The Royal Revenge
Chapter 212: Don’t Trust Everything She Says

Chapter 212: Don’t Trust Everything She Says

Aleksander spent the night in his old manor and didn’t return to the Rose Palace until sunset of the next day. Word got around the kingdom of his return to his old manor, and many speculations and guesses were made by both his enemies and allies alike.

Elys on the other hand was at her wits end. She was thankful that Aleksander’s magic seemed to have not been revoked even with him leaving the palace, but that meant as well that she couldn’t speak with Cordelia.

If she had an ounce of chance to know what Cordelia did, she would have to go to her husband and ask for it.

Aleksander already read Cordelia’s mind and discovered her secrets, along with the details of her betrayal and everything in between. The young queen was grateful for her husband’s help, but his insistence that the old woman be locked up in the dungeons didn’t sit well with her.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Your majesty," Lady Azalea knocked three times on Elys’ office door.

"What is it, first born daughter of the Igniss’?" Elys asked without raising her head.

She was going through some books she had pulled out from the royal archives. Lady Azalea walked towards her and discreetly looked over to what the queen was reading on about.

The young queen was very much absorbed into the texts she was reading.

"What do you want, Lady Azalea?" Elys repeated, "If you are here only to check what I am working on, then you might as well go elsewhere and find something fun to do – I don’t know, perhaps dance with the courtiers in the main palace or have some fresh blood with the other ladies."

"Pardon my intrusion, Queen Elysianne," her lady in waiting apologized, "I just thought perhaps you might need anything. You seem to be quite irritable since yesterday, your majesty."

Elys stopped her reading and raised her eyes to level with the noble vampire in her presence. Without looking at her book, she slipped a piece of paper as a bookmark and then fully closed the book.

"You have been very kind lately, Lady Azalea," Elys said without an ounce of expression in her dainty face, "What do you need?"

Lady Azalea fidgeted with her hand behind her back, and Elys noted that her words had made the vampire somewhat... how should she say it – uncomfortable.

"Actually, your majesty," the lady in waiting began, "if you would be so kind to allow it... I wanted to ask you of something."

Elys raised a brow.

She never thought that one of her ladies in waiting would ask her anything so soon. Most especially with Lady Azalea. Out of the four that returned to accept her offer, Lady Azalea had been one of those that she thought returned just to backstab her.

"I didn’t think you would swallow your pride as a noble vampire to ask me of anything at all, Lady Azalea of the House of Igniss," Elys said with a cunning smile.

"Neither did I see myself doing this too, your majesty," Lady Azalea said.

Elys leaned back in her seat and looked at the noble vampire as if she was trying to read what Lady Azalea had in mind. She crossed the fingers in her hand and observed the vampire, as her eyes narrowed.

"Alright, I will hear what you have in mind," Elys finally said.

"You have said that we could ask anything of you if we become your ladies in waiting, right?" Lady Azalea asked her.

"Yes, I do recall that I have offered such a thing to you ladies," the young queen agreed.

The noble lady cleared her throat and straightened her back. She squared her shoulders to give herself an edge. Looking straight into Elys’ ruby red eyes, the noble vampire opened her mouth and asked her the first of her requests.

"I would like you to get my sister out of the vampire clergy," Lady Azalea said.

Elys’ brow raised at the request that the noble vampire had asked of her. She would have thought something along the lines of jewelries and land titles were what Lady Azalea were after, but it seemed to be something more personal than properties and earthly possessions.

"Why?" Elys asked the noble lady.

"Because I don’t think that she should be involved with them," Lady Azalea whispered under her voice.

"I cannot simply get someone out of an independent body from the throne," Elys waved her hand, "you must give me something else to back up that request of yours. Something far more useful than your opinion for your sister’s safety."

The noble lady bit her lower lip and then said, "I know that you and Lady Beatrice had spoken about the vampire clergy’s involvement with the upcoming Eastern Kingdom’s attack."

Elys rested her chin on her palm as she leaned over her propped elbow on her desk.

"And what of it, Lady Azalea? That doesn’t bring any connection to your request, does it now?" Elys asked her.

It was true that Lady Beatrice and Elys had spoken last night. But how come Lady Azalea knew it involved the vampire clergy? When Elys had returned to her chambers, she had only informed the ladies of the fact that she had accepted Lady Beatrice to join them as an additional lady in waiting.

"Lady Beatrice and her family has a long standing relationship with the vampire clergy, your majesty," Lady Azalea said. "She was actually the one that had introduced my sister to the clergy."

Elys crossed her legs and sneaked in a smirk.

"Do you have any beef with the Lady Beatrice, Lady Azalea?" Elys asked the noble vampire. "It seems like you aren’t exactly concerned of the vampire clergy per se. I seem to be confused with what you really want to happen here."

She saw Lady Azalea’s eyes waver as Elys called her out in the reasons that she provided the Western Queen. Elys caught the noble vampire slip in her tough act – or perhaps just a sham of the shallowest white lie that she could muster in front of Elys.

Either way, Elys was not going to give her what she asked for if she would not get the whole picture of why it was asked for in the first place.

The young queen stood up from her seat and paced downwards to face Lady Azalea face on.

"You might want to get your requests straight to the point, Lady Azalea," Elys said as she reached out for a stray lock of the noble vampire’s hair.

She twirled the silky soft hair in her fingers, and then tucked it behind Lady Azalea’s ear. She took a step forward, her lips grazing the vampire’s ear as she whispered, "I can do what you want, but I am curious to the real reason behind your request."

The young queen stood back and returned to her desk. She sat down and looked at the noble vampire, and then smiled evilly, "All I need is the truth, Lady Azalea. Why do you want your sister out of the vampire clergy, and what is the connection of Lady Beatrice to your concern?"

Lady Azalea pressed her lips into a thin line. She knew the slip of her tongue regarding Lady Beatrice had been a fatal mistake for her, but what was she supposed to do now that it has happened?

What were her options to save her face and redirect the human queen’s curiosity from Lady Beatrice to her main request which was to have Gizem severe her ties to the vampire clergy?

The noble lady had her eyes cast downwards. She gave Elys a quick glance, her long lashes in the way as she didn’t really raise her lids to open her eyes wide.

The look in the young queen’s face was that of recognition. She knew that Elys was on to her now that she slipped her tongue regarding her concern with Lady Beatrice.

’I don’t think I could do anything now except to speak of the truth,’ Lady Azalea thought at the back of her head.

"Speak, Lady Azalea, first daughter of the House of Igniss, noble vampire of the Western Kingdom, lady in waiting to the Queen’s throne," Elys said, her hand raised and opened as if to welcome Lady Azalea’s explanation.

The noble vampire closed her eyes and breathed in and out deeply. Before she opened her eyes, she took something out of her cleavage and produced a piece of paper that she unfolded.

Lady Azalea opened her eyes and read the note that her sister had written in the paper, "Lady Beatrice and the High Priestess are working together behind the scenes. You must not trust everything that the lady speaks of."

The noble vampire took several steps forward and lay the paper on Elys’ desk, opened for her to read for herself.

"That is what my sister wrote to me," Lady Azalea said, "it has been several weeks since I last saw her."