The elf man's desperate speech echoed through the tense room above the floorboard, but Evan's resolve remained firm.
His position under the floorboard might have been cramped, the narrow floorboards pressing against his body, but his gaze was steady as he peered through a slim crack in the wooden planks.
Beside him, Victor crouched with a quiet intensity, his palm firmly covering the young elf girl's mouth to stifle any noise- the last of the elf man's offsprings- and His sword lay within reach, incase of whatever might have come up.
You could say, Desperate times called for desperate measures from what Evan had planned out.
His plan had been bold—mislead Lord Hayman by using the elf as a decoy. But to ensure cooperation, they'd had to take the man's family hostage.
You might saw it went against his entire resolve, but how else was he supposed to get a complete stranger to trust him?
Evan glanced at Victor, then back to the trembling elf man above.
"He won't rat us out," Evan reassured himself silently.
"He fought too hard to protect his family from us back then. He's not gonna break now."
The room above was deathly quiet.
The thick silence stretched for quite a while until Lord Hayman's voice broke through it, pissed off by the pending suspense.
"And what do you have to tell me?"
The elf man faltered as he rethought his next words very carefully,and then he began.
"A few hours ago, we were attacked by three armed men. One of which had an arrow stuck in his arm..."
The Lord's knights exchanged sharp glances, suspicion thickening the air.
"And?" Hayman prompted coldly.
"They threatened to slaughter my family if I didn't help them," the elf man continued, voice trembling.
"They asked for directions."
One of the knights, a broad-shouldered man with a perpetual scowl, stepped forward barking aloud as he glared.
"You helped them, didn't you? Traitor elf!"
"No!" the elf man protested, dropping to his knees.
"I swear it! I would never betray my lord!Not for all the gold in the world."
The knight sneered, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword.
"Liar," he spat.
"Shall I put him down, my lord?"
The Lord remained silent.
Tension was building up by the moment and soon, even Victor's normally calm demeanor wavered, his grip tightening around the girl.
'C'mon man...don't let up...not now.'
The elf man's voice cracked as he pleaded, bowing his head shamelessly.
"Please! I did no such thing! They wanted to get to the Serpent's Docks to steal a ship and escape. But I sent them west— away from the docks!"
The knight's rage ignited anew, and in a swift motion, he unsheathed his sword.
"How dare you lie to your lord! Do you not have any shame? Shall I take one of your ears to teach you a lesson?!"
He turned sharply to the knights who stood at the open front door.
"Bring in the hounds. We'll ransack this entire household and find the truth."
Evan's stomach knotted at the declaration.
'Oh no...'
The hounds meant trouble—serious trouble. With their keen senses, hiding beneath the floorboards would become futile. Even their hostage wouldn't save them.
Before the crisis could escalate further, Lord Hayman intervened, as he muttered with such a nonchalant tone.
"Ser Gavin." he drawled, turning his gaze to the enraged knight.
"who the bloody hell told you that you could speak on my behalf?"
The knight's face paled, his bravado crumbling under the weight of the Lord's scorn.
"No, my lord—I would never presume—"
A venomous smile drew on Lord Hayman's lips as he raised his index at the chattering Knight, signifying silence.
"This man here may be an elf, but that does not call for racism."
Before the knight could respond, another soldier entered the room, leading a hound by a taut leash.
The animal sniffed the air with sharp, jerking movements before fixating on a faint scent—blood.
Victor's wound. At this point, he had been treated already but still, he was prone to blood loss atleast for the meantime.
"Never in your sorry life attempt to speak for me. Speak when you're spoken to..."
The hound's barks echoed through the room, loud and guttural. Its paws scraped against the floorboards as it tried to follow the trail.
The elf man's face was drenched in sweat, terror etched into every line of his features. He knew the punishment for treason all too well—death to the defaulter and his entire family, regardless of age. And as elves, minorities in Cedron, their executions would be especially brutal.
"...Do you understand me, Ser Gavin?"
Hayman's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"Yes," the knight muttered, eyes lowered in defeat.
"That's right," Hayman sneered.
" And dont you forget, you don't matter. You, and everyone you love, don't matter. You should learn to accept that..."
The hound barked again, its nose pressed against the floorboards directly above Victor's position. Evan gripped his dagger tightly, muscles coiled, ready to fight if discovered.
Hayman's next words were almost casual.
"...and manners too, Ser Gavin."
As if triggered by this statement,the second knight drew his blade and, in with a swift strike, slashed a deep wound across Gavin's back. T
Ser Gavin collapsed to his knees with a strangled cry and a look of disbelief etched in his eyes.
Hayman didn't hesitate. He drew his dagger and slit Gavin's throat with a swift, practiced .
Blood sprayed across the floor, some of it splattering onto the hound's muzzle.
The animal recoiled, its previous scent forgotten as it backed away, confused by the overwhelming stench of fresh blood.
Below the floorboards, Evan and the others remained frozen. Blood dripped through the cracks, splattering onto their faces and clothes. They flinched but didn't dare move, not it it meant they could possibly give out their location.
Lord Hayman wiped his blade clean on Gavin's lifeless body before turning to the elf man.
"You sent them west?"
The elf man nodded frantically, his voice barely a whisper with a face showcasing his fright.
"Yes, my lord."
"Good."
Hayman gestured to the knight who had attacked Gavin.
"It's late. Set up camp. We'll resume the hunt in the morning."
The knight bowed and obediently replied.
"As you wish...My Lord."
With that, Hayman and his men exited the room, leaving the elf man trembling on the floor along with Ser Gavin's corpse.
They had done it. They had survived.
***
The night dragged on, thick with tension. Lord Hayman's men had set up tents outside the elves' homes, their campfires flickering in the darkness. Only a few patrol officers remained on duty, their heavy steps echoing through the quiet night.
In no time, hours passed, and it was time for the second watch, and following routine, it was time to wake the second watchers.
Two guards trudged through the shrubs, their faces drawn with exhaustion.
"Man, I'm about to pass out." one of them grumbled.
"Tell me about it...I could go for a drink right now." the other muttered.
"I could go for a bang!" The other knight muttered with a perverted chuckle.
"It's been ages since I've been in a brothel." He added.
Soon, their conversations became indistinct, and as they progressed, one of the guards halted abruptly, his eyes narrowing at something he had caught sight of near the ground.
"Wait...what the hell is that?"
Sticking out from the shrubs was a pair of soiled human feet.
The guards exchanged uneasy glances before dragging the body out. Their grunts echoed in the stillness as they revealed the bloodied corpse.
One of the guards gasped, as he recognized the body despite the disfigurement on its face.
"Oh my God..." he whispered.
"He's one of the prisoners."
They had discovered Vin's corpse.