CHAPTER 486: TOO DEVIOUS

Letter after letter Arabella wrote. Ada put her hands on deck as well, writing as many as she could before distributing them around the country with the search party group heads in mind.

By the end of it, their wrists, arms and fingers ached and only once finished and sent out did they ridiculously realize that both Morgana and the fairies could have spread the word without that amount of hassle.

"I suppose for us humans we will always go the practical route before thinking of magic," Ada chuckled.

"That could just become our downfall," Arabella sighed, "I think Silas might not come back any time soon if he receives the message so, I am going to go ahead and finally take that bath you blackmailed me for,"

"Hey!" Ada frowned, "I had good intentions!"

In response, Arabella grinned, gave her a wink before commenting, "Well, you know what they say; the road to hell is paved with good intentions,"

"That isn’t fair!" her friend took off after her, "But speaking of intentions, do you have any about cluing Lord Silas in on... You know?"

Arabella stopped in her tracks and turned around to speak as quietly as possibly, "I will tell him in due time, I promise you. I will not make any brash decisions on my own. I just need some additional time to think,"

True that! Hopefully with the disappearance of Allegra solved, she would have a clearer mind to think of an optimal solution regarding Arthur.

The thought that the measures taken needed to be drastic remained, but it had to be the one with the smallest number of consequences for everyone involved.

Clearly reluctant, Ada relented, nonetheless, granting Arabella the time to breathe and breathe she did, plunging her body right into a warm bubble bath that melted the knots entangled in her muscles.

Tension that even Silas’ blood failed to relieve. Either that or it could only alleviate physical burden but not mental anguish.

A knock landed upon the door right as she was preparing her outing clothes for a horse ride around the property. Upon laying eyes on them, Ada’s demeanor faltered.

"What gives?" Ada asked.

"I just need some fresh air that is all. I have been cooped up in the map room the past few days and nights. I think a change of scenery will do me some good," she answered while pulling the pants higher up her legs, "What did you want, by the way? Did something else happen?"

"Yes. No!" Ada shut her eyes and fiercely shook her head, "Madame Morgana said she will expedite the spreading of the word," her eyes followed every one of Arabella’s motions.

"That is great! The faster they receive the message, the better it is," she smiled, "Especially since the sun is still up for one more hour or so and vampires have yet to rise from slumber,"

Ada’s eyes were glued to her, her mouth agape as though meaning to speak.

"Is there something else?" Arabella stopped all doings and looked back at her.

"No, no, no!" she shook her head again as Arabella pinned her wedding brooch to her vest.

"Alright then!" she sat down to put her boots on, "I will not be gone for too long since my eyes do need daylight and I only have less than one hour left of it today,"

"Arabella!" Ada squeaked as Arabella passed her by.

"Yes?" the young woman’s brows furrowed curiously, "What is it?"

"I... You will ride around the property, is that right?" she pushed on the most strained of smiles.

"Yes, of course!" a little taken aback, Arabella returned an awkward grin, "I wouldn’t risk crossing the property lines. Not without telling Silas at least or taking someone with me,"

Walking through the greenery brought her soul a new sense of relief. Different from the one the water had provided.

Even the breeze caressed her skin differently. It was as though her eyes beheld the world from a completely new angle.

Her words turned out to be truer than she believed upon uttering them. Indeed, confining herself in the map room did her no good aside from yielding the intended results.

Her limbs still trembled, despite the vanishing of all aching which Arabella attributed to Silas’ blood.

It continued to course her inner streams, and it would have continued to do so for the next few days to come.

Once in the stable, her pick was easy since Chance was too big and much harder to control than the smaller horses, and Charlie was the only one she was already familiar with.

The faster on his back Arabella went the stronger became the breeze, hitting her face first, but with it came the images and voices that refused to let her rest.

Cedric, Reubon, Rubius and of course, Arthur... How was he? Was he being tortured? Was he even still alive?

What suffering had Cedric dared put him through?

Unforgivable their actions were and they went unpunished for far too long. The resolve in her only burned hotter as each plan that came together in her mind was more devious than the previous.

Wouldn’t simply killing them do? What sort of consequences would that bring back onto Silas and Persephone?

But they shouldn’t be that severe if she split from them and told the truth. They would have had no hand in the dough of her making and thus wouldn’t have to pay for her own actions.

But... Was it truly going to be that simple? Would the syndicate really buy that?

Why not? She did prove capable of coming up with plans that nobody else had before by utilizing the forgotten tunnels.

Only that time around, Arabella wasn’t thinking of an escape. She was thinking of murder. In the end, was she capable of ending her own father and grandfather?

Probably not but... Cedric, on the other hand, was a different story.

The wind continued to whistle more and more ideas in her ears, urging her to ride freely without a stop in mind.