Chapter 3: 3. A Dark Night

26th August, 3017 B.E.
3rd Age of Reclamation

Somewhere near the border with Aitora... 

On a dark night, dark clouds were thundering with lightning. There were bright flashes of light in the sky and thunder booms could be heard. No moon or stars could be seen.

There was also a great chance of rain. Under those thundering skies, there was a small walled city. Near the centre of it, a great commotion was taking place. 

In a manor near the centre of the city, near a two-floored building, people were running left and right in a hurry. 

It was a scene of chaos. But in that chaotic scene, there was a semblance of order. If seen carefully, it would have been found that every person had a purpose despite their flurry of activities. 

There was an elderly female in a maid's outfit standing just outside of that building near the half-opened doors. She was shouting orders to the people present there to bring various things to her. 

She was also looking back towards the inside of the building through the half-opened doors with worry on her face. She was ordering various things to be brought to her so that she could take those things inside for some unknown purposes.

She was ordering the younger maids and guards. They were listening to her commands respectfully without any negative feelings about being ordered. She was the oldest of them all and commanded a certain degree of respect due to her seniority. 

She had personally trained most of the maids present there and were like their mother. Similarly, most of the guards present there had grown up while seeing her face. So the respect they had for her was very high.

She had wrinkles on her face and her hair had turned white completely. She was in the final years of her mortal life. There was also a well-dressed male standing a few meters away from her and was watching the commotion with rapt attention. 

The man was wearing high-quality clothes. He was almost 6 feet tall and had short hair. He had dark black eyes and blonde hair. He was light tan and had a sheathed sword dangling from his side. 

He had a worried expression on his face. His gaze was alternating between the half-opened doors and the people in front of him.

He was on edge and trying to control his rapidly beating heart. He raised one of his hands and inspected it closely. It was shaking slightly due to his nervousness and worry.

He was sweating profusely and was constantly trying to wipe away his sweat with a handkerchief. The handkerchief was already fully wet with his sweat and was not aiding him much in wiping away his sweat. He was also constantly looking toward the dark skies. 

Skies that were full of clouds and did not have a single sign of the stars. There was no wind at all and there was a sense of dankness.

It was late summer and autumn was about to start. The weather was unusual. It happened a few years that there were some days of raining when summer transitioned to autumn. 

But it was not that worrying to think about. Things will return to normal after a few days. Nobody knew why this happened. Most related this to the massive mountain range in the far east. 

The weather in their area was moderate usually. Due to the location of their country, there was never extreme winter or extreme summer. But sometimes, the temperature fluctuated greatly due to bad weather.

"Quickly, bring me some antiseptics and spare cloth. The young madam is in pain." The elder maid was ordering a younger maid to be quicker in her actions.

"Also where is Lady Maria? I had already sent four people to bring her here. The First one went out an hour ago. Just why did not even one of them report back? What is taking them so long?" 

The maid was greatly disturbed by the development. She had already sent people after Maria but there were no signs of her for the past hour. She had thought that she would arrive in fifteen minutes at most and her worries would be relieved but that was not the case. Instead, Maria was missing.

Suddenly there was a cry of pain from inside the building. The elder maid's features darkened and she again told them all to hurry up with their respective duties. 

The male present there flinched and his breathing rate increased. He tried to enter the building but the elder maid stopped him and said, "Please young master, give us time. She is in no condition to talk to you. And you won't be able to handle yourself there. Time is sensitive. Please understand."

The male stared at her for almost ten seconds and nodded. Then he went back to the place he was standing before.

Suddenly, a guard rushed there with great speed. His speed was far greater than any normal person in a full sprint. 

He came in front of the elder maid and stopped. He was panting heavily and his clothes were wet with sweat. 

He looked towards the maid and said respectfully, "Mam Rosa, I went to the apothecary and asked for Lady Maria. Her guard told me that she went to the farmlands to treat someone." Then the guard stopped talking to catch his breath after saying all that in a span of a few seconds.

Rosa raised her eyebrows and her expression became more worried. She asked, "Then what did you do? Where did she go? Why did you not bring her here?"

