“She’s all yours!”

That is, what I would’ve said, if the man wasn’t looking down on me with his beady eyes. Truly an unpleasant specimen. And it was definitely not because a large hand was on my head ready to squish my skull if I gave the wrong answer. That was definitely not the reason. I repeat that was not the reason at all. So, being the gentleman that I was, I politely declined the man.

“I would love to entertain your ‘master’, but as you can see the state that I am in, I’m very truly tired and would like to rest…”

“That is not a problem, my master only wishes to see your maid”

‘Read between the fucking lines you bug bastard!!’

‘Fuck! I can feel Bartha’s grip getting tighter… Goddamn it! Let just outright refuse him and get it over with…’

“No. My maid and I are busy. Let’s go Dorota”

Before he could get another word in, I grabbed Dorota’s hand and headed upstairs.

----

“James! Did you see that?”

“Yeah man, I think I’m going to swoon”

“Guess our employer has spine! To think he would go up against a duke!”

James and Charles were standing outside looking into the tavern through a window. Slacking off on their work to spy and gossip about other people was one of their most fun things to do. Of course, this was always short lived.

“You two dimwits slacking again? I thought I told you to get the hay to feed the damn horses an hour ago!”

“Uh… we weren’t slacking at all sis! This was just… uh… reconnaissance! Right Charles??”

“Yeah! Yeah!”

Both of them nodding their heads like a bunch of wood peckers. Looking at them Sandy could feel a headache coming in, the dimwits were spinning a tale so they wouldn’t get in trouble.

“So, what exactly did your ‘reconnaissance’ find out?”

“Um… the master got into a bit of a dispute with some duke… right Charles?”

“Yeah! Some Hubert or something from Heras!”

Hearing this, Sandy immediately became worried. If any sort of engagement happened because of this dispute, the ones in the fore front would be the three of them. Running wasn’t an option either, if they ran leaving their employers their reputation would get a considerable stain and more than likely stop them from receiving jobs in the future.

Seeing Sandy’s face, James could tell what was wrong.

“Sis, there’s nothing to worry about… In the first place we weren’t hired as body guards.”

Catching onto what James was saying Charles piped in.

“Yea, we’re guides! We’re supposed to look after the carriage and get to our destination through the most efficient and fastest route possible!”

"Madam Dorota said it herself! All we had to do was just find the fastest route to the capital!"

Looking at the two who were trying to comfort her, Sandy’s eyes softened. Still, some random noble from a small village like Bore Wood acting against a Duke worried her greatly. She left telling the two to be cautious and firmly deciding to be prepared just in case something happened.

----

“How valiant, young master! I almost mistook you for a knight!”

Dorota knew the reason for my actions. Still, it seemed to make her happy regardless. We were finally inside our room, a large space with a double bed and a small mattress on the floor. I could already see the sleeping arrangements that would come.

‘Whatever happened to that cold eyed maid I met that morning…’

Looking at Dorota who was smiling at me so widely that her eyes were squinted, I could only wonder.

‘Well… in a way… this is better…’

The running outside the tavern really gave me a lot of fatigue. I could only curse at the old Richard and his shitty drinking ways as I moved to collapse on the mattress on the floor. It was than a knock came from the door. Tired as I was, I just motioned Dorota to handle it as I closed my eyes to rest.

----

“A mere merchants son dares to humiliate me like this?!”

“Igor, go and bring that pathetic wastrel and his whore of a maid here now!”

Duke Hubert was in complete fury, his face red with anger. His body bloated, it felt as though the buttons on his expansive suit would come off any second. Such was the state Duke Hubert was in when Igor left to carry out his orders once again.

Igor was now facing the maid his master desired. Looking at her close up, he could tell why his master wanted her. Porcelain skin, hair as dark as the night sky neatly tied into a bun. Her appearance was so clean in her traditional maid clothes, one would instinctively get an urge to stain and defile her. But what truly seemed to capture one’s attention were her eyes. A deep blue that seemed to glow when you stared into them. You could feel a subtle cold chill lingering in those eyes.

Looking at the room through the door, Igor could get a glimpse of a haggard filthy man lying on a mattress.

‘Truly a bastard, sleeping on the floor just like one.’

