Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 113: Foreboding Warning

Chapter 113: Foreboding Warning

Helping his little lamb fix her dress appropriately, Ivan slipped out of bed.

Opening the door to see who had disturbed him at this time of the day, Albert stood at the threshold, and with his head lowered in a polite bow, he proceeded to say. "Lord Draven wishes for your company close to the Queen Mother’s mausoleum, My Lordship. He sounded adamant to have you summoned, but I can always inform him if you’re too busy to join–"

"Nevermind it, you interrupted me already."

Uttered the displeased Ivan before he turned to look at Samantha who was sliding the hand of her dress up her shoulder, but she had raised her head up as if she sensed someone’s lingering gaze on her. Although the door was slightly opened, Albert didn’t dare to peek inside.

"I will be stepping out for a few minutes, hours maybe." Ivan had told her, not sounding particularly sure since it was Lord Draven who demanded his attention at the inappropriate time of the day. Also, his presence in the Queen Mother’s mausoleum had raised a suspicion in Ivan’s mind, and that leaves him with no other option but to go and see what mind games Draven must have built up his sleeves.

Samantha, whose cheeks were still warm from their scandalous make out, met his eyes that were yet to return to their initial color and shape. She wanted to tell him about it, as it seemed he hadn’t noticed the changes in his own eyes, but then she was too shy to open her mouth and say a word to him. While he patiently waited for her response, secretly hoping she’d tell him to stay back and not go anywhere, unfortunately for his expectations, Samantha could only nod her head in response with her lips pressed into a thin line, indicating he was free to leave as it appeared important, and since she didn’t mind being left alone for a while, Ivan fully stepped out of his room, closing the door on his way.

There was a strange pull that tugged at his heart as if it was tied to a string that connected with his little lamb, because when he distanced himself from her, there was a strange pain that came with it, as though he wasn’t meant to be anywhere else if not with his little lamb. It was ludicrously odd, yet exciting to him as he had never experienced something like this before.

Albert, who silently followed behind his Lordship, couldn’t stop himself from stealing a glance at Ivan, and to his astonished gaze, he noticed a very faint, but unfeigned smile on his lips. It wasn’t easily noticeable, infact, he doubts anyone who passes by would notice it, but after being by Lord Ivan’s side since his childhood, and serving him till this very day, even the slightest change in his cold demeanor could be detected by him. The last time he remembered seeing his Lordship bestow such a peaceful countenance was when he awakened his vampiric powers, but it was also the last time he ever saw his Lordship smile like that.

What could be the cause of his sudden good mood? He didn’t know, but whatever it may be, Albert felt a little glad to know that his Lordship was still capable of having such a pleasant look that didn’t have anything to do with bloodshed.

Stepping out of the Palace without needing an escort, Ivan made his way to where his Grandmother’s mausoleum was located. Passing through the familiar gates and honored marble statues, Ivan didn’t have to walk too far before sighting Lord Draven who stood in front of his late Grandmother’s sarcophagus. Ivan’s footsteps slowed down until he stood five feet away from Lord Draven who seemed to be holding a black rose in his hand, slowly pulling out each petal, one by one and letting them drop on the Queen Mother’s sarcophagus.

"So glad you could honor my invitation." Lord Draven, who was about to reach for the last petal, suddenly paused mid-way. As if changing his mind at the last minute, he withdrew his hand and twirled the stem in his fingers. "I heard you’ve been busy, as it should be, but I am quite delighted that you could make time to come see me, but then again, you hate my very existence, talk more of my presence you familiarized as ’nauseating’, you didn’t come here only because I requested for your presence....did you?"

"Like you said, I have been busy." Ivan simply answered without a hint of smile, not even a smug on his lips. His earlier mood had been replaced with nothing but alarm and an unsettling aura. "And yes, you are right about one thing, and that is the fact that I do not trust your revolting presence. Frankly speaking, you are not someone who would pay a memorial visit to a fully dead corpse so what is it you want from me?"

Ivan strictly demanded without moving from where he stood. He knew better than to fall into the trap of Lord Draven, most especially when he was the one who sent for him, and as expected, Ivan’s eyes moved to see Draven’s hand balling into fist. Before the vampire Lord could blink even once, a pike spear about two meters long was just an inch away from stabbing Ivan in the eye, yet he did not blink, neither did he flinch at the sight of the sharp metal head hovering right in front of his eyes in a threatening manner.

"Because you and I bear the same powerful title doesn’t make us equal." Draven asserted sharply before smiling mirthlessly, "you know, I’ve been wanting to see the Queen Mother’s mausoleum since I couldn’t make it to her funeral, but after coming here, I was quite surprised to see that she was buried with the proper ritual, even after knowing she committed suicide, meanwhile your Mother..." Draven’s voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder, his voice echoing with hidden intent, but he didn’t turn completely to look at Ivan.

"If both committed suicide, then why is she not receiving the same treatment your Mother did? I heard her statue will be placed amongst these great ones, but when I looked closer at your Father’s statue, I noticed the absence of your Mother’s statue.... She did so much, but she wasn’t even allowed to have her own statue in the land where she grew up. It is a pity, I must say." As Draven spoke as if he was sharing on Lord Ivan’s silent grievance, he didn’t lower the pike spear that continuously hovered in front of Ivan’s eyes.

"Wouldn’t your life have been better if your Father was still alive? He sheltered you from the hostility of everyone, only to lose him to a human he once trusted.....and now, you want to get married to the same creature that took away your chances of having a better life. Are you no longer concerned about finding the children, or have you chosen to ignore the pain they have caused you? Is it true that you no longer bore hate for humans cause you have foolishly gotten yourself entangled with one? Same way your Father did and has led us into the predicament we’re facing?"

"Am I being accused of something?"

"I don’t know, are you?" Draven suspiciously asked back. "That human....where does she come from? Who is she? What is her background? Does she have any.... family? I want to know everything about her.... And before you answer this question, I want to make something pretty clear to you: until you ascend the throne, you’re still very much under me, the same way your brothers are under the three Lords. I get to monitor you in whatever way I please cause I have power above you. The only time you get to flap your wings is if you succeed in taking over the throne, which I wish you good luck on."

Hearing him speak only tested Ivan’s patience as he quietly listened to the things Lord Draven had to say, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was right. Being born in a vampire household, the compulsory rules of Vesunard were adopted to EmptyHollow, and that rule states that a vampire Prince or Princes must be trained under one of the four Lord’s assigned to them the minute they awoke their vampiric abilities. Since he was human, Lord Draven had been merciless with him, hateful to a certain degree, and when he eventually evoked his powers, he had to do Lord Draven’s bidding... and this revolting Warlord was one of the reasons he grew up this way...one of the reasons why he had storm his little lamb’s home on that dreadful night.

Noticing the dark glint in Ivan’s eyes, Draven simply withdrew his pike spear and declared. "Be clear on another thing, Lord Ivan, if in the end I figure out you’re covering up for an enemy, I will not spare you from the law. As kind as I have always been towards you, I am just letting you in on the punishment you’re likely to receive for helping an enemy. As the son of your late Father, it can also be considered treason if we ever find out that you helped an enemy avoid trial.... By that I mean, helping those two children flee from the house of Dufort instead of bringing me their heads like I had asked."