Chapter 17: 17- M... madman!
"Who took it?" His voice was frighteningly deep, his eyes cast on the file before him. "Who among the maids was an accomplice?" He didn't need to investigate for him to know a maid was an accomplice. He could hear the hard knocking by Alexandra on her door, latching her inside her compartment wasn't the best option but he had made sure to stifle the clatter.
"Karina Tyler, Sir, the maid came into the Mansion a few days ago. She's a loyal servant of Karina." He informed. He drifts his gaze to the file in Dominic's hand, the files embezzled were files an enemy shouldn't lay eyes on.
"How's the girl, the blackwink's girl?" Dominic asked, knowing who took the file, it wouldn't be that arduous to get them back.
"She's on the run, sir, her house got burnt and her parents killed. Her old man knew all this was about to happen."
"Her father?" He cocked his head at Simon, he whirl the pen in his hand as he stared at him.
"Yes, she's a daughter of a descendant of one of the greatest seers of all time."
"Watch over her while I get the files back."
_______
Western kingdom [Warcton]
Mildred sighted a cavern and trotted closer to it. The weather has dropped a few degrees which in turn has made it frighteningly cold. She tied her horse's rein and made a little fire with the dry wood she grabbed. Food was at the side of the horse, so she took it from inside and gave an adequate amount of the meal to the horse.
She palmed her face to keep it warm, staying close to the fire didn't bring her any heat since the wind was moving it to different trends.
Suddenly the wind became still and the fire she made went out. This brought fear to Mildred's mind. She stood up promptly from the ground and picked a stick. She pointed it at the cavern's entrance as she heard footsteps clambering unhurriedly.
The footsteps weren't heavy or light, but it fluctuates from heavy to light. She veered backward and kept on pointing the stick at the cavern's entrance.
"Looking for me?"
"Ahhhh!" Mildred shrieked out in panic as she turned around to look at the voice that spoke behind her. Thankfully her lamp was still lit, and she saw him, with lengthy unkempt looking black hair coupled with his unkempt-looking beard and torn clothes. The odor emitting from him shows he hadn't taken his bath for a long time.
After noticing all this her fear accentuated.
M…M-Madman!
"Stay back!" She swirls her stick in front of him. She contemplated as he stared curiously at the stick. Thinking he was afraid she stepped closer to him, her heart was pounding forcefully in her chest.
"Is that a stick?" He asked innocently like a little child and blinked. His eyes held complete curiosity. But she shouldn't let her guard down against a madman.
"Ye-" before she could respond the stick left her clasp. She didn't know how possible it was, but yes, it left her clutch at an impossible speed.
"It truly is a stick." The grown-up man laughed and beamed at himself. Mildred wasn't so sure earlier about him being mad, but now she's sure. He truly is MAD!
"Why is your heart beating fast?" The naivety in his eyes made Mildred think of hitting the stick on his head, but the stick was in his hand now. Naivety wasn't the only thing she saw in his eyes,...was that a mock glint? She wasn't sure.
"W-who are you?" The man strode closer to her and she took a few steps back. She was in the middle of nowhere and a madman was before her, what more catastrophe could she ask for?
The man pointed at himself and stared into her eyes. "Me?" This almost made Mildred roll her eyes. She glanced at her horse and outside. She needs to leave this place, it wasn't safe anymore.
"Don't come closer." She threatened and took a few walks back, without gliding her gaze from the man as she grabbed her things from the ground and sauntered using her back to her horse. She surged onto it hastily and scampered away. Her heart was still pounding loudly.
The man sulked and glanced at the stick, " Madwoman…" he mumbled. He threw the stick away and brushed his hands.
"You can come out now, she's gone." His tone was very different from the tone he had used with Mildred. His eyes didn't show naivety as they had shown earlier, it now held disdain and slaying intent.
"I didn't know you to be one to take things slow, Forsyth." A man emerged from the wall. His blue eyes stared directly at the front man.
The man, Forsyth, chuckled and turned around, "Didn't know Dominus's puppet gets to have an off day. Who would have thought the great Simon Cian would be someone's puppet,"
Simon remained serene by his comment. "I thought I'd meet her body lying cold on the ground the minute you arrived, but I was wrong." He strides closer to Forsyth, "Who would have thought Forsyth Seth would let his prey live more than a second?" He mocked. "Acting like a dumb child with her, I bet she wanted to laugh out loud and-" Forsyth clutched his neck and pushed him against the wall. Simon didn't look frightened nor did he retaliate. He simply smirks at Forsyth,
"Didn't know you were a pussy," Simon taunted. Forsyth released his grip and backed away. He tilted his head and looked out of the cavern.
"Say hello to my dear friend." With this, he left the cavern at a high level of speed. The smirk on Simon's lips crumples. He couldn't believe the blackwink that awakened was Forsyth's blackwink.
Blackwink wasn't just the name of an object or a sculpture, it was a name four sets of people gave themselves. And among all four, Forsyth was the most cunning.
