Escape

Stretching his arms out in front of him, he slowly lowered them to Brigitte's back and clumsily patted her on the back. He found the gesture so intimate and exhilarating that he was thrown into a fever.

The girl gradually calmed down in his embrace. She, too, embraced him and, laying her head on his chest, stood still. Liam froze.

Finally, Brigitte let go of the young man and, taking a step back, fixed her hair and her shawl. She crouched by the water and beckoned Liam to sit beside her.

She wanted to start a conversation, but she was a little embarrassed. Luckily, Liam spoke up.

«My condolences,» he said, «this is terrible news.»

«...»

«What do you intend to do?» Liam asked cautiously.

Looking at him with tear-filled eyes, the girl turned her back to the water and said:

«My only salvation is marriage soon ... My distant relative has taken it upon herself to arrange my marriage,» the girl poured silent tears, «she has written that she has found a groom ... and ... he is fifty-eight!» Brigitte couldn't hold back any longer and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Liam blinked. This had never occurred to him. He'd seen weddings and people usually married one-year-olds, give or take a few years, but this!

Liam fell into a stupor. He didn't know what to say to the poor girl. He just sighed and frowned. Brigitte suddenly grabbed his hand and with burning eyes said:

«Save me Mr. Glinier!!! Marry me, don't let this old man ruin my life!!!»

Liam recoiled, but the girl still held his hand tightly. Time stopped and the young man drifted in weightlessness, losing his ability to speak. The girl, seeing his stunned state, let go of his hand. Standing up, she slowly backed away, asking for forgiveness.

Liam turned his head and watched her walk away. He immediately jumped up and caught up with the girl.

«All right, I will marry you, but I must tell my parents.»

«Oh, no! They will lock you up and I will never see you again,» wailed the girl.

«No... My parents are not like that,» the young man justified, «they will understand, they have compassion for other people's grief...»

Brigitte Scott did run away, leaving Liam heartbroken, and for the next ten days, no matter how long he waited, she did not come. And since she didn't say exactly which inn she was staying at, Liam could only return faithfully to the riverbank and hope for a rendezvous.

Cal followed him a couple of times out of curiosity. Losing interest in the story, he went about his business, but four days later he happened to spot Liam walking toward the river and mechanically followed him.

This time Liam did not wait in vain. Brigitte appeared for a moment, handed him a letter, and hastily disappeared. The letter said that in three days she would be waiting for him at the eastern gate of the city at sunset.

If he loves her, he must come in secret. They would go to her town together and get married.

Liam dropped the letter and stood like a stone statue. What should he do? After living in the world for eighteen years, he still didn't know how to behave in such situations.

If he told his parents, there would probably be a scandal. If he sneaked out, he would break his mother's heart and anger his father. If she refuses, she will betray Brigitte and be forced to marry some old man.

These thoughts made his blood run cold. He turned and went home, having forgotten all about the letter, and when he returned to look for it, he did not find it.

Cal picked up the letter as soon as Liam was out of sight. Quickly running his eyes over it, he frowned and reread it. There was no doubt that the girl was up to something bad, but it was so strange.

In this world, it's common for men to plot treachery against women. Why would she do such a thing? Cal didn't know if he should do anything and went home.

For the next three days, he continued to watch Liam, trying to figure out what decision the heir to Glinier had made.

By the end of the third day, pale and drained from his torment, Liam packed some things and went to the east gate instead of practicing. There he met Brigitte.

Cal gave them a long, unblinking look. When the figures could no longer be seen on the road and were just a dot on the horizon, he turned abruptly on his own two feet and ran to the Head of the City.

He wouldn't tell Liam's father about the surveillance and the heir's secret meetings. He said that he noticed the young man sneaking out of town with an unknown girl and on the way he lost the letter, which he immediately handed to the Head.

The man jumped up as soon as he read the letter and almost collided with the short, round-faced man as he ran out of the office. They stared at each other in silence for a moment and then shook hands.

«Glinier, I'm here on behalf of the Viceroy,» the man began...

«Can it wait?» The Head asked distraughtly, and added, «Liam has run away from the city with an unknown girl.»

The man turned pale and grabbed the Head by the sleeve.

«Ancient Spirit!!!»

