A MAZE OF GREED

The next morning came with the turmoil in Vincardine. The town was shadowed by the clouds of fear. The news of another dead body found in the woods reached the doors of 'the great manor' in no time.

Rees and other guards were already present at the site where the dead body lay still. No one could read the horrors that he personally had lived before the last ounce of life left the mortal shell.

Edwin got the news at the break of the down. He had not got any sleep. He decided to not step outside his chamber for he did not want to trouble himself when his mind was all over the place. He let Rees handle everything.

~"Master."~ He sighed unwelcomely when he heard Rees's voice trying to reach him. .

~"What is it Rees? Can not you handle one thing? This news will soon reach the Council and then I will have to explain everything. My mind is not in peace and you are bothering me time and again."~

Edwin could not contain his annoyance. He was already tired of receiving condemning glances from his uncle since the news reached his ears.

~"It is important Master. It is... it is about Ruth."~

Her name made Edwin sat straight. ~"What? Is she fine? What happened to her? Where is she? Tell me. I am coming right away?"~

Rees hesitated but agreed. ~"Yes. She will be here on the spot of the murder soon."~

Edwin stilled hearing that. He tried to reach Rees again. He wanted to know why Ruth would be there, but he could not reach Rees.

Edwin hurriedly left his room, and with long strides, crossed the corridor when he bumped into Lester.

"Lester, please do not stop me now-"

"I am coming with you. Hurry up!"

Edwin was surprised to hear that. He was expecting Lester to stop him, but instead, he was telling him to hurry up. That meant it was something severe than he guessed.

"First, we need to change our clothes." Lester pulled Edwin to his chamber where two sets of clothes laid neatly.

"Lester we are not going for a celebration. Why do we need to change our clothes?"

Lester gave an incredulous look to Edwin. "Sometimes I wonder if you are our true leader or not."

"Lester!" The authoritative Edwin was back.

"Apologies, my alpha. But we can not go there like this." Lester pointed at Edwin. "People and especially Ruth will recognise you in an instant from afar."

Edwin understood what his friend was trying to say. Wordlessly they both changed into simple clothes similar to the commoners and left 'the great manor'.

Edwin kept asking why Ruth would be present there and how she was related to this killing. But Lester kept mum and did not utter a single word during their way to the woods.

Edwin tried to control his anxiety and hoped that it was not terrible as he thought.

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Ruth fell asleep late in the night while reading Thea's book. She did not hear when the Green's door was knocked early in the morning.

She and Thea were too tired and lazy to care about it. But she heard the shuffling sound when Mrs Green woke Thea. Ruth mumbled in sleep if she needed to get up too, but Mrs Green told her to rest some more.

Ruth heard murmuring sounds coming from the kitchen, but her heavy eyelids did not let go of her sleep.

What felt like minutes, Thea shook Ruth lightly.

"Ruth... Ruth... please wake up. It is morning already."

Ruth groaned in sleep and swatted Thea's hand away. "Since when you became an early riser?" She mumbled.

Gulping down the lump in her throat, Thea tried again.

"Ruth get up or my mother would come to pull you out of the bed by herself. The breakfast is ready. Mother and father are waiting for us at the breakfast table."

That did the trick, and Ruth's eyes slowly shot open. She stretched her limbs and yawned loudly. Her eyes were swollen due to lack of sleep, but she bid goodbye to the warmth of the bed.

Thea helped her with her hair after she washed her face. They both changed into different dresses and stepped out of the room for breakfast.

Ruth noticed how strangely quiet Thea was. And when she sat for breakfast she felt an awkward silence around the table.

"Good morning Mr Green, Mrs Green!" Ruth smiled.

Mr Green was lost in thought, but he nodded in acknowledgement with a forced smile. Ruth knew his smile did not reach his eyes. Mrs Green did not reply as she had her brows furrowed, and Ruth thought she saw her eyes misty.

She looked at her questioningly.

