A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth sat quietly while others spoke between themselves. Now the arrangements were a little different than the before. Lester wanted to sit with Elsie, so he exchanged his place with Ruth.

She was brooding due to it and asked Rees to go and sit with Thea and his beloved Master. But Lester stopped him, saying he needed to discuss something important with him.

Ruth was frustrated with all of them. Sometimes she wondered if they all had planned annoying her every chance they got. Nonetheless, she had to agree with Lester and sit along with Thea and Edwin.

Ruth was quite surprised that Thea had managed to make this boulder speak and reply to her every sentence.

After initial few minutes, she tuned out their conversation in which Edwin's contribution was limited to only monosyllable replies. Ruth could feel Edwin's gaze trained on her, burning her face and other times, boring holes in her head.

But she did not spare him any of her attention. She had decided to fight for her self respect. If she was willing to foresee her future with that man, then he needed to respect her emotions and needs first.

Ruth could not help but run back to the time a few minutes back. The man she bumped with in the market although handsome, had something strange about his aura.

His red lips, pale face, dark eyes and black curls felt attractive yet odd at the same time. She rubbed her fingertips uneasily.

She had never touched someone with such cold hands. The moment their skins made contact, she felt like the life had sucked around her leaving her into a vacuum.

Although Ruth was curious about that man, she hoped they would not cross each others' path again. Whatever it was, one thing she was sure of was she could never forget his face. Never!

Edwin was observing her curiously. He saw a light blush on her face, then a deep frown. He even saw her shuddering to close her eyes as if something disgusted her.

He subtly tried touching her knees, just to show her that he noticed and he cared. The moment Ruth saw his hand reaching for her knee, she immediately pulled her legs out of his reach.

This silent treatment she was giving him was torture for him. Edwin wanted to speak with her, tell her everything. But she was not letting him. Also, fate did not seem to be on his side in this case too.

So he decided to wait until they get back home. She would not be able to run away from him in his den.

The afternoon heat subsided, and the pleasant evening wind soothed their mind and body. As Rees had said, their carriages entered Vincardine's borders in the evening.

About half an hour later, they reached their home- 'the great manor'.

As soon as Ida got the news of their arrival, she came running out where the carriages were parked. She welcomed them with a bright smile which looked like she was more relieved than anything after seeing them.

The servants took their luggage to their respective rooms.

"Lady Elsie do you need me today?" Ruth asked Elsie.

She was tired and emotionally drained. She wanted to go home and sleep, forgetting about everything. Besides, she was excited to show Mrs Payne her gift.

"You may go home Ruth. Rest well! I will see you tomorrow." Elsie said with a smile.

When Ruth turned around to leave, she saw Edwin standing in her way. Their gazes clashed. But this time, Edwin did not see that tender look Ruth had reserved only for him. Instead, her hazel orbs looked empty and dull.

Ruth walked past him with a straight face, but only she knew what was the state of her heart.

*

*

*

The next morning, Lester was in Edwin's chamber when Thea was selecting a dress for Edwin to wear for the day. Edwin was in the bathroom taking a shower. Lester and Thea were conversing casually when he came out.

Thea gave him the shirt she had selected. Edwin put it on before buttoning it up.

"What brought you here so early?" Edwin asked while running his hand through his damp coffee brown hair.

He checked himself in the mirror. He needed to shave soon as light stubble had begun growing on his chiselled face.

"You said that you have a way to solve the mystery of those saliva samples."Lester reminded him.

Edwin was both surprised a little and happy at Lester's impatience in this particular matter.

"Thea, call Mrs Payne but do not let anyone know about it." Edwin told, taking both of them with surprise.

"Mrs Payne?" Thea was confused.

"Just do what I am saying and do not let anyone know about it, not even Ruth." He repeated.

Thea was still confused yet nodded before leaving.

Edwin and Lester left for the old building to wait there for Mrs Payne. Lester wanted to call Edwin a fool for inviting that human into his headquarters even though she knew who they were.

An hour passed, but there was no sign of Mrs Payne's appearance.

"Edwin this is ridiculous! We are wasting our time with her." Lester finally opened his mouth.

But Edwin was as quiet as an empty chapel.

Helplessly Lester kept fretting in his chair for the next half an hour before Mrs Payne finally decided to grace them with her presence.

"We are waiting for you for hours!" Lester welcomed her with a reminder.

"So?" Came Mrs Payne's arrogant reply.

"So?! So you have wasted our precious time. We could have done some other task meanwhile." Lester was now angry at her.

What he had not expected was a glare by the old woman. "Do you know how much chores this old lady has to do everyday?! Cooking, cleaning, washing, dusting and what not. Who would have done that for me if I had came earlier without finishing all of it?"

Lester sat stunned in his place while Edwin shook his head. His friend needed to learn how to deal with this woman!

"Mrs payne" He finally interjected, demanding their attention.

He gestured for her to sit.

"Mrs Payne, I called you here because we need your help with something." Edwin began to which she nodded silently in return.

Lester put the saliva sample that Elsie had found in front of her.

"Can you tell us what this is?"

Lester still looked unsure, yet he decided to see what Edwin had to show him about this woman.

Mrs Payne opened the wooden evidence box. A single leaf with white patches on it was inside the box.

She stared at it for a long moment before she picked it up with her fingers. She held it in the natural light that seeped through the drawn curtains of the windows behind her.

The white patch sparkled under the light. She then sniffed that leaf. Her face morphed into confusion as she did not understand what it was.

"It is a werewolf's saliva. But we do not know what is the other smell mixed with it." Lester explained.

Mrs Payne had no reference of where they found it and why they went to Bluemoon town.

She rubbed her fingertips on that substance to feel its texture. It was quite rough against her skin. She rummaged through the compartments of her memory. She had seen and learned thousands of things in her more than mysterious and adventurous life.

And with that past experiences, a possibility crawled up the piles of memories to the top.

Edwin and Lester, who were watching her patiently, noticed how worry crossed her features.

"Do you have a lab here?" She then asked.

"A lab?"

"A place that has various solutions and medicines stored for various experiments, Lord Lester." She explained.

"No we do not have that. But there is a room where we have kept many medicines and other things." Edwin told.

Mrs Payne was already walking towards the door. "Take me there."

Climbing down the stairs, they turned to right then enter a room that was packed with numerous glass jars and glass bottles.

Mrs Payne put that leaf on a glass plate. With a small blade, she scratched that white substance from the leaf surface. She collected it in a small circular glass plate, that was shallow in the centre.

Going through those various bottles, she finally found the one she needed. She carefully put a couple of drops of that yellowish liquid on the collected sample.

Edwin and Lester were observing her wordlessly with anticipation.

She then put a few more liquids in it before she let it rest for five minutes. After those five minutes, she checked the sample to see black coloured crystals had formed in it.

Lester and Edwin shared a shocked but confused look. They did not understand what that meant.

Mrs Payne then put that glass plate on a flame. And when those black crystals burst while oozing dark vapours in the air, a weird smell dominated the air around.

"No... h-how?"

They heard her whispering in shock.

"What it is Mrs Payne?" Edwin asked, now impatient.

She did not answer him and went to get a book from the nearby shelf. The thick book was about the gemstones and the minerals- geological treasures.

What was she looking at in it?

She flipped the pages in a hurry. Her squinted eyes roamed all over the white pages before they widened in shock.

"Wh-what? What happened? What do you find in that saliva?" Lester asked, taking a step ahead.

Mrs Payne gulped nervously with a shocked face.

"Painite!"