ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ꜱᴏ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ, ᴀ ꜱᴜɴ ꜱᴏ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ

xvi. all for one and one for the damsel in distress

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

A heavy fog had settled over the town, masking her presence to the three women she was spying on.

She had not meant to, truthfully. But when she had heard the words "arrow", "castle", and "kill" in rapid succession, her body had refused to move from its hideout behind the crates.

"Do we have to do it at the ball?"

"It's the only way to make them listen. We have been planning this for months, we cannot back down now."

"You never mentioned it was a name day celebration."

"That is what you are concerned about?"

"Silence, both of you. It matters not how or when we do it, merely that we do. Stone Hedge will be easy to enter during the ball - which is not truly about the name day, Mona, but about the castle's liberation. We can hide amongst the guests and get close to Harry if our original plan does not work. We will end this"

"A Blackwood, a Bracken, a peasant, and a bastard. What can go wrong?"

The voices moved down the street, swallowed by the fog and the darkness. Elle thought about following them, trying to find out more about that plan of theirs, when a sudden force threw her against a wall.

Her breath got knocked out of her the same moment a cold blade pressed itself against her throat. It all happened so fast, she had no time to defend herself in any way, being left to helplessly stare at the dark eyes before her.

"What are you doing out here, pretty girl?"

She was barely able to make out the woman before her, only noting her short hair and light cloak.

"Just taking a walk," Elle answered with a shaking voice.

"At this time of day?" The woman chuckled. "You were spying."

"That would necessitate a prior intention to listen in on a conversation, not simply overhear it when walking down an alleyway."

The woman moved her face even closer to hers, her breath caressing Elle's cheek. "Stay out of things that do not concern you, pretty girl."

And with that, she was gone.

Elle, of course, did not decide to stay out of it. She was the Golden Paladin, and despite her focus lying on helping the lowborn, she could not choose to look away when lords and ladies were threatened.

So, after listening around the town the following day and gathering as much information as she possibly could, she found herself a green dress and went about preparing herself in the inn's small room she was occupying.

Fixing her hair in the mirror before her, her gaze wandered behind her for just a moment, yet it was long enough to notice the woman from the alley standing in the shadows behind her.

How long had she been there?

"Like what you are seeing?" she said, trying to overplay her discomfort.

The woman scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to check if you were still holding onto that idiotic notion of yours."

"You have given me no reason not to." She fixed the bronze chain around her hip.

"Is a dagger to your throat not enough?"

"I am not easily intimidated." Elle turned towards the woman, who was still hiding in the shadows. "So either you give me a real reason to abandon my plan, or you leave."

"You will regret this."

"We shall see."

- -☆- -