She had a point as he immediately helped her get down.

“Better”

She said as she started walking into the bushes

“You're going to far my lady, you need to stay within my eyesight”

He said as she snarled

“I'm a lady, I won't be doing such act in the presence of a mere guard”

Saying that she continued walking into the forest.

The guard, taken back by words, saw her walk further into the forest. He believed she was one of the most mute dignitaries he had ever met. Today she was truly out of character

“Shout if you need any assistance”

He said as he patiently waited behind the carriage.

Scarlett released her breath as she saw she was in a deep enough part of the forest. She really didn't think she could pull it off. She couldn't imagine herself being that mean. Bending down, she brought out the knife she had snuck out of the shop as she immediately started ripping her dress apart. She hoped the guard had not started getting restless and had started to look for her. Hopefully she bought herself enough time. Soon her knees down to her feet were exposed. She wanted to be comfortable as she ran, and the down would have made her slower. Immediately she took to her heels. She didn't look back, didn't breathe, she just started to run into the bushes, although she didn't know the path she was using, she knew she hadn't gone so far from the market, so she was certain that if she just kept on running forward, sonner or later she would reach the market, from there, she could get to the bridge.

The guard waited as he kept on staring at the sky, his patience started running thin. Walking into the bushes, he had little care if he would see her in an undignified position. He just wanted to check if she was alright, if anything happened to her, he would end up dead.

He kept on walking into the bushes, but he still saw no sign of her. He began to walk faster and started sniffing around for her scent. But she was nowhere in sight, and he could barely perceive anything, to how strong the forest trees smelled. Suddenly something caught his eyes, looking down, he saw a piece of fabric, harshly cut as his eyes widened.

The lady has run away.

Immediately he transformed into his werewolf form as he could perceive better there and he immediately took to his heels. She must not have gotten far.

Scarlett didn't stop, the sky grew a lot darker as she knew that the rain would start pouring, she needed to get out of the kingdom before that. She didn't know she could run as fast as that, as she ignored all the scratches she was getting by the thorns and kept on running. The scent of the market was getting stronger, she must be close.

The guard was hot on her tail as he sped up to catch her, as her scent was getting stronger by the second.

She knew that the guard was not far behind, and she knew that if he caught up to her, she would never leave the kingdom again. The forest was filled with a lot of poisonous leaves as she suddenly had an idea.

She slowed down and she allowed the guard to be in a reasonable distance to her.

The wolf in front of her growled as he immediately got back to his human shape.

His clothes were torn and tattered due to the transformation, and he was covered in mud

“My lady, you are to follow me at once to the castle”

He said with sternness in his eyes, he failed to notice the coldness in hers.

Walking slowly towards him he stretched out his hands to escort the lady back to the carriage. But she didn't take it, she just slowly approached him.

“My lady….”

He couldn't finish his sentence as he was immediately stabbed with a pocket knife. His eyes widened in shock as he stayed at the lady in front of him unable to move.

He was a warrior and had been stabbed with a lot of things, arrows, daggers, knives. But this one.. this one was different. This one was poisoned.

Blood spilled from his mouth as life slowly disappeared from his eyes. With every breath the guard took, Scarlett felt hers drop. She had never killed anyone. She had never had a reason to. She saw a man die in front of her and with her knife, she felt a pitch in her stomach, now she really needed to throw up. Seeing that he couldn't be properly buried, she placed a flower by his head as she immediately turned her back to continue her journey. She didn't have to run this time, there was no one behind her.

She got to the market, everywhere was filled with different colors of light as the noise didn't die down. They didn't seem to care about the darkened sky or the rain. She mixed in fine with the crowd. Apart from the fact that she was starched, dirty and a bit bloody, she moved in perfectly with everyone else who didn't bother to ask if she was alright.

“Excuse me…. please how can I get to the bridge”

She asked an old lady in front of her stall

“Oh my dear child….are you alright?”

She said with concern written all over her voice as her eyes trailed every inch of her bloody skin

“I’m fine”

She said with a smile as the old lady didn't seem to believe her

“Are you sure young lady, you don't look very fine”

She said she tried reaching out for her.

“Do you perhaps know how I could get to the bridge”

She asked, she really had no time to explain her problem to the Lady.

Well of course, just follow the path your life on, turn a little to the left, and you'll see the tracks, follow it and you'll get to the bridge”

She said as Scarlett's faced brightened up

“Thank you”