"Darling, Ruth is wishing you a good morning!" Mr Green placed his hand on his wife's.

She looked startled and blinked a couple of times, then nodded her head. "Go-good morning dear." Her voice came thick.

But before Ruth asked her about it, Thea interrupted. "Come on Ruth. Eat fast."

"Why? What is the rush?" Ruth asked, sipping her hot coffee that soothed her throat.

Thea exchanged a look with her father. "I want to take you three to somewhere." Mr Green said.

"What?" Ruth asked. If Mr Green wanted to take all three of them somewhere, then it must be something special. Then why he did not look excited about it. It was very unlikely of him.

"Where are we going?" Ruth asked, to which she got replied by Mrs Green. "You will know. Now eat."

Ruth looked at Thea, but she avoided her gaze. Ruth did not understand why everyone was acting strangely, but she focused on her breakfast.

After more than twenty minutes, they were all ready to go to the unnamed location where Mr Green wanted to take them. Ruth had a feeling that Mrs Green and Thea also knew about this place.

Mr Green had called the same carriage from the last night with the same coachman.

They all settled in the carriage. Ruth stretched her hand to open the window, but Mrs Green stopped her.

"No, Ruth. Let the windows be closed."

Her eyes looked sad, but Ruth did not understand why. The carriage crossed the road, and inside it, Ruth's mind crossed the various bridges of probabilities.

The carriage stopped after some time, and she sensed Thea breathing through her mouth as if she was trying hard to control herself. The door of the carriage was opened by the coachman, and Mr Green first stepped out followed by Mrs Green.

Mr Green helped Thea and Ruth to step down the carriage. Ruth looked around her to find they stood at the beginning of the woods.

"Woods? What are we doing here Mr Green?" She asked in confusion.

Mr Green placed his both hands on her shoulders and said, "I have to tell you something Ruth. But first I need a promise from you."

Ruth saw Thea's mother wrapping her hand around her daughter's shoulder as if she was soothing her pain.

"Wh-what is it Mr Green. You are worrying me." Ruth sounded alarmed.

Mr Green opened his mouth to say something but the words could not come out of it. He just patted Ruth's head affectionately and offered his hand for her to take.

Ruth was puzzled. She did not understand what was going on around her. She accepted Mr Green's hand because somewhere she felt a need for support.

The four walked inside the woods. There were no people in her vicinity. Only the sounds of the forest felt familiar to her ears.

After walking halfway through the woods, she heard murmuring sounds of many people. She turned to look at Mr Green with a confused face, but he did not meet her gaze and kept his head ahead.

Coming out of the rows of trees, Ruth saw people gathered at a place. She recognised some of them as the O'Dells' guards from their uniform.

'what are these people doing here? And why Mr Green had bring me here?' She questioned herself but had no answers.

As soon as the people sensed their presence, the murmur stopped getting replaced by utter silence. Ruth saw Rees jogging their way.

"Rees? What are you doing here? Please someone tell me what is happening?" Ruth cried in desperation.

By looking at everyone's faces, her insides turned into a tight knot. Her hold on Mr Green's hand turned tighter.

Rees nodded at Mr Green and took Ruth's hand in his. She let him because she did not know what else to do in that situation. As soon as she let go of Mr Green, Rees pulled her into a tight embrace.

Ruth hide her face in his chest not knowing what to think or what was happening. She failed to see how Thea and Mrs Green broke into tears as they tried to sniffle their crying sounds.

Rees did not let her lift her head from his chest as he walked her some more steps. A minute passed, and then she heard him saying, "Ruth, I am sorry that you have to see this but just know that I am here with you, we all are!"

Ruth lifted her face from his chest to turn to her side. Rees let go of her but was very close to her body just in case he needed to act in an emergency.

With a thumping heart, Ruth watched as a guard slowly removed the white cloth that covered something. And the moment it was removed, her world came crashing down like a house of cards.