‘Such beauty is wasted on the likes of him…’

“I come here with my master’s proposition again, it would be wise to reconsider…”

At Igor’s words, the maid stared directly into his eyes. Igor for the first time in his life felt a different sensation of fear. It felt as though those eyes didn’t see Igor as human. No, to Dorota what she was looking at was a piece of talking and walking meat. One that wouldn’t be able to talk nor walk for much longer. Igor was unable to move nor speak a word. The sensation gripped his heart, he could barely breath and his body refused to move.

Dorota took a small bell with a golden sheen from her skirt pocket. He looked on as she rung the bell. With the sound of the bell ringing, loud thuds could be heard coming from behind him. Soon he could feel a large presence standing directly behind him.

“Bartha, be a dear and take care of our unwelcome guest”

“There’s another one in room 5, do be quiet the young master is resting”

Igor could hear a nasally grunt, as he felt a large hand grasp his head completely covering his face. He couldn’t struggle in the slightest. Through the gaps of the hand’s fingers, the last scene he saw was a bewitchingly cold smile on Dorota’s face as she closed the door.

----

Hubert had finally calmed down after his outburst. Though he might be back in that state again, since Igor had been gone for more than 2 hours since then. It was now 7, the sun had gone down and there was complete darkness in his room. Except for the single candle that Hubert had lit to set the mood. A knock could be heard coming from his door.

“Finally! That Igor making me wait for so long!”

With a skip in his step Hubert got up from his seat to open the door. What welcomed him was a completely dark corridor. Looking both left and right all he saw was darkness. This was a Travelers Haunt; it wasn’t exactly safe to have bright lights that could attract beasts to be on after the sun comes down.

‘Was it my imagination?’

He closed the door and started moving back to his chair. It was than the knocking started again. Hubert again went and opened the door to an empty corridor.

‘Someone is messing with me…’

Normally Hubert would’ve screamed in anger and stomped his way out to find the one responsible. But this was a Travelers Haunt and it was currently night. Once the sun goes down, regardless of how strong a person was or how safe an area was, two rules always applied. No bright lights and no loud noises. Beasts that sleep at daylight and wake at night were the most dangerous. Most of them are attracted by these two things. Attracting one was equivalent to signing your own death warrant.

Hubert calmed himself down and closed the door again. Just as he started making his way to his chair the knocking started again. This time, Hubert cautiously made his way to the door. Making sure to step as carefully as possible, keeping the wooden floor from creaking. Nearing the door, he waited for a few more knocks to make sure the person was still there. he flung it open as fast as he could. Yet again, he was greeted by the same empty corridor that was pitch black.

Fear started crawling its way into his heart. Tendrils that tightened its grip on his heart every time he breathed. Hubert wasn’t by any means someone strong or brave. He was someone who ended up inheriting his fathers title after his father died in the late war. He wasn’t a mage nor was he trained in combat like a knight. Like any normal person he feared the unknown and the darkness that would shroud it.

The knocking started again, this time it was different. It was coming from inside his room. The knocking drummed a tune in a rhythm. His body unwillingly started moving to the rhythm of the knocking. He wanted to scream yet his mouth wouldn’t open. His body was no longer his to control, he was now a mere spectator to what it was doing.

He stopped at the only source of light in the room. The moon hiding behind the clouds as if it knew the horrors that were to come. The table with a flickering candle, a few documents and a metal letter opener with an ornate metal handle. His hands gripped the letter opener, as they moved to heat it using the candle. Soon a burning sensation could be felt on his hands, as if that were a signal, they moved to cut his face. Each cut slow and shallow as if to prolong his suffering. His tears acting as salt on the wounds.

By midnight the upper half of his white shirt was stained completely red from the blood from his face. With each inch of his face carved deep beyond recognition. His tear glands had dried entirely. The knocking finally stopped. His body fell face up on the floor. The final silver of life in his eyes caught a glimpse of a large figure in a black and white outfit before he was entirely consumed by the darkness.

----

I who had wanted to sleep was woken up by an evil hag, telling me that sleeping in dirty clothes like this was unsightly for a noble. Regardless of my protests I was forced to change my clothes and take a bath to clean myself. In complete darkness might I add. Finally clean and in a fresh pair of pajamas I was tired beyond belief. Frankly I was expecting the duke and his attendant to cause some sort of trouble, but it seemed they weren't that horny. I didn't know why Dorota was letting me sleep on the double bed either.

‘Too tired, don’t care…’

‘I’ll worry about things later…’

Finally getting to bed, I was asleep in seconds.