Will pretended to not notice his step father Walter’s ugly smile as he followed the soldier to the hall. The hall was completely empty except for a servant girl sweeping in the corner. She looked up as Will and the soldiers as they entered and quickly shuffled out of the hall. The soldier stepped towards the door that led to Lord Damien’s study and knocked.
“Bring him in”, a feminine voice answered.
The soldier entered the room and gestured for Will to follow him. Will entered the room and a middle aged woman about Will’s height stood alone in the room, looking out of the window to the courtyard. She was wearing a green dress with a corset and her dress perfectly matched her eyes. She had blonde hair just like her daughter and Will could feel the coldness emanating from her emerald green eyes.
Will bowed slightly and said “Lady Mildred”. This was the person who hated him more than anything in the world, the author of all his sorrows. The soldier placed himself near a door on the left that connected to an antechamber.
“Do you know why I called you here boy?” she asked in an emotionless voice.
“No, my lady” Will replied shaking his head.
“Do you know that my only daughter is upstairs, almost at death’s door?”Mildred asked, her voice rising a little. This was a surprise for Will, Geoff had told him that Messenia was recovering.
“No, my lady, I was told that lady Messenia was on the mend”.
“You were told..hmph.. By Geoffrey I’ll bet. That boy’s blessed with a good physique but not much of a brain, being friends with the likes of you” Mildred sneered.
‘And you seem to be blessed with a big vat of venom and not much a heart, you poisonous bitch’ thought Will. But he held his tongue. While Messenia could throw some insults at him, She was nothing compared to Mildred. Mildred truly scared him.
When Will made no reply, Mildred continued “What you may not have heard is that for her healing to be completed there is one more ingredient she needs”.
Will stared up at Mildred in horror. A sinister smile danced on her lips. ‘No, this can’t be”thought Will. Lord Damien and Geoffrey had gone to fetch Old Lady Mort. Will drew in a sharp breath as he realized it. Lord Damien and Geoffrey were gone, so was Master Rowan. Mildred had cleverly removed all his protectors. Mildred smiled as she continued
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“The mage told me that she needed someone close to Messenia’s age, but I didn’t share that particular bit of information with my husband. So, my husband and your dumb friend has gone off thinking that they’re going to bring my mother as the sacrifice. But the moment that mage agreed to perform the healing, I’d already decided that it would be you Will, even if she hadn’t needed someone young”.
Master Rowan was right. He should’ve taken a horse and whatever he could grab and gotten out of this damned village when he had the chance.Will wanted to jump out at Mildred and strangle her., but he knew that the soldier in the room would have him on the floor before he took two steps in the direction of Mildred. Will looked up at mildred with all the loathing he could summon from the bottom of his heart. Mildred smiled back at him coldly.
Will took a deep breath to calm himself. There was something that didn’t make sense. If he was to be sacrificed, why didn’t she just have him dragged to the mage by the soldiers and have him sacrificed and be done with it. Will knew that Mildred would enjoy watching him suffer and could be that she just decided to draw out his suffering by telling him early.
No, that wasn’t it either. As much as she hated Will, he knew that Mildred wouldn’t delay her only daughter’s recovery a minute longer than necessary for the pleasure of revenge, no matter how sweet it was. There was some other reason why she brought him here instead of just dragging him to the mage.
Will looked up at Mildred and said “There’s something else, isn’t it? That’s why you’ve brought me here instead of having your soldiers drag me away and immediately finishing Messenia’s healing”.
Mildred scowled at him as she said “I see you’re not stupid, boy. Too bad you were you were whelped by that bitch or you might’ve had a future”.
Will’s hands balled into fists as he struggled to control the white hot anger that was boiling up inside him. The soldier tensed and turned his body slightly towards Will. Will took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself.
When he looked up he saw Mildred smirking as she took in the effect her insults had on him.
“So what is it?” Will asked through clenched teeth.
Mildred’s expression returned to her usual contempt as she replied “For the mage’s spell to work there is one more condition. The person who is offered as the sacrifice can’t be physically coerced. He/she must go in willingly, giving up their life for Messenia”.
Will couldn’t help but snort at this statement. Will had always considered Lady Mildred as someone clever, ruthless and vile, but clever.
“You’ve lost your marbles if you think I’m going to go and willingly give up my life for Messenia”.
Mildred, however, didn’t seem all too bothered with his flat out refusal and insult. Mildred smiled as she said “ You will willingly give up your life for Messenia, perhaps more accurately, one of you will”.
Will couldn’t make sense of what she just said. Mildred looked towards the soldier as she spoke “Bring her in”.
The man opened the antechamber door and motioned for someone to come in. Will’s mouth popped open in shock as a weeping girl stepped into the room. It was CARA, master Rowan’s eldest daughter.