The young woman was staring at the elderly man sitting across from her. He does not seem to be welcoming of the fact that she's a noble from the house that was massacred brutally a few days ago. She opened up her mouth and said "Yes, I am Alexandra of house Beryl. I ran away from the assassins and fell on the river that night and then you found me"
Clare and Derek are both silent. The young woman finally spoke more than a few words to them. She usually just nods at them. Clare felt her heart ache, she saw the young woman in front of her with bruises all over her body and thought of how desperate she must be to run away from the killers until finally falling down the river.
"Is there anyone looking for you?" Derek asked her again. "Not that I know of. I don't even know who tried to kill us" answered Alexandra with a small laugh escaping her lips. Derek squinted his eyes and said to her "You should go back to being healthy and move out of this village soon" afterwards he walked to go inside of their room, not wanting to talk to the young woman any longer.
"Sorry Alexandra. My husband is worried something bad might happen to the village with you here" Clare explained to the young woman. The young woman didn't say anything but nod at her. The elderly woman means well for her, and though the man is harsh, she understands where he's coming from. After resting for a few days, she would get out of this village.
After a few days, Alexandra felt her body recovering nicely. She can walk without any pain now and she can take off all her bandages as well. Where should she go after leaving the village. She pondered silently for a while. She knew of the big cities' names and location but she didn't really know what to do there. Her family is nowhere in sight and she didn't really know anyone else. She had talked to some other noble family's children before at parties but no one is really close to her, not to mention they have no means of contact as well. She doubted they would help her out.
In the middle of the forest, Derek was talking to his hunter friends. "What happened to the young woman your wife picked up on the river?" asked one of the hunters. "She's recovering well, she should be able to move out of the village soon" he answered.
"Is she really a member of house Beryl?" another friend asked the man. "Apparently so, she confessed that she is the same Alexandra and her age matched. Not to mention it is weird finding a bantered girl on the river banks without any reason" answered Derek again. "Well what do you know? She might be a stranded mermaid" joked one of the hunters. "Mermaid does not swim in the rivers" another hunter rolled his eyes at the stupid joke.
"Can you repeat again what you were talking about gentleman?" a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He wears black from head to toe with a wide smile plastered on his face. "About the mermaid?" the hunter who joked before answered the black-clothed man. "No, about a member of house Beryl" his smile grew wide and he had a cold glint on his eyes.
Derek could tell that the man is dangerous. "We were just joking about mermaids swimming in the river," he said, trying to lie their way out. "Is that so?" the black-clothed man answered him. His smile grew wider for a second before he drew his blade from his side. He stabbed at the hunter who joked about the mermaid and he instantly fell to the ground. "It's not nice to lie, gentleman" he said smiling at Derek and the other hunter. They can't believe this man just killed their friend without batting an eye. Derek felt cold sweat on his body and he asked the man "What do you want?"
"That's great. Being cooperative will be beneficial for both of us" said the man while sheathing his sword again. "I want to know where she is"
Derek went home that night with his face as pale as a ghost. When he came in, Clare saw him and sensed that something was wrong with her husband. "What's the matter, Derek?" she asked. "Nothing, I'm just a bit tired," he said. The black-clothed man was very clear that he could tell no one about him. He gave her a powder to mix into Alexandra's drink tonight and asked for their address. He would personally come by to pick her up tomorrow morning and end her life.
Clare was suspicious of her husband's odd behavior but she didn't say anything. Settling for the night, they went to sleep in their bedroom while Alexandra slept in her room. Past midnight, Clare saw her husband get up and went into Alexandra's room for a few minutes before coming back. She knew something was going on but her husband refused to tell her anything. She decided to wake up earlier tomorrow to check on Alexandra since her husband will notice if she went out of the room now.
That morning, Alexandra woke up and took her glass of water in the nightstand. She was about to drink the water when she saw a dead insect floating on top of the water. She took a small spoon to scoop the insect out when she noticed the silver spoon had changed color after touching the water. Arsenic poison? She thought she was safe here but apparently someone wanted her dead all along. She went and changed her outfit when Clare opened her door loud enough to have her jump in shock. "Run!" the woman screamed at her.
"Didn't you want me dead?" Alexandra asked with a cold glare on her eyes. She trusted Clare because she nursed her back to health but then she found poison on her drink. "It's not me, Alexandra. But you need to get out of here now. Quickly to the back door!" she said pulling Alexandra along to show her the back door. If it's not the elderly woman then it must be her husband. It makes sense since he has been unwelcoming of her since the start.
Clare woke up earlier today to check up on Alexandra. When she woke up, she was surprised to see her husband already gone from the bed. Going outside, she saw from the window that her husband was walking with a man towards their house. She didn't recognize this man but he gave out a dangerous aura. She instantly knew this man had something to do with her husband acting strange yesterday so she immediately ran to Alexandra's room and told her to run away.
Alexandra went out the back door and ran away. Not long after, the front door opened and there came Derek and the other man. Derek saw his wife standing near the back door and he knew she had told Alexandra to run away. The man looked at Derek and asked "Where is the girl?"
"She had left the village" Clare answered the man. "Pity. I thought I instructed you to drug her and bring her to me. Looks like you failed the job" said the man before cutting Derek's wrist off with his sword without batting an eyelid. "AH!" The man cried out feeling the pain on her wrist and his blood was gushing out like a fountain. "You can kill me but spare my wife" Derek said while holding his bloody wrist, he didn't want anything to do with the man but he had been unlucky. He knew something bad was gonna happen so he decided to sacrifice Alexandra instead of jeopardizing his family and the other villagers.
"How commendable" the man said, glancing at him. "I prefer not to kill without any reason, since I'm so generous," the man said again with a chuckle. Derek was dumbfounded since he had seen him kill his friend yesterday without any reason. But if the man does not want to kill him or Clare, that would be the best outcome. "I guess the little missy wants to play cat and mouse now. So I should play along and be a good cat" he said before running out of the house from the back door and starting to look for Alexandra.
"Derek!" Clare can finally move her body to help Derek with his bloody wrist. The other man was too scary. His killing intent was strong and he had a sinister smile on his face, making her unable to move. She mustered up all her strength just to speak up a few words to him.
"I'm sorry Clare, I sold her out," Derek said to his wife. "I have no other choice."