"Esmeralda! Come out and greet your husband! You can't hide from me any longer!" the man roared at top of his lungs.
It was almost morning, with few rays of sunlights peering on the horizon. The man stood atop his trusted horse and his eyes seemed to be looking through the tall gate that separated his small army from getting inside.
Even though it was so early in the morning, none of the villagers were sleeping. They were marching toward the gate knowing that this day would come. The man had been a constant threat to the village for few months now. Even though they had perfect hilly terrain and high ground advantage, with other side having few sorcerers, it will not be a easy battle. The villagers didn't sleep at all, because of the obvious looming threat that approached like a gathering storm.
Everything started when the man appeared first in the village, he was following one of the merchants and decided to stop by before heading to his hometown which is the closest town to their village.
The man wasn't keen during his visit, a shabby town barely surviving residing on the top of a mountain just because their ancestors settled here? There was plenty of arable land right at the foot of the mountain, why don't they just move?
But when he first laid his eyes on Esmeralda, he was instantly captivated - the brash and untamed girl that was in her twenties but still commanded the respect of everyone in the village. He was surprised to know that she was also the village chief at such young age.
Being a man from noble family, he too was thrown into the treacherous lifestyle of politics and debauchery since young age. Not that he liked it but that's what he had to do to survive and come out on top in the succession battle.
What enamored him was that she was a force to be reckoned with, a young woman with black hair and a spirit as untamed as the hills that surrounded her home. He fell in love at first sight. She was different from all the girls that he used to interact with. They were reserved and too ladylike for a man of his temperament.
It was the first time, he ever approached someone on the spot but she instantly rejected him. She even rubbed few insults as she was used to guys hitting on her and thought he was one of those type.
Unyielding in her independence, she had never bowed to the will of others, earning both respect and fear from those who crossed her path. He wasn't deterred, he had good looks and money. He was certain that she would come around.
He wanted to be respectful in courting her but with months of irregular visits and quite a lot of gifts she still wasn't interested. She even told her outright the reason for her denial was he simply wasn't her type.
Full blonde hair with deep blue eyes, he screamed noble from a distance. She knew what sort of future await her if she even gave it a chance. A life of living inside a golden cage away from her family and village that she had a duty to protect. How could she ever entertain such a scenario?
The man however, wasn't one to be easily deterred. He did his best to put forth best condition but ultimately, his family were the one that rejected the idea. They would never allow a peasant to be his first wife, at best she could be a mistress or a concubine.
He knew Esmeralda would never agree to such an arrangement, which led him to finally be more forceful in his approach. He knew she cared about the village and it's residents a lot, if he could show his might, she might budge under pressure.
He knew most of the layout of the small village, there were barely twenty able bodies men that could be considered as guards and only few of them were exceptional, like Tang, the short girl that had a offensive ability.
Other than that, he knew once he managed to get inside the enclosure, there was nothing stopping him from razing the village if that's what he had to do to make her submit!
He bought his private army, a total of hundred battle-hardened soldiers and also invited few sorcerers for the mission. His family hailed from a medium size city so they had few connections and used hefty amount of money to station few sorcerers in these uncertain times.
He had to use a lot of his personal funds just to attract them to come with him for few days mission. As the day broke, under the cover of darkness, his army advanced, silently encircling the village like a noose tightening around it's neck.
There was only one road leading in and out of the village but he had seen hunters use few other trails, just to make sure that no one escaped, he blocked everything. Fortunately, he didn't know about the entrance at the back.
But he didn't need to, with Esmeralda's personality, she would never run away leaving innocent villagers to their death. He did come to know her quite well, over these past few months.
" You are finally here!" He saw her standing on top of the large door that was blocking his way.
She looked just as beautiful as he remembered but her expression was that she was unimpressed by his military display. They were stand quite far which was why he didn't notice the underlying nervousness on her face.
With her father coming home after so many years, she didn't want to be ripped apart from him even though she was still mad at him for leaving in first place.