A MAZE OF GREED

Rees walked with a fast pace through the corridors of Edwin's office building, ignoring the greetings of his fellow guards and the stolen glances by the female servants.

The other werewolves around him could feel the tension radiating out of his body and wondered what might have happened. He knocked on Edwin's office door to hear 'come in' from the other side in reply.

Lester was already present there with Edwin.

"Master! My Lord!" Rees bowed in greeting.

The other two men sensed the gravity of the situation.

"What news do you have Rees?" Lester asked.

Wordlessly, Rees took a few steps ahead and put a thick box on the table. Lester and Edwin caught the attention of the box only now when Rees put it in front of them.

"Wha-"

The words froze in Lester's throat, his olive-green eyes widened in pure shock as Rees carefully opened the lid of the box.

Pin drop silence overlaid in the room as no man dared to make any noise, except the sounds of their rough breathing. All of their eyes were glued to the objects inside the box. A silver dagger glimmered under the natural daylight, and beside it were carefully placed fingers.

Yes, men fingers!

The bloodstains on the dagger clearly gave the idea that someone had used it to chop a person's fingers. But wait!

A person has only one thumb on one hand, and the thumbs inside were of different shapes and colours from each other. That meant they belonged to two different people.

"We have lost two of our spies, Master!"

Rees's words burned Edwin's ears as if someone had put burning coal inside them. Two of his men died, and he had no idea?!

"How the hell this happened?" Lester growled.

The energy of the three powerful werewolves dominated the air in the office room.

With a hard face, Rees replied, "Darius Garfield!"

That name broke Edwin's gaze from the contents in the box to look at Rees. He narrowed his now darkened eyes.

"What are you saying Rees?" Lester could not believe that the young Garfield dared to openly challenge them.

"As we were eradicating their network of spies, Darius found two of our spies and... It is an open challenge Master. He is done with the hide and seeks and wants to provoke you for an attack.

We found the two dead bodies- brutally disfigured and attacked- two hundred miles Northwest of Vincardine. Our men put up a fight. They did, but..."

"And how can two werewolves be defeated like that by a vampire?" Lester argued.

"Darius Garfield is the next in the line of being a leader, My Lord. May be he is more powerful than we think." Rees did not hesitate to speak out his thought.

But Lester was not convinced by his argument. He shook his head. "No Rees. I accept that he is a powerful moron. But, If our men shifted and put up a fight then he must have had a hard time dealing with them. Unless..."

"Unless he had someone else with him." Edwin hissed.

*

*

*

That night after Ruth returned home, she could not even stand properly on her two feet. The heels of her feet ached, her head pounding in pain. She barely smiled at Mrs Payne and went straight to work on Thea's dress.

She was trying to do some thread work on it but could not find the time. Tonight she was determined to start with it as four days out of the two weeks were already gone.

Mrs Payne watched in concern as Ruth kept messing up with the only skill she possessed as if she had forgotten the knowledge of it. Groaning in frustration, she dropped the needle and, slide everything aside.

Taking a plate of food, Mrs Payne sat beside her. Ruth had lost her appetite, and all she wanted to do was hide under her blanket. But she also did not want to make the old lady feel sad.

She had prepared food with effort, and not eating it would have been like disrespecting them.

"Ruth, I want to discuss something with you." Mrs Payne began.

Ruth chewed the bite slowly as she listened to what the other lady wanted to say. "Yes?"

"Since you have started working for Lady Elsie, you can not find time for other things."

Suddenly the guilt Ruth carried every day intensified. She stopped eating and searched Mrs Payne's eyes for disappointment with an apologetic face.

"I am really sorry Mrs Payne. I know I am not able to take a good care of you and you have to do all the household chores. But--"

Mrs Payne smiled. How noble her heart was to think so much about others before herself? Her parents would have been really proud of her.

That thought made Mrs Payne emotional, and then she remembered the promise she had made years ago.

"Ruth, will you listen to me if I asked something you to do?"

Ruth panicked at that question. What was she wanted to ask? Was she going to ask her to quit her job? Then how would they survive? Or was she going to ask something worse than it?

"O-of course." Ruth stuttered.

"I think it is probably the best if we both shift in to the servants quarter, in 'the great manor'." Mrs Payne said.

Ruth blinked once, then twice. She could not believe her ears. Were they playing treachery with her mind?

