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Jack and Mira got up at the break of dawn. It was still dark outside when Jack went out to milk. Mira went to the hutch with the cages and under the cover of the dark, she entered space and called out to the rabbits. She picked 30 of the plumpest ones in each cage and walked out. She placed one cage on the ground and dragged the other to the place where Jack usually skinned them. Jack placed the milk on the kitchen table and came out wearing the apron that Mira had stitched for him earlier. The bell chimed just as Jack was about to sit to skin. Mira had placed the milk on the fire to boil. She walked over with Jack to open the door. Both Oden and Martin had arrived. Although Oden didn’t know how to skin, he could dislocate their necks. He wanted to help with whatever he could do. Soon they brothers started to work in synchrony. Oden dislocated the necks and handed the rabbits to Jack and Martin while they concentrated on skinning the rabbit neatly. Once the rabbits were skinned, Mir
“Love, how did you know they were married? How did you get that parchment?” Jack asked curiously after walking far away from vicious couple. “Almera gave it to me.” Mira gave him a sly look “It was more of a hunch once I knew Jason got his entry into the selection at court through Alina’s mom.” “Her mom is …” Mira paused “Let’s just say very shrewd.” When they came across a shop that had carpentry stuff, Jack got a box of nails for 1 gold coin. Mira got 2 leather gloves that were up to their elbows for 2 gold coin each. They strolled around for a while longer and decided to go back to the shop and wait for Almera. Mira saw a shop that had similar items to the supply shop and decided to take a look. Both of them realized that the prize for some things were much cheaper here than Joe’s shop. For instance, the lavender soaps were much bigger in size and for 50 silver pieces, they could get 5; alum cost only 5 silver pieces. They decided to get their regular stuff from this shop on th
Back in the shop, they sat and gossiped while Jack and Thomas discussed business and economic issues. Jack was well-read. His job at the Sleghs gave him access to update and maintain his world view. Thomas soon realized that Jack was not like your average educated free man. He had a sharp brain and clarity of thought that was perhaps even superior to his… He enjoyed the conversation and even discussed issues of his estate that he was hesitating on. Jack was open and frank with his opinion as he too liked Thomas’s straight forward personality and he didn’t want his wife to be angry. Mira told Almera about their encounter with Alina and Jason. “Shameless bitch!” Almera so angry, she really wanted to hit someone. “Do you think they will give up?” Mira looked at Almera with knitted brows. “Don’t worry about the bitch” Almera smiled “She won’t be able to escape the net we drew out for her.” “Um” “That fellow is a puzzle.” Almera pursed her lips. Jack and Thomas’s attention was drawn t
Mira got up after Jack fell into a deep sleep and entered space taking the oil she had bought for conditioning the furs. She worked the oil meticulously on each fur before leaving them to dry in the shade. She left space and snuggled in her husband’s warmth and fell asleep; a blissful smile hung on both their faces. Mira and Jack spent the early part of the morning cleaning the barn. They swept under the hutch and piled the rabbit droppings in one place and the manure of cow, sheep and pig in separate piles. The radishes, turnips and spinach were ready to harvest. Jack got the spade and Mira carried the empty baskets. Jack and Mira were pulling out the radishes and turnips when the bell chimed at the end. “I will go.” Jack headed to the side door. Mira continued collecting the turnips. Martin, Oden and Anne-Marie were waiting near the side door. They somehow knew the couple would be outside. “Come … come…” Jack smiled at Anne-Marie “Mira has been asking after you.” “Really?” Anne
In Alina’s cottage- “What did you find out?” Jason asked anxiously. “Jack leaves the house around 5 in the morning and only comes back after 2 in the afternoon. Mira stays in the house all day.” Alina spoke in a bored tone. “Um” Jason nodded as he calculated in his head. Alina thought of Mira’s last words and wondered if they should let go of these stupid schemes and live their lives happily. She was no more in between them. Was there a need for these schemes? “Jas, why don’t we let go and live our lives? She will no longer come between us.” Alina asked hesitantly. Hope filling her heart. ‘Maybe they could …’ “What do you mean?” Jason narrowed his eyes in anger “You don’t understand, do you?” “Do you want to live like this?” Jason snarled “Waiting for handouts from your mom and that …. That… man?” “Is this even a life??” Jason sneered, his eyes rolling with disgust. “Jas, don’t be angry…. I ….I…” Alina bit her lower lip “Forget I said anything.” “Alina, dearest…” Jason sat ne
“Oh.. no…!” Mira frowned “What’s wrong?” Jack tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ears. “We have to get home.” Mira looked anxiously at the door “We can’t get out…. That cunning fox is going to send someone over to our place to see if you are home.” “If we go out now… the door is guarded and the estate gates closed.” “Oh Jack…. I have made things a hundred times worse for you.” Mira’s eyes filled with tears… “Oh… how could I be so selfish??” “I didn’t want to give Lotta a chance to squeeze into our lives.” She sobbed “I wanted to save you…” “I….” Mira was feeling terrible. ‘Why did she have to be so selfish?’ “I would rather be stuck here with you than anywhere else.” Jack hugged her. “I am very happy to hear that you are selfish when it comes to me…...” Jack’s lips curled up “That tells me how important I am to you…” “Sweet talker.” Mira pouted even though her heart felt like it was smeared in honey. “What do we do?” Mira raised her head to look at Jack’s face. “Ho
