Call Of The Dark

Emma removed the furs covering her and she got out of the bed. There was a shawl on the couch, neatly folded for her which she picked up and wrapped around her tightly.

Gladys was… beautiful. Her sandy brown hair fell below her shoulders. A few gold pins shimmered here and there in her tresses. None of her features matched that of Lazarus's apart from the red eyes that were typical to the vampires. She was wearing a silk yellow gown that pooled at her ankles and had a fur cape wrapped around her shoulders. Overall, she gave a very suave impression.

Emma was curious to know as to why Lazarus's sister came to meet him. Tilting her head, she asked, "About?"

Gladys chuckled again, her face morphing into a softer expression. "About this and that," she said. "Actually that day when you had come for dinner, we couldn't be introduced. Father was a little… serious. So I thought of introducing myself to you."

Emma immediately warmed up. She liked Gladys's friendly demeanor. "Can you wait for a minute? I need to go to the bathroom. I will be right back," she said, excited. This would be her first friendship in the palace and she didn't want to rush it.

"Of course," Gladys said politely.

Emma ran to the bathroom to finish off her morning activities. When she came back, she saw Gladys pouring a cup of hot tea for her that smelled of spices. "Come, have it with me."

Emma sat on the same couch as Gladys and took the mug that she offered to her. She smelled the tea and couldn't help sighing. It was perfect.

Seeing her sipping it with a smile, Glady said, "How are you enjoying here, Emmalyn? I heard that Lazarus is very strict with you."

Emma bit her bottom lip as a blush formed on her cheeks. "He is… but nothing that I can't handle."

Gladys jerked her head back and barked a laugh. "You are brave!"

Emma shrugged and said, "When you don't have much time to live, you become brave."

Gladys nodded. "I am so sorry for this situation. I wish it was different."

"Different as in?" Emma asked casually and then sipped more tea. She made a mental note to ask Ginger to make more of such tea for her.

"Well, different as in he would have married you?" Gladys replied with a shrug.

Emma couldn't help but feel miserable again and she couldn't even point out why she would feel so sad when she didn't like him. Or did she?

When Gladys saw that she went quiet, she said, "Why don't you come out with me and I can give you rounds of the palace? The Wilyra Palace is beautiful, built over centuries and every king who has built it has added some or the other structure or contributed to it."

"I would love to!" Emma sat straight with excitement.

"Then if you like, we can roam around in an hour?" Gladys offered.

Emma blinked her eyes with surprise. "But don't you sleep during the day? Sunlight isn't good for you."

"We will stay indoors. Don't worry."

"Oh, okay then! I will meet you in an hour."

"Great. Ask Ginger to accompany you to my room and from there we will start the grand tour of the palace."

As soon as Gladys left, Emma jumped up and hurried to take a bath. She couldn't believe that Lazarus had a sister who was so much warmer than him. Did he have the blackest heart of all the siblings? In less than an hour, she was standing with Ginger in front of Gladys's room.

"Please stay indoors, m'lady," Ginger whispered to her a warning. "Princess Gladys can't tolerate sunshine."

"Yes, of course!"

Gladys took Emma to the corridor that was beside the apartments of other princesses. Emma noticed a large number of paintings adorning the walls. "These are beautiful!" She said she walked past them and couldn't help but stand and admire them. When she reached the last painting in the corridor, she stopped, her heart racing fast. "This is—" she pointed at the woman in the painting who was wearing a crimson gown and had pale blond hair just like that of Lazarus. She was wearing a beautiful necklace that Emma saw in the neck of the king. "She is—"

"She is Lazarus's mother, Queen Adara," Gladys completed her sentence.

Emma swallowed audibly. She was so beautiful that she forgot to breathe for a moment. Lazarus resembled his mother a lot, only having more masculine features.

"Queen Adara was the first wife of our father, but she died when Lazarus was barely eight years old. The nannies brought him up after that."

Emma couldn't help imagining an eight-year-old Lazarus clinging to the nannies. Her heart squeezed at the thought.

"He had a very bright nanny called Florence. She taught him how to be a king. Since he was the eldest, she was supposed to teach him all that," Gladys informed her. "When Lazarus was bullied, his nanny taught him how to never accept being bullied and made sure that he was obeyed because the kings are obeyed and never obey."

Emma's heart felt heavy. No wonder Lazarus was so arrogant.

"H—how did she die?" asked Emma, looking at the necklace she was wearing.

"That's a sad story," Gladys said with a sigh. "You see, Queen Adara was a pure-blooded vampire, born to vampire parents, which is very rare in the kingdom."

She turned to look at Gladys over her shoulder with wide eyes. "Oh you mean—" Emma couldn't complete her sentence, flushing heavily.

Gladys laughed. "Well some of us are pure-blooded but some aren't. I am pure-blooded because my mother was also a pure vampire and so is Anton. But all others are half vampire-half humans. Not all of my father's wives were vampires."

Emma pursed her lips as she began to walk. Gladys walked with her in silence. Emma was still thinking of all the information when she asked again, "How did she die?"