Chương 10: New Shoes- Part Four

The delinquency of the man's thoughts floored Sir Dante. Without consideration, he quickly dismounted his horse and commandeered the girl's little hand, in urgency, before she lambasted into the well.

"Ahhh!" Harriet stifled a scream, her throat turning sore.

On the horseback, the man referred to as Malachi, sat aggressively as he oversaw Sir Dante, helping the girl to get on her feet. Something suddenly flashed in his eyes while gazing at the poorly malnourished body of the child behind her gown. He tilted his head as he tried to find the ardor of her face. His eyebrows furrowed in disappointment as he couldn't see her face.

She felt familiar. Was she that person?

"Malachi, help me here and don't just keep staring. Could you make yourself useful?" Sir Dante groaned. He was taking the girl's shoes off as they were torn, and the bruises she got on her skin, obtained about a slighter amount of blood that now spilt freely.

"That's your problem. You saved her, then finish your doing" Malachi cried indifferently. This got Harriet aware of the intruders. Firstly, she pushed her hair to see the man helping to dust her dress. The man was as tall as her father, or a head taller. He was good looking too.

"Uncle, thank you" At the span of her observation, she parted her lips to convey her gratitude. Like her mother said, it was rude not to thank a gentleman.

She looked at the man with her dirtied face.

Sir Dante dropped the torn shoes, as he found the child's voice too adorable. Flustered, he ran a hand through his hand, and scratched the back of his head, before notifying "Never. Ever, go near a well, especially one as large as this"

Harriet pouted and dropped her head down for having to be scolded. She muttered "I didn't mean to. I just needed to drink. I wouldn't even think of leaving Papa and Mama. They'd be very sad"

Sir Dante was shocked to see the black stain all over the girl's face. Did she fall on the soil? Was that the reason she needed to get water? To cleanse her face.

"Hey child, look at me" Harriet jolted from the deep voice she heard. A layer of fear embraced her as she glanced at the man beside her, who shook his head at her and murmured "Don't, he is a bad person"

Harriet gasped "Really? Does he steal children?" Thinking about that, her blood froze and she felt the hair at her back stand in the air.

Sir Dante laughed hysterically. He continued to laugh, confusing Harriet, and infuriating Malachi.

"Is he a witch? Save me from him, please" Harriet muttered. She waved her hand to shoo the man "Go away from me. Get away!!"

Malachi's eyes turned cold as he gave attention to the tantrums of the girl. He took his eyes to Sir Dante and sighed.

The man was purposely doing this. He had no time to play boring games. Right now, he was impatient as he sorted to confirm if the girl was the person or not.

"Girl, I am no witch or less planning to steal you. But I will say, I am quite dangerous. Look at me" He uttered in one of his authoritative voices and this time, like a irresistible spell, Harriet raised her head to meet his face. She blinked.

Sir Dante ignored them as he grabbed the robe of the well and proceeded in fetching out a bucket of water. They ruined his mood.

"Who are you? Why do you have a mask on? And... A HORSE!!"

The man on the horse pulled away immediately. He was dressed, handsomely elegant and refined. The look fitted in the upper crust of society. He had sea rover eyes. They were almond-shaped. On his stone-hearted face was a flicker with curiosity over a stoic smile. His crescent-of-moon eyebrows were thinned and narrowed. He carried an imperious nose that complemented his prominent cheekbones.

In one sentence - He looked majestic.

But half his face was donned with a mask, and Harriet could barely take a look at him. The mask made him look grotesque as it was homely. She tilted her head as she noticed a scar, running down the masked cheek to his lips. Thinking she overstepped, after meeting the man's cold glare and growl, she darted her eyes away.

"It is rare to find horses in the town. Where did you get yours?" She blinked her eyes, hoping to get a positive response from the man. When she saw he moved and leapt to the ground, a low gasp evaded her lips, and she was scared.

"Are you going to kidnap me? If that is the case, could you reconsider? The church is not that far from here, and the priests, they often paraded this exact area for circumcision. And I don't want to leave my parents" She paused, as she had spoken too fast, which took half her oxygen and her breathing became formidable.

"I see" Malachi grazed his hand to the sword around his waist. Coincidentally, when he looked back at the girl, she as well was gazing at him.

That was...Refreshing, yet foolish.

"Uncle, I will scream" Harriet had told calmly, and in those words was a clear tinge of warning, which Malachi became aware of.

"I see" He unsheathed the sword, and as soon as the sharp silvery blade, graced her dull eyes, she flinched.

Out of curiosity, she asked, "Will you kill me with that?"

Malachi on the other hand, watched the facial expression daunted on the girl, but he was disappointed.

Then, a smirk crept into the visible part of his unfeeling face. He cried "Different. When one sights a sword, especially a child, their instincts quirk them to run and hide, but you..." He mused as he acknowledge her bravery. She should be rewarded.

"Do you know me?" He went on asking.

Harriet followed his words, and she pointed a finger at herself "Me? Are you speaking to me?" She said, innocently.

"No, I was speaking to the twin behind you" He articulated blankly.

