"Listen up, you miscreants!" Aron’s voice carried further than it should have, yielding an unwelco buzzing after sound that echoed across Arabella’s brain cage, "This here!" the man turned to point at the Eleazar manor, "Right behind is going to be your ho for the next few days and thus the only barrier that stands between your filthy flesh and the ravenous beings that roam the grounds beyond property lines,"
The trembling among the captives did not subside. On the contrary, it heightened, much to Arabella’s dismay.
"Don’t you go getting any funny ideas!" Aron continued, "Should you manage to escape you won’t have a chance in neither heaven nor hell to make it back to the border in one piece before nightfall," he stopped at once before adding in a much deeper, quieter tone that sent far more painful than shivers down her spine, "There won’t be any hole or shelter that could shield you from the nightwalkers’ keen senses so get it through to your skulls once and for all; you are here to stay,"
Aron made a point of taking short breaks between sentences as if to gauge the tributes’ reactions to his words, but that in turn had the unintended side effect of yanking on Arabella’s cords. Those cords that had for a job to ensure the smooth streaming and upkeep of her sanity.
Silas spared her not a glance since they’d stepped out of the carriages. Much like the deanor he kept around others, she assud it was to send a ssage, to give them a glimpse of what to expect? That too had its toll on her even if her main focus laid ahead with those lost souls that stood before her.
"I reckon becoming dessert is the last thing any of you desire," Aron straightened his stance after halting in place, facing them, "The rest is going to be explained to you inside, but for now, let introduce you to your gracious hosts; Lord Silas Eleazar and his wife, Lady Arabella Eleazar!"
Was it thunder that struck at that mont? No, not even close!
Then what was it that rattled every fiber in Arabella’s being right the instant Aron drew attention to her.
All of the sudden, those eyes that feared rising above knee level, darted up at once, in her direction.
It was hard to determine whether they stared at her or her husband since she had averted her gaze, but seeing it was unnecessary, the weight that had co down on her chest sufficed.
"I rest my case," Aron broke the stifling silence that sang along the winds, "Head inside, now!"
One by one, they marched by red faced Arabella, so glaring while others had the roundest, most curious eyes on.
There were those that retained the fear they ca with and those that allowed it to conquer them whole.
Many things must have been going through their heads, she thought. Perhaps seeing her brought them so relief, and perhaps it didn’t.
Maybe it did just the opposite... For so reason, the face of Vali, one of the n that had abducted her flashed behind her eyes right at that mont.
Well, for a known reason, since he had that sa look in his eyes as so of the tributes were giving her.
That of pity mingled with anger and confusion? As though she didn’t belong where her feet stood.
As her gemstones still scouted for sothing to land and stay on, a new image and realization hit her.
The loud jingling of their chains had consud every thought in her mind, keeping her attention from the rough looking bindings that restricted their wrists.
So rough and scratchy, in fact, that it had broken through the barrier of their skin, rendering them even more vulnerable to their environnt than Arabella initially believed.
"Do you need resting?" Silas’ voice broke through the gray tint that had cloaked her vision.
"No!" she squeaked.
Her eyes followed the last in line. That sa young woman that had caught her attention earlier.
Upon making eye contact, the poor captive flinched away and turned to look at the ground the way the others did.
A new river of mories sprung out the chest Arabella thought she’d sealed them into. Visual, olfactory and auditory, all at once hit her without a hint of rcy.
The signature sll of freshly wet dirt and greenery very shortly after rainfall, the squeaking of bats that barely sang above the royal hunting dogs that barked in the distance.
The fiery orange hue that fought with all of its might to colorise the dark blue that the moonlight that graced her offered...
But worst of all, on that night, was the cold that gnawed at her tender skin, sticking invisible needles up and down every exposed part of her body as she dragged her gown across the mud in the hopes of escaping her fate.
Her fate... Which was dissimilar to the tributes in many ways, but quite nearer in others.
"You are shivering," Silas spoke again, "I do not like that,"
"I do not like it either," she smiled sweetly, "But, considering the circumstances, it is more than natural for to feel the way I do. I’d be a monster if I didn’t,"
Perhaps a monster was too strong of a word, but Silas did not object or try to correct her.
Then again, her voice rose before he could say a thing, "I’d like to supervise the maids if you do not need around. May I go after them?"
Silas looked uncertain, to say the least. However, he did not protest and nodded instead, "You may go, but please, rest when you feel the need to,"
After a tender kiss on her forehead, Silas let go of her hands and turned to the man that stood ready behind him.
"Should I inquire about the last-minute changes that have been dealt to the list, my Lord?"
That was the last thing her ears had caught upon ascending the stairs and disappearing inside the manor.
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