The Angel of Death

Part - 6

Stefan sat where Tessa has left him and stared at the closed bedroom door for a long time, thinking after all he was right, no matter what people said he was sure Tessa was not guilty and now finally he heard it from her.

He wouldn't even have been there to save Tessa from the muddy grave she has chose for herself, if it weren't for Tiatan, his old friend and ally in his uncle's plan to take the throne of Xaincia. Which was rightfully his twin brother Darian's

Thankfully he came to his senses before he would have done something so terrible that would have removed the Xaincia's name from the book of life.

Now Darian rules Xaincia as he was meant to, married to the love of his life, beautiful and daring Jennet.

He was happy for them. All though it meant he could never be able to go back home and spend the rest of his life in exile. But he deserves it, even sometimes thought that Darian hasn't really punished him by ordering him to leave and never come back to Xaincia.

He wouldn't be able to live there anyway. Wouldn't be able to see the hate in every single person's eyes. So he embraced the punishment with dignity and left Xaincia.

However Tiatan doesn't understands it. Last night also he came here to try to coax him to come back and finish what they have started 5 years ago. Stefan tried to make him see the reason why he didn't want the throne anymore and how satisfied his life was on earth, but he wouldn't listen so he just told him that he is not going back and its his last decision.

Tiatan went back but not without warning him that one day he would regret it.

As Stefan was about to leave for home he heard two men talking on the other table in the restaurant where he called Tiatan to meet.

"Oliy, you know what happened at McCartney's Mansion today?" The young gangly boy was saying to his companion, a skinny orange haired boy.

Stefan's ears perked by that name. McCartneys was the first clan to make their settlement in this unknown island on earth named Talmasca.

Since then many Noble families have came here and made this land their home but still McCartneys was the most respected and honored human clans in Talmasca.

So the interest in their affairs was not surprising, and Stefan has made his business knowing about all that was important in Talmasca. McCartneys was surely very important clan here.

"What now?" Asked orange haired boy whos name must be Oliy, Stefan thought.

"Sir John McCartney disowned his one daughter and threw her out of the Mansion."

"The young beautiful Misha? That's astonishing. I've heard she is the most beautiful girl in whole Talmasca."

"That's true. I seen her once at Greydons spring ball. I worked there then. But its not Misha Sir John has abandoned. Its Tesselina"

"Tesselina? That shy mousy girl? What has she done to face such strong punishment?"

"I don't know everything but Rita my wife says Tesselina was found guilty of seducing her brother in-law and being his lover for months."

"No... is it true?"

"It must be. Rita's elder sister works at the Mansion. She tells everything whatever happens in mansion to her."

"Never thought that mousy little girl can be such an evil. How could she betray her own sister?"

"That's not all. She even tricked her brother in-law and got pregnant. When he wanted to end everything she started threatening him to reveal everything to the whole society and ruin him. So he went to his wife and confessed and she told everything to her father Sir John McCartney."

"God... who would have thought a shy sweet girl like her could had such an evil mind." Oliy said and gulped down the whole glass of cheap alcohol.

Stefan heard enough and was eager to go home now. Darkness was fast spreading and he had to go very far. He paid his bill and left. Tiny, his only companion was sitting by the entrance and was immediately on his paws when he saw his master coming out.

Together they crossed the village's border and enter the jungle where his house lay deep in woods.

It has rained entire evening and now the slippery mud was making it nearly impossible to walk. Thankfully he had Tiny with him to led the way or he wouldn't be able to reach his home without falling in one of the many ditches made by wood thieves.

But Tiny led him to Tessa.

At first he thought she was one of the village boy who must have lost his way and fallen in to the ditch. If he left him here he would die surely if not killed by wild beastes then by cold. He decided to help him, so what if this was the first time he was about to do something good for someone, but there is first time for everything.

He pulled the boy out and he screamed like a girl, making him loose his grip for a moment and then he realized it wasn't a boy he was about to help but a girl.

By the time he settled her on his shoulder, she was unconscious thankfully. He was too shocked himself to give her any explanation and it also gave him much needed time to consider his next step. That took long enough for him to reach his home.

When she was clean it was easy to see that she was a cute little thing. It gave him really hard time while changing her clothes but he managed. He tried his best to practice good manners but her expressions and thoughts was priceless when he told her that he gave her bath and changed her clothes next morning.

Listening to her thoughts he came to know she was in some kind of problem which she doesn't want to share with anyone and when she told him that she was trying to kill herself by drowning in a ditch, it made him see clearly how very uninformed and innocent she was.

He had a doubt she was none other then John McCartney's infamous daughter Tesselina but he wanted to be sure and she was gaurding her thoughts around him so he did the easy thing and went to town, asked around. The town folks was very forthcoming with the informations but most of their versions was same, portraying Tessa as a calculating evil thing which he was sure was not true.

Finally he met one of the McCartney Mansion's guard. An old man who seemed really sad by Tessa's misfortune and told Stefan about the girl Tessa really was. He asked if he could see how she looked that made the guard little suspicious but still he told Stefan what he really wanted to know.

Now all he had to do was confront Tessa and know the truth.

When he came home he found her on the porch of his house. She looked so lost sitting there with her eyes closed. He couldn't bring himself to ask her anything right away but coaxed her to stay the night so he would have ample time to confront her.

Everything changed when he saw three beasts attacking her. He never felt such a raw emotion in his entire life and he jumped in front of the hungry wild brastes without thinking even once about his safety. All he thought was he couldn't let anything hurt Tessa. He fought with his bare hands. For first time he didn't needed his brother's famous sword or his friend Tiatan's magic to fight. His rage was enough.

But when Tessa distracted the beasts with fire, he lost his temper with her for until she screamed at him and brought him back in his senses. He wasn't able to name the emotion he felt but it scared the hell out of him.

He wanted to keep his distance from her but she wouldn't leave him alone and when she touched him he lost his famous control and kissed her. Then listing to her thoughts made him realize what he was doing and he rudely accused her like everyone has done, but her tears made him change tactics and pull out the truth from her.

Now he knows Tessa is innocent, his curiosity satisfied. But why he had to offer her a job? He wanted to keep her safe that's why but what about him? Would it be safe for his peace of mind? He really daubt it.

"Practice good deeds and see what it got me into. Bloody hell, that's where." She cursed and emptied the bottle in one go.