A MAZE OF GREED

The door of Mr Cooper's tailor shop opened, and a woman in her early twenties stepped out after closing the door behind her. She inhaled deeply and flexed her hands in front of her. She was exhausted after the amount of work she did. She opened a little pouch that she had with her to bring the coins out of it. A small smile formed on her lips as her hard work paid off well. Now she had enough money to spend the rest of the week.

She put the coins inside the bag again and took a step ahead when her friend called after her.

"Ruth, wait for me."

Ruth turned to face her friend, who worked in Mr Cooper' shop. Thea was the one who informed Ruth that there was a lot of work in the shop, and Mr Cooper needed a helping hand. She suggested Ruth offer her help in return for some extra pennies.

When her friend caught up with her, Ruth said, "I thought you are going to leave the shop after some time, Thea."

"If it is in that old man's power, then he would have made me work the whole night relentlessly. But I managed to freed myself from his clutches." The woman said proudly with a smile.

Her friend's words made Ruth giggle. "Shall we go then?"

"We shall"

Both women started walking in the direction of the Eastern side of the town, where they lived while talking animatedly about something. A chariot passed from beside them, and the horse neighed that made the women halt. The chariot was designed in wood with brown colour. They stared at it till it disappeared from their vision.

"I wish my soon to be husband take me to a ride in such a carriage." The woman said dreamily.

Ruth turned her attention to Thea. "He is a soldier. If his master allows then he might fulfil your wish."

The woman sighed. "I know. But he can't fulfil my every wish."

Ruth looked in confusion at her friend. "What is that you are wishing for?"

"I wish I could attend the celebration that is going on in 'the great manor'." Thea answered with hope.

"Why do you want to go there?" Ruth asked barely hiding her irritation.

The woman grinned. "If I could attend the celebration then I might get a better suitor than the current one. And if my stars allow then I might catch the attention of young master." She perked up her brows suggestively.

Ruth's eyes widened in surprise. "Why would you say something like that? As far as you have told me, I think your fiance loves you dearly. Then why do you want to be with someone like young blood of O'Dell?" She said unpleasantly.

"Yes, my fiance loves me and he is a good man. But he can't give me everything that young master, Edwin O'Dell can."

Ruth's brows creased in the middle of her forehead as she didn't like her friend's answer. Her friend guessed her thoughts correctly by watching her face.

She rolled her eyes. "You are acting like this because you don't know how handsome and rich Edwin O'Dell is. Don't give me that look. I am a human and humans are greedy." Thea said matter-of-factly.

Ruth stared at her friend, with the thought that she has a person to look after her and take care of her. But still, she is not satisfied with that. She wanted more and more. If Ruth was in her place, then she would have disregarded a mountain of money over a loving life partner.

When Ruth didn't look pleased with her words, Thea shook her head. "You are too naive, Ruth. You won't understand it now. But you will one day get what I am saying. We, you, me... we all are greedy. No one wants a life full of hardships. If you are offered with a chance of better life, you will jump on to it without wasting a moment. Trust me!"

Ruth was sure that it would never happen. She would never compromise on her values for materialistic gains.

"We should get going." She said in the hope of changing the topic.

She didn't want to continue this discussion as there was not a point where both women would find a common ground. Ruth didn't want to offend or hurt her friend so, she decided to drop the topic.

Thea suddenly looked excited as she grabbed Ruth's hand. "Ruth, we can't go to the celebration. But we can take a glimpse of it."

Ruth looked puzzled. "What? How?"

"Come with me. I'll tell you a secret. Come now, hurry up!" The woman said while dragging Ruth along with her.

Ruth had no idea about what they were doing in the dense bushes at the odd hour in the night. She was scared that if anyone found them, then they would be doomed. Thea pulled Ruth along with her trying to avoid the thorns and broken pointed twigs in the way. Both of them made sure to not make any noise to attract the guards' attention.

Finally, Thea stopped near a massive compound wall that was made up of stones. One could hear the soft sound of the music coming from the other side.

"Thea, where are we?" Ruth asked while rubbing her hand that got scrabbed by the branch of the plants.

Without answering, Thea glanced around, making sure that they were well hidden from the outside eyes. She then signalled Ruth to help her to remove the dry branches and leaves from near the bottom of the stone wall. A gap appeared after the place was cleaned.

Ruth watched in awe when Thea removed some stones to enlarge the hole.

"Come on, let's go inside." Thea beckoned the shocked Ruth.

"What? No! This is trespassing, Thea. And entering the O'Dell property will put us in a great trouble. Listen to me and let's get out of here." Ruth tried to change Thea's mind. But she was already crawling through the hole.

Ruth was left with no choice but to follow her friend as she didn't want to leave her alone. Unwillingly she followed Thea, and the women entered into the backside of 'the Great manor'.

Ruth was stunned to say anything as she couldn't take her eyes off the massive building. "Oh my goodness!" The words of astonishment left her mouth without her knowledge.

Thea pulled her hand and ran to the nearby tree to hide behind it.

Ruth came back to her senses as she realised what they just did. "Thea, we are dead if someone finds us out. How do you know about this route?" She asked the question that she should have asked for some time before.

Thea smiled. "My fiance used to work here, he showed me that way. How do you think we used to secretly meet each other? But since he is been sent to work at other property of the O'Dell family, I stopped coming here. But, tonight is an exception." She laughed like a small girl with excitement.

Ruth pursed her lips. "But won't your fiance get angry at you to reveal this secret to me?" She asked curiously.

"How will he get angry at me when he won't get to know about our sneaking in the first place?" A sly smile formed on Thea's lips.

Ruth considered saying something when she heard the sound of a woman's giggling. They became alert and searched for the person.

"Look there." Thea whispered. Ruth followed the direction that Thea pointed.

She could see two silhouettes near the large pillar at the backside of the residential complex of the manor. This was the complex of buildings where the O'Dell family lived. The smaller houses belonged to their trusted and long-serving servants.

It was dark but the place where the two shadows were, was dimly lit with the torches burning in the stands on the wall. They couldn't make out what those two figures were doing there when everyone else was busy in the hall where the celebrations were arranged.

"Thea, please. Let's go back." Ruth tried again.

"Oh, Come on, Ruth. We haven't come this far for anything. We will just have the glimpses of the celebration and then leave. I need something to brag about in front of those dumb women who think they are better than me." Jealousy was evident in Thea's voice.

"But-"

Thea stopped Ruth from completing her sentence. "Let's see who are they. I can sense a juicy gossip there. Please, Ruth. Pleeasseeee...."

Ruth sighed dejectedly as she couldn't find it in her to say no to her friend. "Fine."

Ruth already started feeling remorse for agreeing to come with Thea.. She only hoped that they would not fall in any trouble.