The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 728. Worry About Palers

Chapter 728: 728. Worry About Palers

Mauve was surprised Sabrina was able to join them in the dining hall for the second meal. She did arrive a little late. Mauve had thought she would eat in her room, first because she had just arrived, and second because of how Jael had spoken to her.

"Sabrina," Mauve called with a bright smile. "You didn’t have to rush down here; you could have asked the servants to serve your meal in your room."

"Thank you," Sabrina replied, "but this is fine."

Mauve nodded. "How was the journey here?" she asked, furthering the conversation. She realized she had been so excited by Sabrina’s presence that she had forgotten to ask.

"It was good," Sabrina returned as she dug into her meal.

Mauve didn’t miss that she didn’t offer more details, but she didn’t press. Lady Sabrina must be exhausted from the journey. Mauve was still a bit shocked that she would make such a trip just to confirm and congratulate her. It made her happy, though.

Conversation fluctuated throughout the course of the meal. Mauve exchanged a few words every now and then but nothing too much. When the second meal was over, Mauve didn’t miss the look Sabrina threw in her direction.

They clearly didn’t get a chance to converse before Jael interrupted, and it was clear Sabrina was wary of asking about that in Jael’s presence. Mauve still couldn’t believe he would interrogate Sabrina like that.

She smiled at Sabrina as she withdrew from the hall with Jael. She would seek out Sabrina as soon as she lost Jael, which wasn’t very hard to do. The fight against the Palers was starting up again, and Jael has been very busy.

They hadn’t started hunting them down again, but Mauve could tell it wouldn’t be long before they did. Sometimes Mauve wondered if Jael was trying to prove to the lords that he was truly on their side with how much effort he was putting into this.

She wasn’t against it; she supported it wholeheartedly. She knew how much havoc Palers had wreaked on vampires, and finding an end to them would be good even for humans. If there was any way she could help, Mauve knew she would do it without a second thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Jael’s words cut through her thoughts as they reached the top of the stairs leading to her room.

"What?" she asked absentmindedly, not having heard him.

"I said, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, everything," she whispered.

"That’s not saying anything, and it can’t have been something that vague. I spoke to you twice before you even heard me."

"It’s nothing serious," she insisted.

"I never said it was. I was just curious." His brows dipped. "Or is this about the question I asked?"

Mauve frowned. "What question?"

"Whether Sabrina could be trusted?" He studied her face as he said this. "You didn’t seem very pleased about the question."

"I wasn’t," she replied truthfully, "and I still can’t believe you’d ask that."

"I don’t like to take chances anymore." The sincerity and sorrow in his words were obvious.

Mauve didn’t have to ask. She could tell he was thinking about the incident. She hadn’t forgotten about it either, but these days she rarely remembered it. She had too many other wonderful things to think about, like the baby.

Mauve nodded. "I know, and I don’t fault you for that. It just caught me a little off guard, and I reacted in that manner. You don’t have to worry."

"Then what are you thinking about?" he pressed. "You looked so concerned."

They were in her room now, and Jael led her to the bed. She knew as soon as he was sure she was comfortable, he would send for Mill to keep her company and then leave. The next time she would see him would be when he came to pick her up for her daily walks. It was the best part of her day, and Mauve found that she looked forward to it.

"Oh, I was just thinking about the Palers and how you haven’t found a way to kill them for good, and you working hard to get rid of them, and wishing I could help in some way."

Mauve shrugged and then frowned, wondering why she had gone into so much detail when she knew exactly how Jael would react to her worrying about not being able to help.

"Let me deal with that," he said. "You have other things to worry about." He gently placed his hand on her stomach, and Mauve could not help but smile. "I won’t tell you I can handle it alone, but I’d prefer if you let me worry about this one."

Mauve nodded. "I know. I just couldn’t help but think about it, knowing you’d be hunting Palers again."

"We’ve hunted Palers every time, even before Kieran came up with the drug, so this is no different from the usual. I will be careful, you can count on it. I won’t take any stupid risks, and I will always make sure we have more than enough vampires for the Palers we’re going after. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

"You promise?" she asked.

"I promise."

This was very relieving to hear. Mauve knew all about Jael’s antics. She could clearly remember the time he almost lost his arm because he had been careless. She didn’t want to hear any news like that again.

She stretched out her hand to touch his face. "Okay." She smiled, and he kissed the top of her head.

"I have to go," he replied. "I will see you soon."

Mauve nodded and waved him off. As soon as he left, she got out of bed. Mill would be here soon, but she could always tell a servant to let Mill know not to bother. Mauve got to the door, and the guard bowed. She didn’t miss the surprised look on his face. She wondered if Jael had asked him to not let her leave her room, but when she walked past him, he didn’t stop her.

She couldn’t clearly remember Sabrina’s room. She remembered the floor, but that was about it. Mauve figured she would ask any servant she ran into, or worst-case scenario, she would end up knocking on all the doors on the floor. She thought this was very funny and chuckled at the thought.

The guard followed diligently behind her without saying a word. When Mauve got to the floor, she heard a grunt from him just as Louis appeared. "What are you doing here?" he asked, reaching her in three easy strides.

"Lady Sabrina," Mauve replied. "I wanted to see her."

Louis frowned. "Couldn’t you have just sent for her?" he asked.

"I wanted an excuse to leave the room," she replied. This was partially true. The other reason was that she was worried Sabrina might not feel too comfortable in her room, where the chance of Jael barging in was pretty high.

"Ah, I see. You never pass up a reason to not spend a minute in there," he joked.

"That’s not true. I spend most of my time there." Mauve shook her head, attempting to stop furthering the argument. Knowing Louis, he was bound to say something else that would make her want to disagree with him. "That aside, do you know where Lady Sabrina’s room is?"

Louis looked at her in shock. "You didn’t know her room before setting off on this quest?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I was going to ask a servant."

"I don’t see any."

"Are you helping me or not?"

Louis laughed. "Third room. You’re welcome." He started to walk away, and she sneered at him.

Mauve got to the door and knocked twice before a familiar voice said, "Who is it?"

"It’s me, Lady Sabrina."

"My lady?" Sabrina asked, pulling the door open immediately. "What are you doing here?" she asked in genuine shock. "You could have called for me."

"Same thing I said." Mauve thought she imagined the reply as this was something Louis would say, until she realized Louis was standing right next to her.

"Lord Louis," Sabrina greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Mauve asked darkly.

"Just checking to make sure you knew how to count. Have a lovely evening, Lady Sabrina." With that, Louis was gone before Mauve could even say something equally snarky in return.

"Is something wrong?" Sabrina asked, her eyes glancing down at Mauve’s stomach.

"No," Mauve smiled brightly at her. "I just wanted to see you. We didn’t get a chance to converse properly because Jael interrupted. Besides, you came all this way for me—it’s only proper I come to say hi."

"Oh. Of course. Please, come in. Sorry, I couldn’t help but assume something was wrong."

"No, that’s okay. I should have told you before showing up in front of your room. I must have startled you. I hope you aren’t busy."

"Busy, for the Primus’ mate? I must have lost my mind."