"Lost, child?" the lady asked, her voice like silk.
I looked around, my heart racing like angry horses. I appeared in a strange place. Whey had just happened? I debated in my mind.
I hesitated, unsure how to respond. "I... I don't know where I am," she admitted. "What are you, a witch? Why did you bring me here? Take me back…" I protested.
The lady smiled knowingly. "You've been brought here for a reason. You've been given a rare gift – a second chance." she calmly said.
My eyes widened. "A second chance?" I repeated.
The lady nodded. "You've been torn from your world, given the opportunity to relive a past life. But be warned, child, the paths you choose will determine your fate."
My mind whirled. "What do you mean?"
The lady's eyes gleamed. "You have two paths before you. One leads to duty, obligation, and unity. The other... the other leads to freedom, passion, and risk. Which path will you choose, Ava?" she asked me with a plunging gaze.
I paused, weighing my options and what it meant. "What if I choose wrongly?" I fearfully asked.
The lady's smile grew wider. "Ah, child, there's no wrong choice. Only different outcomes. The question is, what do you truly desire?"
I took a deep breath, her heart thumping. "I want to choose my own path. I want freedom." I firmly said.
The lady's eyes sparkled. "Then let us begin your journey. The path of freedom awaits."
With a wave of her hand, the lady vanished, leaving me to embark on her new journey.
…
Some seconds later, I found myself in a cozy room.
The woodwork was nothing I've seen before, so were the interiors.
I tried to remember how and when I got here, my thoughts fell on a blank mind. Nothing, I couldn't remember a single thing. All I knew was that I was about to get married. My memory filled with a tons of faces that I was related to and could casually recognized.
Lost in thoughts, the door flung open startling me.
"Seriously, Ava, you are starting to annoy me with your lateness! If you had found a reputable man to marry like your sisters did, then your father and I wouldn't throw you at the bidder— a sixty-year-old man—as his third wife," Mother blurted out as soon as she approached into the room.
The corners of her lips twitched as she drew closer.
"I'll send in Maria to… deal with those dark patches around your eyes. Sir Thompson would not like that." She added.
With that, she walked to the door as I spoke up.
"He would marry a scrap like me anyway, but thank you so much for your efforts in… finding me a very mature man for a husband," I sarcastically said.
The reality was harsh, but that was it. I had to live and accept it.
She huffed and headed out finally as I heaved a deep sigh.
Darting eyes across the room, I grabbed a cloak from the hanger to take a walk.
It would be better than being constantly reminded that my sisters were married at an early age, in their full prime.
Meanwhile, Maria walked toward me almost hurriedly as she voiced out.
"Miss, I have come to rub some oil—"
"Maria, I am going out to find solitude in the gardens," I said as she nodded lightly. At least she understood that I didn't want to be chaperoned either.
I managed my way past the guards. As soon as my feet touched the ground outside my home, I hurried as far as my feet could take me until I was standing in front of a middle-class pub.
According to social rules, women were forbidden to visit pubs, but over the years of harsh ridicule and unending comparisons, the pub had been my secret place.
Sometimes, I worked there as a waitress, which my parents didn't care about because I was useless to them.
"You are here, Ava, aren't you set to marry Sir Thompson by dawn? The news is all over the town," the pub owner, Derek, asked as I sat by the wooden counter with my cloak on.
"So they say, perhaps this is my last time coming here. I've come to pay homage and say goodbye to you, Derek. You've been a great friend. Thank you for being so nice to me!" I admitted.
We both laughed as he poured me some strong brandy. I gently took a sip and forced a smile.
"I have some customers coming in. Keep a low profile, madam," he teased, and he left while I nodded.
"I didn't know that women were free to enter pubs in… Western…"
I heard a man's rough, soothing voice speak from behind me. I took another sip and turned to him without interest.
He was not from here. He seemed like a traveler, a well-to-do one at that, I told myself. I stared at him, analyzing his outfit.
He had these high cheek bones, full and lengthy wavy long golden hair, neatly tied behind him.
His eyes were also golden, and I just couldn't tell if he was a human or some fallen angel. The Western men around here did not keep long hair. Was he royalty? I wondered again.
"You know, you could get in trouble for saying that to me," I confidently and finally said. He gave a dry chuckle and sat next to me, pouring himself some brandy as well.
"With whom, pretty?" he asked.
I blushed snf scoffed. I've not had a man call me 'pretty' before.
"With me." I snapped, raising a brow.
He titled a brow with a half smile, "I see…" he said. "I like your manners, conflicting and chaotic…"
"Is that a compliment? Weren't you raised to compliment ladies from wherever you were raised?" I lashed out.
"Ladies, you say, but you are not one. You are obviously the only female in the pub," he said, looking around and shifting his gaze back to me. "Other ladies are out there promenading."
"Excuse you, rude man, I'm not some cultivated lady who has sworn to stroll in gardens and swears loyalty to a man," I blurted out angrily.
He remained calm for some moments and then spoke up, his lips barely twitching.
"I didn't mean to… upset you with my words. I only spoke what I saw, and yes, it is an honest compliment. I've never seen a lady more willed than you. I think you are pretty and… stubborn, of course," he admitted as a small smile settled on my lips.
"Did you have to infuriate me up to understand certain things?! Well, I'm a little curious about you. You are not from here, are you?" I asked while he gulped the potent contents first.
"You are observant." he let out.
"Any other person can tell the difference. I think that you are a prince of some lost folklore," I said, and he cracked up. His fine set of teeth charmed me. Plus, he smelled like jasmine flowers.
"I see. Well, I'm not from here. Yes, but I don't plan on returning either. I am an adventurer who is a total stranger at home and I have decided to spend the night in Western. I have no tour compass, but somehow I landed in a pub and here I am… with a damsel," he stated, staring deeply at me.
"Well, you have arrived in good hands. Western people are very hospitable…" I said to him, leaned closer and whispered to him. "And greedy…" I added.
He laughed it off, "That is a bad way to talk about your people, no?"
"No. I'm a victim of greed, I tell you. I'm set to marry a man that is thrice my age. I'm here to drown in my misery of being… an old scrap, of course…" I said before I could regret.
"You weren't supposed to hear that," I added, rubbing my wrist lightly.
"I know how that feels. I've been there... Still there, even…" he said, and for a split second, we were now staring at each other like we had known each other our entire lives.
"I umm… I had better go now. You are right, a lady is not meant to visit such a place…" I hurriedly rose to leave as he held my wrist.
I swallowed up, I felt a chill in my spine when his warm skin met mine. I could have sworn that he glowed.
Was I supposed to feel some way towards a total stranger? I argued inside of me.
"Please, don't go yet! I mean, who would show me to an inn where I could pass the night? I promise to compensate you if it will be a hassle. It would be very kind of you. Please," he pleaded as he let my hand slowly fall off.
"Okay," I finally said, and we headed out of the pub together after bidding Derek goodbye.
…
By the time we left the pub, It was already nightfall.
We rode on his black mustang, a rare breed that commoners don't possess.
"Don't worry, I won't let you fall. I'm a sworn protector," he whispered in my ear as we continued to ride.
Something about his hot breath against the side of my face ignited a wind of emotions within me.
His chest pressed against my back, his strong hands over mine on the reins.
Just as I thought I'd found my escape, his voice whispered in my ear, "You shouldn't have come with me, Ava. Now you're marked as mine."