Masked Love

by Samolu Pearl

  Chapter 11

  “So… Are you guys sure that this is not dangerous…?” Mia asked for the umpteenth time.

  “Come on, Mia…” Lilly groaned. “We’ve been in more danger than this…”

  Mia sighed and Peter put a reassuring hand over her shoulder. “It’ll be fine… We just have to stick to the plan… Let’s go.”

  “Be careful…” warned Venus as they saw Peter and Mia off and then walked in the opposite direction.

  After an hour or so, Peter and Mia reached the detour they’ve seen on the map. They could hear the distant horse hoofs as the carts darted through the forest path. Peter nodded at Mia and then waited alongside her. Venus was right. There were two carts. One with security and the other with the food supplies and cash…

  They waited and noticed that it was just like Venus had said. The first cart filled with four or five guards was heading first to make sure the way is clear. The other one was not far too behind as they could hear the horses. And, as per the plan they have about less than five minutes to carry their plot out.

  Peter nudged Mia’s hand and both moved to the middle of the path, walking straight towards the cart.

  “I told you before…” Mia yelled as she walked alongside Peter. “You’re the same old stubborn mule as ever.” She groaned.

  “How would I know…? Stop yelling at me woman…” Peter retorted.

  They saw the guards staring at them intently as they were a few distances from them. “What’s going on…?” asked one of them, putting his head out and staring at the couple before them.

  “Oh… Just a silly couple fight… Can’t they take it home…?” another groaned.

  “I knew I shouldn’t have married you in the first place… Such a lazy moron…” Mia was babbling.

  “Whaaat…?” Peter exaggerated. “We have five kids… and you call me lazy…?”

  “Seems like that’s the only thing you’re good at…” Mia sighed. “We would’ve been better if you ever listened to me… Now, look you’re making me walk all the way back because of your stupid male haughtiness…”

  “Hey… It’s not my fault the bridge is completely broken down… Who would’ve thought…? You’re becoming more like your mother day by day… with this smart mouth of yours. I’m going to put an end to it, right when we reach home…” Peter retorted.

  One of the guards laughed. “She’s earned it with her mouth… But it’s a pity that she’s such a cutie…”

  Another guard climbed down the cart and walked towards them. Mia tensed but managed to pull herself together. “Hey… Did you say the bridge is broken…?” he asked and Peter nodded at him lazily. “We can’t go through this way then…?” he asked and Peter shrugged.

  “Why don’t you just try it yourselves…? I hope your horses can grow wings…” he smirked lazily.

  The guard growled under his breath and walked to the cart. “The lady is right… He’s such a lazy moron…” he grumbled. “We better take the next detour…” he said. “I want one of you to wait for the other cart so you could let them know about it and guide them towards the next detour.” He said and watched as a guard climbed out and stood in attention. He nodded at him and signaled at the man to ride ahead.

  As soon as the cart left, they heard the horses of the other cart heading their way. Peter nodded at Mia, and she took in a deep breath as she moved closer behind the guard and held his hand. The guard looked at her confused for a moment, but before he could see it coming, Peter held him and covered his nose with a cloth dipped in sleeping drug. Together, they pulled the unconscious guard with them and hurried behind the trees. “Now, let’s hope the guys can take care of the rest.” Peter sighed as he left the guard against a tree. The sleeping drug works for about four or five hours!

  “What about the security guards cart…?” asked Mia in confusion. “Won’t they come looking for the other cart if they found something fishy is going on…?”

  “The next detour they mentioned is almost like a maze… if they managed to find their way out by today, they can go looking for the cart…” smirked Peter as he walked ahead with Mia following him with a smile. They hid behind a huge tree as the other cart rode past them.

  Meanwhile,

  “It’s almost time…” said Lilly. “Hope those two didn’t mess it up…”

  “I believe in them…” Venus retorted and Lilly glared at her.

  “Guys… Let’s get ready… I think I can hear the cart…” warned Rey as he looked around. Venus was right beside him and Lilly was on the other side of him.

