Cain left the room, muttering something under his breath about the royal house and marriage. The way Lord Lazarus had asked him to leave the palace was too humiliating. If he weren't the heir to the throne, Cain would have never listened to him, rather he would have killed him on the spot. He was going to leave the palace by the evening or as soon as Naomi woke up.
As soon as Cain left, Lazarus burst into laughter. He was suppressing it ever since Cain had come with the deed paper. And when he laughed, Emma and Olya looked at him with wonder. Lord Lazarus was capable of laughing like that? It was a wonderful sight.
Lazarus grabbed his stomach as he laughed and came to sit next to Emma. "That vampire looked like a mouse!" he said in between his laughter.
And Emma continued to watch her mate with just a broad smile. He looked so… beautiful. So carefree. So relaxed.
Lazarus wiped the water from the corner of his eyes and when he turned to face Emma, he found her watching him intently. He raised his eyebrow with a silent question and his smile intact. She said, "Lord Lazarus, you should laugh more. I think it has become my favorite sound now."
Lazarus's smile got replaced with an intense stare. Emma crawled towards him and kissed him on his lips. "You are so beautiful when you are laughing that I forgot to breathe."
Lazarus tilted his head and kissed the corner of her lips, his chest swelling with love. "You stole my line, Emma. You always look so beautiful that I forget to breathe."
"Maybe you both can open a mutual admiration society," a voice from the door broke their conversation.
Lazarus sighed at his brother. "Well, Magnus, you made an entry at the wrong time!" He got up and walked to his table to pick up the paper after giving a chaste kiss to Emma's forehead.
"Lazarus, you forget that Olya is in your room and she is still a minor," Magnus reasoned.
"In that case, I am going to keep Olya away from you, Lord Magnus," Emma said with a chuckle. "Because I did see a love bite on her neck a few minutes back."
Olya's hand immediately went to her neck. She had covered the love bite very carefully with a scarf that she had tied across her neck. The scarf was still there in its place. She blushed when Emma started laughing. "You tricked me," Olya said with banter.
"You won't do any such thing, Lady Emma," Magnus said rather strictly. No one could separate him from his lady love.
"Here," Lazarus said to his brother. "Get these papers signed in your name as soon as possible."
Magnus took the deed, his eyes wide in surprise. "That was quick, Lazarus!"
Lazarus shrugged.
"But should I get it changed so soon?" he asked. "Lord Cain would start doubting."
"Once you get the deed in your name, stash it in your room in a safe place. Cain wouldn't come to know about it. He won't even go to the land revenue office to search for the information because he would be too afraid at the moment," Lazarus said with a smirk.
Magnus stepped forward and in the next instant he embraced his brother in a bear hug. "You are doing so much for me."
Lazarus froze for a moment. He wasn't used to such embraces from his family. It was odd, but then why was it that it felt so good? Tears pricked at the back of his eyes but he blinked them away rapidly. "It is the least I can do for Olya and you." He wanted to keep his brother and his love safe for the time he ascended the throne and the only way to do that was to send them both to the estate. The estate was nestled in the midst of a valley and was extremely beautiful. It had a village all around it whose population was not more than three hundred people.
Magnus and Olya would stay there and could happily rule the place till the end of the world. It wasn't that he didn't want him in the palace, but he knew that Magnus would be happy to have his own place and feel more confident. He was extremely talented and he was wasting his talent in the palace. Magnus had excellent engineering skills. Lazarus had seen it with his eyes when Magnus would build models of bridges and houses and water dams.
Lazarus was going to call him once things settled in Wilyra. Magnus was too precious to be used in the war. Yul was the man who was going to be his future General. And Magnus would be his top minister.
Lazarus stroked his brother's back gently. "Once you marry Olya, you must move to that estate."
Magnus pulled himself away. "Yes, I will," he said with a smile. Though Lazarus hadn't told him the plan that was going on in his mind, but Magnus was no fool. He understood that whatever Lazarus did, it had a deep purpose. Then he turned to Olya and said, "Would you like to come to the room? There's something I would like to discuss with you."
Olya giggled. "Yes, let's go because Emma also has something important to discuss with Lord Lazarus." She gave back to Emma who was now blushing.
That evening they went to the village as discussed earlier. There had been cases of strange disappearances. When they reached the village, they were to meet the rebels. Lazarus said to Emma, "I don't want you to come inside for the meeting. Things are not good."
"Lazarus, the rebel leader is none other than my father," Emma said.
"Yes, I know and I am afraid that he is going to behave nasty with you in front of everyone. I won't be able to see if he humiliates you," he replied. "I may just kill him and then it would be even more difficult to have talks with the rebels."
"The talks with the rebels are very crucial, Emma," Magnus explained. "There is something very strange going on and the rebels think that it is because of the vampires."
Emma looked uncomfortable. "Okay, I will stay here, but please be very careful."
Lazarus squeezed her hands. "I am going to keep four guards stationed around this carriage. If you feel that you've been attacked, then don't worry. I will come to you in a second."
Emma nodded, feeling more for his safety than hers. "You be careful, okay?"
He kissed her head and then along with Olya and Magnus, got out of the carriage. Lazarus had called this meeting secretly. He had informed the rebels in a way that they wouldn't have been able to inform the palace. Yet he couldn't trust the rebels.
The carriage had stopped in front of the community hall where all the rebels had already gathered. There was nervous activity around the place. People looked at Lazarus cautiously. They also had their eyes on the carriage that was surrounded by four guards who were on the horses. The vampire guards had cold faces as they assessed the humans around them, with their hands on the hilt of the swords, ready to attack.
