As she checked herself to ensure all was well, she quickly noticed something was absent. The book. The book was gone. Color drained from her face as she realized Reynard's goal. He wanted the book.
Simultaneously, a part of her mind argued. If he truly wanted the book, why didn't he take it before he left the house? With his probable supernatural abilities, it shouldn't have been difficult at all, right?
After debating with herself for a few moments, Avar made up her mind. She would return home to see if maybe the book was still there. If it wasn't, then that was that.
Suddenly, she heard an unfamiliar male voice shout, "Perrin, Qin, you heard them. Go!"
She quickly crouched down, pulling her daughters with her. Esme looked as though she were about to start crying when Avar placed a finger on her lips, shaking her head rapidly. Nodding to show she understood, Esme tried to hold back her sobs and was mostly successful. After checking Alisa and seeing that she was terrified but fine, Avar motioned for them to wait and silently approached a window.
She was scared, thoughts of her husband's death raging in her mind, but she forced herself to calm down for the sake of her children.
Peeking sneakily outside the window, she saw most of the villagers outside on their knees, surrounded by armed horsemen who kept everyone in line. Her blood ran cold, and she searched desperately for her son, Jarek. He was nowhere to be seen, bringing some relief to her.
As she was about to look away, she spotted a familiar face, and her heart dropped. At that moment, she knew who the horsemen were and exactly what they wanted—the book.
She looked away and forced her racing heart to calm a bit. Then she made up her mind. If the book wasn't taken by Reynard and was found, her family's chances of survival were zero. She had to return home and make sure the book was truly gone.
Calling Alisa over, she instructed her to look after her sister and stay hidden. Alisa shook her head rapidly, holding on to her mother and begging her not to go as tears of fear poured down her face. But Avar made it clear that this was something she had to do.
After tucking her daughters somewhere safe, she sneaked toward the window and waited, watching for the right moment when no one was looking toward the house. Then she opened the door and slipped out. As soon as she stepped out, a couple of armed men turned and looked straight at her. She froze. It was over, she was caught.
The man wore a fierce expression on his hardened face as he stalked closer. Almost in spite of herself, Avar found herself shifting away from him. He reached her, then walked past her, choosing instead to open the door and peer inside the house. After a quick survey, he shook his head and muttered to himself, "A haunted village, why am I not surprised."
Avar watched him walk away with wide eyes, wondering why he hadn't apprehended her. Then her eyes flickered to the fading symbol on the back of her hand. Reynard. Were his actions an attempt to help?
Deciding to ponder these things later, Avar set off towards her house. Everyone else acted as though she weren't there. She glanced at the symbol on her hand and theorized that she would remain invisible as long as it remained. But once it faded… well, she couldn't predict what would happen after that. Still, she now wished it weren't fading so fast.
She soon reached her home and discovered two invaders currently ransacking the place, likely in search of the book. Did Reynard really take it, she wondered. After observing them for a moment, she carefully moved inside the house and headed straight to her room.
Then, cautiously, making sure to do nothing that might attract the attention of the two men making a racket, she opened the secret compartment in her bedroom. Her experience back at Mrs. Tamsy's house had shown that while others ignored her existence, her actions still had effects that could be noticed by others.
Opening the compartment, she discovered the book still resting within, almost as though she had never taken it away in the first place. Reynard, she wondered, what exactly are you plotting? Do you want them to find the book? But that would endanger my family. We would have to move away again.
After some hesitation, she took the book once more and hid it in her dress. Then she turned to face the door, afraid that Reynard would appear again, but he didn't. Letting out a sigh of relief, she took another look at the symbol on her hand. It had almost completely faded, and she had to leave now.
Sneaking back into the living room, she made sure the invaders were busy, and then she opened the door and ran.
"Qin, the door opened, someone's there!" she heard one of the men shout, and hurried footsteps indicated his pursuit.
Once again, she glanced at the symbol on her hand, and her breath caught. She watched in horror as the symbol on her hand finally faded away completely. "Woman, stop right there!"
Not knowing what else to do, she kept running, hoping to somehow outrun them and get back to her children. However, she knew she was attempting the impossible. All of a sudden, something cold passed by her face, stinging her before impaling the ground in front of her—a knife.
She ground to a halt, realizing that it was most likely just a warning. If she kept running, she would be cut down. By stopping, she would be able to prolong her life and maybe find a way out of this. She just needed to calm down and think.
Despite her rationalizations, she couldn't help but tremble when the men caught up to her. The one named Qin grabbed her while Perrin looked her over with a cold, calculating gaze.
"Who are you?" Perrin asked, "and what were you looking for in that house?"
"I wasn't l-looking for anything." Avar couldn't prevent herself from stuttering due to nervousness. Perrin, however, didn't seem to believe her answer.
"Hold her down," he instructed Qin before he began to pat her down. Avar had met soldiers before, and in situations like this, many of them took liberties with the women they were searching. Perrin was not like those men and did his job in a way that suggested that he didn't care about anything but his task.
Afraid that he might find the book, Avar began to struggle, screaming for him to leave her alone. That's when she felt the sharp edge of a knife against her neck. In the next moment, Qin spoke. "I'm only saying this once, move again and I'll slit your throat. We don't have time for all this rubbish."
Perrin gave Qin an approving look before continuing his search. It wasn't long until Perrin found and pulled out the book. By then, Avar was crying silent tears. She knew what they wanted, what the book contained, and as of the moment they found it, she knew her life was over.
"Is that it?" Qin asked, giving the book a dubious glance.
Perrin turned the book over in his hands. "I don't know. And I probably won't be sure unless I take a look."
"But the captain said-"
Perrin waved, interrupting Qin. "I know quite well what the captain said, but that only applies to the likes of you. As the vice-captain, I naturally enjoy certain immunities." He then began to scan through the book.
A moment later his expression changed as he came across the first secret. "That whore!" He couldn't help but exclaim.
"Who?" Qin asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
"The Que- ah, I see what you did there. It's none of your business. Bring the woman, we've found it." He paused for a moment, taking note of Avar's teary face before walking away.
On the way to the rest of the group, Avar tried her best to organize her thoughts and prevent despair from taking over. Even though her death was a certainty now, if she acted properly, she might be able to give her kids a chance to survive. Her daughters should still be hidden in that house, and Jarek didn't seem to be in the village. As long as she could get the soldiers to leave after killing her, then maybe her death wouldn't be so bad after all.
After her husband's death and her discovery of the book and its secrets, she had known that she was living on borrowed time, and now it seemed that time was over. All she could do now was try to secure a future for her kids.
She followed the two men meekly, trying her best not to give them a reason to kill her just yet. Soon, they came into sight of the rest of the group. Her eyes glanced over the villagers who were still on their knees, and her heart almost came to a stop when she spotted her daughters there, kneeling beside Mrs. Tamsy.