VIOLET’S POV
“Do you hear that?” Elise asked and pulled me close to her.
“Yes, what are they all gathered and talking about?” I replied as I tried to strain my ears to the voices coming from the distance ahead of us.
“Let’s listen. I think I could hear something about the queen of the Pixies” she whispered.
I gasped as my eyes furrowed to the group of people that were gathered ahead of us. “See let’s hide over there and listen to them” I suggested pointing to the hidden part of a stall.
“Okay, come with me”
She led us to the side of the stall and we remained there to listen to the talk.
“Yes, she has been here, the queen of the Pixies,” a voice said in a whisper.
“What” another gasped in surprise.
“She has been with us for a long time now,” another voice said.
“No, not a long time. She came over here and we pledged allegiance to her” a voice said.
We strained our ears to be able to listen to them as most of them talked in a whisper. They kept going on and on, arguing among themselves about whose side of the story was more credible.
“We can hardly hear them well from here,” Elise said.
“There said the queen of the Pixies is here, Elise, what do we do?” I lamented. I was already overtaken by fear.
“No, I don’t think she is here anymore” Elise replied.
“But didn’t you hear that she now owns the rogues? They have pledged their allegiance to her” I said with eyes wide open.
“See, I think you will have to remain here. Let me go over there and listen to them. I will have to look for someone to clarify me on this” she suggested.
“No, Elise, wouldn’t that be dangerous?” I asked in fear.
What was she thinking, how would she say that she wants to go over there? What if they got hold of her and decide to throw us into the hands of their Lords? How would we escape the wraths of the rogues? They are terrible and I don’t ever want to face them.
“It will be more dangerous if we continued to grope in the dark with no idea of the happenings around us” she replied. “We need to know what is going on”
“Okay… okay, please be very careful, Elise, they must not know that we are complete strangers” I begged as I slowly let go of her hand.
I watched her leave and walked right into the crowd, and it was as if a vital part of me left. I held on to my chest as anxiety crawled up to my throat.
“Be safe, Elise…” I murmured with my hands stretched out in her direction. But I know she would not hear me as she was already long gone.
Soon, she was blended in with them and I bet no one would be able to easily figure out that she was not one of them. Now I am a bit relaxed. She is safe in their midst.
I watched as she tried to go into conversation with some of the people, asking a few questions and moving on to the next person. I hope she gets all the information that we need.
ELISE’S POV
“No, Elise, wouldn’t that be dangerous?” she muttered.
I could see the fear in her. Her fears are understandable, but still at that I had to leave her and walk right through their midst. We are strangers here and no one was accepting us. So if we want to survive another day here we have to keep our ears to the ground in case of any eventualities.
“It will be more dangerous if we continued to grope in the dark with no idea of the happenings around us. We need to know what is going on” I explained.
I hope she understands me. Going there might be a suicide attempt, but it is the only option that we have left. I understand her fears and I am going to be careful.
“Okay… okay, please be very careful, Elise, they must not know that we are complete strangers,” she said.
I left her even when all I wanted was to cleave to her side. I walked straight into the crowd as if I was one of them and I listened to their words.
Also, I got a few people to answer some of my questions, however, some of them don’t even have answers to most of my questions and I had to leave them and move on to the next person.
“Are you a stranger here?” the woman I had asked about what was happening eyed me and was trying to access me.
“No… no, not at all” I smiled with the wave of my hand. “I have been gone for a couple of days and I want to catch up on the happenings”
“Oh…” her eyes opened wide and she leaned towards me. “We have decided to be under the Pixies. The queen of the Pixies was here herself” she smiled.
“Okay… is she gone?” I asked and kept my voice steady and my tone low.
She shrugged for a couple of seconds and finally replied. “I wouldn’t know. But right now, we can no longer accept strangers. The land is at war and no one can be trusted”
“No strangers” I murmured and quickly adjusted my gown as if the news does not affect me.
She watched my reaction suspiciously, and as if suddenly trusting me again, she leaned closer to me. “Of course, no strangers. We don’t want spies checking in on us” she paused to look at me again and when it appears like she was satisfied, she added. “The war is going to be a big one” she opened her eyes wide as if to emphasize the enormousness of the impending war.
“Oh… I see” I murmured and tried to put up a smile. “And what becomes of the strangers? I asked.
She shrugged and hesitated for a while. “You ask too many questions, even those with obvious answers. “The strangers would be fed to the beast or may be thrown to the dungeon. There is no time for any form of trial now, we are preparing for war” she said into my ears in a low whisper. She made it appear as if she was already on the war front.
“Oh… that is…” I paused, but she focused her eyes on my mouth waiting for me to complete my statement. “That would be the best” I added with a nod.
“That will be so terrible for any stranger caught right now. It is best there go to Wantonlake than been caught here” she said with a look of false pity.
“Wantonlake…” I murmured. I have never heard that name before.
“Yes, the vampires would show more mercy. Once one pledges the allegiance to remain their slave forever, they would be spared” she revealed with a look of triumph.
“Wantonlake is the land of the Vampires” I murmured inaudibly.
“You say what?” she asked arrogantly.
“Sorry, but I came to get something” I started to walk away.
“Hold on” she called to me. “What is your name?” she asked.
I did not turn back but went straight to Violet.
“What did you find out?” Violet asked me as soon as I drew near.
“We will have to leave here now” I replied and took hold of her hands.
“What happened…?” she asked as she tagged along.
“They don’t welcome strangers” I replied.
“What” she exclaimed.
We have just one choice, either life or death and I don’t think either of us would choose death.
“The land is under the Pixies now” I revealed.
“Oh no…” she murmured. “And we have been warned to stay away from the queen. We would be beheaded the moment we are found here”
“The queen is here,” I said and gnashed my teeth.
She gasped and stopped but I pulled her to continue walking. “We need to move far away from here, very far away,” I said.
“Where else can we go?” she asked in a low and defeated tone.
A tear dropped from my ears as she asked the question. I quickly looked away from her and kept my head straight. Right now, our only choice is to survive each day.
When I finally regained myself, I replied with my eyes focused ahead of me… “To a place where we will remain slaves forever without hiding and begging for help”