A man stood afar watching the other men to leave. He wanted to kill all of them with his own hands, but he knew that beast would want to do that, and also, his priority was to save her. He will deal with them later. It's a good thing that he followed them, knowing something is not right. As they left after making sure the house is on fire and the person inside is not going to live, they left.
He ran towards the house, he broke the window, and slid inside the house. The smoke was everywhere, making it difficult for him to see. He looks around the house in haste, looking for her. He walked towards the room in front of him.
In the haze of smoke, he made out a figure on the ground. His heart beat stopped as he thought the worse. He immediately ran towards her, and he placed his fingers under her nose to see if she was breathing. She was breathing, but it was slow... with a sigh, he scooped her in his arms and made his way towards the window.
He tried to protect her from the fire as much as he could. But the fire was all around them. He made his way outside with great difficulty burning himself in the process. He ran away from the house near the waterfall. He inspected her body for the wounds. Her arm was burned, his gaze stopped at her protruding belly, and something in his heart changed.
He tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't budge. He got scared, an emotion that he had long forgotten. He sat her on his horse and then sat beside her. He took her to the city to the physician in the hope that he would find Beast too there. He wasn't in the house, which meant he was in the city.
With one hand, he was holding the reigns, and with the other arm, he was holding her. She wasn't breathing properly, he doesn't want her to die... he couldn't let her die.
Once he reached the city, he asked a man about the physician. He went straight to his cabin and asked for help. The physician looked worried as he inspected the girl.
"If she die, then you die!" He threatened the physician who gulped in fear and started tending to her burn marks. He made her drink a medicine.
"She is fine... and the baby is fine, too. She will wake up after some time. There is no need to worry." The physician said, and the man sighed in relief. He sat beside her and grabbed her hand gently, but then he moved away, closing his eyes.
"She is not mine... she is...!" He stopped and looked away. He walked out of the room and gave some coins to the physician. The physician told him that she needed to take care of her and have rested as much as she could. Her injury isn't severe, but she had to take care of the burn mark for some days. The mark wouldn't go permanently, but with time, it will lighten.
He went inside the room and sat on a chair in the corner of the room. He wanted to go and find Beast, but he didn't want to leave her alone, so he waited for her to open her eyes.
....
After some time he heard a small groan and he ran towards her. The girl tried to sit up as she looked around the place.
"Zeon... where's zeon...?" She asked as she cried. She hadn't looked at him yet she was trying to stand up.
"Stop... what are you doing? You are injured!" He hissed at her, but when she flinched away from him, he felt bad. Her gaze fell on him, and she gasped.
"Serpent.. it's you?" She asked. He looked at her tears. He wanted to wipe those tears so bad, but he stopped himself from doing so.
"You saved us?" She asked him as she placed her hand on her belly. He only nodded in return.
"Where's Beast? Is he alright? ..." she asked him, looking around the room.
"Where is he?" She asked him.
"I don't know, I brought you here when I found you unconscious." He told her.
"Please take me to him... he would be worried for me... he would be home soon and if he won't found me there he would get scared... he would panic... please take me to him..." she said and stood up. He sighed but nodded.
He helped her out and sat on the horse. He sat beside her. She looked weak and exhausted, but she was more worried for her husband.
As they reached near the house, the house turned into ashes. The sky was dark, but the faint light of the moon was making it easy to see. She looked at her home, and her tears started falling down.
"Our home....!" She whispered and then looked around.
"Zeon... zeon... where are you... zeon, look, I am here..." she was calling him, but he wasn't here.
"He isn't here...!" Serpent said.
"But where will he go? He must be scared not to find me here. He must have thought that I was dead and.. oh God... where could he go?" She grabbed her head.
"I know where he is!" Serpent said with a heavy sigh. And she looked back at him with hope.
~~~~
"You need to take some rest!" He scolded her lightly, but the girl was stubborn. She won't stop to rest. It's been two days since they have embarked on this journey to find him.
"No.. we have to stop him!" She said as she breathed heavily.
"No, you need to rest.!" Serpent said with finality and stopped the horse. They were near a lake. He helped her down and sat her beside a tree. She looked at him angrily, but he ignored her.
"You don't understand what Beast would do. He would massacre all of them. He would kill all of them. We have to stop him telling him that I am alive." She said, but he didn't listen as he filled the water in his water skin and handed it to her.
