Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 163: Empty graves (1)

Chapter 163: Empty graves (1)

"Martin!" Xavier called for the caretaker the second he landed.

Xavier headed right for the two graves which stood out among the others. Some of the flowers Selene placed were still there but now dried up with the petals blowing away with the wind.

"Martin!" Xavier yelled.

Martin came running out of his small home upon hearing his name. When he saw it was Xavier, Martin wanted to run the other way but feared he would be killed.

Martin nervously rubbed his hands. "Yes, Lord Blackthorn. How can I help you today?"

Martin feared Xavier was angry because he had not kept up with tidying the grave. It didn’t feel long since he last saw Xavier and his wife so he didn’t think he would be seeing either one of them so soon.

There was some regret over spending the night drinking instead of tending to the graves.

"Get two shovels," Xavier ordered Martin.

"I don’t want to die-"

"It is for me to dig up their graves. I am moving them for my wife," said Xavier.

Martin smiled, seeing this as good news. With those two gone, he should never have to see the lord here again. "Right, shovels," Martin happily spoke, searching for the shovels he used.

Martin suddenly had the strength to dig up all the graves here if it meant he never had to see Xavier again. Death seemed close each time Xavier was near. Had he known Selene would have ended up with such an influential man, Martin would have been nicer and given her a better spot for her parents.

Martin collected the shovels and returned to Xavier who was already using his hands to dig up the dirt. This puzzled Martin since Xavier was treating this as if he was going to be late for something.

’How did he get here?’ Martin wondered, only now realising there wasn’t a carriage or horse in sight. It couldn’t be that someone dropped Xavier off and left him as Martin would have heard the noise.

’Dig to get rid of him,’ Martin thought, joining in on digging up the graves.

Digging up the graves felt like the hardest work Martin had done in a long time since it was very rare he had to dig new graves to place vampires. He sighed in relief when he heard Xavier hit the coffin for the grave he was digging up.

"You did it!" Martin cheered but he was ignored.

Xavier was focused on pulling the coffin up to be in a better position to open it. When he was finally able to open the coffin, Xavier was left with a mystery which brought on more questions.

"It’s empty," said Xavier.

"Empty?!" Martin exclaimed, not believing it.

No graves here could be empty. As the caretaker, Martin knew all that went on in the graveyard and not once had a body been moved. He was fortunate to never have the court looking for someone.

Martin climbed out of the hole he created for the other grave and went over to see with his eyes that the coffin was empty. "That’s," he stopped, confused as to why it was empty. "Did she give me empty coffins?"

Martin thought of it as Selene’s fault since she was the one who brought the coffins here. "She should have checked they were occupied."

Martin squeaked like a mouse spotted by a cat and backed away after Xavier glared at him. He folded his lips, deciding to keep his mouth shut so the coffin wouldn’t be filled with him.

Xavier moved to the grave which should have Selene’s father inside. Having to say her parents might be alive was already taking a toll on Selene but now, he needed to explain to her that her mother was missing.

After Xavier opened the second coffin, he also needed to tell Selene her father was missing.

"That’s not possible. No one has ever come with an order from the court to dig up those graves. It’s the truth," Martin promised as he backed away from Xavier when he stood up.

Xavier didn’t believe Martin. "So far, you have not given me much reason to trust you. Where are their bodies?"

"I-I don’t know. You need to ask your wife since she brought them to me like this. Well," Martin doubted what he said since he remembered the coffins being heavy.

He couldn’t sneak a peek to see what had become of them since Selene was around to bury them.

"Do you think we disappear when we die? Ah," Martin choked, his hands touching Xavier’s hands which went around his neck.

"Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now. This graveyard needs a better caretaker anyway," Xavier said, finding Martin to be useless.

"It wasn’t me. I might have been away from the graveyard and someone used that to move them. Wait, wait, wait," Martin repeatedly tapped Xavier’s hand. "It’s the truth. I already told you that someone came to ask about them, didn’t I? I haven’t seen them since but I promised to look for them."

Xavier disliked there was some use for Martin when he wanted to kill him now. He released Martin so he could speak without panicking. "You are certain they have never returned."

Martin touched his aching neck. "I am certain. They only came once. It isn’t every day someone comes asking about those traitors- Harrisons," Martin quickly corrected himself and ended with a smile. "If I ever see them again, I promise I will come straight to you."

Xavier assumed whoever it was might not come again since what they wanted was gone but that was only if they didn’t have any role in moving the bodies;

"How long ago was it that they came here?" Xavier asked.

Martin tried to think back to the exact time but he couldn’t remember. He could only smile but Xavier was not amused.

Xavier grabbed Martin once more, forcing him into the coffin which should have Selene’s father. He closed the coffin after he got Martin inside and pressed his foot on top of it to keep it close, ignoring Martin beating against it.

Xavier needed a moment to think about where to go from here. There was no telling when the bodies were taken. It could have been between any point from when Selene buried them to now which created a big issue.

There weren’t any scents coming from either coffin to alert him that a person was awake or dead in it recently. The coffin seemed new, waiting for someone to be placed inside.

’Was this the plan all along?’ Xavier wondered.

There was much to learn about how these healing abilities worked but a vampire still needed blood. Knowing they would heal, Xavier wouldn’t be surprised if her parents made arrangements to have their bodies moved.

It was possible that despite neither one reaching out to Selene, they might have been close all along since he wasn’t the one who killed Fiona.

Xavier looked around the graveyard. With a fool like Martin looking after it, it would be easy to steal bodies from here.

Tracking down her parents would be no easy task but luckily, there were others easy to find. Selene’s family still lived in the north of the kingdom, far away from any town. If her grandfather was there then he might know how to find Selene’s mother.