Deadly Arrow

Chapter 6

We marched out of the forest with the purple hunter in front of me. The sun was starting to slowly climb higher as well as the temperature and I felt sweat form on my forehead. We approached the Raysand Manor from the back and a nervous pit started to form in my stomach. Annabel might not be so forgiving this time after I ditched her offer so rudely. Although I'm sure that Annabel won't hurt me or anything I'm worried that if she keeps seeing my face, her memory will come back and then there will be no stopping her from killing me. I was shaken out of my thoughts when the creaking of the gates signalled our arrival. The hunter and the standing guards exchanged a few words before the brute holding me pushed me forward roughly. I restrained myself from snapping the idiots neck and instead looked ahead at the grand doors of the manor. At night the doors were nice but in daylight it was absolutely stunning. You could tell that it was old considering the slight fading it has but the details and the symbol stood out clearly and defiantly. When the doors opened I saw that it was Mary, the nurse that attended me the first time I spoke with Annabel. When she saw me shock passed through her face and I laughed and winked at her.

"Long time no see eh?". She blushed at my remark and just opened the doors wider for us. I smirked at her as they pushed me forward and she blushed even more. My smirk quickly fell off as I realized that I was going on the familiar path to Annabels office room but not as a guest this time but a law breaker. My palms started to get sweaty and I gulped not really knowing why I was so nervous in meeting her. Maybe it was because she was intimidating as hell? No no I'm still scared about getting caught and that pisses me off because I never get scared. EVER. We turned the corner to reach Annabel's door and I noticed all the paintings on the wall. Every single of them were beautifully made with the skill and detail of a true artist. Upon closer inspection I found that there was no signature at the bottom and that puzzled me. Surely any artist would like to have recognition for creating such wonderful works of art. With my anger quickly forgotten and replaced with confusion the guards opened the doors to Annabel's office. She was in the same position as last time with her hair cascading down her shoulders and her delicate hands shuffling papers thoroughly. The thud of the doors hitting the wall didn't make her look up but instead she picked up a quill and started to write. The guard holding me let me go and grunted to another guard for them to leave. Once the door closed behind them I was left with 2 guards and the huntsman. We were left in silence for a while before the hunter cleared his throat loudly. That was again met with silence and he huffed in annoyance. I held in my laughter as I saw Annabel calmly look through her papers before speaking.

"Is there something that you need Frederick that is so utterly important that you rudely interrupted my work?". Frederick, as I assume his name is, stuttered at her coldness and gulped audibly.

"I...I....um...-"

"You what? Failed to catch something? Failed to do your job? Because that's all it seems you've been doing for these past months. I'm sick and tired of your constant failure. Because of you I'm needing to go and buy the food we need, draining the little money we have for this land, to feed this Manor when you could be catching the food instead! If you're here to tell me you once again didn't catch something I want you to turn around and leave this land. So I suggest you stop blubbering like an imbecile and tell me what you need to." Well god damn. She said all of this while still looking down at her papers and occasionally writing something down. Frederick glanced at me and I simply raised my eyebrow. He tugged on his neckline and gulped again.

"I...I.....My lady there was an intruder in the forest." She stopped all her movements at this and lifted her head. Her gray eyes met mine quickly and I gasped inside my head at their depth. In the back of my mind I still expected her to recognize me but I didn't show that on my face. Instead I did the one thing I was best at. Flirt. I smiled at her and bowed a little, mockingly. She looked at me for a second before a evil glint appeared in her eyes. Uh oh.