The Royal Deal

“Please, don’t kill me,” the unknown woman pleaded.

“Just tell me where you’re hiding her.” It was the same man as from upstairs.

“I don’t know who you are talking about,” the woman cried.

“The woman, who once called herself The Duchess, was with your workers.
She should be here, somewhere in the mansion!”

Amethyst’s eyes widened in shock.
She covered her mouth and stopped from moaning. Oh my god! I’m the one they’re looking for!

Amethyst realized now that the woman’s corpse up the stairs had hair colour similar to hers.
She needed to find out who these men were.
As quietly as she could, she peeked around the corner.

There was a man in a black mask threatening a maid, who was kneeling in front of him.
He had a knife that he waved around in front of her eyes.
Behind her stood the other man, also masked.
She did not recognize either of them, but she knew she needed to get away.
Turning, she headed back to the front entrance to escape.

In her desperation to flee, she stumbled and knocked over a table in the hallway.
Footsteps were approaching through the smoke behind her.
The men had heard.
She dove to the closest doorway she could find and shut herself inside.
This room had large windows that opened.
It was her means of escape! Pushing herself through the open portal, she tumbled into the bushes outside.
She didn’t have time to contemplate who or why someone was trying to kill her, as the sounds of the house collapsing from the blaze thundered in the night.
Getting to her feet, she dashed to the back of the manor and hid herself in the crowd of workers who watched sadly as the manor erupted in a fireball.

At the back of the crowd, there was a small boy riding on the back of an older man.
The boy’s clothing was quite nice which made Amethyst believe that this was the young master.
She wondered if the older man was Grandpa Parcy.
Regardless, she was glad that the young lord was safe.

Amethyst needed to leave this area, before anyone else was hurt.
Her heart ached for the woman who died because of her.
Turning from the friends she had made with these workers, she disappeared into the forest behind the manor and started running towards the mountains.

***

The chasers gathered in a field to report their findings.
They had been given a lot of information from the people of the town who had seen a lady similar to the appearance of the Duchess.
The two men who had been sent to search the manor house arrived.

“Captain!” the men greeted their leader.

“Did you find her?” the captain asked.

“We couldn’t find the woman,” the searchers admitted.

The captain frowned.
“Everyone said that she had been with the workers.
I don’t understand.”

Another searcher came running out of the darkness.
“Captain! A woman has been caught running through the forest.”

“It must be her! Bring her to me!” The captain felt victorious.

The chaser left and within moments he returned with a woman in tow.
He threw her to the ground at the feet of the captain.
The woman was sobbing in fear.

“Show me your face, my dear.” The captain commanded.

“Please don’t…don’t kill me.” The woman was trembling.

“Look at me.
Now!” The captain had lost his patience.

The lady lifted her head and looked at the captain, tear streaming down her face.
The captain frowned in frustration.
“That’s not her.”

The woman seemed a little relieved at his words.

“Really?” the searcher seemed disappointed.
“It’s not her?”

“It is not the Duchess Skad,” the captain repeated.
“Find the bitch! My knighthood was taken from me because of her!”

“What should I do with this one?” the searcher asked, indicating the woman on the ground.

The woman knew of their existence, so the had to kill her.
After all, the High Priest had said to do this quietly and leave no trace.

“Get rid of her,” the captain said.

The woman started screaming, “No! Please don’t kill me! Please!”

The searcher lifted the woman by her hair, dragging her into the field as she struggled to get away.

“And make sure to burn the body.
We don’t want anyone to find her.” The screams of the woman disappeared into the darkness.

“The rest of you, get back out there and find her!” the captain ordered the rest of the searchers.

The men in masks headed back out into the night.
The captain was eager to get his hands on the Duchess.
A few months ago, she had removed him from Duke Skad’s army because he made unwanted advancements on a maid.
Getting kicked out of an army was an unthinkable shame and a dishonour for any knight.

He had become a mercenary for hire and found out about the job required by the Grand Temple to search for someone.
He was shocked to be brought into the presence of the High Priest himself.
He was even more shocked when he found out that the job was to chase the Duchess.
He wasn’t informed as to why the High Priest was searching for her, nor did he care.
This was his opportunity for some revenge.

Even though he said to bring her back alive, I can’t let her go without a scrape. The captain smiled at the thought of getting his hands on her.
He was deep into a fantasy of what that moment would be like, when one of the searchers returned.

“Captain, another woman was spotted running towards the mountains,” the searcher informed him.
“How do you want us to proceed?”

“Chase her.” This had to be the Duchess, and if it wasn’t what was one more body?