Hearing those two words, the Head turned even paler than his guest, and a fire flared in his widened eyes with horror.

«The trail led me here, it was here and it is possible that...» the man did not finish as he was interrupted by Mistress Glinier.

«Brother, what happened?»

«Darling, quick, order the horses saddled, Liam is in terrible danger...»

Cal reacted faster. He rushed downstairs, giving the order as he went. Everyone hurriedly saddled their horses and set off in pursuit.

Liam came to his senses. He was bound hand and foot, and his mouth was stuffed with rags that made him want to cough all the time and made his eyes water.

He stared in horror at Brigitte, who was pacing the poorly lit room. There was an unfamiliar coldness in her eyes, and in her hands, she held a sharp dagger. Noticing that he couldn't wait to talk, the girl smiled with a frightening grimace and said.

«My dear naive Mr. Glinier. What kind of an idiot would you have to be to believe a stranger? Are you so moved by my tears? Ha-ha-ha,» laughed Brigitte, «and I'm not even a girl!»

The hairs on Liam's head moved on their own. What do you mean, not a girl?

«I'm not even human, ha-ha-ha,» Brigitte amused herself more and more. «When you were first born, I was a weak creature, miserable, feeding on people's energy and barely making ends meet... But once I saw you! You had enough energy in you to last me forever, but it was impossible to get close to you, so I left to become stronger.»

Liam mooed something on the floor, trying to spit out a rag, but to no avail.

«Turns out a woman's beauty can blind you and make you stupid. How glad I am that I tried that way! Look how far we've come. You are now in my hands and your future is predetermined!»

Liam was surprised to realize that Brigitte's always melodious voice had become low and brutal so that the skin on his head went numb with fear. The young man lay on the floor, swallowing bitter tears and praying that someone would save him!

But it seemed that the future did end here in this room... Suddenly the door was kicked in and his father, his mother, Cal, and a stranger ran into the room. Instead of being startled, Brigitte laughed even harder.

Quickly grabbing Liam, she put the blade to his neck. Everyone froze in indecision.

«Dear guests,» Brigitte announced, «come and see me for supper.»

«Let him go!» The Head wailed, and Liam suddenly realized that his father loved him very much.

«Of course, I will let Liam go,» Brigitte said suddenly, while simultaneously making a thin incision in his neck, so that dark blood flowed down it.

The sight made Mrs. Glinier lose her head and fall to her knees, stretching out her arms to her son in a silent cry. Her husband squeezed her shoulder, the man holding back his anger with force.

Brigitte enjoyed the show. She licked the bloody blade with her disgusting tongue, and those present were speechless from the horror that gripped them.

«Somebody else, come on,» she taunted the audience, «ask me to let Liam go. Well, who's brave?»

«What do you want,» the Head asked with difficulty.

«Hm?» Brigitte laughed and began again to drive her sharp blade across Liam's face. «I want to live. I want to live happily ever after.» She put the blade to the young man's heart and cut through the thin fabric to expose his chest.

Mr. Glinier stepped forward and froze. Brigitte slid the blade over the delicate skin, leaving a scarlet trail.

This torture drove everyone presents mad, but Brigitte seemed to be taking indescribable pleasure. Finally, she got tired of watching their faces twist with fear, and she said:

«The thing is, I don't like people who don't keep their word, and your son has promised to marry me. I would gladly break my engagement to him, but I need a ransom» Brigitte pointed her dagger at the head and his consort.

Lin cried out, but it was more like a mooing.

The girl patted his bare chest and said:

«I don't know how dear you are to your parents, you may still have to «marry» me...» Brigitte swung to thrust her blade into Liam's heart and then Mistress Glinier cried out.

«I will go in his place,» she said with numb lips, «take me...»

Brigitte rejoiced! She beckoned Mistress Glinier to her with her finger, and she obediently went. Liam burst into tears; the Head clenched his fists and tried to stop his wife.

Brigitte struck the woman at the base of her skull with the handle of her dagger and she fell to the floor.

«Freeze!» Brigitte shouted threateningly as everyone wanted to run to Mistress Glinier. She thrust the dagger into Liam's shoulder, and he collapsed to the floor in piercing pain.

«I'll have you know that this beautiful dagger is poisoned with a deadly poison...»