Drogo looked at his wife and son and gestured to them to go inside. As soon as they went inside, he said, "No, my lord. I haven't seen any more humans missing."
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm Lazarus sighed a breath of relief but then he reminded himself that he couldn't show that to Drogo. "Okay then. Keep a watch."
"But, my lord," Drogo said. "Now that you are asking about it, I suspect as to how you know. Did royals have a hand in it?" He raised his eyebrow as if to intimidate him.
Lazarus took a step closer to him and Drogo stiffened. "I haven't come here to discuss the royals," he said in a menacing voice. "Having said that, I know who was it who was instigating the humans to go to the vampires. Don't play those mind games with me Drogo. You are sorely outclassed and no match to me. Do you understand?" Lazarus couldn't speak a lie and so he had to threaten Drogo instead of speaking the truth.
Drogo gulped. "Yes, my lord."
Lazarus knew that one of the reasons for rebellion was how humans were missing. Now that part was taken care of and so Drogo really didn't have an upper hand. It was important for him to quash the rebellion. He said, "I would like to talk to your wife."
Drogo's hackles raised. He shifted on his feet but how could he not follow the order of Lord Lazarus? He nodded and called his wife, "Avice!"
As if she was standing right there, Avice emerged from the door. She had clasped her hands in front of her as she looked at Lazarus with nervousness.
Lazarus assessed her. "I would like to invite you to the palace to meet your daughter, Emma. Would you be gracious enough to come and meet her?"
Avice's mouth dropped to the floor as her heart hammered against her ribcage out of sheer excitement. She had never thought, though she had dreamt it a lot, that she would be invited to the palace. This was the opportunity to meet the royals and who knew they would give her jewels and gold coins.
Before she could speak a word, Drogo snapped, "I am so sorry, Lord Lazarus, but Avice can't go to the palace."
Lazarus glanced at Drogo and then back at Avice who seemed crestfallen. He shrugged. "It's your wish. I won't force, but it would be nice if Avice can come along with your son. I am sure Emma would be very happy."
"I would love to!" Avice was short on squealing.
"No!' Drogo snapped at her. "You can't go to the palace!"
Avice clenched her jaws out of anger at him but she didn't argue. Then she turned her gaze at Lazarus as if asking him to help her. She tried to convey that she was being held against her will.
Lazarus said, "Avice, you have to listen to your husband. I can't force you all to come but can I encourage you. If you have time, do let me know and I will send a carriage to fetch you." Saying that Lazarus turned back and went to his carriage. He sat in the carriage and as soon as the door was shut by the carriage man, he heard the couple arguing loudly. A smile played on his lips. He had thrown the hook. She had taken the bait. He wanted to resolve the rebellion before he married Emma.
For the next two days, Emma didn't come out of her room. The servants were told that she was feeling too low and depressed. Princess Cora and Nora tried to attack and kill Emma.
Viktor was extremely worried about what was going on in the palace. Three of his children were already in prison for trying to kill Emma. Two were killed by Lazarus for attacking her when he was bringing her to the palace and Magnus was on his side. The only suitable and strong and worthy opponent of his children other than Lazarus was Anton. But Anton was lying low these days. After the ball, Anton had gone to one of their southern districts to take a long-due holiday.
Basically, five of his eleven children were gone and of no use. And only because they went after Emma. Other than Magnus, he had only three princes remaining by his side. Lazarus was eliminating his competition slowly and carefully in a way that they never reared their head up.
Viktor was beginning to get scared that if this continued, Lazarus would eliminate all his competition in no time. The three princes that remained included Anton. Princess Abi was a sickly girl who mostly remained inside. She was hardly ever seen with her sisters. Her servants informed him that she was too sick to move nowadays. Other than Anton his two other sons, Jade and Jasper, were younger than Lazarus not only in age but also in wits. Both of them were spoiled rotten by their mother who died many years back when they were just younglings. Jade and Jasper spent most of their time in the company of women of questionable character.
The only potential worthy was Anton and Viktor had to use Jade and Jasper to support Anton. With a sigh, he called his guard. "I want to see Jade and Jasper in my room in an hour."
As the guard left, one of his messengers came and informed him, "The humans have stopped missing in the village. It seems that the rebels are now mellowing down."
Viktor jerked his head back. That was one thing that was keeping Lazarus busy. In fact so busy that Lazarus would spend a lot of time dealing with that issue. It was good because it gave Viktor the much-needed time to strategize. He wanted to crush Lazarus's head else the boy would easily take up his throne. "Explain," he demanded from the messenger.
The messenger detailed what all happened and once he was done, Viktor asked him to leave. He had to stir up a little more trouble. Just enough to keep Lazarus busy and the village people restless. He wasn't interested in suppressing the rebellion. At least not now when his own position was in doldrums.
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