Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 110: Run Little Lamb

Chapter 110: Run Little Lamb

"Enough! I want not another word from the both of you. Throwing redundant blame amongst yourselves won’t solve this uncanny mystery, regardless of who was at fault or not."

Lord Viktor, who had taken enough of Lord Damien’s and Draven’s unnecessary bickering, declared rigorously. At their silence, he let out a short, frustrated sigh and stated clearly, his finger raised. "No one shall spout a word about this conundrum to Ivan or the royal family. What we’ve seen shall stick with the four of us alone, and we must get to the bottom of it before a serious problem arises."

His crimson eyes drifted to the pedestal, unhidden curiosity brimming within them. "Until we find an accurate explanation for this, the orb room shall remain locked on my accord. In the meantime, let’s focus on the focal point concerning why we’re here, and that involves Ivan’s sudden proposal to a human servant. We also have to deal with the return of his brothers tonight, and save ourselves from the blood spilling that might, hypothetically, take place."

Lord Viktor’s voice faltered at the end of his phrase, his expression troubled, but he quickly shook it aside and composedly said. "I will inform the royal scribe to join us when the court begins. Ivan is currently too busy to assemble the whole court himself, and Abdiel has gathered the council as it should be. It will be best if we set our minds on tonight, and leave this for another day."

Leaving no room for further argument, Lord Viktor turned around to take his leave. Lucius followed behind with Damien who kept muttering something about the court to him. Lord Draven was the last to leave, and when he made it to the exit, he turned around to look at the orb room once more, his eyebrows furrowing at the reviving energy of the place. He wished to linger longer and figure out exactly what was happening here, the cause of this sudden revival, but since he couldn’t disobey the orders of Viktor, with a frown, he finally left, slamming the door shut behind him.

Later in the day when the atmosphere appeared brilliantly sunny, Carina and her daughter were taking a leisurely stroll outside the towering Palace, indulging themselves in one or two talks, but that was until they spotted Ivan who returned on his steed with a group of men tied up with chains containing spikes. The scent of their blood had drawn Carina and Claire’s attention, but they dared not utter a word when Ivan dismounted from his steed and ordered the guards that accompanied him to take the tied-up men away.

Caddel, who winced slightly at the painful prick of the spikes, couldn’t wait to get the chains of himself as he rose to his feet, but when he lifted his eyes to look at the two vampiress clad in royal outfit, standing a few meters away from them, he noticed a certain younger vampiress was staring at him immensely.

"Move it! This way!" One of the guards yelling had broken their eye contact, snapping him out of the unexpected trance. Puzzled by his own absent-mindedness, he quietly followed the servants who were leading him and his members to the back of the Palace.

"Did you see those spikes? Who are they?" Carina, who also watched them leave with equal bemusement, had asked her daughter as if she knew the answer to the question. Claire simply frowned, but it wasn’t because her Mother had asked her a question she barely knew, it was because that man... for a second she thought she felt tranced by his gaze. It has never happened before, and that feeling troubled her.

Their attention shifted to Herbert who had stepped out from the Palace at his Lord’s arrival. He went to hold onto Blaze so he could take him back to the royal stable, but not after he had welcomed his Lordship with the proper greetings.

"Have the Courtier’s arrived?"

"The county Councils and the elder Ministers are already present, Sir Abdiel has kept them company in the drawing room. The Courtier’s should be here any minute now." Herbert informed, dutifully staying up to date with what will happen in the royal court. "Uhm.. My Lordship, there was a decision that came to a conclusion in your absence. Lord Viktor felt it would be better if the royal court meeting commences after nightfall. He says everyone would be more recharged at that specific time, and everyone agreed, so I thought I should let you know about it first."

"You did good." Ivan proudly acknowledged Herbert with an approving nod. "What about my little lamb? Are there any rumors or vermin out to get her?"

"Fortunately, no." Herbert answered truthfully. "The young miss hasn’t stepped out of the chamber since you left, and there wasn’t a breath of rumors within the Palace. To be honest, I don’t think the servants are that asinine to continue after last night’s entertainment."

"Fair enough." Patting Herbert’s shoulder in a way that indicated a job well done, Ivan went into the Palace. Carina and Claire noticed their interaction before the two of them finally departed, it made Carina’s lips twist in disdain as the words of Draven now echoed in her head, leaving her with an unsettling chill.

How is he part Demon? Carina seriously wondered in contempt.

When Ivan made his way up the spiraling stairs, avoiding anyone that would restrict him from reaching his Chambers, he was almost making it to the top when he ran into his little lamb who was, coincidentally, heading down the stairs, but she wasn’t alone.

Ivan’s crimson eyes narrowed intently when they shifted from Tobias and Alistair who were coming down the stairs with her. His little lamb seemed to be laughing at something they had said, but he could hear her choke it back into cough upon sighting him.

"You’re.." Samantha tried to speak in between her sudden cough as she hit her chest softly, attempting to drive it away. "I mean you’re....back, My Lord?" The tone of her voice sounded low and squeaky when he wasn’t smiling, not that his smile would have made this any better but the way he was staring at her presently made her feel like she had committed a grave offense.

"W- what did I do?" Samantha had asked as she tried to protectively hide herself behind Tobias, but Ivan’s crimson eyes seemed to follow her no matter how hard she tried to avoid his judgemental stare. Tobias and Alistair exchanged knowing glances, and it was taken a lot for Alistair to stifle his laugh concerning Ivan’s unhidden jealousy.

"Can you not stare at me...like that!" Samantha softly complained without moving away from Tobias, and she was unaware that it was that closeness that made Ivan grit his teeth until he was scowling at her. He still remembered what she had said on a certain night, where she wished to be under Tobias and not him, but seeing her use him as a shield to hide away from him?

"What do you mean?" Ivan coolly asked, yet it sent a shiver down her spine.

"You look like you want to rip my head off."

"Is that so?" Something sinister flashed in his eyes, and Samantha took a step back. "How about a game of hide and seek?"

"W-what?"

"You run, and I seek a little lamb." He stated clearly. Alistair, who could remember this game, suddenly frowned.

"Are you–"

"Shut up Alistair." He silenced his older cousin, but his predatory eyes never moved from his little Lamb’s green one.

"On the count of three," he smirked, "one."

"You... you aren’t being serious right now, you can’t possibly be serious.... are... you?...Is he?" Samantha let out a nervous laugh as she glanced at the two vampire brothers, hoping this was some sort of trick to scare her, but the look on their faces as they turned away didn’t appease her racing heart.

"From experience, it’s best to run." Tobias advised, almost apologetically, and Samantha’s smile dropped.

"What?"

"Two."

"Eek!" Letting out a panicked squeal when he mentioned the second number, Samantha refused to let herself be a victim to whatever this type of game was. Turning around, she took to her heels and didn’t stop until she was back inside the room.

"Three." Ivan announced with a devilish smirk on his sinful lips. Glancing at his vampire cousins, he walked past them and went after his little lamb. When he made it to his room door, it was locked.