He sighed. Protecting the girl wouldn't be as easy as it seemed, especially when Forsyth is determined to toy with her before ending her. He should have researched the sealers, Mildred's life wouldn't have been in danger if he had done it.
_________
Outside of the Verian kingdom [Northern Kingdom]
Inside an underground dungeon.
"P…please…I had to…" A young girl with bloody clothes with shackles around her hands pleaded, her face was bruised and her lips were bleeding. She was on the floor with her hands wide apart and held up by the shackles, her eyes were red as they stared at the man before her.
Dominus stared at Karina, he would have released her and let her live if she had said the truth. He takes a sip from his cup, but the taste in his mouth was the taste of metallic.
He got up from his chair gradually and headed for the door. He nodded at one of the men in the dungeon as he hiked out of the dungeon.
The agony cries of Karina were heard as he stepped out of the dungeon, he stepped closer to his horse. His nose caught the smell of something in the air.
"Why aren't you looking after her?" Dominic said, he had changed back his appearance.
"It was Forsyth, the blackwink awakened was his blackwink," Simon said. He had appeared from behind Dominic.
Dominic halted, "Forsyth Seth, it has been long. How's he?" He asked, his connection with Forsyth wouldn't declare they were enemies, but they aren't friends either. Well, they used to be friends, then enemies, and then nothing.
"Still as cocky as always. He's set on ending the young girl, his sealer, protecting her wouldn't be as easy as I had thought." He stretched his hand to collect the files Dominic had indicated in his direction.
"Make sure he doesn't. Apart from her being a rare talent, as his sealer he mustn't end her, you know the disaster it would bring." Simon ducked his head. He peered as Dominic climbed on his horse.
"Must get to the Mansion before that pussycat tears down her room. Look after the girl." Dominic said and rode away. Simon didn't stay long as he also disappeared after Dominic left.
______
At the Magnus's Mansion
"That piece of shit! Who does he think he is? Keeping me grounded at my own house. The minute I leave this room he's getting fired…" Alexandra mumbled as she cursed at Dominic. She was bored of being inside her room all day. As odd as it seemed nobody knocked at her door nor entered her room, something that hardly happened since the maids were frequent to her room.
It was dark and she wanted to move a little, her eyes searched around her room for something that could help her situation. Suddenly an idea came to her mind.
Her window…..
Without wasting time she hurried towards her window, opened it, and stared outside. The guards were a few downstairs. Dominic wasn't home since he left a few hours back. She pushed back and pulled all her curtains down. After attaching them she tied the edge to the window. She then threw the rest of the curtains attached outside the window and glanced at the length it achieved, and thankfully it reached a few meters from the ground.
After verifying if it was tightly hooked to the window, she unhurriedly moved her legs across the window. She held onto the curtains and climbed down. She wasn't sure what to feel because all types of sensations were what she was feeling, and her heart was beating fast.
As she was halfway down her window she heard a rip from one of the curtains.
Oh no…please no.
She couldn't climb upwards, she didn't know how to, she hurried her steps as she went down but it only intensified the ripping. She was sure she wouldn't be making it if she fell.
As she climbed down the rip only worsened, and she couldn't wait for it to rip completely, so she hurried down.
The gash went larger and larger and suddenly it snapped off the window.
"Ahhhhhh!" Alexandra screamed as she fell, the distance wasn't that long but it would be life-threatening. She closed her eyes and waited for the big fall, but it never came.
And then...
"Open your eyes or I'll drop you," The deep but teasing voice only belongs to one person.
Michael!
She snapped her eyes open and looked at the man before her. She blushes a little as her eyes meet his.
"Put…put me down…" she said shyly and Michael released her.
"I had no idea this is how we'd be meeting after many years." Michael chuckled as he teased, her heart beating faster at this. She became thankful it was dark because her tomato-red cheeks would have been very visible to him.
"Silly." She mumbled as she blushed.
"I didn't know you were coming today, or anytime soon, or to Verian. How was the journey?" She asked but ended up hitting her head. "Where are my manners?" She mumbled, "Please come in." She invited Michael in.
"Not until you tell me why you pass through the window? Departing a room is what doors are made for." Michael asked, but the teasing in his voice made Alexandra at ease.
"That's also what I thought until a devilish man changed the theory."
"Your guard?" Alexandra didn't know if it was just a feeling or something but she detected something from his tone as he mentioned her guard.
"Who else would it be? I was thinking of firing him, probably at dawn." She lets out a series of sighs to prove her point. She had thought Michael would disagree but she was wrong.
He nodded, "If you think you should then do it. After all, he only has a few months with you, I can't see why it would seem different if he leaves now rather than later." Alexandra felt a ping of discomfort in her chest. She opened her mouth to be but was cut off as another person appeared behind them.
"It isn't good manners to stimulate a bad proclamation, Mr. Davis, especially not when that's a place you are visiting." The husky voice came from behind them, startling them. They were so engrossed in their talk that they didn't know when he arrived.
-- Gift
received