HOWL

37

The devil wrapped in silk is still the devil

- A word to my lovers

Allie knelt on the floor in the middle of the room. Her hands were bound with a rope and she had eye bags. It had been two days since the attack happened.
Two days since she was arrested.

In those two days, she hadn't spoken to anyone not that she didn't want to but because she couldn't.
Her relationship with Reuel had given her a bad name among the people. Wherever she went she was being talked about, the servants gossiped silently but they weren't discrete enough because she heard every word they said, every hurtful utterance they made.

Allie felt like an outsider being ostracized from her own people. They avoided her like a plague.

While still immersed in her thoughts, she heard Leondre enter the room.
He made his way to the only chair in the room that was kept for times like this, to interrogate people.

Leondre tapped his fingers lightly on the arm rest as he watched Allie. It hurt him to see her in that condition, "Allie Gareth"

"Yes, my lord"

"You are to leave this castle at once, you are not to set foot in this place again. If you are seen in Ixar in two days time, you would be killed on sight" He stood up from the chair and came to stand in front of Allie.
Allie at this moment was already sobbing,"You are to leave barefooted"

Allie sniffled, "Yes my Lord"
Leondre crouched and began wiping her tears away with his thumb, "It's not my wish that this happens to you but this is the agreement"

Allie nodded, she understood what Leondre meant. She was innocent but Reuel's betrayal had brought this upon her. She felt a cloak wrap around her and looked up to see that it was Leondre that put it there, he had taken off his cloak and had worn it over her.

"It's going to be cold out there. Try not to die"  Then he walked out of the room.

Two guards entered the moment Leondre left. They took Allie, each holding her by the hand and began leaving the castle.
As she passed the hallways, she felt everyone's eyes on her and memories of her stay in the castle began coursing through her mind.

She remembered when she used to parade the halls as a noble but now her status was than that of a servant, she had gone from a high class to a low class in just a blink of an eye.

The guards escorted her out of the castle. She was dressed in rags, all she had that was worth some coins was her hair accessory and Leondre's cloak.
The guards poked her from behind the moment they were outside the castle signalling for her to start running. She took the first step and then the second and before she knew it she had broken into a run.

She stopped when she came in contact with a familiar face. One that she was used to seeing back when she was in a different position. Mericus stood in his guard uniform few feet in front of her.

"Lady Allie" He had felt pity, she was in a bad condition.

"There's no need to call me Lady, I'm not one anymore" She managed a smile at him but deep down she was hurting. This was an embarrassment that she never thought would ever occur in her life, "Thank you for everything, Mericus"