Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 78: Waking Up In A Tent

Chapter 78: Waking Up In A Tent

Samantha’s eyes widened in fear as she automatically halted at the spot, but she made no necessary attempts to move since a blade had been threateningly placed against her throat. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the hunter, and his glaring brown eyes were solely fixed on her, causing a shuddering chill to run down her spine.

"Move an inch and I won’t hesitate to slice your head off your body." He warned in a heated voice. Clearly they weren’t here to play games.

Samantha wisely remained still as she glanced at the hunters who had ambushed their carriages, they were up to seven of them, each masked to conceal their identity. When her panicked gaze moved to the dead bodies of the royal guards that remained sprawled on the ground, their blood pooling around them, she knew instantly that they weren’t dealing with ordinary hunters.

"What are you doing! Let go of me!" Lucy’s alarmed voice had Samantha turning around to see the rest of the hunters had grabbed Lucy along with the head maid. "What do you want from us? Who are you?" Lucy demanded, but her fears were still evident in her gaze as she looked back and forth at the masked hunters - their auras were terrifying to the core.

"Boss, I think the two of them are Humans, but this one, she’s a lowly vampiress." One of the hunters informed the young man who was specifically dealing with Samantha. His icy brown eyes shifted to the head maid whose eyes were seething with fear. Lowering his blade from Samantha’s neck, he gave the orders.

"Get rid of her."

"What?! No! What gives you the right to take her life??" Samantha immediately objected as she glared back at the hunter without even realizing she was glaring at him. One of the hunters, turning deaf ears to her alarmed disapproval, already sent the head maid to her knees, but before he could get his sword to touch her, Samantha broke free from the lead hunters grasp and immediately reached out for the head maid, shielding her head as she knew they were about to slice if off.

"Get away from us! Keep your distance!" She yelled at all of them in a fit of rage, the inside of her chest where her heart continuously raced with dread was leaving her out of breath. She was immensely frightened by these masked hunters, and their mode of dressing including the crossbow they wore proved they were hunters, but what kind of hunters would dare to mess with not just any royals, but Vampires?

There was no use screaming for help, the royal Palace was far behind them, and Samantha doubts there are any villages nearby. Clearly, these hunters had chosen the right time to plan an ambush but what was their motive behind it?

"Who- who are all of you? What do you want from us?"

"Any human who supports the enemy is also an enemy." The leader of the hunter group coldly declared as he met her green eyes. "Tie them up and bring them along. Seize everything they possess and leave no trails behind!"

"Yes boss!"

"No!"

"We’re not going anywhere with either of you, don’t touch me! Let go! Ah..mhnn!!" Samantha’s voice was muffled as a handkerchief had been pressed to her nose, the same thing was done to Lucy and the head maid, and the only thing Samantha could see through her blurry vision was those steely brown eyes, staring back at her before she inevitably blacked out.

"Boss, are you sure it is safe if we take them along with us? I say we kill them and send their bodies as a token to the Palace." One of the hunters candidly suggested after the three maidens were finally unconscious on the ground, and the leader of the group remained unappeased.

"Bring them, they’re still useful. We can gain more insights about the Palace using the three of them, and if they don’t speak, we get rid of them at the spot." Came his second declaration, and the hunters nodded in unison before moving quickly to get their horses and taking the three maidens of the Palace along with them.

They rode for hours through the woods, staying out of sight to the humans before making it back to their hidden territory. The sun was fully out by then, and the scorching heat beat down mercilessly on the barren expanse that only appeared to be filled with sands, stretching as far as the eye could see.

With little or no vegetation in EmptyHollow, most parts of the Kingdom were already turning into deserts, one could hardly recall the last time the kingdom ever experienced the sight of rainfall. As the journey continued, the hunters’ sharp and watchful eyes scanned the desolate wasteland, taking in the rolling dunes of golden sand that seemed to shift and sigh with the wind.

Their leader rode at front, his mind detached from reality until one of his associates moved forward to join him.

"Boss," he began, "their carriage contained gold as detected. We’ve seized everything in it, but one of the humans had this parchment with her." He brought out the folded parchment from his shirt pocket, handing it to his boss who opened the parchment to see what was written on the inside.

"A list of slave establishments?" He murmured before glancing at his fellow associate, "which of the maidens did you find this with?" He asked, and his associate pointed to the blonde-haired maiden who was held captive in a makeshift cage.

"We found some silver coins with her and a little map, my theory tells me she had the intention of escaping, but concerning the parchment, I can’t say."

The leader of the hunters glanced at the maiden who remained unconscious. He gave no further response and continued ahead of their journey. In the heart of their desolate territory, a makeshift camp had been set up by the hunters, and when they finally arrived, each one of them dismounted from their horses, and they didn’t need to ask questions before knowing they needed to take the three maidens inside the tent.

"Boss, they’re all tied and secured inside the tent, but do we need to keep the vampiress? I do not trust her resilience."

"Keep calm Macho, they won’t be able to do anything." He assured his fellow hunter who was named Macho. "You can take off your mask, but we should be careful for now since we can’t reveal our faces to any of them."

"I’ll inform the others."

The leader only acknowledged it with a nod of his head, and he went to round up the rest hunters who were already conversing on how to use the money they’ve stolen to buy themselves some food and good arrows. They had taken off their masks, and all seven of them were young skilled men who had to live their lives in the shadows.

As the sun began its descent, casting an orange glow across the desert, Samantha slowly regained consciousness as her eyelids squeezed subconsciously, her head throbbing with a dull ache. Fluttering her eyes open, the young maid found herself in a dimly lit tent, the air thick with the scent of worn canvas.

When she tried to sit up, confusion washed over as she realized she had been tightly bound to coarse ropes, her hands and feet securely tied.

Struggling against her restraint, Samantha’s gaze darted around the tent to find Lucy still unconscious at a corner, and the head maid too was yet to regain consciousness. At the sight of them, the memories of what had happened came flooding back, and out of worry, Samantha tried to call Lucy’s name without making it too audible.

"Lucy!" She whispered, "Lucy, wake up!" After several tryouts, Lucy’s lashes suddenly flickered, and when she opened her eyes, Samantha couldn’t be more relieved to see she was alright.

"Sam?" Lucy’s eyes widened in a state of confusion when she took in the sight of her tied hands and legs. "What is–"

"Shhhh." Samantha silenced her friend who was about to yell in panic. "They’ll hear us."

"Where, where are we? How are we here?" Lucy’s heart raced as she tried to piece together what had happened and where she was. The interior of the tent was sparsely furnished with a few blankets strewn together haphazardly on the ground. The flickering light of the small oil lamp casted eerie shadows on the tent walls, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty.

"Can you untie yourself? We need to get out of this first." Samantha whispered to Lucy who nodded her head in agreement, and the two maidens immediately tried to unfasten the ropes. Samantha wriggled and twisted, feeling the rough fibers dig into her skin.

As they both struggled, a voice echoed from outside the tent, growing louder as it approached. The tent flap was suddenly pulled back, revealing a tall figure silhouetted against the fading light of dusk.

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