The Great Escape

Chapter- 16

A knock on her door startled her.

Lifting her upper half by supporting it with her elbows, Kiara tilted her head to the side.

"Come in." She ordered and laid back as she saw her lady-in-waiting, come inside.

"My Lady." Lea bowed to which she received a gentle nod and a smile.

"You are finally here. I was waiting for you." She scooted to the side and patted the space beside her, indicating her to sit down.

Lea obliged. She sat down beside her and took a hold of her hand, gently massaging it.

"They say it is the witches." She whispered.

Witches again? Lady Kiara pursed her lips but said nothing.

"I overheard some of the soldiers talking. They are involved in the investigation process. They believe the attack was conducted by the witches."

"They have any evidence?" Kiara closed her eyes.

Lea was quietened. She continued to massage the Lady's hand but said nothing. This made Lady Kiara sigh.

"They do not have any evidence, do they?"

Lea exhaled a long sigh.

"Since they do not have any evidence, they are rolling on with their guesses to guide them." Lady Kiara nodded to herself.

"They believe the lack of evidence is the biggest evidence."

Kiara sat up with a start, knocking over Lea and making her fall on the ground. She groaned and rubbed her back, still on the floor.

Kiara did not wait for her to stand up. She leaned over the bed, gazing at Lea with a bewildered expression, strands of her brown hair sticking out from all directions wildly.

"What? Lack of what is what? Have they lost their minds?"

Lea sat down cross-legged. Her light green eyes looked thoughtful as she looked up at the Lady who looked like a crazed woman at the moment.

"Well, most probably."

The Lady backed away with a huff and resumed laying down on the bed.

"They believe if the murderer was a vampire, there must have been indents of its teeth. If it were werewolves, they would have torn them apart." Lea sat down on the bed, this time near the Lady's feet and started massaging them.

"But the bodies were intact. There were no indents, no scratches. Not a single wound. It could only be the witches, they said. They believe the witches were going to carry the bodies back with them for some occult practice but the maid, Ursula— they must have sensed her coming. The other guards were alerted before they could do anything. The witches had to flee without taking their killing with them."

"It is very much possible it was done by witches, but I still have my doubts. And why did they not kill Ursula? Why did they chose to flee before she sees them? Also, they were not going to take back their bodies. If they wanted to take back the bodies, it would have been much easier if they attacked the guards on the patrolling duty outside the mansion. It would have been easy to get away with it."

"If it were the witches, they had wanted us to find out. Like a warning." Lea whispered after some beats of quietude lingering in the air. "Also, my lady—" she produced a letter from the pocket of her dress. "A letter arrived from Marquess Edith." She placed the letter on the nightstand when Lady Kiara did not move.

"What does it say?"

"That there has been another incident of attempted arson near Bense. Two culprits were caught but they killed themselves while they were in custody before they could be interrogated. Two witches were also caught in an warehouse near our borders of Rotus. They had an unholy amount of Wort greenwood with them. They have been captured as well. They both are citizens of Rotus."