When Emma woke up in the morning, she found herself entangled in the limbs of Lor Lazarus. He was relentless last night and when she was too tired to do anything more, he let her sleep. Sometime during the middle of the night he left her and went to attend to his duties like vampires did, and then he came back. He slid beside her and went off to sleep.
She kissed his cheek. He growled and pulled her closer, not ready to let her go. She giggled. "I have to go to the bathroom."
He groaned and left her. As she got up, she gathered her hair in a bun and walked to the bathroom. An hour later, they were both in the ante-chamber having their breakfast.
"Won't you join your father for breakfast?" she asked as she chewed on a delicious pastry.
He sneered. "That old man has gone mad. He thinks I don't know what he is doing!"
Emma was taken aback. "What did he do now?" She was actually getting tired of the palace games. They were never ending.
"Don't worry," he said. "He is just being immature. I will handle him."
Emma chuckled. "I know you can handle him well. She picked up the apple juice when a guard knocked on their door.
"Come in," Lazarus said.
When the guard stepped in, he bowed to both of them. "The jailor of the dungeons wants to meet you."
Lazarus's brows furrowed. "Let him in."
When the jailor came in, he glanced at Emma and then quickly bowed his head. "Lord Lazarus," he said in a very polite voice. He glanced at Emma again out of fear.
"Continue!" Lazarus ordered, sensing that something was odd with his behavior.
The jailor gulped. "A human came from the village last night when you were all sleeping. She claimed that she was Lady Emma's mother."
Emma sat ramrod straight as she stared at the guard.
The guards became nervous. "She said that you had invited her but she didn't have any invitation with her. She couldn't even produce a gift or a possession that you would have given her in case you had invited her. So we were suspicious. She has come with her son."
"Where is she?" Lazarus growled.
"She is the dungeons," the jailor said as blood drenched from his face out of fear. "But, m'lord, we just followed the protocol. Had she shown us—"
"Is her name Avice? And her son's name is Angus?" Emma asked, getting up.
"Yes, m'lady," the jailor said.
Emma jerked her head back and then looked at Lazarus with wide eyes. Lazarus didn't say anything to her but he ordered the guard, "Get her out of the dungeons and take her to the guest room. Keep a guard posted in front of the room. Is that clear?"
"Yes, m'lord," the guard said.
"And ask the servants to send hot water for them to bathe and serve food."
The guard bowed to them and hastily went out of the room.
"When did you invite her?" Emma asked, bewildered. She felt terrible that Avice brought Angus with her. The little boy suffered so much. "And when you invited her, why couldn't you give her anything that would mark the invitation? That's really irresponsible of you!"
Lazarus wiped his face. He placed the napkin on the table. He kept his elbow on his thigh and looked at her. "Emma, I invited her the last time I went there. It was a casual invitation and Drogo refused it. He said that she would never go to the palace. However, I still extended the invitation out of courtesy. I didn't know that she would jump at the invitation so fast." He shrugged.
Emma was actually bewildered. She could never believe that her stepmother would ever come to visit her. "I want to meet them now!"
"Wait for a while, Emma," he said. "Let them get ready. They have spent the night in the dungeon. They should freshen up."
Emma clutched her dress on the side, feeling anxious. Her stepmother was always the kind of a woman who shunned her. At the first opportunity she threw her out of the house and now she was coming to meet her? Emma strode inside her bedroom and started pacing it. Lazarus came after her.
"Emma, why are you so anxious?" he asked, not liking the way her heart thudded.
"She—" Emma couldn't speak because a lump formed in her throat. She managed to gulp it down. "She never once liked me, Lord Lorza. And now she has come to meet me? Has she changed?"
There was so much hope in her voice that Lazarus's heart squeezed. But he didn't want to give her false hope and at the same time, he didn't want to break her bubble. It was like walking on eggshells around that topic. So he chose his words carefully. "Why don't you go and talk to her? You will come to know what her intentions were to come to the palace at such late hours? And you should also think that why hasn't she come with Drogo? Would your father allow her to travel at night?"
Emma stopped in her tracks as she stared at Lazarus as if trying to understand his words. She licked her dry lips and let out a ragged breath. "Maybe because my father didn't have time to come?"
Lazarus shrugged. "I don't know. You should find your answers from him. However, now that she has come here, she will be treated nicely. Would you like me to offer her son a place in my palace?"
"I don't know…" Emma said. She was split in making the decision. How could she separate Angus from his parents? It was a terrible feeling.
He closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know that you are conflicted, love. Take your time and don't worry. Whatever decision you will make, I am with you."
"Oh Lorza!" she said and threw her arms around his chest. Why was he so considerate?
The one hour wait for Emma was like eternity. As soon as the guard informed her that her mother and her brother were ready to see her, she darted out of her room and hastily went to the guest room where they were, little paying attention to the guards who followed her.
When she reached the guest room, she knocked politely on the door, when all she wanted to do was burst it open. Angus opened the door and the moment he saw her, he threw his arms at her and hugged her. "Emma!" he chirped excitedly.
"Angus!" she squealed and peppered kisses on his face, head and neck. She laughed through her tears. "How is the big boy doing?"
"I am doing well!" Angus replied with a grin. The boy had completely forgotten the night he had spent in the dungeon.
Emma's eyes went to her mother and she stiffened. Avice was staring at her with murderous energy. "Mother," she greeted, entering the room.
Avice clenched her fists. "How come you never told these guards that I am your mother? I spent a whole bloody night in the dungeons!"
Emma's mouth dropped to the floor at her attitude. She was hoping for a hug, but she realized that her stepmother was just the same. She replied, "Because, father has asked me to keep it a secret that I was his daughter when he sold me to Lord Lazarus."