“She has used up all her life force.” The healer had a nonchalant expression. “What does that mean?” Jack’s voice rose a few notches. By this time, the front room was no less than a theater. Firstly, Oden arrived with Mira’s parents and godparents, then Uncle John came with Aunt Beth and Anne-Marie… Lastly Almera arrived in her grand carriage. She didn’t want to cause a lot of noise, so she got the footman to stop a few yards away from Mira’s house and she walked into the house in a fluster. Almera was overwhelmed by the number of people crowded in the room; Their endless chatter didn’t help her nerves much either. She had just arrived in time to hear Jack’s outburst. Not just her, everyone heard; Their expressions became serious. Martin sat on the steps in a corner wallowing in guilt. To him, this was all his fault. If he had not told Mira about their situation, then she wouldn’t have worked herself into her grave. His cousin was so happy, and he spoiled all of it…. He grew up wit
While Mira was rushing out to meet Jack or rather rescue Jack, two people were heading towards her home. They missed running into each other by a few minutes. They decided to be wiser this time and came together. They were going to use the pretense of reconciling with her to get her to open the door. Once inside…hehe…hehe…. They stood at door ringing the bell and knocking on the door. Only silence greeted them. Jason wondered if he should use the side gate like last time but gave up on the idea as they heard voices coming from the road. Three men who were dressed roughly knitted their brows as they looked at the sneaky people outside the house. “This is my friend’s house” Alina smiled sweetly at the peasant that were looking suspiciously at them. “I am here to pay her a visit with my husband.” Alina held on to Jason’s hand affectionately. “You are friends with the lady of the manor?” One of them scratched his head. “Um” “The lady left a few minutes ago.” Another pointed in the d
Caleb wasn’t far off with his prediction although the healer's arrival had nothing to do with his message. The healer and a hooded man arrived at Southamberston Duchy late evening of the same day.Everyone was resting in their rooms when Harrison announced their arrival to Jack; Jack asked Harrison to clear the hall of everyone and to inform the others as he went down to the lounge area to greet his old friends.“Venerable one…” Jack greeted as he always did, without the airs of his newly found status.The healer narrowed her eyes as looked at Jack; she didn’t have her usual airy, fairy daze but this time, her gaze was sharp, like that of an eagle, before her lips slowly curled up and she knelt on one knee “Esmeralda greets the young marquess.”She had noted the Butler clearing everyone away from this area and the young commander circling with his men, she knew that there were no more prying eyes around them. The only thing she didn’t anticipate was the audience that was coming down t
Mira kept scolding and kicking the man, without showing the slightest hint of stopping or displeasure from touching his already bloodied body; the truth was, she was trembling in anger, her eyes red with rage, barely attentive to notice the state the man was in.Jack was stunned for a minute before he rushed after her and held her back in his embrace as he coaxed her, shamelessly boasting “Wife, I am fine. Look…. Do you think his three-legged skills are enough to harm me?”“Wife, calm down… let Lazarus deal with him.” Jack held her tightly in his embrace; he could feel her trembling in his embrace and his heart ached for her; although no one in the room knew, he knew why that statement triggered her so much. She had told him about her past life memories.Matthew and Harry had a helpless expression while everyone else other than Thomas and Almera had their mouths agape as they saw Mira in action. Thomas didn’t have time to admire Mira’s gallantry; he was busy soothing his wife who was
Thomas and Orseus stepped on their toes as they leaned over their father’s shoulders and read the scroll along with them; tears rolled down Cornelius and Baldwin’s cheeks as they saw the scroll in their sworn brother’s hand and read greedily.Their tears didn’t stop even though they finished reading the letter. The guilt of not being there when their sworn brother needed them the most was eating into their soul; they listlessly handed the scroll to Jack and Mira.“So now we have to find Esmeralda to cure Uncle Jerome.” Orseus pursed his lips. He called out to Jerome as Uncle Jerome smoothly, he had no difficulty as he grew up hearing these two names, Alex and Jerome; to him, they were family, more closer to him than Uncle Alaistair and his sons.“If we have guessed correctly, we don’t have to go anywhere searching for her.” Cornelius shook his head and added with an air of mystery “She is much closer than we think.”“Are you saying that the healer that we go to is, this Esmeralda that
