NARRATOR'S POV
In the darkness of the night: the wind blew coldly, the stars shined brightly and a woman stood in the garden waiting blindly- to another who will bring the end of her suffering. As chills run all over her thin frame she hugged the shawl closer- trying to keep the warmth in. Her blonde hair flow with the wind and her blue eyes reflects the darkness of her surroundings.
Deep in her thoughts, she thinks of what people use to say 'Your eyes are just like your father's' they would tell her.
'The Master's sweet Princess'
'The future Lady of the house'
'Such a beautiful child'
'The heir of the family' they would call her but things have changed.
One dreadful night her father fell dead on the floor, nobody knows what happened. No wound. No illness- in a snap of a finger her life crumbled.
Her once bright future and towering 'castle' of fantasy and magic disappeared- vanishing in the air as if a cloud of smoke swept away by a strong wind.
Then, when she thought things couldn't go even worst.
'I will soon be married to Marcus Stone' her mother's horrifying news ringed in her ears. She had moved on and now she will be married to another man: she wanted to scream, she to run away, she wanted to tell her that she disagrees and that her mother is being unfair. Her father died quite recently and her mother already found a replacement. But she couldn't because she knew that this is their lives now. A fatherless girl is as good as dead in this rotten society.
In a blink of an eye, she moved into the Stone manor such a dreadful place- inhabited by the devil himself. The day the two met she knew that Marcus doesn't like her- maybe it was due to her uncanny resemblance to her father or the fact that she was the daughter from the previous marriage. Whatever the reason maybe she knew that Marcus would get rid of her one way or the other.
It had barely been a year yet Marcus already found a way to throw her out of his house.
They call it marriage but she calls it trading- in exchange for power, Marcus will give her away to an older man. She will become a new toy for him, just another doll in the closet.
But she will never allow such a thing to happen- not to her and not her younger sister and for both of their future, she will fight to the very last.
"Have you been waiting for long?" a soft voice suddenly spoke- turning around Malory could make out a shadowy figure of a woman. The one and only person that had been in her shoes before she was supposedly killed by the man she married- she's an example, a reason that magnifies her desire to end Marcus.
"Just for a while. Now, what am I to do" she asked confidently.
A grim smile appeared on Amber's lips, which sent a bigger chill to her back more than the blow of cold wind could give.
"It will be simple really, here" the other said as she raised a vile for her to see- within the darkness the vile gleamed under the moonlight.
Malory's throat felt dried and her heart sunk for no reason, she does not have any idea what is the content of the jar is. However, a part of her is scream to run and forget the deal.
"It's simple, all you have to do is put this in the water and every food in the kitchen- tomorrow before dinner and you're done. We will take care of the rest afterward" Amber's voice sounded cheery to her ears but she did not care, it would be Amber who will kill Marcus so none of it matters.
"What's inside the vile? And who are you with?" she asked suspiciously eyeing the vile and Amber's face- trying to read the slightest hint of deceit.
"It's hemlock but this is mostly water, there is no need to worry. This will momentarily paralyze everyone, just long enough for us to kill our father and leave the place" she answered with a straight face.
"How can I trust you that, it won't kill everyone?" Malory has a faint doubt but not enough to back down- she couldn't care less about the people inside the manor, it was her sister that she only cares about.
She's innocent and kind, loving and gentle- she could never forgive herself if anything happens to her.
"Well… I can assure you that it's not fatal but I know that wouldn't be enough. Therefore, I will just leave the decision to you and if you don't want to take any risk just don't ingest anything" Amber's words are well calculated and her face hides her every malice in her heart. Something Malory carelessly and naively missed, she was too trusting and desperate that she was going to bite on everything Amber will give her.
"Is that all, I need to do?" she asked as she reached for the vile- holding it close to her chest. This bottle holds the key that will open the door for her new life.
"Not quite, I need you to leave a lit candle in your bedroom window. That will indicate that you did what you needed to do, if there is no candle in your window then we will abort the plan" Malory was almost amazed by Amber's plan, she could never come up with such a thing by herself she thought. But of course, she can't because she does not have the same kind of heart Amber has: hard and cold like a piece of steel.
"I understand then" Malory nodded her head.
"Ah! Your second question, I would be working with Robbie. In fact, he's waiting for me by the willow tree. I didn't want to scare you so I told him to just wait for me" Amber didn't forget to tell her that part, her 'honesty' matters at this point after all.
"How much of this should I put?" the younger woman asked.
"You can pour everything but, as I've said you can take precautions so I will leave that to you. I'll give you a warning though, that is mostly water so if you only put some- there would be a chance it won't work" that was a lie, the liquid in the vile is mostly hemlock extract- not the other way around but Malory did not know that.
Amber knew what she was doing and she knew very well, that her words had an effect on Malory. By giving her false assurance and so-called 'allowing her to decide', Malory has a sense of control in the situation. Without fully knowing that she was falling deeper into the trap, that Amber laid out for her.
"Alright, leave it to me" she said before stepping back.
Amber nodded before speaking "You should go before you get caught, I'll see you tomorrow" she stated with a voice filled with concern as if she genuinely cared.
With a final nod, Malory turned and run back towards the manor.
Amber jump down the pine tree, she can't use the willow tree because one can only use it as a bridge if coming from the outside or her old room.
"How did it go?" Robbie suddenly spoke.
"Ah! You scared me! I told you to wait in the willow tree didn't I?" she questioned.
"Yes, but I thought you can't use it to climb over the wall. So, I went here" Robbie stated before taking her hand.
"We should go" he continued.
"Tomorrow is the last" Amber said before scooting closer to Robbie.
"And we can live a somewhat normal lives" Robbie continued her words.
Amber nodded in agreement and with that the two, headed home.