Chapter - 48

"It was the Lord's daughter! She did it!"

"Lady Aliana did it!"

The smoke burned Seraphine's eyes, but she didn't look away. She stared straight at the dead bodies of the two people she loved the most laid out on the mats.

Old Tom stood beside her, his voice cracked as he spoke, every word forced through grief and terror.

"I… I tried to stop them, girl… I swear I tried…"

Seraphine didn't look like she was listening to him.

"What happened here?" She asked, not tearing her gaze away from Elara and Finn.

Old Tom began telling her the details.

Finn dragged a small wooden table outside, and placed everything he had prepared for all these days on the table. He was going to sell all the excess meat and herbs he had stored.

One by one, he placed the wild boar smoked jerky, Star Leaf, Iron root herbs, Blood fur Rabbit pelts, and a bunch of other stuff to sell.

"I am gonna make a fortune, Grandma!" Finn grinned, "When Sister gets back, I will get you your medicine, and buy her a new bowstring and even a new iron dagger!"

Elara laughed softly from the doorway, "Just mind your manners, Finn. And don't scare off customers with that loud voice."

Soon hours passed by and he even sold a little. He smiled at everyone. Waved at the kids running by. And by noon, he had already earned 1 Silver coin and 60 Bronze coins.

And then he felt hungry. He was about to take a break when the ground shook.

Hooves thundered down the road, shaking dust off the roofs. A massive carriage tore into the village, throwing mud and gravel everywhere. Six soldiers in polished armours walked along with the carriage with sharp swords mounted on their waists.

The villagers scattered through the road, shutting themselves in their houses. Nobles meant danger, and they knew that.

But Finn couldn't move, his makeshift stall was by the road and he couldn't leave it.

The carriage almost passed his stall when suddenly the lead guard yanked his reins. The horses reared. The carriage stopped inches from the table.

Guards moved and opened the door for the carriage.

And a girl stepped out.

The girl looked about Finn's age, fifteen, maybe sixteen. But everything about her made her seem untouchable. She wore a perfectly white netted dress, a small pointed umbrella in her hands. She had a perfumed handkerchief pressed to her nose, as if the air itself offended her.

She looked straight at Finn and his sad little stall.

Finn swallowed, straightened his spine, and bowed so fast he nearly fell over.

"G… Good day, My Lady!" he squeaked, "Welcome to Greenleaf! Would you like to… uh… see my goods? The jerky is really good! My sister hunted the boar herself!"

The girl didn't even look at him. She stepped closer and poked the herbs with her umbrella like she was examining trash left on her doorstep.

"What is this?" she asked.

"That's a Star Leaf, My Lady!" Finn said quickly, hands shaking, "It helps headaches and fevers."

"And… And that's smoked boar. Really chewy! Really good!"

"And this is…" But the girl stopped him with a show of her hand.

Then the girl wrinkled her nose and turned to the guard beside her.

"The herbs smell tolerable," she said in a flat tone, "They might mask the kennel stink at home. And the meat… feed it to the dogs. They have earned a treat."

She flicked her fingers, "Take everything."

Finn's entire face lit up like sunrise, "All of it? Really?"

He practically tripped over himself helping the guards. The table was stripped bare in seconds. Finn stood breathing hard, clutching his hands together, eyes shining. He was already dreaming of money that was worth for weeks, and maybe more.

The girl stepped back toward the carriage, lifting her dress so it wouldn't touch the dirt. One foot on the step. Ready to leave.

Finn waited. And waited.

But the girl didn't reach for a coin purse. She didn't signal a guard. She was leaving.

Panic, cold and sharp, pierced Finn's joy.

"Um... My Lady?" he called out, his voice trembling slightly.

The girl paused, one hand on the carriage door. She looked back over her shoulder, her eyebrows raised in question, "What?"

Finn took a step forward, wringing his hands, "The... The payment, My Lady. You... I think you forgot to pay."

The girl stared at him. She blinked, once, twice.

"Payment?" She laughed at him mockingly, "You want me to 'pay' you?"

"Y… Yes," Finn stammered. "It's... Well, for everything... It comes to 2 gold coins. You can give me 1 gold coin and 50 silver coins, if you have them?"

The girl scoffed, shaking her head as if he had told a particularly stupid joke.

"You imply that your trash has value, peasant."

"You should be paying me for clearing this trash off my father's road. Consider it a tax for being allowed to breathe in my presence."

She turned away, dismissing him entirely, and began to climb into the carriage.

Finn didn't think. He didn't give a damn about who the girl was, or the swords that hung on the waist of those soldiers.

All he could see was Seraphine dragging a boar 5 times her size through freezing rain just to smoke that meat, Elara coughing blood into a rag every night, and the empty pouch under his straw mattress.

"No!" Finn yelled, "That's not fair!"

He lunged before his common sense could kick in and grabbed the girl's sleeve right as she was stepping into the carriage.

"You have to pay!" Finn shouted, his eyes looking desperate, "My sister worked her ass off for that food!"

His fingers clenched tight, into her arm, and with that, everyone there froze. The soldiers pulled out their swords, pointing them at Finn.

The girl looked down slowly at her white dress. Five dark smudges of dirt, dried meat and sweat stained the perfect white silk.

She stared at the stain like it was venom. The boredom in her eyes was replaced by disgust.

"Filth," she whispered, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

Then she screamed.

The sound was shrill, vicious, slicing through the quiet village like a blade.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!"

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