“If only we knew….” Harry sighed regretfully “Then we could have followed that man’s trail and found Alex sooner.”“You think too beautifully... Alex would never lead a trail if this was his contingency plan.” Baldwin sneered before his expression turned serious “But we may have stumbled upon some unexpected luck in finding Alex.”“Did granduncle Zumerong shed some light?” Orseus asked, leaning forward eagerly.“Heh!” Corenlius scoffed “They were kept in even greater darkness than us.”“Then are you talking about the man who lives at Mer waters?” Thomas asked hesitantly; he really didn’t know why his father and godfather were so confident, just because he trained with Jack?“Son, you don’t know.” Cornelius shook his head “Leal can never be separated from Alex; wherever Alex is, he will follow, whether it is in life or death.”“There has never been a more loyal shadow.” Baldwin too sighed regretfully.“Then what are we waiting for?” Almera looked around curiously; Mira leaned forward a
Jack and Mira, along with the rest of their group, dragged their exhausted bodies and reached Southamberston palace at the break of dawn. Without making any noise, they all went to their respective rooms without any fuss. Everyone had a room at Southamberston palace even though they each had cottages specially prepared for them; both Martin and Oden went to the rooms that were prepared for them instead of their cottage.Early morning was unusually noisy with many unfamiliar faces around the breakfast table and yet it was as if no one noticed the familiarity of the unfamiliar faces at the table; the only exception was the three unfamiliar unfriendly faces as they sat through the farce as though they were watching a show and not part of it.Almera and Katherine joined them shortly after breakfast, as noisy as ever with Almera complaining that her husband didn’t love her anymore and that he was in love with his first wife, the estate responsibilities and that she always came second.Firs
Jack and Mira rushed back without stopping; their pace was originally fast, but it became even more rushed after they received John’s message which wasn’t much, just a short line written in a shaky hand ‘Matthew and Harry are back with three visitors’.Don’t misunderstand the shaky hand, it wasn’t fear… It was just John trying to write in his best hand. But unfortunately, it was bound to be misunderstood, due to John’s years of acting, acting timid, which was more believable for his son and nephew, more believable than his daring persona.Thomas had just entered his palace when his page rushed in and announced that he had a note from Southamberston and passed the note. It was the same note that was sent to Jack, written in the same shaky hand, 'Matthew and Harry are back with three visitors’. However, it evoked an entirely different expression from Thomas.Thomas stood up excitedly as he reached for his cloak that he had just hung up; he wrapped it around as he walked and called out to
Back at Southamberston, by late afternoon, a travel weary Matthew and Harry had arrived back at Southamberston with three additional unfamiliar men who were covered from head to toe, leaving only sharp eaglelike eyes.Without Harrison’s calm balancing act, the household was on the verge of being thrown into chaos when Beth walked in, in a hurry, ushered in by one of the maids who was flustered.The chaos resulted from the fact that there were three strangers who looked suspicious; the imaginative minds of the young staff who worked at the castle had worked themselves up with a theory they had concocted.Their theory was that the two elders who had gone to relax were held hostage, and they were unable to escape and were brought back here for the young Duke to save them; but the young duke wasn’t here; even Lazarus and Harrison weren’t here.The young maid who ran over to call Beth and gasped, almost out of breath “Lady…. Lady… Lady Beth, the elders have been held hostages by three sinis
Jack and Mira set off in the afternoon along with their men since there was nothing left for them to do here, at the manor and considering that they had been away from the duchy for almost a week.They first made a stop at the healer’s place as per Jack promise to Cornelius and Baldwin; however, there was still no one at the cottage. Jack quietly took the scroll that he had prepared previously and jumped over the wicket gate. He walked around the cottage a few times and returned as though nothing had happened.This was his agreement with the healer; he never understood why she was so paranoid, but he had always respected her rules in her place. When he returned, he no longer had the scroll in his hand. He had placed it in their usual place, inside one of the potted plants, one that looked just like the many potted plants that were placed in the backyard and yet she would correctly identify the one with message scroll.Out of curiosity, he had watched her once as she walked in through t
Everyone had rested at the manor after their late-night discussion and was up at the break of dawn, filled with vigor and new hope for answers to their decade long search. Somehow, they all had the feeling that they were closer to their quest, closer than they had ever been….After breakfast, everyone dispersed as quietly as they had arrived leaving behind Oden and Martin who were going to follow back with Jack and Mira.Corenlius and Baldwin decided to go by the healer’s cottage once more before heading back; Jack accompanied them while Mira stayed back to sort out and implement the plans she had previously discussed with Jack for their manor.However, both Cornelius and Baldwin were destined to be disappointed; the wicket gate was still locked, and the cottage desolate as ever, without any signs of life. Both Cornelius and Baldwin had a defeated expression as they considered what to do next.“I will come over once we have finished our plans for the manor and check on them.” Jack open