Zia considered explaining the situation, but then asked the carriage driver to stop and left. Saying anything now could get her parents in a lot of trouble, if not for anything, then for trying to mess with the marriage of a noble.
But she never made it back home before everything went into hell. The sun had just receded behind the mountains, and she was making her way back home when she heard a scream coming from the house of one of their neighbors.
The carriage didn't even make it that far and stopped. The noble lad and his guards jumped out to look at the source of the scream alongside Zia. It was coming from her neighbour's house.
As she rushed in, the noble lad followed with his guards. Soon she reached the door and started knocking on it, calling for her friend who lived there. The scream was hers.
