Inside the throne room, the current lord of Tekoa was sitting on his throne when a guard ran into the hall and knelt before him.
"What is the matter?" He asked the guard.
"My Lord, I went as you instructed to check on the sisters but when I got to their house, it was empty," the guard replied.
"What do you mean it was empty? Did you check their belongings?" The Lord asked the guard.
"My Lord, their bags aren't there..." The guard said and paused as another guard ran into the throne room.
"My Lord, the sisters were caught three miles away from the palace and have been surrounded by the guards on night patrol," the guard announced.
"Outrageous!" The Lord sparked and rose to his feet. "Take me to them right away!" He commanded and the three of them left the palace.
At the same time in a place far from the palace, a group of guards were surrounding the two sisters, not letting them pass.
"I said get out of the way this minute!" Lidia coldly said to them and gently pushed her sister behind her to avoid her getting hurt.
"You are a servant of the Lord, where do you think you are escaping to?" The leader of the guards asked her.
"We have no business with you so let us pass and I won't have to trouble you but if you don't let us pass, I'll have no choice but to..." She said and pulled out her sword. "But to fight our way out."
"Guards! Do not by any means let them leave here! We must wait until the Lord arrives, do you understand?" The leader asked his men.
"Yes, sir!" They replied and grasped their swords.
Seeing that they were bent on stopping them, Lidia had no choice but to fight. The worst thing that could happen was the Lord arriving and meeting them there.
"Don't leave my side, hold me tightly, okay?" She whispered to Tilia who nodded her head in reply.
"Be careful, sister," she said and Lidia nodded and faced the guards.
"Since you won't allow us to pass, I will fight our way out!" Lidia said and began to advance, her steps were slow and cautious and her fierce eyes were all over the place.
The first guard came to attack her but she swiped her sword at him, and it emitted a powerful force that pushed him meters away from them.
"What are you all waiting for? Attack her at once!" The leader of the guards yelled and all his guards dashed forward at Lidia.
"Hmph!" She scoffed and stabbed her sword into the ground and a golden light emitted and swept all the guards away at once. They all fell in different places, only the leader of the guards remained on his spot though he fell on one knee. "Get out of my way! You are leaving me no choice but to..." She hadn't finished talking to the guard when a cold breeze swept past her from behind and turning around was the Lord with some guards.
"And where are you going, Lidia?" The Lord asked her.
"After so many decades of wasting our lives and achieving nothing, we have decided to leave and live our lives freely," Lidia replied.
"What makes you think that I'll let you do as you please?" The Lord asked her. "Do you remember how I saved your miserable lives decades ago or you both would have been dead? After all these, you chose to repay me by betraying me and fighting against my guards! This is unforgivable but I'll give you a chance to repent. If you and your sick sister don't wish to be killed, return with me to the palace this minute!"
"I am sorry but I will have to disobey you this time," Lidia firmly replied to him and this got him angry but he didn't want to kill her yet. "You know very well how important I am to you and I know you won't kill me, you have no choice but to let us pass," Lidia added and smirked before turning around and leaving with her sister held closely.
As the leader of the guards saw the Lord was speechless even after being insulted by Lidia, he ran to him and knelt.
"My Lord, I do not wish to interfere in this matter but if you let them go, what will your subjects say about you? Look around, you are being watched and if you don't do something about this matter, you will lose your respect soon," he said to him.
The lord looked around and the guard was right, he was being watched. He was the Lord of Tekoa and as such, he should be accosted with some respect — If he let Lidia do as she pleased then soon, the masses will have no respect for him any longer.
"Stop them at all costs even if it means shedding blood!" He ordered the leader of the guards.
"Yes, my Lord!" The leader of the guards replied and rose to his feet. He was far more glad that the Lord listened to his advice and as such, he took it upon himself to make sure that he carried out the order perfectly and now that the Lord doesn't mind if blood was spilled, he would not care about anything else other than taking the sisters back either dead or alive.
"You are asking for trouble," Lidia said to him as he came to the front and blocked their path.
"I have an order to obey and I will not stop at nothing until I make sure that you both return with me to the palace!" The leader of the guards replied and unsheathed his sword.
"Since you are so bent on stopping us today, you leave me no choice!" Lidia said and pointed her sword at him. "I will kill you no matter what it takes!" She swore and the leader of the guards scoffed and came at her with his sword clasped firmly in his hand. "Stay behind me," Lidia whispered to her sister who nodded.
As the leader of the guards came at her, their swords clanged together, creating a wave of air that blew the things nearby away. It somewhat affected Tilia as she fell to the ground immediately.
"Tilia!" Lidia yelled and bent down to check on her sister but the leader of the guards used it as an opportunity to attack her, but she was able to react quickly and dodged the attack, both she and her sister. "Are you alright?" She asked her sister who shook her head. "Wait a while, okay?" She said and rose back to her feet.
Facing the smiling guard, she said. "Today, I am going to defeat you even if it means dying in the process!" And when she was done speaking, she used her nails and cut her wrist, the blood dropped on her sword making it glow very brightly.
"You... This is not good!" The leader of the guards exclaimed and was about to escape but the light from the sword as it spread out got to him in an instant and burned him to ashes.
The Lord, seeing what she did was forced to summon his spear which he struck on the ground, creating a loud sound followed by a wave that spread out and stopped Lidia's attack.
As powerful as the Lord's attack was, Lidia was sent flying away but suddenly, someone came from behind and caught her. He turned her around and made her see him clearly — And seeing the person who saved her, she was both shocked and scared. The one who saved her landed on the ground as gracefully as he would and then let her stand on her own. Ignoring the way she was staring at him, he smirked and left her side, then made his way to the front.
"Who are you and how dare you interfere in this matter?" The Lord asked him.
"I'm sorry, I was passing by when I saw this pretty lady being sent flying away. May I ask what crime they have committed to warrant such extreme punishment?" Alex replied calmly.
"It's as if you've said. They are being punished for the crime of betrayal so if you don't mind, you should leave or you will be implicated as well," the Lord replied. Though he was speaking calmly, there was a hidden message in his words and Alex didn't fail to grasp it.
Given that, he smirked and turned to Lidia. "You were the one sent to kill me, right? Tell me, who sent you and I will save you and your sister," he said to her.
Taken by surprise at his words, the Lord glanced at Lidia who immediately avoided his gaze.
"If you want to leave here alive, tell me who sent you!" Alex demanded in an authoritative tone.
Seeing that her sister was hesitant to answer, Tilia walked on her knees to Alex's feet and grabbed him on the leg.
"He's the one, he is the current Lord of this city and he's been using us to commit so much evil," she weakly said to Alex while pointing at the Lord who was glaring at them. Then she faced Alex with pleading eyes, "Please, save my sister and me, we are tired of being used by him. If I can only live a day as a free person, it will be the best decision in my life."
After listening to her Alex turned to the Lord and smiled. "I was wondering why my spirit didn't like you, it is now obvious that you are my enemy. Tell me, why did you send someone to kill me the second time? Are you scared of losing everything you've worked for?"
"You are in no position to question me. Since it has come to this, we might as well settle the scores and see who wins," the Lord replied and struck his spear on the ground again.
Alex scoffed and quickly picked the two sisters and rose into the air. "If you want us to battle for power, set a date and let the whole city be our witnesses. For now, I have better things to do, so long..." He said and went away.