Ashelia pursed her lips, her hands clenching into fists on the ground to stop it from shaking too much. "I was not here alone." She answered. "I had… I had a companion."
Azrael lifted a brow. "And where is he?"
"I can't answer that." She said, and she really couldn't. Only goodness knows where her supposed protector ran off to.
'He probably abandoned her.' Azrael hummed. 'How does Alistair train his knights? Hmm… should I just find the knight and kill him? I'll be able to do that easily since he will have a bit of her scent on him…'
"Can you please help me up?" Ashelia voiced, interrupting his thoughts. "My legs ache."
Azrael stared into her eyes for a little longer. 'She's afraid…' He mused. 'Is she just trying to pull through?'
He sighed and took her by the arm, hoisting her up effortlessly. "Where are your clothes?"
Ashelia blushed, clutching both ends of the coat to cover herself up properly. "They are back at the lake." She told him and started to limp away. "I'll… I'll go get them. Thank you for your help!"
'I need to get far away from him!' She thought as she tried to walk faster.
"What if more of those bandits come after you?" Azrael asked after she had gotten a certain distance away from him.
Ashelia froze. "Oh, I didn't think of that…" She answered softly and swallowed the lump in her throat before turning to look at him. "Then will you come with me? I'll… I'll pay you for everything."
Azrael's lips twitched. 'She is certainly amusing.' He thought. 'Despite being afraid, she still asks me to come with her.'
….
Ashelia took just one glance at her dress and concluded that it was still manageable but her white undergarments definitely were not.
They were covered in soot and stained with blood from the time she had stabbed the bandit leader. She wondered if she could really go back to the manor looking the way she was.
The Duke wasn't going to be happy.
She needed to do something about the way she looked… maybe try her hand at washing her undergarments while she was at it.
Ashelia swallowed. "I would… like to take a bath." She said aloud.
'So please can you leave now?!'
Azrael raised a brow. "And? What has that got to do with me?"
Ashelia blinked twice, taken aback. It was hard to tell if he was playing dumb or he was just that dense.
AzraeI sighed. "I know what you're thinking. I'm not interested in seeing any part of you." He told her flatly. "You can do whatever you want."
She nodded. "Al… alright." She answered then sighed in her heart. 'Can he really not read the room?'
She glanced at his clothes. "You're filthy too… so you can have your bath after me."
"I do not need your permission." He told her as he settled a few meters away, his back facing her.
Ashelia's eye twitched in exasperation before she started to take off her clothes. She made sure to look behind her several times to confirm he wasn't watching her. The moment she slipped out of the last of her undergarments, she plunged into the water without wasting a single second.
Azrael nearly laughed out loud at the sound of her rushing. 'There is no point trying to hide anything from me. You will be mine eventually…" He then froze and held his head as his face contorted in pain.
'It's that splitting headache again.' He thought as he clenched his teeth.
He sighed heavily as he buried his face in his hands. He wasn't with his pain relieving potion here, it was all the way in the carriage he came with. He looked around to see what else he could use as an alternative.
Azrael stood up abruptly, making Ashelia flinch. She swam farther into the water, raising her guard.
"What… What are you doing?" She asked cautiously.
Azrael didn't answer and simply walked to the edge of the lake, went on his knees before dunking his head into the water.
"What?!" Ashelia shrieked and moved back even further. 'W–what in the world…?'
When Azrael's head finally came out of the water, he sighed in relief. Feeling eyes on him, he raised his head to see Ashelia staring at him in bewilderment.
A sheepish smile graced his lips as he ran a hand through his wet hair. "I'm sorry for startling you." He apologized. "I have this splitting headache sometimes, you see."
Ashelia's eyes were wide. "I… I see."
'Is that why he acts like a lunatic? Is he alright?'
Soon enough, Ashelia was done cleaning herself up but she couldn't wait for the clothes to dry, so she put them on as they were, shivering even when the slightest of winds blew.
Azrael's brows furrowed when he saw that. He started to approach her, making her flinch and back away slightly.
His frown deepened. "I am not going to hurt you, so stay still."
"Al–alright." Ashelia stiffened as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and instantly, her clothes and undergarments became dry.
Ashelia's eyes went wide. 'I've never seen this kind of magic before…'
Azrael watched her carefully before turning around and walking away.
Ashelia jerked. "Where are you going?!"
He turned his head toward her with a raised eyebrow. "Did you not want me to leave?"
Ashelia stiffened at his words, then she averted her eyes. 'How did he know?'
"Now that I know you're safe, I will continue on my way." He said before turning back around and walking away. "But you should know, Ashelia, that I'm fighting the thing in me that wishes for me to take you and depart this kingdom."
Ashelia's mouth went dry. "You were planning to kidnap me?! Again?!"
"Kidnap?" Azrael mused. "Your words are harsh, Ashelia. I would rather call it taking what is rightfully mine, don't you think?"
His words made Ashelia's face drain of all its colour. 'What have I done?!'
"But I will not do that because I am not a barbarian." Azrael continued. "But rest assured, my fair maiden, I will make sure you won't be able to live without me by your side in due time."
He said with a hearty chuckle as he disappeared into the forest, leaving Ashelia behind, dumbfounded and speechless.
*****
Azrael walked back the way he had come and on his path, he saw the mess he had left earlier.
A crease formed between his brows. 'There's something here.' He mused.
He calmly stepped over the bodies and avoided pools of blood, until he got to one mangled corpse in particular.
The face of the dead man was plain, like a random character anyone would walk past on the street but his body gave off a sinister aura.
Azrael crouched and ransacked every pocket the man had on his bloodied clothes, but he didn't find anything. Soon, his eyes moved to catch sight of a large leather pouch lying a few meters away from where the man's body lay.
He reached a hand out and took a hold of it, shuffling its contents onto his empty palm.
Azrael frowned. It was a pair of pitch black handcuffs and it gave off such disgusting energy, it almost made him gag.
'What… in the hell is this?' He wondered. 'What were these people doing with something like this?'
"Fabian." He called quietly after a moment.
"Yes, Milord." His aide appeared beside him instantly with his head slightly lowered.
"Do you know what this is?" Azrael asked.
Fabian frowned. "I can't figure, Milord." He answered sincerely. "But it seems… this is the root cause of the strangeness in the forest."