Drogo was surprised. His brows furrowed. His wife never left for her father's place, come what may. After she had married him, Avice never even talked about her sisters or invited them over for the fear that her rations would deplete.
"What is wrong with your sister?" Drogo asked with suspicion in his eyes.
"I don't know!" Avice replied as she picked up her bag. "I will know when I reach there." She was tense that he wouldn't allow her to go.
Drogo gritted his teeth. He contemplated on what to do next and then said, "Okay, but be back in two days."
Avice let out a ragged breath. "I have cooked food for you and it is packed in the leaves right over there," she said, pointing at a rack above the stone stove. "You can warm the meat and have it." Saying that she caught Angus's hand and walked out of the house.
Drogo followed her to the door and then watched her as she disappeared round the corner. With a heavy heart, he came back inside. His wife had never left him before so this was new. After keeping his tools in a corner, he strolled to the kitchen and picked up the meat that was wrapped in the leaf. It was still warm, so he sat down and ate it with a loaf of bread.
Avice knew that Drogo would be watching her. So she made sure to round the corner and then peeped a little to see him. He was not watching her anymore. "Let's hurry!" she said to her son and darted from there. She made sure to walk through the market square and then south before returning to the north streets just in case her husband was following her.
"What are you doing, mother?" Angus asked with irritation. "I am tired." They had been running around.
"Hush!" she said. They reached the end of the street where the last house of the village was located. A few meters ahead a carriage waited for them. It was a simple carriage with one bench. The coachman looked at them and nodded. She opened the door and rushed her son to sit inside it. Then she scanned around to see if anyone else was there to follow her. When she was assured that there was no one, she hopped inside the carriage and asked the coachman to hurry up.
Avice had hired the coach to go to the palace. The coachman didn't agree at first, but when she said that it was Lord Lazarus's order that she be there, he hesitated. She gave him two silver coins to keep his mouth shut about her visit.
It was pretty dark on the outside and up north, the cold winds were gustier. She wrapped a shawl around her and covered Angus with a thick fur that belonged to Drogo. "It is going to be very cold, Angus," she said. "The palace is high up in the mountains and I have heard that the road is bumpy. So get all the sleep you can."
Angus was already tired after the way his mother ran around the village. He yawned and then closed his eyes. He rested his head on her lap and went off to sleep murmuring, "I hope Emma is there for us." He knew what his mother was doing and even though he protested that this wasn't the right way to go, he had to accompany her.
The carriage traveled for over six hours to reach the palace. The journey up the mountains was tedious. It had begun snowing and the horse was tired after three hours. They had to stop in the biting cold to feed the horse and make it rest.
When they reached the palace, it was still dark. The palace guards stopped her immediately when she knocked on them. The tall iron gates were closed.
"Who are you?" one of them shouted, pointing his spear at her.
Seeing his face and those fangs protruding out of his mouth, Avice gulped. "I— I have come to meet Lady Emma."
The guard hissed. "Really? And who the fuck do you think you are to disturb Lady Emma at this hour? Go away before I pierce this spear through your heart!"
Avice started shaking. Angus hid behind her. She had to give her real identity. "I am Lady Emma's mother, Avice and this is my son, Angus."
The guard was taken aback for a moment. "Show me the proof!"
Now Avice had no proof that she was Emma's mother. "You can call Emma and ask her to identify me."
"Are you insane?" the guard roared. "You want me to disturb Lady Emma and ask her to come here to identify you? Get lost and never come back!"
"You are making a mistake," Avice snapped. "It was Lord Lazarus who invited us to come here." It was already snowing pretty hard. If she didn't get inside earlier, she was sure that they would freeze.
The guard froze. A moment later he said, "Then show me the invite that Lord Lazarus gave you."
Avice's mouth dropped open. She had no such invite. She thought that getting in the palace would be really easy after she identified herself, but this was getting more complicated than ever. On top of it, it was snowing. "I don't have an invite from him, but he asked me to visit my daughter whenever I liked."
The guard found it so amusing that he began to laugh. "Aren't you a dimwit? If he didn't give you a handwritten invite which I highly doubt he would ever give you, did he give you any of his possessions that you can show me and get inside?"
Avice didn't have that either. Panic bubbled in her chest along with frustration. "Look, you better let us inside, because if Lord Lazarus would come to know that you haven't let us in, he is going to cut your head!"
The guard was now pissed as hell. "How dare you threaten a royal guard?" he hissed. "I am going to arrest you and throw you in the dungeon. Then no one will know that you even came here!"
"What? No!" she shrieked when he opened the door and lunged at her to grab her wrist. "I- I am sorry!" She apologized. "I didn't mean to threaten you, but this is the truth. Pl— please let us in. My son is a youngling. He will die in this severe cold if you don't allow us to come in."
"Then I will put your son in the dungeons also!" Saying that the guard motioned two of his men to come. They immediately came out and held her as Angus started crying. "Leave my mother!"
The guards were relentless. They dragged Avice through a side alley all the way to the dungeons and Angus went after her. She protested a lot and tried to struggle, but realized that she was no match to them. In the end, the guards just tossed her inside the dungeon. Angus also rushed behind her. When they locked her, she shouted, "I want to meet my daughter! When she sees me in this condition, she is going to behead you!"