"Wh-what? But-"

"Yes. I have thought about it enough and I think it is best for us to move in there. That way you will not need to waste time and energy in the travelling and I will not need to worry till you come home safely."

"But Mrs Payne, this home... it holds your memories with Mr Payne. I do not want you to leave them all behind for me. I promise I will do better." Ruth took her wrinkly hands in hers and said genuinely.

"You are right. This place is very special for me not only because it holds memories of my husband, but also because here we found you.

I know my decision is right, and if my husband was here, then he would have done the same."

Mrs Payne's voice came thick with emotions as she continued with moistened eyes. "He is gone now, Ruth. And it still hurts. But you... you are still here with me- loving me, caring for me.

It is only fair if I let go of my selfishness and do as much as I can, to make you feel loved. We are only for each other in this world, and I do not want you to feel alone and helpless.

You will always find me behind you- taking care of you! So please listen to me, and let's move into the servants quarter. It is best for both of us. And after our sweet cat, I feel lonely here."

Ruth was speechless. She could not trust her voice. So, she hugged Mrs Payne close. Tears of gratitude streamed down her face.

"Thank you!" She whispered in her ears.

The very next day, when Ruth informed Elsie that she was ready to shift in the servants quarter, she ordered Rees to arrange men for shifting their belongings.

Thea was more than happy and came to help Mrs Payne with packing, and moving their things as Ruth could not take a break from her duty.

It all happened so fast that Mrs Payne could not get a chance to say goodbyes to her neighbours. When Claire came running to Florence to give that news as if a tiger was chasing her, Florence could not believe it.

She immediately went to Mrs Payne's home and saw two men coming out of the door with bags on their heads and hands.

"Mrs Payne?"

"Oh, hello Florence!"

Thea frowned upon hearing that irritatingly sweet voice. Ignoring her, she continued with folding the clothes to put them in a bag. Florence also did not bother with greetings for Thea and focused on Mrs Payne only.

"What is this going on? Why are these men loading your belongings in a carriage?"

Florence had seen a carriage standing down, and two men were loading the bags in it.

Mrs Payne glanced in Thea's way, but she shrugged her shoulders and continued with her task.

"Florence, we are leaving this place."

"Living this place?" Florence repeated the words in confusion.

"Where are you going Mrs Payne? Has the landlord kicked you out of here?" Claire asked in bubbling curiosity.

"No Claire. Unfortunately that is not the case!" Thea could not hold back her tongue.

Claire only threw a displeased glance at Thea but shut her mouth.

"Ruth has got a nice job in the Western part of Vincardine. It was inconvenient for her to travel up and down every day. So we decided to shift there so that she does not need to go through everyday's hustle." Mrs Payne explained.

"Western part? But how are you going to afford rented apartment there?" Florence wondered.

Mrs Payne did not like to lie, but she knew that it was only wise to not reveal yet, that Ruth was working in 'the great manor' to anyone. And after she saw the men sent by Rees covering their uniforms with coats, she understood that Rees also thought the same.

"I do not know about that. Ruth has done all the arrangements." She told her the partial truth.

Florence was not yet convinced and had many speculations. She realised that it was futile to ask Mrs Payne more as the lady had become smarter by living with Ruth.

After everything was placed in the carriage, it was time to say goodbye to her home. Mrs Payne glanced around for the last time and her eyes watered. Thea was immediately by her side to calm her.

Florence and Claire accompanied them to the carriage. She even helped Mrs Payne to step into it. Thea followed her inside.

"Shall we go, Madam?" One of the men asked.

"Yes, please!" Mrs Payne replied.

"Take care of yourself Florence!" Mrs Payne said warmly.

Florence nodded her head. "Yes. Take care of yourself too. And come to visit us whenever you feel like it."

Florence had tried asking the exact address, but Mrs Payne said she did not know, and it was a surprise for her too, which Florence did not believe a bit.

Bidding their goodbyes, the carriage was ready to move. One man sat behind the reigns, and the other one sat beside him.

Florence's eyes noticed his shoes when he was climbing the carriage. Claire and she watched the carriage sped away, but the images of those shoes did not disappear from her mind.

Her eyes widened in realisation as she turned around to go to her room. Those shoes were used only by the guards of the O'Dell family.

It meant Ruth was working in 'the great manor'?