers here while the dried crops were dying just a couple of months back you know" the woman frowned when hearing her husband's words. "Just one thing they did. They could have done so much more if they wanted to" said Derek again, clearly showing his discontent.
When the sun rose up again, Alexandra woke up from her bed and felt the condition of her body. The pain has been significantly reduced and she could feel her legs now. She can stand and walk again, though she could still feel it stings when she walked around. She opened up the window and saw the elderly woman there looking back at her.
"Oh you can walk now. How do you feel?" Clare said to her. Alexandra smiled a bit and nodded at her. She went to look at the other person in the room, Derek, who is staring at her. She nodded at the man and he nodded back too. "I am going out first" he then said while taking his bow and left the house afterwards.
"Do you want to eat something?" Clare asked the young girl to see her nod. She smiled and prepared something for her to eat since she and her husband have eaten already. Alexandra looked around the house and her attention moved to the window. She saw fields and other houses outside, it seems to be a village with farmers. Seeing the elderly man leaving with a bow and arrows, he seems to be a hunter. Alexandra walked slowly to the table and sat there. The elderly woman gave her breakfast afterwards and sat across her.
"Are you okay with bread?" Clare asked her again. Alexandra nodded her head while continuing to eat. She can eat it though she has the same problem as yesterday, she can't seem to taste anything from the bread and soup. "Thank you" she said to the elderly woman after finishing breakfast. Clare smiled at her and took the empty plates.
Alexandra looked around again, wondering what to do. Should she go back to the room and rest? Her body is still hurting all over though she can already walk and hold her ground.
"Your body still hurts right? You should go rest again" Clare turned her head to speak to her while washing the dishes. She nodded her head and walked back to the room to rest again. When she woke up again she realised that it's already dark outside. She went out of the room to find both the elderly woman and man there. She nodded to both of them and started walking to the table.
"You are called Alexandra right?" Derek spoke to her. Alexandra nodded her head to the man. "Alexandra of house Beryl?" he spoke again which made her heart skip a beat. "Are you really from house Beryl dear?" Clare spoke to her, she showed concern all over her face. Alexandra stopped in her steps and looked at them blankly. Are the elderly couple part of the people that want her family dead as well? she wondered. Even if they are, she really doesn't have any energy to run away or put up a fight.
"I will take your silence as a yes," said the man. "I heard one of the daughters of Beryl is called Alexandra and she's around your age, I figured that would be you" he added. Alexandra is still staring at him blankly. Though she's silent, he can feel a slight killing intent from her eyes.
"We are not gonna kill you" said Derek again which made Alexandra stare even harder at the man. "Alexandra, what happened to your family?" the elderly woman spoke to her again. Alexandra stayed silent for a few seconds before saying "They are all dead" Clare looked at her with a grave expression.
"What did you guys do to have someone massacre the entire family?" the man asked her. "We didn't do anything" Alexandra responded with an even harsher glare. She felt insulted with the way the man has been speaking to her. The man stared back at her with the same intensity.
"Derek..." Clare looked at her husband.