Drogo's glare was replaced with shock. Over the entire period of rebellion, not once a royal had come to talk to them. Lazarus came and made them face the reality of it. He had to save his face in front of his people. He took a deep breath in and got up. "Prince Lazarus, this rebellion will not go down. The more you try to suppress us, the more we are going to raise our heads. The more you kill us, the more we are going to rise against you. There is no way you can stop us unless you give us what we want. We have been living on these lands for a very long time and all we demand is that we are recognized!"
"Yes! Yes!" His people began thumping the table in approval, cheering for their leader.
Drogo continued, "We demand that we are recognized! We want the lands. It is our home and you can't uproot us from here!"
Lazarus felt like leaping at the man and choking him by his throat. He tampered his fury down even as his fangs elongated to rip him apart. "Drogo, how is it that we are not recognizing you? We have given you a place to stay. You have come here as vassals and the very term means that you all are holders of land on condition of allegiance. Now it is you who no longer want to hold the allegiance to the Kingdom of Wilyra by rebelling against its royals. Why should we be obliged to let you stay in our lands?"
Drogo became quiet again and clenched his teeth at Lazarus's argument. He didn't know what to say. "You can't just—"
Lazarus held his hand up. "We aren't the ones who want to throw you out. It is you who is demanding something that isn't in the treaty and violates the very nature of being a vassal. If you cannot live like a vassal, you are most welcome to leave the Kingdom of Wilyra!"
"You are going to see a mass exodus, Prince Lazarus!" Drogo growled. "We are not going to stay here. We are all going to leave this place and then you're going to starve!"
Lazarus let out a mirthless laugh. "You all can leave and we aren't going to starve. Rest assured." Lazarus knew that this was a game he had to play. If he backed down now or showed his dependence, Drogo was going to use it. And he was a foolish man, only driven by ambition and a desire to be popular, nothing else. His family was doing well.
His words were so strong and clear that there was a silence in the room. People either looked at him or at Drogo. Lazarus took the hammer and nailed it when the iron was hot. "If you like my people are going to identify all those who are no longer the vassals of the Wilyra Kingdom and they are going to help them pack and get out of the kingdom." He looked around at the faces of the men out there. "I know that most of you are no longer vassals. The vampires don't take everyone for their needs. You came to our lands, proliferated and now have larger families. Not every family has given us a vassal. You all are flourishing well under the kingdom."
Drogo's mouth fell to the floor because that was a fact. It also meant that many families that were not the vassals could leave and their absence would hardly affect the vampires. "But we are now part of this kingdom," he protested. "And that is why we should get our rights!"
"I won't deny that you all are part of this kingdom," Lazarus replied. "But being part of this kingdom is about being loyal to it. However, you are being rebellious for no reason. You all are being treated fairly. There have been no untoward instances, so why do I feel that I am holding the short end of the stick?"
He felt like he didn't want to reason anymore with him. In the end he said, "This is your last chance of taking the rebellion back. If you won't, then we will be compelled to take action. And that would only mean that all those who will continue to rebel will be asked to leave." Lazarus kicked the chair back. It screeched as it slid on the floor. He turned sharply to leave. "Before I leave, I have to tell you that you have only seven days to consider your decision. Because as far as we are concerned, we all have decided as to what we are going to do." He turned and strode out of the community hall with his men leaving a very flustered crowd. As for Lazarus this was the first round of negotiations.
When he came out, he saw that the carriage was just as he had left. Emma was still inside and relief flooded him that no one noticed her. Lazarus could have easily brought down Drogo by telling his reality to others, but he saved him from falling from grace because after all he was Emma's father.
"How did the meeting go?" Emma asked with wide eyes and nervous energy.
He took both her hands in his large ones and said, "It went fine, I guess. It depends on the rebel leader now, to make a decision." When she continued to look at him for more information, he added, "Don't worry, I didn't tell your secret to them."
Emma sighed a breath of relief. "Thank you," she said, her cheeks heating up a little.
"It's fine," he said with a smile.
"There's something I wanted to discuss with you," she said in a very low voice as the carriage started moving. She heard clops of horse-hooves on the cobbled street beside them. The guards, led by Magnus, were moving with them.
His brows furrowed. "What is it, Emma?" he asked.
"I overheard a few locals as they crossed the carriage a while ago. They said—" she pursed her lips as worry crossed her face. She darted her gaze to the window to see if anyone was nearby.
"Tell me what it is, Emma. You are making me tense."
She leaned towards him and in a voice just above the whisper said, "The locals were saying that they found some humans in the jungles, dead. It was as if blood was sucked out of them completely. And they suspect that some vampires are doing it out of blood lust."
Lazarus drew his shoulders back with tension. "The jungle is huge, Emma. Did they say anything specific about the location?"
"They said something about an abandoned altar."
Lazarus's heart thundered in his chest. That was the place where his family gave last rites to his ancestors. And from there the blood forest started. He clenched his teeth. His problems were just not subsiding. "Okay." He took a shaky breath and said, "Don't mention this to anyone. I will take a look into it myself."
"I won't," she replied. "But you can also take help from Nephie."
"That would be a good idea," he said, mulling over it.
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