"Lord Dominic! Lord Dominic!" Iris half screamed, shaking the man frantically. Her heart was beating so fast it felt as if her ribcage would break open.

Her fiancée, Lord Dominic however, did not flinch. His eyes were closed shut and his breathing cut.

He was now laying on the ground which he was standing on a few seconds ago.

"Lord Dominic!" She was on the verge of crying. Sweat beads filled her forehead as she waited for her handmaiden to bring water, hoping it would revive the poor man.

Hovering above him, her long white dress filled most of the space, yet, she managed to bend right next to the man.

"My lady!" Terra, her handmaiden ran in with a little bowl of water.

"Took you long enough," Iris snarled, collecting the bowl and splashing the water all over Dominic.

"Did anyone spot you?" She asked, her eyes still glued to Dominic who was still unconscious. His skin was paler than morning snow in winter.

"Not that I know of, My lady," Terra seemed too calm for the dilemma they were in.

They weren't supposed to be here.

No, she was supposed to be in her quarters, getting ready for her wedding ceremony.

But Lord Dominic had sent a note, asking her to sneak to the quarters where he was staying.

Of course it was forbidden to meet discreetly when they weren't married yet, but the note said it was important.

And Iris, being the lover of adventures, thought it would be a good thing to talk privately before the wedding.

They never actually had the chance during their courting period which lasted only a month, before her brother finalized the wedding arrangement.

They hadn't even talked for more than fifteen minutes before the man collapsed right in front of her.

Terra was the only person she trusted enough to follow her in the first place and now, they were all in the same room with the unconscious man.

"My lady," Terra, who had now started to show worry said. "I think we should leave. The servants would find him eventually and they'll help!"

The words sounded cruel to Iris. Leaving the Duke of Eldrid lying on the floor just like that.

"What if they don't notice in time?" She turned her gaze to the maid.

"It won't be funny what they'd do to us if they find us here," Terra stated. Her gaze slowly left Iris and fell on Dominic.

She gasped, pointing at him.

"My lady!"

Iris turned to see what she was talking about.

His face, which was pale a few seconds ago, started changing.

It was slowly becoming a dark shade of blue.

"BLUE?" Their eyes widened.

The color change was slowly spreading across his face and his whole body.

His mouth that was half parted, now leaked of red liquid.

"Blood," Terra knelt down to get a closer look.

"He's gone my lady," She said, checking his pulse.

"No," The words choked Iris's throat as she shook her head. "No," She cried.

"We need to leave! This isn't an ordinary death!" Terra pulled her mistress up.

"We need to call the healers!" Iris yelled.

"We need to leave!" Terra said, Ignoring the fact that Iris was her mistress, she dragged her out of the room and through the dark lobby which they had followed to enter the quarters earlier.

They were half way out of the quarters when they heard a loud horn blowing.

"They've found out," Terra said. They kept moving however, not even turning to look back at the quarter.

They went down the tunnels which would safely lead them back into the main castle.

But they heard footsteps coming from there.

"Here," Terra whispered, leading them to the back of a pillar, big enough for both of them to hide.

The footsteps got closer and they could tell there were a lot of men coming their way.

"Lock up every exit and entrance! No one leaves this quarter until the witch is found!" The voice belonged to Dominic's uncle. His only family that was able to make it to the wedding.

He walked around, making sure there were at least five guards in each tunnel's exit.

"My lord," A guard ran towards him.

"One of the guards in the chambers said he saw Lady Iris and an escort enter his room not too long ago." The guard said.

Iris felt her body tremble against the brick pillar.

This cannot be happening.

"Search for her. Send word to her brother. They can't invite us to their homes just to kill us!" He said, before walking away.

"We should explain what happened. We didn't kill him," Iris whispered in Terra's ears.

Terra shot her a disapproving look.

Dominic is the Duke of Eldrid. He travelled all the way here to marry her, the sister of the Duke of Taaf Hills.

His life is way more important than hers.

He is a man after all. And a Duke of one of the biggest cities in the country. While she was nothing but the daughter of a late Duke and the sister of the current duke of their little island.

She leaned in on her maid's shoulder, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall out. This was not the time to cry.

"What do we have here?" A voice echoed above them. A little too close to where they were standing.

"Run!" Terra pulled her hands, leading her to a deeper, darker part of the tunnels.

"I've found them!" The guard alerted the others while running after them.

"Bring the torches! I've found the witches!" he kept yelling.

"Witches?" Iris couldn't help but ask.

They had run so deep into the puzzling tunnels that the guard must have lost them.

"What killed The Duke my Lady," Terra paused, catching her breath.

"It looks like a type of poison that is cast by witches," she added.

Iris couldn't hold herself with her trembling limbs.

The guards were getting closer and so was her need to run faster.

Witches? They all know what they did to witches.