"Lavender oil, Milady." Another said, eagerly pushing a carefully wrapped gift into her hands. The face that looked back at hers had wrinkles by the corners of her eyes that seemed to twinkled with abundant happiness, her grin wide. Which only got wider when she realized that she had Belladonna's attention fully to herself.
Her hands became a little shaky in Belladonna's own.
"You'll certainly love it, Milady."
"Thank you." Belladonna smiled back in appreciation, taking the gift, as she looked down at the package.
Something caught her attention at that moment though.
Right on the woman's wrinkly left wrist, was a tattoo. Moderately small, but artistically and beautifully drawn. She couldn't make out what exactly it was, or where she had seen it before but it did hold a sense of familiarity.
A scream snapped Belladonna's attention.
Something was heading right for her.
Swooshing in the air like---
Her eyes went wide and she froze.
FIRE.
She staggered back in a quick response to avert it, but quicker than she had moved, a red cloak was flung in front of her, hitting the torch aside, making her feel the heat for only a second.
Then, she could hear the King's boot stomping on the cloak taht had now caught fire. Gasps from the people, an angry order and the rushing boots that had stormed in through the crowds, as they went after the attackers.
"You are alright," said that voice of comfort, as that warm hand went around her shoulder, allowing her to lean against him. "You are safe."
Belladonna's heart was pounding in her chest, the thundering loud enough to be all she could hear, her hands were shaking, the gifts she held on them a moment ago, now taken away.
"Will you like to sit in the carriage while I handle this?" Eli asked, his voice calm, although she could sense the seething rage that laid underneath.
That wasn't for her. That was for her attackers.
It was good to know.
"No, Eli. I'm fine---"
"Let me go!" An angry male voice.
"Set us---" Another struggling one.
"Shut up!"
The guards were dragging two men from the crowd. It was easy to sight them, the people had moved aside, forming a clear path, no one wanting to punishment upon themselves by standing in their way. Their smiles were gone now, faded away like they were never there in the first place.
The life drained right out of the massive gathering, tension filling the air to the brim.
The guards behind them pushed the two men to their floor. They kicked up dust at the rough impact, as they fell face first on the ground and kissed the earth. Their hands were tied behind them, making movement a little hard, but one still tried to stand up before he was knocked back down by the guard behind him, leaving them with no choice than to be on their kneels.
Now that they were closer, Belladonna could see that one looked a lot older than they other, also they shared some similar facial features, asides from the fresh bleeding cuts they had on their face.
They were probably father and son, the younger one looked like he was in his late twenties or there about.
There was also the unmistakable anger in their burning in their dim eyes, like they had been terribly wronged.
That observation made a lump form in Belladonna's throat.
She didn't know any of these men!
What did they have against her? Why had they been after her?
"State your greviamce."
The older one spat on the floor and Eli raised his eyebrow ever so slightly.
"You will give us back my sister!" The younger one said, his voice full of pain and rage. "Give her back to us, you monster."
He shot up suddenly but fell right back.
Eli remained unmoved, not because his guards now had their spears directed it towards them, but because he knew this stood no chance to him.
The older one turned abruptly to Belladonna, his stormy gaze holding hers and she found herself suddenly stilled to a spot, a chill running down her spine.
"If you had died tonight, then you would have been lucky. Now what killed my Marikita, will come for you to--"
One quick snap and his words were cut short, dead before they were even spoken.
The body of the two men slumped to the ground, the blood from their slitted throat sinking into the sand, while their body jerked helplessly before it gave up in a quick fight.
Still.
Snap!
Belladonna blinked.
Her eyes had watered for some reason. For a moment there, it felt like that old man was getting into her head.
She let out a shaky breath, unsettled by the death, her kneels threatening to buckle underneath her from a foreign weight she felt had suddenly been placed on her shoulders.
"No one threatens my Bride." Eli's voice was cold, his presence unwavering by her side, his hand now around her lower back, as he held her to himself.
The support she needed.
"No one attacks my Bride."
The words seem to hit them, all the previous joy had now disappeared, the villagers eyes were on the lifeless body that the guards were quickly disposing of, their hands on their various gifts had gone still, their entirety, almost motionless.
While the guards were taking the men away on a plank of wood, Belladonna noticed something from the dangling left hand of one of the men. At the base of his palm was a tattoo. She couldn't catch what it was, neither did she know if the other had it.
The guards were now gone.
For some reasons, she likened the tattoo with the very one she had seen on that woman a while ago, although there was no way for her tell if they were the same thing.
Something cut across the night like a sharp knife.
A high pitched cry.
An old croaky voice from all the way down the right side where the people were standing.
A path was cleared immediately, till the owner of the cry was left alone at the middle for all to see.
There stood the woman Belladonna had seen with a tattoo a while ago.
Her eyes were no longer twinkling with excitement, tears poured down them instead, happiness gone. Her scarf down to her brown gown was glistering wet. Her lips trembled with every word she spoke, her body visibly shaking, but not as a result of the cold.
"Ahhhhhhh! What kind of King are you. You've taken them all from me. My husband, my son, and my daughter. I swear with everything I am that you will pay dearly for this."
"Seize her!"
The whiff of gasoline hit Belladonna's nostrils way too late.
Before anyone could make a move, the woman was up in flames.