  “Lilly… Go sit there…” said Venus, staring at the path.

  “Do it yourself…” Lilly retorted as she moved closer to Rey. “Don’t you dare think you could order me around…!”

  Venus sighed and then shook her head as she walked towards the middle of the path and sat there. Lilly smirked and then turned to look at Rey, who was… walking towards Venus? Her mouth parted as she gaped at them.

  Rey walked towards Venus and then sat on his knee, giving her his mischievous smirk before leaning close and resting his head on her chest. Venus swallowed hard and he grinned feeling her frantic heart beats. “Now, isn’t this comfortable…?” he whispered as he shifted himself to be more relaxed. Venus blushed and a little shiver ran up her spine as she looked at Rey’s intense eyes. ‘Not now…’ She thought… ‘I need to focus.’

  Lilly was walking towards them with a furious glare. Venus took her shawl and put it over her hair, covering part of her face. Rey looked up and his eyes settled on her lips. “I so want to kiss you right now…!” he whispered and noticed Venus lick her lips in nervousness.

  “Shut up, before I push you back on the ground…” she fumed.

  “And-do what…?” he breathed, Venus blushed furiously and looked away.

  But everyone was very much alert when they heard the cart, very near now. Venus put her hands around Rey’s head and leaned closer to his face. Lilly stood beside her, watching the approaching cart.

  “Stop moving, will you…?” asked Venus as Rey shifted in her grip again.

  “Hold me close and make me…” he whispered, breathing down her upper chest and Venus shivered again.

  “Hey…” Lilly’s sudden yell brought them both back to reality. “Please… help us!” said Lilly shouting at the cart.

  “Move away, young lady…” A guard shouted back from the cart.

  “Please, sir… We need help.” said Lilly, pleading. The guard gave her a top to bottom glare that made her want to punch him on his face, before turning to look inside the cart.

  “She looks more like a tomboy than a lady…” said another guard eyeing her and Lilly fisted her hands. “What is it that you want help with, lady…?” he asked.

  “It’s my brother, sir… He’s dying out of fever… We need to get him to a clinic right now…” she pleaded again.

  The guards craned their necks to see Venus and Rey. Another one from inside the cart just shook his head at the two in the front. “I’m sorry, lady but we need to hurry… It’s official…”

  There was a sudden breeze and Venus’ shawl flew back to her shoulders, revealing her beautiful, yet saddened face, as she held Rey close.

  “Who-who is that?” asked one of the guards, looking at Venus, his eyes gleaming.

  Venus gently raised her head to look at the guards and her beauty caught them off guard. “We’re from the nearby village, sir.” Venus said in a distressed tone. “Please help us… We need to get my…” She was about to say brother, when Rey squeezed her hand and mouthed something. “-husband to the clinic.”

  Both Lilly and the guards turned to look at her. Lilly’s face was furious and Venus gaze turned confused as she really didn’t know what the heck made her say that. She glared at Rey, who was smirking before looking up again. “Sir… Please.”

  The guards looked at the other one inside the cart and he nodded immediately, staring at Venus and swallowing hard. “She’s beautifu
l…” he mumbled.

  “Please, get in…” the guard said as he opened the back door for them, his eyes following Venus as both Lilly and Venus helped Rey to move towards the cart and get in.

  The guard immediately climbed down to ‘help’ Venus to get Rey into the cart. Lilly followed and sat near him. Venus sat on the other side of Rey and then the guard followed, taking his seat beside her.

  “Lucky, son of a-” the guard sitting at front whispered, fisting his hands. “We’ll just dump the weakling somewhere on our way and then we could have some fun with her…” he said and the other nodded with a smug grin.

  “Good thing, the other guards are away from us…” the other one smirked.

  “So… What’s your name, young lady…?” asked the guard, in a polite voice.

  “I’m… Rose, sir.” Venus replied meekly. “And this is my sister-in-law, Daisy,” she said and Lilly forced down the urge to snort. “And this… is Daniel, my… husband.”

