It took commander Darius no less than five seconds to wipe his fists against his clothes and order his men to fall back.
"Tch," he hissed, "Leave the lad, he's not worth a grain of my salt." Darius said whilst he turned to leave. The rest of his men who came with him were reluctant to leave, after all, the third division was just filled with lower ranked shifters and nobodies, there was no reason to retreat.
However, their morale was restored when commander Darius took an abrupt pause and gave out another command. "Lest I forget, that blind girl, have her right hand cut off and given to Miss Nadia."
Nadia sharply interjected, "I don't want that petty thing's limb!" She roared angrily, tired of having to explain herself the child broke away from Yelena's side and ran towards the center, where Kieran was sprung up.
"Miss Nadia—!" Yelena reached out, but Nadia had already set her sights on a silver dagger placed next to the remaining ropes lying next to Kieran's cross.
In one swift move, she swiped the dagger and blindly charged for the wailing Olivia, who had just started to calm down and regain her composure.
Nadia sped past commander Ivankov who did not so much as make an attempt to stop her. He was already relieved that Kieran's punishment had ended, despite how badly he disrespected Nadia. However, he knew he would be pushing his luck if he tried to save them both.
'It's her fault for getting entangled with that brat in the first place. She was just an unlucky thing.' the commander concluded, whilst he straightened his clothes.
He let out a sigh, 'I'll just have to focus on developing Kieran's…'
The commander's thoughts just like everyone else's was captured deeply the moment Nadia stop charging towards Olivia. But it wasn't the fact that Nadia stopped that seized their attentions.
—"What in the…"
—"Are you serious?"
—"Did she just…"
Nadia who had the dagger in front ready to thrust took nervous steps back, taking her palm off the bloody dagger wedged deep into Freina's abdomen.
"Head maid!" Edna cried out, just as shocked as everyone else when Freina suddenly stood in front of Olivia and took the stab wound herself.
"W-What are you doing?! H-How dare you in-interfere?!" Nadia scolded rashly. The spectators who all knew the daughter of their former Gamma all too well, were shaken up completely by the outcome.
Freina straightened her back and rested her grip on the blade, as though she meant to pull it out.
"Stop, you'll worsen the bleeding!" Yelena cautioned, rushing towards the scene. She walked hurriedly past Nadia and shifted her attention to Freina, who had been stabbed in a delicate part.
"I'm fine." Freina said despite the drops of blood that leaked out the sides of her mouth. She turned towards Olivia, who had finally calmed down but was completely oblivious to what was happening around her.
Her painful gaze softened.
"Miss Nadia," she weakly addressed her, her crisp tone managed to draw Olivia's attention, and forced her out of spacing out. The slap from commander Darius, coupled with the trauma from her parent's torture had left her mind in shambles.
"W-What is it?" Nadia replied with a loose frown, maintaining her distance between them both.
"Here." Freina said, and then yanked the dagger out of her abdomen, allowing her blood to flow freely onto the soil. She tossed the dagger at the little girl's feet, and forced herself onto one knee.
"Stop it! Freina, you're going to harm yourself! Don't do this—"
Freina sharply cut her off in low grunts. "I am aware that my life isn't worth much, but I beseech you to take it as compensation, in exchange for this child's arm." The woman pleaded with her head lowered.
Edna gasped, "Head maid, you can't be serious, this thing isn't worth the blood you're shedding!" She voiced out, speaking on behalf of all the spectators around.
But Freina was determined, in-between pants she said, "This child is already blind, and a weaker slave, if you take away her hands she won't have much to rely on."
Olivia didn't understand what was going on, but she could vividly hear it slowing down, the sound of Freina's heartbeat, and the repugnant scent of blood flooded her nostrils.
"Freina is hurt?" She questioned, struggling to get onto her knees. She tried to move, but fell right back onto the sand, proving Freina's point exactly.
"Miss Nadia, I know I am in no position to make any demands, but please I beg of you—" a violent cough erupted from her mouth, which was followed by a splatter of blood sprayed next to miss Nadia's feet.
"Someone! Get a healer, now! Quickly, she's losing blood!" Yelena raised her voice in a panic, desperate more than anyone to save Freina's life.
"This is pointless." Commander Ivankov said under his breath, with nothing more than a quick glance he could tell that Freina was going to die, whether or not a healer intervened.
The dagger that Nadia had used had a deadly toxin coated around the blade, commander Darius must've planned to use that to torture Kieran.
"Take him inside. And have his wounds treated." Ivankov said to his nearest subordinate, drawing their attention to Kieran who had already passed out.
"Please! Miss Nadia!" Freina shouted at the top of her lungs, overshadowing Yelena's cry.
"Promise me, that you will not harm this girl, I'm staking my life on this, and forming a blood contract with you. That from now henceforth, you will not lay a finger on her!" Freina stated and then raised her head to reveal her weary eyes.
"What?" Nadia widened her eyes and gasped, mirroring the reaction of all other witnesses.
Yelena who was already soaked in tears gasped and covered her mouth, "Why would you go that far? And for a slave from the enemies side…" she whispered softly to herself, unable to conceive why Freina would go to such lengths for Olivia.
'Contract? What does that mean? And Freina's heartbeat it's barely even there.' Olivia observed, while trying once more to get up. Fortunately she was successful and managed to get to Freina.
Without warning, she roughly placed her palm over Freina's stomach region, and then inhaled sharply. Olivia knew that these people were her enemies, but for some reason she wanted to save Freina's life.
"Hey, get away from her!" Edna cursed, unaware of Olivia's capabilities.
"No, I can heal…" right before Olivia could say another word, Freina who had started to feel some power shift from Olivia's palms into her stomach, quickly pushed the child away.
Her instincts suggested that the third commander must've brought Olivia back with him for a purpose. And with the second commander still around, everything Ivankov tried to accomplish would've meant nothing up until now.
That was a risk she wouldn't dare take by being selfish enough to get healed. She owed the commander her life, and planned to pay him back with it.
Olivia managed to maintain her ground and tried to heal Freina once more, but the woman collapsed on her shoulder, and then whispered in the most quiet voice, knowing Olivia would hear her final words.
"Your father is…alive." Freina weakly said, before lifelessly sliding off Olivia's shoulders onto the unforgiving dirt.
Author's Note: Hi! Author here! This is my entry into Cupid's quill and would love feedback from my readers. Any question you have regarding the story feel free to ask and I'll respond.
Thank you for stopping by, see you Thursday!