Chapter 44

"Consider a great crystal ball in that shape of the full moon that is competent with the power of presenting the vision of a scenario before the watching eyes.

Now imagine if such crystal does fall and break into manifold pieces and each soul that was in the situation portrayed doth receive a single shard each.

That is their meagre and narrow perception of the incident portrayed and accordingly do they act: they either piece their fragment with the other, or stab those they reckon the scoundrel, under the influence of imbalanced judgement and lack of the grand view of affairs."

~

Eldritch Streets of the Town of Hazenvale,

Kingdom of Tristendyre,

The first Phrinight of the Second month,

XXI Year of Regency

As Jaycob cautiously approached the house, his foreboding seemed to take the shape of a threat.

He held his hand out to hinder Lady Minerva, who was following close behind him, and whispered over his shoulder, "The door seems to have been forced open."

Lady Minerva held her hand over her mouth to keep the sound of her gasp from escaping, for the entrance had been sealed before she'd left. The Archer immediately slipped the hood over his head and swiftly made his way into the shadows.

Jaycob looked to see the woman pursue soft and close at his stride. His words were hushed when he told her:

"Enter through the front door after about a couple of minutes and I will make my way through the secret entrance at the back. Be sure to pretend innocent of any potential uninvited guests."

The woman nodded and waited there whilst Jaycob silently traced a path through the concealed door behind the cottage's main front.

The dormant door that annexed was oddly bare open and the man was careful, for it was potential that the assassin may have found the dormant path out the house.

However, when he stepped into the house, more specifically, the bedroom, the door within was sealed. He could hear the voice of Aldric crying in chokes.

The masked man looked for ropes in the room, in order to equip himself before proceeding with his tread towards the uncertain threat that appeared to have invaded the desolate house.

Jaycob was thankful to have found the thick and braided cords that made the girdles of the curtains. After the straps were collected to his possession, the Archer's steps were guarded enough to avoid making any sounds whilst he approached the threshold of the room leading to the hall.

The tall and hooded man quietly watched to find a figure in a dark cloak foraging through the house, looking for the victims they were summoned to slaughter. Aldric was tied and gagged, left in a corner of the ransacked drawing room.

Just then, the front door creaked open slowly and Lady Minerva appeared to be entering there-through.

When the approach was made, he noticed the mysterious assassin immediately scuttle towards the seized child, holding him hostage with the dagger in hand. The ends of their cloak appeared burnt and singed; ergo, it was clear that this person was the arsonist.

It was most opportune, for the intruder had not noticed Jaycob, their back facing his stand.

He stepped in, scaling the distance between each other hoping to seal the mouth and lock the secret person against him.

Just then, there was the sound of someone hurtling into the room from behind him and both the Archer and the Assassin's attention shifted.

There was Missus Xavier standing there, looking both frazzled and petrified, for there were weapons and the potential stage of combat.

Jaycob's mind immediately expected an attack from the killer, for he was noticed. His first impulse was to cover his neck, for it was a common means of ending someone's consciousness temporarily by hitting the unfortified artery thereof.

Just as he pulled the collars of the hooded cape up to his chin, the person from behind had pounced on him, arms against his neck with the dagger. Being much taller, the advantage of warding their blow off was his.

The cloaked figure with the arms in hand should have known better than to mark his neck, but in the panic of the situation, this must have been their most convenient course of action.

Their weight was light and it felt like the assassin was a woman.

In a flash, Jaycob bent down abruptly without notice and her balance skid momentarily.

With his forearms bolted between his neck and her arms he pushed them out to gain release and secured her hand that held the condensed cutlass, for she was beginning to untie such hand for utilising the weapon's deathly faculty to stab him or potentially fling it on a distant victim.

Lady Minerva immediately made her way close and collected restrained Aldric there-from, releasing the muzzle that had muted his crying and speech.

The Archer's frustration enkindled when he watched Missus Xavier move towards the Chief Physician in order to help.

It was evident that the hit-woman had tried to hurl the knife towards the lady she was hired to kill, but the victim was not approaching her field of reach.

In a trice, Jaycob, who had no captives under the Assassin's grip to worry of, shifted his weight to gain power over the weapon and to pinion the mysterious woman in a cloak down against the floor.

There was a struggle that he held her at bay until Lady Minerva bound the woman's hands and feet with the cords that Jaycob had brought.

After the situation was resolved, the Physician sat down, heaving for rest. The Assassin had passively surrendered, knowing she was heavily overpowered, even singly by the Chief of Artillery.

Jaycob unyoked the restraints over Aldric's body with the dagger and the crying young boy folded to the Chief Physician's side like a faithful pet.

The Archer collected his coat and vest, which were besmeared with dirt and footprints, before sporting them. "What was the situation?" asked he.

Missus Xavier hushed her voice to avoid the heedful ears of the invader and began to narrate the incidents:

"About a few moments after you had left, Aldric and I were hiding in the kitchen with Elise. I decided she needed the comfort of your warm cape, for her body was cold and I worried it was unsafe. Before we could enter the drawing room to fetch it, I heard the door whistle open and the tread of this person.

I held my breath and hurried back to hide, but little Aldric froze in shock and began whimpering. I did not know what I could do at the moment, for they had a dagger and as much as I tried to draw him back into the shadows, he was paralysed with fear. When I stood back in the darkness till I could ascertain a course of action, the assassin took him and sealed his wrists and lips, but had not noticed my presence.

Aldric passively recovered from shock and began crying hysterically, causing a diversion where I could take Elise out of the house and leave her out through the back. When I returned to come save the boy once there were no means of the girl being hostage, I noticed you were entering", said the Lady of Mister Xavier.

"And where is she?", asked Jaycob, perturbed for the exposure of the child.

"I carried the child back into the bedroom when I noticed your entrance through the backdoor whence I had left", whispered she, most quietly.

Jaycob nodded, understanding that the secret door had been opened by the woman. Then, he strode towards the cloaked assassin, who seemed to know not that Elise was not murdered by her arson.

The wife of Mister Joab Xavier seemed far too innocent to have acted quickly in such a drastic situation, for she could have utilised the butter knives in the kitchen.

However, Jaycob was also aware that old Missus Xavier would never have faced such a traumatic experience as that, to be equipped with a swift mind.

It was admirable as it was that she had gallantly decided to return back to save Aldric, or knew that the assassin did not thirst for the child's life further than to hold him as a pledge against attack.

He removed the hood and unmasked the face of the hired killer and Missus Xavier gasped in shock.

"Ingrid Luna-ward?" asked she, bewilderment evident in her voice.

"Do you know this damsel?", asked the Chief Physician and the elderly woman nodded, "Yes, M'lady. This is the maiden my son Melvyn was betrothed to."

~