The castle seemed to have stripped off its elegance when seen from outside. Everything lavish inside was obscured by giant walls around the castle. Splendid sight was reserved for noblemen. Those uninvited had imagination as their friends. Words about the wedding would travel to ears of commoners in Avena and each of them would get a different version of the story to tell.

Saer also had things to tell, but none of it was based on speculations. The memorable events he had there been best to be kept as secrets. None of them were insignificant enough to be left as a sandbar of past. But something forgettable was under his control.

The garbage cart.

He pushed the heavy cart filled with bone pieces, pig heads, and kitchen waste. Saer stopped at rim of a pit, dug for waste management and began throwing the litter in. He dumped a quarter of it, then paused. Saer observed the surrounding then took the vessel out, facing opposite side of the castle. He confirmed nobody was watching him from top of the castle and opened its lid.

Darius' corpse fell inside the pit. Saer dumped some litter over it just to fool those who were probably watching his actions from windows of the castle. Saer was commanded to burn the pit after disposal to avoid foxes or bears infiltration in the city, so he did not fear of someone seeing Darius's body. He was declared a thief in the palace already.

Saer faced the vessel mouth towards ground instead of the pit and started to shake it.

Husk of birds, smoke jars and the scroll dropped one at a time. He shook it another time and the gold chalice bounced on ground. Saer threw the birds inside after not finding any use of them. He could not think of doing the same with those fragile smoke jars. He anticipated the jar would land on pig intestines and hurled it with caution.

It broke.

Smoke covered the pit like it was being lit on fire. Although making fire was on the list of things he was told to do, it was so abrupt that it did not appear natural by any means. And worse, there were no flames to justify the haze.

When the wind swept smoke away, then he saw changes the jar of doppelganger smoke had brought. Every object in there either had morphed into intestines of looked like they were about to be.

Fuck! Saer pushed remaining jars aside and picked the scroll by its blank side. He turned it around for rolling before dumping.

The other side was blank, too.

Lord Wernh'An will kill you. Saer recalled the last thing he had heard Darius say. The self erasing scroll made sense when put side by side with the dead man's threatening. He gazed at the scroll while being lost in contemplation.

My eyesight is miserable.... my bones have tarnished…. Saer's lips trembled when he remembered, I will be in the palace....

"Werhnh'An is coming here." Saer dropped the scroll in horror.

Whether or not Wernh'An was going to recognize Calajhans, the eye attached on Saer's head would not be unnoticed.

If the bride goes missing and a servant has got his eye, then it will confirm Wernh'An that the bride is a Calajhan. And disappearance of his spy…Oh God. Saer froze.

He glanced everywhere, hoping for suggestion from trees and birds, but it was an inanimate object had come to his rescue.

"A change in plan." Saer picked the jar laying near his foot, "I will abduct the bride but the wedding will still happen tomorrow."

He turned the jar sunwise infront of his head. The darkness within it was now full of beauty….