1 Bloodstained Elegance

"Looks like you're quite a bit drunk", the coachman says as he looks at the lady being swayed by the movement of the carriage.

She keeps her head down not looking up at him as if she was sticking to her last strand of consciousness. 

He continues, "Been having a tough time lately? Ah, the Noble ladies like you must have their fair share of hardships."

"I feel dizzy", the lady mumbles still keeping her head low. 

She slumps to the side of the carriage as she mumbles some incoherent words. 

The coachman looks back at her and a nasty grin climbs up his face. 

The path of the carriage deviated from the trails and it moved further inside the nearby forest. 

"Hey, hurry up and grab her", one of the men standing outside says as he looks inside the carriage. 

"I didn't expect her to leave the party without any guards," another man says as he opens the door of the carriage. 

He pulls out a dagger while the other man holds the drunk lady down in case she wakes up. 

"What do you think you are doing?", the lady asks half dazed by the effect of alcohol. 

"You're awake? Good. I was about to wake you up myself." He says as he holds the knife to her throat. 

Both the men snicker. "Just stay still", the man holding her down says as she tries to free herself. 

"Don't take this personally lady. It's your fault that you messed with the wrong person," he says as he pushes the dagger to her throat. 

A small streak of blood runs down her neck. 

"Why don't you call it a day." the lady says with a very calm tone. Both the men laughed out loud. One of them said, "How cute. Girls like you end up screaming the loudest" 

Before he could do anything further, a hard blow landed on his chin. 

"Guys, I tried to warn you," the lady says with a crazy look in her eyes. 

Everything went silent as the lady started thrashing the men. Her black hair reflected the moonlight like a black cascade as she stepped out of the carriage.

"So there were more men. Not that I care. I'm personally sending you all to hell." the lady says as she charges towards the men with the dagger she took from the two men from the carriage. 

A beautiful yet terrifying image prevails. Her beautiful golden gown drowned in the blood and she stood there looking at the lifeless bodies of the men. 

The knights arrive at the scene. 

Looking at the scene in front of him, the head knight looked more terrified than anyone. 

"Lady Charlotte Ashford!", he yells out looking at Charlotte who was staring at the lifeless men who were lying down. 

"Oh. There you are, Sir Aldric", Charlotte says as she looks him in the eye. She was covered in blood. Her golden dress looked like a red flame dress and blood smeared across her face looking like a work of art. 

She gave him the most innocent smile to Aldric. 

Frusted Aldric looks at Charlotte and says "Goddammit...I knew you would do something like this.". She just chucked at his response. 

As both of them were having a conversation, the young apprentice knights sprinted and secured the premises. 

A young knight approached to report the situation to Sir Aldric but he shuddered as he looked at the lady in front of him. Drenched in blood and had the most innocent smile on her face. One would even say that she looked more like someone who had been to the depths of hell. 

"Who is that?", he asks the nearby knight. 

He looked at the newbie up and down and sighed. "You don't know? That's Lady Charlotte Ashford. The youngest of the Ashford household. Unlike other ladies, she had to wield a sword just like her brothers and went to war in her early teens with her brothers. Well, she had only just recently returned from war, so many might not know about her. Word has it that she was like a monster on the battlefield. So the price on her head is astonishing" the other knight explained to the newbie.

The newbie withered like grass, "I never knew that there was another lady in the house other than Madame Ashford".

As the knights were talking among themselves. A loud yell busted through. 

"What the hell is wrong with you!? I told you not to kill anyone!" Frusted Aldric was yelling at the top of his lungs.

Unfazed Charlotte replied, "Yeah, I remember. That's why they're alive."

Aldric couldn't take it anymore, "Are you being serious right now? Look at the state they're in!!!"

The entire place looked like a storm had passed through. 

With a smug look, Charlotte replied, "I was drunk. I was acting in self-defence while impaired."

Aldric snapped, glaring at Charlotte.

Looking back at the scene and angry Aldric, Charlotte admitted, "Well...I might have gone slightly overboard."

"Here. The Evidence. This is the knife they used and the crest must belong to one of the sub guilds of the Blood Hound guilde. Get the one who ordered this mess to happen.", Charlotte says as she tosses the evidence to Aldric. 

Charlotte finally notices the look she is getting from the young knights because of her looks. 

She looks at herself in the carriage window with a very distasteful look and mumbles "Gross".

She sees the reflection of Aldric and an idea pops up in her head. 

"Hey, Sir Aldric", she started. 

Busy with looking at the evidence and handling the men, he replied, "Yeah?" without even looking at her. 

"Take that off," Charlotte said with a calm voice. 

Aldric was taken and shielded himself with his hands, "My Clothes!?!?!"

Charlotte shrugged and replied, "Do you expect me to walk around looking like this?"

Aldric sighed and gave his coat, "Fine, have it your way."

"Well, you should have just done this, to begin with", Charlotte said as she covered herself with Aldric's coat. 

"We will take care of the things here", Reynard, the second in command of the knights says as she looks at Aldric and Charlotte. 

Charlotte assessing the situation, chose to leave with the knight to her house. 

In a smoky room across the Capital of Aetheria, a furious man in an expensive suit paced with rage. His whisky glass lay shattered, staining the carpet. 

"You idiots! I gave you one job and you blew it!"

His men looked scared, avoiding eye contact.

"Boss, she put up a fight. It wasn't easy."

He glared. "No excuses. Find her and bring her to me alive."

The room went silent.

"Or else."

They nodded, knowing what defiance meant.

As he vanished into the shadows, "Enjoy while you can, you'll not make it for too long." the man said as he looked at the city view.