The Royal Deal Chapter 217

Chapter 217

Chapter 217

Alexcent gestured for the children to co over. They pointed at themselves as if to ask if he was motioning to them. Alexcent nodded, and the kids shuffled over to him nervously.

“Perhaps you can help . Have you seen a woman, new to this town, with reddish-blonde hair and green eyes?”

“No!” The girl blurted out her answer with no hesitation.

“Really?” Alexcent was suspicious at how quickly the girl answered.

“Yes. There’s no one like that in this town!” The girl assured him. She then grabbed her brother’s hand, and they ran off in fear.

Athyst was definitely here. The instant the girl blurted out the answer without even thinking gave him certainty that she was lying. His heart began beating quickly with the thought of what he would do when he found her.

***

“Sister!” the boy cried as he was pulled along by the girl. The girl stopped once they were clear of the market and turned to him, out of breath.

“What?” she asked.

“Why did you lie to that man?” the boy enquired. “The green eyes, it was the person who gave us choco….”

The girl hurriedly silenced her brother. “Quiet! What if soone hears!” The boy nodded and she removed her hand from his mouth. “It wasn’t a lie.”

“But the person he was looking for, it was that woman who gave us chocolate, for sure,” the boy insisted.

“We didn’t see her today! Understand? If we admit that, grandpa will find out that we ate chocolate. Then we’ll be scolded. Do you want that to happen?”

“No!” The boy suddenly looked frightened.

“Good. So, let’s go ho now.”

“I thought we were going to be waiting in town for mom today?” The boy looked confused again.

“We’ll just wait at ho today. I’ll give you so more of the chocolate on our way ho.” The girl always knew how to motivate her brother. He smiled at the word chocolate and took hold of her hand once again.

The girl began to forget how scary that man looked. How he seed to have wanted to hurt the nice woman who had given them chocolate. She hoped, by telling the man that they hadn’t seen the woman, that she wouldn’t get found. After all, she wasn’t a bad person.

***

It was the middle of the night when soone began hamring on the door. A flickering, red light ca through the window, casting eerie shadows across the floor. Shouts could be heard from the yard outside.

“What’s going on?” Ancy shouted, as she rose to open the door.

One of the workers stood outside in a panic. “There’s a fire in the mansion! Co help!”

“Oh my God!” Ancy cried.

Athyst quickly got dressed, along with Ancy and they rushed out into the chaos of the night. Black smoke was pouring from the windows of the manor as flas licked the night sky.

“What are you doing, just standing there?!” a worker shouted as he ran by. “Bring a bucket of water! We have to calm the fire! Hurry!”

Ancy and Athyst grabbed buckets and ran to the lake at the back of the property to fill them with water. Workers were running back and forth in fear. Sowhere soone was screaming. As they were hurrying to the house with their full buckets, a maid ca hurtling out of the night.

“Help !” she scread, at no one in particular. “Please, soone help find the young master!”

Athyst looked around but no one else seed to be paying attention to her. “What’s the matter?” she asked, trying to calm the panicking woman.

“I can’t find the young master. I don’t think he got out! What should I do?”

“Those n over there, they seem to be organizing the rescue. Go tell them!” Athyst ordered.

The maid ran off towards the n. Athyst, hearing that it was the young son of the master, decided not to hesitate. She quickly ripped off the edge of her skirt, soaked it with water, and used it to cover her nose and mouth. Then she ran straight into the inferno that used to be a mansion.

The fire seed to be only on the second floor, so Athyst was able to make her way through the smoky halls of the first floor. She kept pressed against a wall so that she wouldn’t lose her way, opening every door she ca across.

“Young master!” she cried, as she stumbled through the smoke.

There was no sign of the boy on the first floor, so she tentatively headed up the stairs. The smoke was thicker here, but still no actual fire. It must be contained to one of the rooms, or maybe the attic. Like before, she made her way along a wall, testing doors for heat and then opening them to search inside.

As she opened the third door, she fell back, screaming. Lying inside was the body of a woman surrounded by a pool of blood. She had been stabbed in the back, obviously killed by so intruder. Perhaps that was who started the fire.

As Athyst scurried to leave, she heard voice coming from further down the hall.

“Did you find her?” a man asked.

“Not yet!” another answered.

“We need to hurry before the whole house goes up in flas!” the first man growled angrily.

These n were clearly looking for soone. Athyst had no idea who they were, but she had a feeling that she’d be in danger if she was discovered. She could hear footsteps approaching, so she quickly sared blood from the floor over her clothes and lay down beside the dead woman. As the footfalls echoed outside the door of the room, Athyst closed her eyes and held her breath.

“Damn! We’ve already been in this room.” The man’s voice sounded right beside her. She tried hard not to panic. “She’s not here. Let’s get out before this place burns down.”

As the steps of the n disappeared down the hall, Athyst carefully got up. She almost threw up from the sll of blood and smoke. She needed to get fresh air before she passed out.

As she made her way back down to the first floor, she heard the voices once again, as well as sobbing. It appeared they had found one more person in the house. Pulling close to the wall she quietly made her way to the entrance of the kitchen, hiding just outside so she could hear the conversation.