ORPHEUS

Chapter 11

It was beautiful, this little town. They had probably been riding an hour to get there. It was past noon and the sun was showering them with warmth as the wind tried to chill them. Katherine could tell that winter was getting closer with how cold the breeze was getting. The wind blew past the colorful tents of the marketplace they were in. She had never seen so many stalls togather, big, small, tall and short, all smashed into each other on both sides of a path, with very little space left for the shoppers to walk in, it would probably only fit four people side by side. Which was why she was attched to Orpheus by the hips, or so she told herself. He had one hand around her waist while the other was clutching the strap of the satchel that hung across his chest. Her waist where his hand touched her was warm, it was tingling, as if touched with warm water one second then cold water the next. She was fidgety, and no matter how delightful she found her surroundings, she could not pay attention to them due to how close she was to him.
She tried to direct her attention to all the colorful items on the stall, like the deliciously ripe looking strawberries that stared right back at her.

"Would you like some, angel?" She jumped slightly when she felt his breath near her ear. She hadn't realised that they had stopped walking and were standing directly infront of the strawberry stall.

"Oh no, it's alright, I forgot my pouch back in the cottage" she said, staring longingly at the red berries. She put on a smile and turned to face him. "Maybe next time?"

"What has you bringing your pouch have anything to do with you wanting something, I brought you here and its only common courtesy that I'd be paying for whatever you want to purchase. It would be ungentelman like if I let you pay for anything-" it seemed like he wanted to say more, but he realised that he was blabbering when he saw the teasing grin on Katherines face. He cleared his throat, cheeks reddening ever so slighlty. It was absolutely endearing, his blabbering. He just turned to the vendor. "How much for one bag?"

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After overindulging in fruits and sweets, Orpheus took her to what looked like a small boutique. It had a couple of gorgeous dresses being displayed from behind a large window pane. it had one slim door, which was painted moss green with pretty pink flowers painted on it, she observed as Orpheus pulled her in.

She gasped when she saw what looked like a wall full of racks and racks of spools made of brighlty colored fabric. The colors were fantastic, Katherine had never seen so much fabric in her whole life. It was a mesmerising view, a lady's dream. She loved it. And as she looked around she found more reason to love this little store, there were just so many dresses everywhere, some on mannequins, even on the floor while most were hanging neatly from rows of racks. She saw a large table in the centre with lots of cut up fabric of some silky red material, it looked quite luxurious, with scissors and some pieces of what looked like chalk stone, to draw a path for cutting presumably.

"Orpheus?" She heard a sweet voice call out, it was similar to the sound of bells. Katherine looked past Orpheus' shoulder to see where the tinkling voice came from, it was a woman. And she was absolutely beautiful. She looked not more then twenty summers, like herself. But unlike herself, she was tall and lithe, with delicate freatures. She had a slopey nose, small but full lips, eyes that looked like they belonged to a feline with the sharpest green irises she had ever seen, and what had most of her attention was the flaming red hair that fell past her waist in the gentlest of waves, brushing past her hips clad in a green dress that matched her alluring eyes. She was looking at Orpheus as if he was her light, with so much adoration and admiration, Katherine was jealous for a moment. A woman so beautiful looked ready to offer Orpheus her affection, she could not compare. She was beautiful, Katherine would admit, but she did not like her. And it seemed that she did not like Katherine either.

"Who is this?" She pointed with her chin folding her arms infront of her chest rudely, bringing Katherine out of her ogling. Her voice was no longer like bells, but more like the screeching of annoying crows on a stormy day. Her pretty pink lips turned into a frown, which only served in jutting out her already pouty lips. She was glaring at her with those foresty orbs that hid fire beneath them. She looked at Katherine as if she had killed her cat.

"This," Orpheus emphasised, dragging her in front of him, having her directly face the fires emitted from the womans catlike eyes. Orpheus though not oblivious to her behaviour, she noted due to his tense stance, was trying to be civil " is Katherine, she stays with me. I want you to make her a couple of dresses"

Katherine was sure her face was heating up, how could he just blurt out something like that, though at the same time she was slightly relieved. She was staying with him, she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. But the little princess had gotten red for another reason, she looked like she wanter to claw Katherines eyes out. Katherine would gladly return the favour if she even attempted to hurt her.

"Why is she staying with you? Since when do you get acquainted with little farmer girls?" Asked the snarky woman with a disgusted face, as if Katherine was not a human, but some troll. "And what could possibly look good on that creature, she is not worth my precious fabric."

"Sloane. Stop. If you don't, I'm leaving this store. She can wear my clothes instead." Orpheus said with conviction, a hand on Katherines waist, he was certainly getting comfortable with her. Katherine should mind, but as of now, with an insane woman hurling insults at her, it would be best if she was restrained, she thought with a sour look on her face. "I will not allow you to insult her, what is wrong with you? Why are you behaving like someone stabbed your cat?"

At that Katherine had to giggle, exactly what she had thought. Orpheus looked down at her when he heard her laugh, he was gazing at her with a small smile. She too was lost in his black orbs, so much that she didn't notice the dark red tendrils whipping through the air to get to her.

Breathless. That was how she felt. Not the kind of breathless she felt with Orpheus though, but the kind one felt when their throat was being squeezed so hard that air no longer got to their lungs. That was sure to leave a nice purple bruise, was all she could think about as she started wheezing, looking into Orpheus' wide eyes.
In the blink of an eye, he drew a dagger and sliced through the silky red tendrils. He still had her by the waist as she sagged against him, it seemed everything thing was after her soul these days.

She lifted her head off his chest and looked towards the deranged woman, seems like she was some kind of demon. In her light headed state, Katherine did not question what she saw. Though what she saw was not at all ordinary.

Her hair. Her beautiful red hair, it was slithering around her, no longer in the form of gentle red waves but more like a nest of snakes. They grew longer and sound as if they where hissing. And with her now red eyes and almost blue skin she looked terrifying.

"Don't. Look. At. Her." She said in the form of low pitched growls. "You're mine Orpheus, you can only ever look at me"

She was making her way towards them, step by intimidating step, some of her slithering red her flowing behind her like a cape. Katherine felt her heart pound with every step she took.

"What did you do with Sloane!" shouted Orpheus after he let Katherine settle on the ground. "Tell me where she is!"

"Oh that little elf of yours, you mean?" She asked with fake concern. Her pink lips turning blood red as all her teeth sharpened in to fangs piercing her bottom lip. "I had to dispose of what was left of her after I had my fill"

Her tongue slithered out through her sharp teeth, long and black to lick her lips. "She was most satisfying, and not a drop of her blood was wasted, I can promise you that"

Katherines blood ran cold.