A MAZE OF GREED

"I am sure that you both will be happy to hear that the game is over and you have successfully completed it!" Edwin declared with a sly smile on his face.

The two spies were ecstatic to hear that. Their faces brightened up.

"It means we... will-"

"You will get your reward as I promised!" Edwin confirmed.

The men looked at each other with a look of victory, now that they had won the exit from the wolf's den. They thanked God by murmuring prayers.

The two guards came forward to unchained them.. The two men fell to the ground with exhausted and weak bodies. However, the happiness of freedom overpowered their fatigue.

"My Lord... I must say that whatever we had heard about you was partially true and partially wrong. You are true to your word but you are not ruthless. You have a kind heart, My Lord! You are great!" The spy of the Centaurs bowed in front of Edwin.

"My Lord, may I have one request please?" The other spy asked.

Edwin nodded subtly.

"Please do not let our names come into light. We do not want our names to be stained as traitors. Please My Lord, the kindest one, please give your word on it!" He requested.

Edwin's smile stretched by some more millimetres. "Do not worry about that. Your names will not be stained as traitors."

"Thank you! Thank you very much, My Lord! We will always be indebted to you!" The third spy bowed again.

"It is alright! You do not need to say those things. Now before I grant you your reward, I want one more thing from you two."

Edwin's words made them puzzled.

"Wh-what is it My Lord?" One of them asked.

Rees pushed two papers in front of them.

"These are just formalities. You know how humans trust only on the piece of paper and not on the person's words. I want you to give your thumb impressions on them and write your names at the bottom of the paper."

Edwin could see hesitance clearly clouded in their eyes. "Hurry up! We need to give you your reward before the Sun rises. Now you do not want to get trapped in Lord Agustus's hands.

I may be a kind-hearted person but my uncle..." Edwin purposefully trailed off.

"But My Lord, you said our names-"

"And I am still adamant on my words that your names will not be stained as traitors." Edwin smiled assuringly.

He could have made them sign those papers easily by using his power of compulsion. But he needed them to sign in their clear mind.

After a minute of thinking and analysing, the two men, eager for their freedom, signed the papers as per Edwin's instruction.

Rees checked the papers, then nodded at his Master. Edwin had already told a guard to sit in the faraway corner of the darkroom and write down every word that came from those spies' mouths.

That would be his case to represent in front of royalty when the time comes.

"My Lord, now can we..."

"Of Course!" Edwin smiled again.

The spy of the Centaurs looked at the fourth one. "Look how we both earned our freedom. You should have use your brain too."

The fourth spy did not reply. He could not believe how easily Edwin agreed with everything the other two asked. Was he wrong about the man?

The two spies stood up on their wobbly legs. The adrenaline rush that came from the excitement of freedom pushed them beyond their limits.

"It was nice playing with you two!" Edwin said.

But something in his eyes glinted suspiciously.

"Can I have the honour of rewarding them, My Leader?" A gruff voice, throaty and scratchy came from behind Edwin.

The darkness in the room made it difficult to see who it was. Edwin did not turn, neither his expressions changed. He stood at his spot calmly with that same smile plastered on his face.

A couple of breaths later they heard Edwin say, "Of course!"

The next breath turned out to be one of the last couple of breaths for those two spies as a wolf that was shiny brown in colour leapt onto them out of nowhere.

The cries ring, bouncing and reflected back after colliding on the stone walls. The blood and the shreds of the flesh scattered everywhere on the already dirty floor.

Edwin did not move as Lester's wolf tore the two men's bodies, pulling their insides out. Their blood bathed Edwin from head to toe, but he did not flinch.

The fourth spy was too horrified watching the massacre to make any noise. He was also drenched in the blood of the two unfortunate humans.

Lester's wolf gripped one of them's hearts and snatched it out of his body. Looking at the red organ, he howled, then tore it in two and threw it in random directions.

One of the pieces landed on the fourth spy and that made him scream from the depth of his pit. His lungs constricted with lack of air, and his mind... it was terrified for the rest of his life.

The man dared to lift his gaze up to see Edwin already looking at him with those same expressions. He was as calm as a cucumber as if he had not just permitted a wild creature to feast on two living humans.

The man's fear-stricken eyes screamed only one word- why?

Edwin had already agreed to let them reward if they won his game. And they did. Then why he did that?

"I always stay true to my words! They asked for their freedom so I freed them from not only my clutches but also from this sinful world. Now they will not be recognised as traitors because no one will ever know what happened to them."

The smile that broke after that on Edwin's face froze the man's bones in acute fear.

The man in front of him was no human, he knew that. But now he knew what he was. He was a demon, a monster, a god of death!

*

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Ruth was again working on Mrs Linlithgow's dress. She had studied the fabric, had asked Mr Cooper about it to know more knowledge about its texture and how could she utilised it well.

The man had an exceptional knowledge of fabrics, types of thread and other such things after years and years of working and handling them.

Ruth had made a sketch of the design of the dress. She had kept in mind all of Mrs Linlithgow's demands while coming up with the design. She had also added some surprising elements in the dress that she felt would look good on Mrs Linlithgow. Ruth only hoped that the lady would like them.

After preparing the design, Ruth showed it to Thea, her all colleagues and Mr Cooper. They all had appreciated it wholeheartedly.

Mr Cooper suggested to her some detailed corrections in the design that left Ruth amazed. The man was very good at what he did!

More than Ruth, Mrs Payne was excited to see how the dress would turn out to be. Ruth could not complete the dress during her working hours alone, so she had to bring the dress home to work on it during the night.

As much as Ruth enjoyed working on it, the task was tiresome. She had not gotten any good sleep. Her back ached, stiffened after sitting for long hours in one place.

She got cramps in her leg a couple of times, her fingers had bled numerous times because of the needle piercing into them that now she had lost count of it.

Ruth did not mind the hard work. She never had. However, if she would have got some extra pennies for her overtime work and efforts, it would have been fair and the icing on the cake.

Ruth sighed, her shoulders hunched forward a little. If only she had her own shop.

Ruth's hands paused. Her own shop?

She liked the sound of it but then scoffed, shaking her head. She must stop dreaming the impossible.

She was broken from her reverie by loud coughing sounds. She saw Mrs Payne sitting up, her face had turned red due to coughing.

Zoe startled up and raised her ears and tail in alert at the sudden sound. Then mewed in worry seeing Mrs Payne's state.

Ruth hurriedly put everything aside and ran towards the lady.

"Mrs Payne... Mrs Payne... are you okay?"

'Absolutely not woman! Can not you see! Go get some water for her.' Zoe chided Ruth mentally.

"Hold for a second!" Ruth rushed into the kitchen and brought a glass of water.

She made Mrs Payne drink it slowly while she rubbed her back up and down with her other hand. Lines of worry were itched on Ruth's face, the brims of her eyes had already started moistening.

After some more minutes, Mrs Payne's coughing died down.

"What happened to you, Mrs Payne?"

Patting Ruth's hand, she said, "Nothing, my dear. It happens with the old age. Do not worry about it."

"How can I not worry? You scared me!" Ruth's shaky voice gave out her vulnerability.

For a moment, she thought she was watching Mr Payne instead of Mrs Payne when he was ill. That thought alone sent a shiver down her spine.

"Ruth! I promise I am alright! Now let me go back to my beauty sleep or I will getdark circles under my eyes. Now you do not want me to look like that, do you?"

Ruth only nodded.

"And you too sleep soon. You need good rest, my child! Good night!"

"Yes. Good night!"

Ruth sat there till Mrs Payne's breaths came even. Zoe also went back to sleep as she had no interest in watching the other woman spending the rest of the night either worrying or crying.