  “Oh…” The man was eyeing her from top to bottom and he could say that he was going to enjoy this one ride. “So, Rose… since how long has your husband been sick?” He asked, staring at the groaning form beside him.

  “Since, a month, sir… We tried to cure him using the regular herbs but then, yesterday, it got worse…” she sniffled.

  “Hmm… How long have you been married…?” he asked again.

  Venus froze for a second. “A month, sir.”

  “What?” The man looked at her shocked. “He was sick even before you two got married…?” ‘No wonder she looks so… fresh and delicious…’ he thought, his mind weaving on some notorious plans.

  Rey’s eyebrows furrowed and Venus struggled to hold in a giggle. Lilly, however, was looking like she wanted to punch someone. Venus nodded at him and then sniffled again.

  “There… there…” The man scooted close to her, making her jolt. “Please… I can’t bear to see a pretty lady like you in misery…”

  Venus tried to move back as he put his hand across her shoulder to ‘console’ her. His hand moved to her cheek, and he shuddered, feeling the smoothness of her skin. ‘Man… She’s so smooth…’ his eyes widened.

  Rey was fighting his urge to murder the guy. He could feel Venus scoot more and more into the cart and he couldn’t control it anymore as he moved and punched the guy’s jaw, all the while holding his mouth to shush him.

  “Did you hear something…?” asked the guard sitting in front.

  “Yeah… Sounded like a grunt or something…” The other replied.

  “That freak must be having his fun with the young lady…” he growled.

  “Do you want me to check on them…?” asked the other, hopefully.

  The other man glared at him. “Just stay where you are… and we’ll check on them together when we reach a fine spot where we could dump the sick man and the tomboy…” He growled.

  “Well… you can’t blame a guy for trying… She’s so…” The guard stared away, with a silly grin on his face.

  The minutes passed away slowly, as the cart moved forward. “It’s been way too quiet back in there…” the guard said looking at his fellow man. He stopped the cart, reaching a lonely place filled with trees and creepers. “I think we could dump them here…” he said as he climbed out and the other one nodded.

  They walked around the cart and reached the back door. But when they opened it, however, it was to receive a bone breaking punch to the first guard’s jaw. Rey jumped out of the cart, kicking the other one. Lilly immediately held the second guard’s hand pinning it behind him and punching his stomach. “I’m not a tomboy…” she growled.

  Venus immediately hurried to the front of the cart, occupying the rider’s seat and then pulling the reins of the horses to turn the cart around.

  “Guys, hurry…” she called out as Rey pulled the third one, who messed with Venus earlier outside the cart and pushing him against a tree.

  “Never even think about her… even in your dreams…” he mumbled before turning to hurry into the cart. He sat beside Venus and took over the ride. Lilly hurried in and sat inside the cart. She waved and blew kisses at the guards before they rode off towards their village.

  “Peter and Mia will be waiting for us near the detour…” said Venus and Rey nodded with a smile.

  They were only a few distance away from the detour, when Rey noticed someone step out from behind the trees… The man had covered half of his face… and then… another masked man stepped out… Within seconds, they were surrounded by a dozen masked bandits!

  “Uh-oh…!” whispered, Lilly. “I think there is a small change in plan… We need to take care of a dozen bandits too before we could finally reach home for a nice cold drink…” she sighed.

  “Great!” Rey smirked. “I was waiting for this…” He covered his face and then stepped out of the cart and stood in front of them. Lilly followed.

  Venus put the shawl back on her head, covering half of her face, as she muttered, “Be careful!” to both Rey and Lilly.

  The other group was the first to move. The leader hurried to Rey with a dagger, but Rey managed to dodge it. Lilly was busy punching and smacking the guys who hurried to her.

  “Ah… What are we missing…?” Venus turned to hear a familiar grumbling and found Peter and Mia hurrying towards them. Mia stood beside Venus as Peter helped Lilly and Rey in dealing with the bandits.

