It was still early morning in Glenwood, and the village was very busy due to the preparations for war.
In the home of Lord Fagin, he could be seen speaking with Waga and the other captains who remained after he had sent Stanis to get back his women.
"Kill all the men and leave only the women," he commanded with hatred and anger in his voice, "Do not let a single male in that village live, do you hear me?"
The captains nodded in response. None of them refuted his insane orders; in fact, they wanted it that way, as it would give them unlimited access to the beautiful women who dwell in Winterseed.
"We will go with the strategy we planned, except that we will be missing a captain," Lord Fagin continued after getting their response. He turned to Waga, "You will be taking control of Stanis' men. Ensure you do a good job now that you have twice the number of soldiers the other captains have."
"You can count on me not to disappoint you, Lord Fagin." Waga bowed with a smirk.
As they were discussing, two guards from the Glenwood prison rushed into the room and announced in a panicked voice, "Lord Fagin, the Winterseed girl has escaped!!"
"What!!" Fagin's voice thundered across the hall with anger. "How did that happen? Where were you all when it happened?!"
"We don't know, sir! We were walking down the passageway doing our hourly check when we found two of your men lying dead in front of her cell. We quickly rushed to check, only to find that she was gone!" The two guards reported, fear evident in their voices, knowing what Lord Fagin could do to them.
Fagin's eyes blazed with anger as he heard their report. First, he lost his favorite woman Elara and the others, and now the youngest and prettiest had escaped? How defenseless was his territory for these weak women to escape as they pleased?
Waga and the other captains looked among themselves, wondering how such a woman could kill two well-trained guards and escape without being caught.
"Someone helped her," Waga said matter-of-factly. "That young lady is not capable of killing anyone. She doesn't even know enough about the prison's premises to escape without getting caught."
The other captains nodded in agreement.
Even Lord Fagin found his words believable. He had been with those women, and they didn't seem like people who could hurt a fly, let alone a well-trained soldier—there was definitely someone helping them.
Just as he was about to respond, two other soldiers ran into the room, the same ones he had sent to call Ren.
"Where is Ren? I told him to come with you," he asked with a frown on his fat face.
"Sir, we searched everywhere and couldn't find him. Not even his wife and daughters were around."
The soldiers' report caused the room to fall silent.
At that moment, everything started to fall into place.
Lord Fagin furrowed his brow. 'Ren never told me he was leaving, and why would he take his family with him?' His eyes widened as the thought struck him, and he turned to Waga and the other captains. "Ren has been the bastard helping them. We need to stop him! Send some men after him, and gather the rest—we leave for war immediately!"
Liara and Ren were riding beside each other on white horses, heading out of Glenwood's territory. Liara wore brown clothes and a brown cloak that completely hid her face from anyone looking at her.
Under her cloak, she wore a scared expression, fearing that death would soon be upon her.
Ren glanced at her, seeing her shivering, and couldn't help but whisper a warning as they approached the gate. "Keep calm, Liara. We just need to pass through the gate, and we'll be on our way to your people."
Hearing Ren's calm words, she nodded and fought her hardest to maintain her composure.
The exit of Glenwood was just a few meters away.
The seven guards at the gate had already seen them approaching but remained calm, knowing Ren.
"Sir Ren, where are you headed this early in the morning?" one of them asked with a smile as they approached.
"I'm taking my daughter out of the village for a while to get some herbs for her fever. We'll be back soon." Ren lied with a smile.
His face was calm, and his composure steady. The guards didn't detect any falseness in his words. They observed Liara, whose body was hidden, but they could see her shivering intensely.
"Ah, will she be okay? She looks really sick," they asked with concern.
In the village, Ren's daughters were some of the most beautiful maidens, and many young men were quite interested in them.
"She'll be fine once she takes the herbs," Ren replied.
Without further questions, the guards opened the gate, and they both rode through freely.
They kept their horses at a normal pace, galloping gently further away from Glenwood as if they weren't escaping. Ren whispered to Liara to ensure she was okay.
"You claim to know all of Sir Ren's daughters well, which one do you think is with him?" one guard asked.
"It's definitely Rachel, the slim and curvy one," another replied.
The guards discussed as they closed the gate.
They returned to their posts and began talking about the war, rejoicing over the new Winterseed women who would be brought back. They were already making plans on how to woo the women.
However, almost thirty minutes later, fifteen soldiers on horses rode toward the gate.
"Did anyone leave through the gate?" the one in front asked urgently.
The guards exchanged confused looks before one of them replied, "Oh yes, Sir Ren left with his daughter to get some herbs for her fever. She looked really sick."
"Which daughter? Did you see her face?" the soldiers followed up with another question.
This time, the guards' heartbeats quickened as they realized they had messed up. They hadn't bothered to check her face. All they knew was that she was a lady because she had breasts!
"No," they replied, ashamed and embarrassed.
The soldier in front cursed under his breath, gripping the reins tightly. "Open the gate immediately!" he barked.
Embarrassed and worried, the guards rushed to open the gate.
"What's happening?" one of the younger guards asked, his face pale as the soldiers spurred their horses and rode off at full speed, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
"I don't know, but we're surely in big trouble," an older guard replied.
Further down the winding path leading away from Glenwood, Ren and Liara continued their ride, the morning breeze brushing against their worried faces as they drifted toward Winterseed. Liara was still shivering with fear; even the sound of rustling leaves made her terror intensify.
Ren glanced back at her and spoke in a low, reassuring tone. "We're already out of Glenwood. With these horses, we'll reach Winterseed before they catch us."
Liara nodded, trying to push aside the overwhelming sense of dread. She still recalled the scene at the prison when Ren and a guard came to rescue her. Sadly, the guard had been killed in a fight against another guard who tried to stop them from escaping. Both guards stabbed each other and died in front of her.
As she recalled the tragic moment, the sound of horses galloping toward them reached her ears, and her expression turned pale.