The following week afterwards Igor had been terribly busy with enough paperwork to go an entire all-nighter without any break. He ate his food quickly and woke up really early to resume working. It was surprising for him as bulk orders came out of nowhere and he was caught unaware of the effect of not restocking his products, when it was starting to overflow he received information about an abandoned warehouse which was theoretically miles away from his house but was perfect for his business due to its size. He decided to leave at once to seal the deal since the bulk orders never ended.
He prepared a carriage to go to that place and was about to leave when Verisha and his wife stopped him. They wanted Benedikt to join him to ensure his 'own' safety. He prepared his horse and stood next to his master who told him to abandon it and invited him for a ride inside the carriage; they soon departed for their journey.
The first few hours were bearable but as it picked up, it became heavier, with diminished visibility. The snow became thicker and the carriage trudged on with some difficulty. Many times it was lodged in place by the snow and both (the master and the servant) had to get down from the carriage and manually push it out from the various ditches it fell in.
Halfway through their journey they found shelter in a nearby bar. The snowstorm raged outside and there was no way they could get out from that storm even if they had superhuman speed.
The wooden shutters were drawn to avoid the storm from wrecking the place, oil lit lamps were placed on the ceiling which flickered to and fro darkening the inn. The bar was looking like an alchemist den with tinted windows structure purely made out of wood instead of cement and stone. Overall it had a lively appearance. The residents/guests were already very drunk. Some were sprawled onto the table sleeping with their mouths open with mugs of empty beer surrounding them. The others were busy talking about their day very loudly for the world to hear. Underaged teens sat on the bar stools trying to get the tenders attention to snag some free drinks which was graciously refused.
Igor bought food for them and together they both ate while initiating small talk and enjoying the blizzard that was going on outside when it died down and when they had their fill they decided to depart immediately since there was a long way to go.
The storm unfortunately didn't diminish and it only got worse as they trudged forward. The cold was beating down on them when they have to push the carriage many times again. There was no nearby shelter for them to take a breather and they kept on going in circles.
The third and final time they ended up on the same damn spot. The merchant decided to ask for help by clambering on his horse cutting the reins and telling Benedikt (who as always was the most obedient of all the servants he had faced) ordered him to stay put and wait for him then left him alone on that stormy snow filled night.
An hour had passed and there was no sign of his boss returning not even the sound of hooves...….
Three hours later the carriage collapses on itself and meets snowy ground since a single horse couldn't bear its weight all on its own......…
He waited and waited for him to return while he shivered due to the cold, his fingers slowly started to turn blue.
Igor was trying to find a way out of this wretched snowstorm. He despised himself for lying to Benedikt that he would come back for him after calling for help his heart felt heavier than lead. He tried to reason with himself but each reason was as absurd as the last one he conjured. He didn't understand why he couldn't let Benedikt go. For all his life he worked alone and not once did he feel that he needed anybody to spend time with him not even his wife and that's why he loved business deals they are predictable, relationships are not it is also easy to end it through a contract he can go there, do what he can and get the spoils he got after winning the war. He didn't have to worry about throwing someone's feelings out of the window.
All he wanted was to go to that warehouse secure the deal and get back home and resume whatever the fuck he was doing leaving Benedikt to his own fate. Well damn him anyway!
After many tries he realised they were going in circles AGAIN! (Quite far away from Benedikt and the carriage though) and the horse led them back to square one. He cursed enough profanities to fill a swimming pool then pulled the reins back to direction he came from.