Call Of The Dark

Emma woke up feeling depressed. She was having this kind of a feeling from the past two days. He had rejected her proposal and that part stung. She didn't know why that feeling had multiplied by a hundred times today when it should have ebbed. What was happening to her? She felt like she should rather die.

She realized that now she had no chance to escape. Lazarus was going to cast her soul out and he would stop at nothing.

It was her birthday today. Nothing really happened on her previous birthdays. Her parents never celebrated it. Avice would rather make her work in the kitchen the whole day while her father was least interested.

Emma was hoping that by offering herself to Lazarus, she would move forward in her life, for she would begin plotting on how to escape, but now her life came to a standstill. She was numbed. She lost interest in her appetite. Ginger would come and go in her room and she would talk about several things, but Emma was hardly listening to them. All her focus was on the adjoining room where Lazarus was.

She couldn't help thinking how he could love Maeve so much that he didn't see the signs that she was not interested in him. Or maybe it was that she loved him and had promised him a lot of things later. She pulled her knees up against her chest and curled her arms around them. Resting her head over them, she looked at the door and started thinking of ways to escape the palace.

Ginger came and informed her that if she liked, she could visit the small garden that the humans had grown in the palace. She helped him taking her clothes off.

"Ginger," Emma asked when she was in the bathtub as an idea struck her. "The soldiers of the palace—where do they all meet? I saw them in a cabin a few days back. Do they all meet there?"

"Which cabin, m'lady?" Ginger asked as she poured water over her shoulders. "There are several in the palace premises where the guards at night often rest. Sometimes, they are visited by their mistresses over there."

"I visited one on the north side. It was near the wall of the palace. I could smell apple orchards there." She didn't tell her that she had gone to test Maeve magic once again. She had thrown a stick at the wall. It fell through without rebounding. The magic only worked on her. So she had gone slightly ahead and tried touching the invisible wall, but withdrew immediately, scared of the consequences.

"Oh, that one!" Ginger chuckled. "That one is near the garden that the humans have grown. We can go there. But the soldiers come only during the night."

"Great!" Emma said. She was going to convince a few soldiers to help her escape. For the whole day, she was planning on how to convince the soldiers. All she needed was a kind of a body wrap that masked her and covered her so completely that Maeve's magic couldn't detect her. "Can we go there? I am feeling all cooped up inside."

"Yes, sure, m'lady. I will take you there."

It was evening when Ginger took her to the garden that was maintained by the humans. Emma was impressed by it. The air was pungent with the fragrance of roses. Buttercups lined the walls and green grass, a dream of meadows, spread in the middle. There was a small pond in the center that had various hued fish in it.

"Emma!" Magnus's voice surprised her.

"Magnus?" she smiled. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she looked at the man with him.

"Admiring the beauty of the garden," he replied, looking at her intensely.

A pale blush formed on her cheeks under his intense stare. He was the youngest brother of Lord Lazarus but he was just as handsome as him with many matching features.

"This is Yul," he said, introducing her to the man he was standing with. "Yul, this is Emma."

"I have heard a lot about you, m'lady," Yul said as he lifted her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "You are just as beautiful as others said and then some more."

Emma blushed deeper as she thanked him, but Magnus had raised an eyebrow at Yul's appreciation. His friend had been very reserved in his opinions or admiration.

"So did you like the garden?" Magnus asked.

"Yes!" Emma bobbed her head. "However, I would have added a small cage for birds also, and a few butterflies here and there." She couldn't help grinning at the thought of butterflies. "Butterflies symbolize… freedom."

"That's a lovely idea!" Yul replied. "I will order them as soon as possible."

Emma laughed softly. The two men stared at her. They walked with Emma around the garden. Emma ended up picking a bunch of flowers from there. At the end of it, Ginger also inserted some roses in her braid at intervals and said, "You look breathtaking, m'lady!" The two vampires let out a ragged breath seeing her beauty.

Emma laughed. She turned to the men and said, "We are planning to visit a cabin of guards nearby. Would you like to accompany me?"

"Of course!" They both said in unison.

Emma was taken aback. She smiled gingerly at them. Yul and Magnus walked behind her as they went to the cabin. As they were walking across the cobbled path that was dusted with snow, Magnus joked about something and Emma couldn't help giggling. She opened the door of the cabin, giggling at another joke with Magnus and Yul behind her, and saw Lazarus sitting right in the front, next to the fire hearth.

A very beautiful, scantily clad woman was sprawled across his lap and she was stroking him over his pants. Seeing her, he spread his legs further for the woman to stroke him.

Their gazes met. Something snapped inside her.

Her eyes went to the woman and her heart began beating wildly. She felt… terrible. Depression returned but anger and jealousy also flared. She grabbed Yul's arm and said, "Come, let's sit there!"

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