Call Of The Dark

Anton jerked his head back, recalling Lazarus's words. There was a stunned silence in the dining hall. "I didn't mean that. All I want to say is that we can deport Maeve and Ailill back to Vilinski. I don't like the fact that the two are locked in a temple in our palace!"

"There is no way I am going to give you that liberty," Lazarus growled. "She is dangerous. She threatened that if she didn't find a healthy body, she was going to possess the bodies of every female in Wilyra one after the other and destroy them with her magic. Do you want that?"

"How can she destroy with her magic the dames of Wilyra?" Anton argued. "She is already in the body of her mate!"

"She hasn't tethered to his body. The moment she is released from her captivity, she is going to leave Ailill. Can't you understand such a simple matter, Anton?" Lazarus said in a harsh voice.

Anton snapped, "All I know is that Maeve was supposed to possess Emma. You were supposed to be with a goddess and now you are with a human!"

"Mind it!" Lazarus growled as his muscles bulged. "Don't you speak like that about Emma!"

Anton clenched his teeth as he swallowed his words. He gave Emma a hateful look and then got up. His chair screeched back. He strode out of the dining hall. The room fell into silence again.

Lazarus leaned back on his chair and rolled his eyes. He drank the glass of wine with blood in it, Emma too kept her head low and ate nervously. Her cheeks heated. She was sure that everyone was looking at her.

Viktor had stopped eating completely. "You want to marry Emma?" he scorned.

"Yes," Lazarus replied as he looked at his father with a look that said don't-challenge-me.

Viktor took a deep breath. He gave a tight nod and then continued to eat his food. Everyone else ate in silence. When he finished eating, he said to Lazarus, "Meet me in the meeting chamber." Then he got up and left.

Lazarus sucked in a sharp breath. He looked over his shoulder to see his father leaving the dining hall. He was getting fed up with constant questioning by him. He let Emma eat her food, but he knew that she had lost her appetite. What was the whole idea of having food with the family when every time they dined together, they ended up fighting? "Shall we go?" he asked her politely.

She was more than eager to leave. She wiped her mouth and nodded. As Emma left, she knew that Lazarus's two sisters were boring holes in her back. Magnus too left with them.

When they reached his bedroom, Lazarus said, "Take Emma with you, Magnus. I will go and meet father."

"Why does he want to meet you?" Magnus asked. "Do you think he will talk about Maeve again?"

"I don't know," Lazarus said with a sigh. "I want to get over with it." He kissed Emma and went out of the door.

"Magnus, can I come a while later?" Emma said when Magnus was getting ready to trace. "I want to change."

"Sure," Magnus said. "I will go and check Olya and I will be back in five minutes?"

"That would be fine," Emma smiled. As soon as Magnus left, Emma sat on her bed with her head held in her hands. There was so much mental stress even after Maeve had gone that she wanted to get out of the palace with Lazarus and make a small home for them. Was it too much to ask? A knock on the door sounded. Before the guard announced who was there, the door opened and two vampire girls walked in. Lazarus's sisters. Emma rose to her feet, surprised to see them.

The girls came to stand in the middle of the room and sniffed. "You smell of fear," said one of them.

Flustered, Emma blinked at them. "How can I help you?" she asked, understating the animosity in their tone.

"I am Nora," she said, "and this is my sister, Cora. We came to meet you."

"Sure, please take a seat," Emma said pointing at the couch on the other side.

"No..." Nora drawled. "We just wanted to ask you, has Lazarus marked you?"

Emma raised her eyebrows in suspicion. "Why?"

"Well, if he hasn't marked you, why is he insisting that he marry you?" Nora shrugged. "Or even if he marks you, there is no need to marry you. Your marriage with him will be useless. What kind of advantage would a mortal bring to the throne of Wilyra? You don't have any special powers, you don't have dowry to bring with you, and you don't look so good."

"Wait Nora," Cora said as she walked towards Emma. "She has a dragon."

Nora laughed. "So what? A dragon gives power to its rider, not to someone it knows."

Cora laughed at that and the two looked at her with sarcasm etched on their faces. Nora said, "Our brother is no fool. He hasn't even marked you because he would never make you his queen. He is going to mark his real queen and keep you as his concubine."

Cora added, "If you like I can show you the chambers of the concubines. You can spend the rest of your human life lavishly."

"Are you done?" Emma said, controlling her anger in her tight fists. Lazarus had asked her not to reveal his mark to anyone because he was waiting for the right time. But she felt like dropping one side of the dress and showing it to them.

"Yes, we are done with you," Nora said. They turned to leave but Nora stopped and turned to face her. "Don't even dream of becoming a royal's wife, Emma. You are not fit for the throne of Wilyra."

Emma shot back, "At least you agree that Lazarus would be the king of Wilyra!"

Nora and Cora were stunned, realizing what they just spoke.