Call Of The Dark

When she didn't reply, he stopped Titan, his body tensing. He wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders and in a commanding voice said, "You will forget everything, won't you?" He almost willed her to forget it. It was something he wasn't proud of and so she had to disregard his previous behavior.

She took a long breath in and shook her head. "And what exactly do you mean by saying that?" He was such a baby when it came to expressing his emotions. How did he think that she would forget or disregard his previous behavior?

"When I was with Shira last, she told me that—" he swallowed his saliva down his throat. How could he say it so that his throat didn't burn? "She said that you won't forget what I did to you when I met you. You will get back at me." Women! Why couldn't they just move on?

"Oh!" Emma bit her bottom lip. "I will have to think about that."

Lazarus tensed all the more. He clenched his jaw and nudged Titan to move forward. For a long time she was silent and it made him all the more jittery. In order to wrench an answer from her, he wrapped his cloak around her, offered her food that he had got from the inn, veered to the left and circled a clearing in order to delay his arrival at Wilyra, but she was giving him a silent treatment. When he couldn't take her silence anymore, he asked her impatiently, "So what have you thought? You will disregard it, right?" Why did he feel that his entire life depended on her reply? Fighting rogues or faes or dragons seemed easier than dealing with Emma. In fact, given a chance, he would go and attack the entire Lore and conquer it, but Emma— how was he going to conquer the one person who he never wanted to part with? Damn! He never thought that relationships would be so difficult.

Emma tilted her head. She tapped her finger on her chin. "So, you want me to forget all the threats you gave me, all the insults, and also pushing me against Maeve for the soul casting ritual and not to mention telling me that Maeve was better than me and was suitable to be the queen of Wilyra?" She turned her head over her shoulder. "You must be dreaming." She could feel his chest muscles tightening.

"Yes, all that!" he replied unabashedly. "You are my bride. You have to move on." 'Please, move on,' he said internally. Suddenly, his mind started thinking of ways on how to woo a woman. What was it that women liked? Maeve was happy when he gave her gold or gold coins. "Moreover, it's not that you have never been miserable in your life? You have moved on, haven't you?" Yes, it was simple logic.

She narrowed her eyes. "It's not easy and you have to work a lot on it. I don't easily forgive."

He seemed to relax a little. "I can… work. What do I have to do?" She was about to say something, but he cut her short. "The moment we reach the palace, I am going to give you a trunk of gold coins. You can go and buy clothes from the Wilyra market or if you like I can send the royal seamstress to you!" He was sure that money swayed women. He had seen beautiful women marrying rich men with average looks. And Lazarus considered himself to be handsome. But her answer deflated him.

"And why would I need gold coins to buy dresses? You have already provided me all," she replied nonchalantly.

Lazarus was stunned. Gold coins were one thing that Maeve loved. Emma was so different from the goddess. She wasn't greedy. It was so refreshing. Now he truly didn't know what to offer her. For the next hour they rode in silence while Lazarus thought of multiple ways to woo her. Emma was tired. She found herself leaning against his chest and dozed off. As if on a natural instinct, he cradled her head in the crook of his arm. He made sure that he avoided all the bumps and pits on the dirt road that he followed so that she didn't get disturbed. And why was it that he was loving to take care of her?

Suddenly, he realized that she hadn't eaten food. He looked down at her face. She was still sleeping. He became worried that if she didn't eat food, she would become weak. The sun was rising up and he also needed to take shelter in a cave to escape the rays. A screech above made him look up. Nephie was circling them. She craned her neck towards a hill as if trying to point out something to him. His grip on Emma tightened, scared that there were rogues. Was she warning him? He thought of changing the path, but then he realized that she was still pointing ahead.

Nephie flapped her wings powerfully and soon she landed right on top of the hill. He narrowed his eyes as followed her movement. She seemed to be asking him to stop there. He hurried Titan towards the hill and saw a small mouth of a cave. He was surprised as to how she could sense that he needed rest and so did Emma.

Lazarus dismounted Titan and lifted Emma off him. He carried her in his arms inside the cave.

The cave was dimly lit as the morning rays of sun started breaching the night sky. The floor was damp and his instant worry was how to keep her warm. She fluttered open her eyes and mumbled his name. "It's fine Emma," he said. "I am there for you."

He was constantly worried about her now. He looked around and saw a pile of dry leaves in the corner that looked like an abandoned nest of a large bird. Using his feet he spread the leaves and then lowered Emma to it. "Stay here, Emma," he said as he kissed her head. "I will be right back." He had to get the fur from the saddlebag and also collect some dry wood for fire. As soon as settled, he rushed out. Hopefully there weren't rogues around.

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