"I have no twin. I am my mother's and father's only child" She retorted. Malachi narrowed his eyes at the insolence of the child. She was dumb, he noted.

"Your age. Tell me"

Harriet shook her head "I refuse to speak with strangers. One that is inspiring to murder me" She uttered.

"Hey girl, when I speak you look at me in the eyes" Harriet felt a cold metal kiss her chin as they were raised to meet the man's hideous face. She struggled with her sanity while facing the second bully.

"I speak to no stranger, but my family!!"

"I am getting a Deja Vu from your conversation, oh! Please proceed" Sir Dante smiled. He washed his dirtied hands and the little mud by the side of his cheek.

"Do you know who I am or what I do?"

"Don't scare the cat away so soon" Sir Dante declared. He was beginning to enjoy the banter between the two, and it was not every day one get to enjoy such a melancholy display.

"Some children bullied me" Harriet spouted, in a way to change the conversation, but the grown-up man before her was no fool to not perceive her thoughts.

"Then?"

"I will not allow you to bully me too, just because I am ill and unhealthy" She expressed with sadness.

"I see. Your age, tell me" His voice became colder and austere.

-------

Braces were covered by his waistcoat. He wore a white cravat, folded into a band and wrapped around the neck. There was a ballroom tie, with no knot fastened to the braces at the back. A grey coat further was stitched to his body, and on the side, a long mantle, with the emblem of Aysgarth - For peace and virtue, was stamped.

"Aren't you a little curious cat?" The voice mocked as though he were looking down on the child - for her foolishness - which was so. It just happened that he had to come in contact with this child in his bad temper when he was in a bad mood, still.

Harriet shut her eyes very tightly as she got scared of the man's croaky voice. His ghostly face didn't make it any better. He sounded like those monsters her mother had once impersonated and that shook her restraint to the core. Adding more alarming power to her arms around the stranger's neck, she responded in a brittle voice "Thank you"

Previously, a grasshopper was hiding below her skirt, and when she noticed the creature, her face paled and out of uncontrollable fright, she jumped on top of Malachi.

She didn't want to get down until the creature was gone. She loathed its mere existence.

"Hey! Child! Get a hold of yourself. We don't want you to be deemed a hooligan, do we now?" This time, Malachi softened his tone when the child suddenly nestled her head on his neck, probably hiding her face as if drowning in the world.. Feeling galled, he grunted.

"Aren't you scared of me, anymore?" Asked the man straightforwardly. He rested his gaze on hers, waiting to smell her reek of fear for him.

Harriet fluttered his eyelashes and immediately shook her head "No. You are a nice person. You saved me"

"You don't judge a book by its cover, child. I am more than a kind person. You don't know what I do, do you? Never call me kind!" Malachi sighed. He had to admit that this child surprised him. At least she showed a little bravery and didn't cower as a chicken in front of him as those previous children he had encountered did. However, she was foolishly brave.

He wondered why the girl felt familiar when in the sense, it was his first encounter with her.

Was she that person in his dream? He needed to find that out before he returned to Aysgarth.

"Malachi, we should leave. Did you hear the bell of the church ring? The place will be crowded soon. Let's go!!" Sir Dante said.

An outlandish scenario entered his mind, however, he was quick to disperse that vision. If Malachi was to have any slight idea of what he had thought just now, he'd be feeding him to his horse.

"Thank you for taking the grasshopper from my dress. You didn't mean to kill me, after all. I am eleven years old, but very pretty, right? My mother always complimented me. She says I am her angel and the most beautiful one in the town. Here, take a look at my hair, there's another col..."

"Malachi, they are here. The villagers. Let's leave now"

Malachi answered, "I know, so can you just quiet down?"

OUCH!!

"You are a pain in the ass!" He growled lowly, eyes dancing with intense rage that the little girl purring in pain while rubbing her little butt couldn't help but lower her gaze and frown angrily. Gaining a certain amount of courage, Harriet turned her head to the man and opened her mouth wide in awe. She stared at his golden-brown eyes hiding behind the weird mask, which stared at her too. Feeling shy, the little girl was quick again to break eye contact and suck in large breaths. She tried to take her stand when she felt a sharp weapon kiss her throat.

"Oh, you brute! Will you end her life. What was the point of saving her, then?" Sir Dante furiously yelled.

Realizing what it was, Harriet gasped. Again, she looked at the madness lurking within the stranger's eyes and parted her lips to speak, however, when she readied her voice to say the words, the cold metal kissed her throat even more.

"You are not her, I should have killed you. But, make sure I never meet you again, otherwise, I may kill you"

"Malachi!"

"Can you shut up? I will leave" The man's combed hair was untangled by the grip of the child, which was the reason he had her thrown to the ground.

"I helped fetch water. Take a drink, wash your face and return home, safely. At night, do not wander around. Sometimes, curiosity can be the doom of one's fate" Sir Dante explained before riding on his horse. Malachi followed after, notwithstanding, he took one last look at the girl, and a deep frown settled on his forehead.

"Are you truly that person?"