• 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘢

𝟐. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘆𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀

The first reaction out of the group of women had been to close and lock all the shutters after receiving the news. Others, including yourself, scattered around in a hurry to bring out all of the supplies that were assigned to be taken in the case of a long period of being away from the tavern, shoving them into bags and securing them.

It was all so sudden, and you wanted to know the details of what your fellow friend had been told when she was talking with the head woman. However, it seemed that Viktoria already had a few other girls gathering around her, trying to figure out why someone of such prestige had made contact with you.

"Mrs. Henzler will inform us of the details once we reach our destination with the carriages. Speaking of, they should be here soon...Excuse me-"

The mayhem from just half an hour earlier was no comparison to the rush that was now occurring in the bar, with almost three times more people, as the afternoon shift waitresses had been abruptly woken up and ordered to take action alongside the rest of you. You couldn't even recall the last time everyone had to take such a leave, as most meetings with affiliates would only require the assistance of a few members.

Horse drawn carriages were soon waiting outside, waiting for the wave of women equipped with bags and weaponry luggage to fill up the seats before setting out. Luckily, you had managed to grab hold of Viktoria amidst her panicking state, and you pulled her into a cabin with a few other girls.

"Where are we heading?"

The smaller woman let out a sigh of relief once she sat down, recovering her breath before turning towards one of the women sat in front of you, who had asked the question. It was true, all of you had hurried to make your leave, but none of you seemed to know where you had been called to. Mrs. Henzler was in the front carriage, alone, leaving all the rest of you with no direct answers from her.

"If I'm not mistaken, the city is Berxley. It's about an hour's journey from her, up north. The reason as to why our leave had to be so rapid is because Mr. Yeager will not be there for very long, and if we are not to arrive before midday, the meeting will be cancelled"

"Hold on, so how come we didn't just receive the message earlier? If we had been informed about it yesterday, we could have easily left before sunrise"

The same woman who had asked the first question, Eileen, was now leaning forwards in her seat, leaning on her hands. One of her eyebrows was slightly irked, a slight look of annoyance on her face once hearing of the irresponsibility of the one who had sent the letter.

"That I couldn't tell you, even Mrs. Henzler doesn't comprehend the tardiness of the message. I suppose there was a problem with the postal service; it arrived in the letter box, after all"

It was clear that none of you were going to get any more information, Viktoria seemed to know only the key points of the contents of the letter. For that reason, the journey seemed to drag much longer than any of you would have liked, each wondering what could be the motive to which you were all summoned.

The halt of the wheels and the huffs of the horses up front informed you that you had reached your destination, and in only mere seconds you could hear footsteps as everyone exited the carriages. Eileen opened the door in an instant, and peered her head out to see where exactly you had all ended up.

"Goodness gracious...what the hell is this place?"

The three of you that remained inside moved over towards the door to get a look at what had shocked the determined woman. You managed to squeeze your head just under her corset, and looked out towards the plaza that the carriages had all stopped in.

Though it was only nearing the 10th hour of the day, the scenery before you was bustling with people and colourful markets that had been neatly set up in perfect rows. It seemed normal, if one was to not notice the eerie silence that hung over the local market. The only sounds were faint shoe taps of those that walked nearby, not even sparing a glance towards the newcomers as they passed by with grim faces.