The guard replied after a few seconds of respite, "I asked the guard about her location. He did not know where exactly she was. But he gave me a general location to search for her. It was the farmhouse outside the west city gates. I asked him to direct all our guards that will come to him later towards that general location to aid me in the search. Then I hurried to that area outside of the wal...."

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The male standing near him and listening to him interrupted the guard, "Out with it soldier. You are wasting time here. What happened to the lady? Be quick."

"Yes, young master. Forgive me. I quickly went there and started knocking on the farmhouses there to know where she was. It consumed much of my time. Then 3 other guards arrived there one after another. I told them to keep searching the area for her. Then I ran back to report back to the clan."

The male frowned hard, "Just where did she go when she was needed here? This is why we give her a discount on herbs. So that she may ditch us in the time of need? And she did not even inform her guard about her location. What was she thinking about? I cannot even imagine it." 

Their clan had a lot of business in the city. They procured many things from outside that the city was lacking. It included antiseptics, ores for blacksmiths, herbs, animal skins etc. After procurement, their merchants in the city sold them to the local population.

They even used those items for building good relationships with certain people in the city. Maria, the only medical practitioner and apothecary owner in the city was a perfect candidate for building a good relationship.

That's why they gave her a certain percentage of discount on the herbs she bought from their merchants. 

It was not as if they were not getting profits after giving large discounts to Maria. They still had a profit by selling herbs to her at a discounted price but it was a bit less than their other businesses.

And she did not disappoint them. She gave their clan preference over all the other people in the city. She even spent extraordinary efforts in some treatments where it was needed, instead of backing down and not bothering with them. Many other people in the city tried to imitate the actions of their clan while dealing with Maria but they were not that successful.

But today, she was not available when they needed her the most. Thinking about it, the young master's anger exploded.

He was fuming and started prancing about in anger and impatience. He was not to be labelled as an impatient person. He was mostly a patient man but the things at stake were the lives of his dear wife and unborn child. So he could not help but be flustered and upset.

He was waiting for the other guards to come back and report some news. He was thinking about waiting a few more minutes before asking his father to mobilize the entire estate guard to sweep the farmlands. 

(I should ask for help from my father and brothers). The young master thought inwardly as he waited for any news about Maria impatiently. He was contemplating contacting his father and brothers to help him.

The time was coming and things were not looking good. And he knew it. He was worried badly for his wife and unborn child. The young madam inside was his wife.

The maid stopped the young master and patted his shoulders, "Calm down. Things will be good hopefully. Being rash here won't do us any good. Have hope. This happens sometimes." Rosa tried to soothe his worries.

The elder maid had wrinkles around her eyes and her hair was already white. She was in her senior years and had been working in the estate since she was young. 

She had seen the birth of her young master and saw him growing up to a strong man standing in front of her from an infant. She even changed his diapers. The young master grew while watching Rosa. So he trusted her. He calmed down a bit.

Suddenly there was another scream of pain from inside and Rosa quickly started getting things from the juniors and guards present there. 

Everyone had done what they were asked to do when that episode with the guard was happening. They all had nervous expressions on their faces. A few maids were holding various antiseptics and some spare cloth. 

Some were also holding a few strange metal instruments and small knives. Some even held fruit baskets and clothes for infants.

Antiseptics were very expensive due to their rarity and the rarity of the people that made those. But due to the emergency, the family was willing to expend them. This was how they treated those who were close and dear to them.

All the antiseptics they had came from another greater city in the west. Their city did not house any person who made the antiseptics. So the merchants brought it from outside.

The city in the west was bigger than the one they were living in. Their city was barely a city. A few years back, it was only a large town but later, as its population increased, it was promoted to a city and a new wall was built. 

The proof of the recent upgrade was the presence of the newly built wall outside of it. Moreover, an apothecary was built and a medical practitioner was transferred there from the city in the west. 

For almost ten thousand population, there was only one apothecary. Proper cities had more than half a dozen of them. But as their city's population increased, there would be more business opportunities and people would start migrating there. At the same time, newer facilities would open.

After getting everything and holding them close to her somehow so that they may not fall, she looked at the male and said with a soothing voice, "Calm down, child. It will be ok." 

After saying that she entered the building and closes the doors behind her. She had to see the young madam's current condition and decide on the next phase of action in case there was no further news about Maria.

 

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