"Drink!" He commanded and then walked away, not before saying.
"Don't move!" He hissed at her. She silently drank the water. She wasn't feeling good. Her whole body was aching, and she was hungry. Her wound was burning, and most of all, she was worried for Zeon.
After some time, Serpent came back and placed some fresh fruits in front of her.
"Eat!" He told her she wanted to refuse, but the thought of her baby made her stop. So she started eating silently. She had to take care of herself and her baby. She had to reach him in one piece.
"We will spend the night here!" He ordered and went to lit the fire. She stayed silent knowing he was right, she need to take some rest.
After lighting the fire, he pulled out a small jar from his bag and walked towards her.
"Give me your hand." He said, and she did as she was told. He gently applied the salve on her burnt mark. She hissed as it burned at first, but then it cooled the wound. Her arm had a big burnt mark, which looked ugly. She looked away and gazed at the fire.
"Why did you save me? I thought you hated me." She asked him. His hands stilled for a moment.
"I never hated you." He said softly while applying the salve. She looked at him with a little shock. She has never seen this side of him so gentle and soft.
"But you were irritating." He added, and she huffed at him.
"No, I was not.." she refused. He smiled lightly and looked up at him. There was so in his eyes so deep and ... she couldn't read his face anymore as he looked away. He sat beside her at a little distance and gazed at the fire.
"What's your name?" She asked him. She half expected that he won't answer, but to her utter surprise, he spoke.
"Santiago... my mother gave me that name.!" He smiled sadly.
"Where... where is your mother now?" She asked nervously. Is she intruding?
"She died a long time ago. It was only her and me, but then she died when I was 12. I used to be a thief, stealing food and money from people. Once, I was caught by the leader, and he gave me an offer. He asked me to come with him and I accepted his offer. I thought he was a nice man... he wasn't!" He told her sadly.
"I was a thief, but I wasn't a killer. He made me a killer, and I got so blinded by my anger that I forgot what was right or wrong. My conscience would always tell me that my mother wouldn't be happy, but where would I go? Those men were my brothers... they accepted me. They took me in. I couldn't leave them!" He said as he ran his hand in his hair.
"But the leader he send his men to kill you... I never thought that I would ever go against them, but for you ..." He stopped and closed his eyes. Then he looked at me, his eyes looked sad.
"Sleep!" He commanded and laid down on the grass. She kept looking at him with sadness and confusion... what is he hiding? Did he love... no, he doesn't... he couldn't. Of course he couldn't! She told herself and then laid down on the grass, trying to get some sleep.
But as she closed her eyes, the face of her husband came in front of her. She misses him. She wants to be near him, in his arms. Only he can make her feel safe and protected.
~~~
The rest of the days passed in a blur. They would stop at night to rest. Serpent would make sure that she is fed and well slept. He took care of her so well that he didn't even know that he could be so gentle and caring. Maybe it's her. She brings out the best in everyone.
Her closeness was stirring him badly, but he knew that she wasn't his. She could never be. Her heart belongs to someone else. For once, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to take her away, but he knew she won't love him back. Her heart belongs to the Beast. He could never have her. If only things were different, if only he wasn't so rude with her in the beginning, then maybe she would have returned those feelings for him.
He was stupid when he pushed her away. He was trying to push down those feelings that bloomed in his heart after seeing her. He thought he was incapable of those feelings. He knew that those feelings only brought pain. He has seen his mother crying at night for her lover who had left her. He told her that he loved someone else. His mother would always tell him not to fall in love because it hurts.
And she was right. It hurts. It hurts so badly that sometimes he feels like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't see her with someone else. The thought of her loving someone else broke his heart in two, yet he had to live with that. The pain of not being loved back is far greater than being stabbed. If only he had not fallen for her... if only!
~~~~
"Santiago!" She called him. His body tensed for a moment at being called by his real name after years. He looked at the back of her head as she was seated in front of him on the horse. She tilted her head halfway to meet his eyes and smiled.
"One day you will have your happy ending, you will find someone who will love you and you will be the happiest person." She told him with so much belief that for a moment, he believed her. He smiled sadly in return.
"I know my fate already, Faith. People like me don't get their happy endings. My fate would be like my mother's, she died with broken heart and so would I." He said, looking at a far distance. Faith wanted to reassure him, but something stopped her. She looked ahead and sent a silent prayer to God to make everything right for him.