A fight for dominance and nobility

chapter seven : All is fair in betrayals and rewards.

Lucy

The dark clouds have already covered the London sky. Apart from the thunder rumbling, there is something wrong about this whole situation. Ever sinc3 Zadue raided Alexander Blanchet's carriage,  things out of the normalcy realm has even spiraling out of control.

' I think we should tell Lord Alexander Blanchet about Zadie.' I turned to look at my companions. Who refused to look up at me.'Zadie is a human like us. A stubborn one to be exact.'

'But she is one of us we need to support her.' Flora inquired. 'If they found out that she is the raider they are going to kill her , and you know it.'

'So what ?' Bridget snapped. 'We have all abided by her stupid rules mainly jecause Lady Crowe said she needs friends. We befriended her even though we never really cared about her. I thought we agreed that we are never going to get attached to her.'.

I smirked. 'True. Zadie is nothing but an orphan with delusions about a perfect world. She lives in a fairy tale world. A stupid make -believe world and I am sick of it.'

Flora frowned.'Do not speak ill of her. Are you doing this because of the reward ? Ten thousand pounds for finding Zadie or information about her whereabouts?'

I stalked towards Flora and narrowed her eyes infinitesimally. 'Yes!' She admitted harshly.'Let me tell you one thing Flora, life is not all sunshine and rainbows. This ,' I gestured I gestured at the little bungalow we were in. ' is not life. Meeting here every single day to converse about gender equality and political structures is something I never plan to do for the rest of my life!' She spat , and Flora flinched.

Bridget sighed.'Flora , I know you are afraid,  but do you think you want to grow old without getting married and having babies all in the name of "Zadie said you cannot?"Bridget raised her brow, patiently waiting for flora's answer.

Flora fiddled with her fingers and years were now pooling in her eyes. I understand that she cares about Zadie , but she should remember why she even became friends with her. Just because she grew to love her does not mean she did not do this for money as well.

'We only became Zadie's so called devoted companions mainly because Lady Crowe offered us money to be with her all these years. I think you should remember that everything Zadie did we reported it to Lady Croqe including the raid.' I sat down next to Flora and stared deeply in her eyes. 'The main reason Lady Crowe decided to travel to Manchester was mainly because she was afraid Lord Alexander would find her. Lady Crowe knows everything , and Zadie is clueless.' I hit the table with my fist and tears trailed down her cheeks.

'Decide.' Bridget warned , sternly. ' it's either you come with us to Lord Alexander Blanchet’s manor or you die with Zadie.'

Flora gasped.'You do not mean that!' She raised her voice and I chuckled darkly.

'Watch us do it.' I managed to say the words through gritted teeth. Flora stood up and rubbed her forehead in frustration.  I understand that we put her in a dilemma , but she decided to befriend Zadie along with us knowing this day would come.

'Fine.' She croaked.'I will do it.' Her lips were now trembling out of fear but there is no turning back.

'Good.' I smiled at her.'I already summoned Mr Johnson to take us to Lord Blanchet’s manor.'

We did not waste time but get settled in the carriage. We all went mute. No one said anything but I could feel guilt radiating off Flora. She never stopped sobbing lightly and I am glad Mr Johnson is not one to stuck his nose where it does not belong. He never asked us any questions which is something I am grateful for.

The wind was howling like a blood hungry wolf. It was hard to ignore the cold biting into my skin. The weather pattern is strange and mysterious no wonder why we are never going to be able to predict it.

After an hour we were finally heading towards Lord Alexander Blanchet’s manor. It us massive. It's structure is built as if it was from a medieval era. The walls are tall, and the gates are closed. As soon as Mr Johnson halts near the gate we take it as our cue to leave. I give him a dew pinds before stepping out of the carriage and walking into the unknown.

Before saying something , someome opens the gates for us , and we walk in. It is so strange that there is no garden or any plant for that matter but just statues and cobblestone. We walk towards the large oak doors with grey round handles on them. Shakily , I wrap my hand against the ha dle and knock twice.

We can hear footsteps and the door swings open revealing what looks like Lord Blanchet’s butler. He is tall and slim. I thought someone humongous was going to be the one opening the door.

'Lord Blanchet is not expecting any guests at this hour.' He stated.

I cleared my throat.' We are here about the girl who raided his carriage.'

'Follow me.' He instructed and we stepped inside while he shut the door close. On either side of the hall , there are portraits of what I think is past owners of this manor. Probably Lord Blanchet’s ancestors from past generations. The red carpet with gold shripes on its sides is beautiful and it really makes the room brighter, not to mentioning the lit torches  on both sides of the wall. He leads us to to the different section of the manor where we climb long stairs leading us to the upper floor. He finally stops in front of two large doors with intricate designs that mesmerized me from first sight. It looks like am ancient symbol or something deeper than that. There is a weird circle symbol with two horizontal lines in the middle of it.

'Get inside ,Lord Blanchet is in the other side of the room.' The butler instructed, and I immediately pushed the door and we all sauntered inside.

We were met by an obsidian darkness that was lightened by the fire place on the opposite wall. Lord Alexander Blanchet was patently seated on the other side of the big luxurious table on a chair as the same comour as the table. The room has no source of lightning at all apart from the fire lit on the fireplace. The embroidered curtains were bavy blue which added to the gloominess of what I assume is a huge office. It was huge , and papers were stacked on the table in heaps as well as multiple files that served as proof that he was truly a business mogul.

He wore a dark cloak and surprisingly his hair was nit slicked back but a tad messy. He  has not slept for days. It is not a shock, it is expected for a businessman like him to always stay busy or perhaps he was worried about his raided carriage. There must have been millions in that courage and the infamous Zadie decided to strip it all away because of her selfishness ,naive and conceited nature.

Lord blanchet never spared us a glance. His eyes were fixated on his papers , and he was really focused. I think it would he rude to interrupt.

'Do you really wish to remain standing til you rot?' He spat.

Already trembling,  Flora immediately sat down , and we followed.

'Speak up. You have wasted five minutes of my time.' He looked up to look at us and his dark eyes seemed menacing.

I cleared my throat.'Well,  we have interesting information about the raid.'I spoke up in confidence eveb though deep down I was still contemplating my options whether coming here was a mistake or not.

'Go on. I do not have time.'He groaned as if he was already annoyed by us. He never looked up nor spared us a glance which I find disrespectful.

'Her name is Zadie Williams.' She is an Orphan from Lady Crowe's orphanage. ' Bridget stated.

'We have a photograph of her.' Flora spoke up and fished for Zadie's photograph in her pocket. She placed it on the table and Lord Alexander Blanchet grabbed it from the table and stared at it before his eyes grew wide with surprise. He must notice her from the Queen's coronation.

'Location.' He demanded.

'Manchester. The Conway's estate.' Bridget said.

He seems to be thinking a lot about the information. I gazed at his muscles that were tight against his clothing , and he was getting more agitate with each minute that passed. I could not read his emotion , he was stoic and radiated the aura of a dominance male. His fingers balled into fists, it was clear he was controlling himself and fighting whatever emotion from showing.

He leaned to the side and pulled out something from the table. It was a brown envelope,  sealed and looked bulklike something big was in there. He placed it on the table and glared at us. 'Ten thousand pounds. Leave.'