Call Of The Dark

Maeve stormed to her and ordered her maid to pack her clothes for Samhain. She wasn't going to let Emma go with Lazarus to Upper North Jupan.

"What else would you like me to put in the trunk for you?" her maid asked her meekly, almost trembling with fear. Maeve was known to get angry very fast and sometimes used magic to punish her maids seriously. There was not a single maid who wasn't bruised or cut when working for her. And for that reason, most of them would run away or find excuses to not work for her.

She sneered. "Don't you know by now what all I take?"

Shivering under her harsh gaze, the maid replied, "I have kept everything you would need, m'lady."

"Then why are you asking me?" She came close to the maid and slapped her tight.

The maid stifled her scream, holding her right cheek that stung. Tears flooded her eyes. "I—I am sorry, m'lady."

"Get out!" she growled.

The maid scurried out of the room and closed the door softly behind her. Maeve began to pace the room. She had to confront Lazarus but she didn't know what she was going to say to him because he had already decided that he would take Emma with him. That wretched girl was going to have fun on her behalf? Never. But where was she going to find him?

Suddenly she remembered that Magnus and Yul were also sitting at the alehouse. And both of them were with Emma. Lazarus traced right in front of her while they were in the midst of a conversation about an oracle that he was suggesting to see. A smile came to her lips. She was sure that he wanted to see the oracle to see his future with her. This meant that Lazarus was very interested in making her his queen.

She was also sure that he would be with Magnus or Yul. Probably punching them like pulp. Good. They were both an eyesore to her. She hated them and was going to get rid of both of them as soon as she ascended the throne because they were both too loyal to him.

Confidently, she was about to walk out of her room to find him, when the door opened. "Gladys?" Maeve jerked her head back. "What are you doing over here?" She went to the door and quickly shut it behind her. "Haven't I told you not to meet me like this?"

Gladys took a deep breath as she walked inside and sat at the table in the far corner. She looked particularly disturbed. She lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.

Not able to understand her predicament, Maeve asked her carefully, "What is it? You look worried."

Gladys turned her chin up and looked at the ceiling. "Things are getting too complicated, Maeve." She looked at Maeve. "Lazarus is not marking Emma. She is unable to attract him enough for marking her."

Maeve gritted her teeth. She had just come out of Emma's room feeling bitter that Lazarus had chosen the mortal over her for the first time. She was still feeling insulted. She wanted him to mark Emma but at the same time wanted him to hate her enough to cast her soul out. While Lazarus was like that in the beginning, she felt that her control on him was slipping.

"I have asked you to goad Emma to attract him. It seems that you are failing in one job I gave you!" Maeve said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. She continued, "Princess Gladys, who is supposed to be so cunning, is failing in a small task? Unimaginable." Maeve had promised Gladys that after the soul casting ritual, she was going to make her queen of half of Wilyra. Wasn't it interesting? Maeve laughed on the inside whenever she saw the brothers and sisters fighting for the throne. Most of them were already fighting. She joined the race much later and she joined it with Lazarus. Ultimately, the crown of Wilyra would be on her head. And Ailill.

"You don't understand!" Gladys said exasperatedly. "They are mates. Their bond is too strong. I am coaxing Emma to attract him, but whatever she does, he is not getting that attracted to her. Not enough to mark her!"

"And you know that marking her is so important for me!"

"I know!" Gladys replied. "I know that after soul casting ritual you will marry him." She also knew that after marrying him, she would kill Lazarus. And after that, Maeve would give half of Wilyra to her. She had the deed signed by her. It was kept in her room in a locker. "The problem is that only two weeks are left. If he doesn't mark her by then, then you would be in trouble!"

"I know, Gladys!" Maeve exclaimed. "If you are looking for solutions, then I am not the right person to give them. I am battling with my own problem. Lazarus is taking Emma to Samhain to Upper North Jupan instead of taking me. That is going to be a direct insult to me. Do you realize what that would mean? I am so irritated by that mortal!"

Gladys' eyes beamed. A moment later she chuckled. "Then our plan will work."

"How?" Maeve asked her, feeling a headache forming. "I can't let that bitch show up with him alone!"

"Let him go with her. And you also go with him."

"But he isn't taking me! He has decided that he will take Emma!"

"Hmm." Gladys walked back to the door slowly but confidently. "Cousin Cain sends invite to very few and I am one of them. It is a different thing that I rarely go to attend Samhain. I find it a waste of time. So…" her voice drawled. "Why don't you come with me?"

Maeve's mouth dropped to the floor. The solution to 'Emma' problem was standing in front of her. "Won't Lazarus be suspicious if I go with you?"

"I will take care of it," Gladys replied with a smile. "Prepare yourself for Samhain."