  Rey hurried to deal with the guy who was nearing Mia and Venus. But then, he failed to notice another guy yanking Venus by her hair towards him. Venus held her head and bit back a shriek, but then, before she could realize it the guy was kicked away from beside her. She raised her head to see Lilly gazing at her. “I told you you’d get your neck in trouble…” Venus raised her hand and swung it forward, and Lilly felt a gush of wind near her cheek as she punched a guy who was nearing Lilly with a dagger.

  “And, I told you I can help myself get out of it!” Venus retorted. For a few minutes, the only sound coming from the area was of punches and kicks and of breaking bones… as the guys fought furiously with the other group. Finally, Rey managed to catch hold of one of them and he gripped his hand behind his back before holding his neck.

  “Now, spit it out… Who is your leader…?” he asked and the man froze for a second. Rey managed to get the mask off him and Venus saw a very bad scar on his face that ran down his cheek. “Tell me if you want your freaking life…” Rey growled. But the guy was faster as he took his dagger and slashed in thin air, missing Rey by inches and before any of them could realize it, he had moved back… vanishing into the darkness. Rey swore loudly as the others hurried towards him.

  “You alright…? Asked Venus and nothing could hide the concern in his voice, which calmed him down instantly.

  “I’m alright… How about you…? You guys…? Is everyone alright…?” he asked and everyone nodded. “Alright then… Let’s head back…” he grinned before climbing into the cart and others followed.

  Rey rode the cart to the village. Everyone covered them with concerned questions and happy and relieved smiles as they entered the village. Our guys stayed with the people, enjoying… chatting… drinking… and sharing dinner to celebrate with them.

  Rey’s eyes were searching someone… He looked around, his gaze moving from face to face as he searched for a pair of dark eyes and a charming smile… But Venus was not there!

  “Mia…” he called as he walked towards Peter and Mia, who were dancing with the villagers. Mia turned to him with a smile as Peter offered him a drink, but Rey shook his head to decline. “Er… Where’s Venus…?” he asked.

  “Oh… Didn’t she tell you…?” she asked and Rey shook his head with a frown. “She went to the stream…”

  “Alone…?” he asked and his voice was a bit harsh.

  “Yeah… She said she’ll be back soon…” said Mia and giggled as Peter pulled her close for a dance. Rey rolled his eyes and with a grimace walked ahead. Lilly was dancing with a guy from the villag
e.

  Venus was standing in the waist-length water… with a towel around her body… Her hair left to fall around her shoulders…. She was staring up at the moon, lost in thoughts. Her clothes were piled up on the shore as she felt like taking a dip in the cold water to refresh herself… The day had been really tiring…

  ‘It had been really dangerous for the guys today…’ she thought. ‘How long are they planning to live like this? Rey would never let her go back to the village… and if she doesn’t talk to uncle about them, how are they going to know about their village and its situation…?’ She gazed at the reflection of the moon in the water and ran her hand along it…

  ‘Jellal would definitely know that she’s here… Now that the guards have seen her… she’s sure it wouldn’t be too far before he’d come looking for her… Can she really make up her mind and go with him…? Can she really just ignore her feelings… just like that? Being with Rey… has been the best thing that had happened to her… Yes, she does try and deny it… she does try to ignore the excitement… and wild happiness she feels every time he’s around… But…’ Venus smiled up at the moon. ‘That’s only because she’s still afraid of the things she feels for him…’

  Rey was watching her… His eyes widened with shock and admiration as he took in the breath taking sight before him. His mouth parted slightly as he gazed at her flawless beauty, bathed in the moonlight… almost giving her a silver glow. Her dark hair was shimmering under the rays of moon as it played over them. Rey’s face slowly lit up with a small smile as his hands worked his way over his shirt… fumbling with the buttons and finally getting the shirt of him. He walked towards where she was standing, still lost in thoughts, and stepped into the water.

  The sudden, noise of splashing water, however, alerted her and Venus turned with a start to see Rey standing behind her, his eyes gleaming with….

  “Rey…? What are you…?” But then, Venus turned around instantly and sunk down to upper chest- as far as the water would allow her in, remembering her situation, clutching her towel close to her body.

  “I was looking for you…” His voice sounded so close, making her shiver.