Chapter 405: Identities
"Oh, for how long are you two going to sulk like that?"
Lord Dragomir had not all of his wit with him, and for a good reason. It was his wife’s last hibernation before her due date.
That alone promised to be a lot of work, having to deal with the two people he spent the most time with being all broody and quiet, offered him no additional solace whatsoever.
"My Lord," in response, Lauden merely bowed in front of him.
Whereas Reubon said and did nothing aside from clutching a sheet of paper in his hand.
"What is it with you? Ever since that damned wedding, neither of you has said a meaningful word," seeing as Reubon just folded the page back into a rectangle without replying, Darrick quickly added, "We will deal with that matter as soon as I am in a clearer head space. Nothing is yet lost. We have all the time and cards we need between our hands,"
Nothing is yet lost, he said...
Lauden begged to differ. They did lose something. At least, it felt like that to him.
All night long, the third one in a row, the man held on to the piece of parchment that connected him to Edna, knowing full well that should he write anything upon it, she wouldn’t write anything back for the woman was no longer of their world.
It cut deep and to some extent, Lauden couldn’t understand why. After all, they hadn’t known each other for that long.
Edna wasn’t the most pleasant company either, but one could never say she was boring. That was for sure!
Day in and day out, he’d gotten used to being bombarded by insults. Nasty couldn’t even begin to describe her behavior.
The thought that he was perhaps, in a twisted way, into that kind of treatment by a woman did cross his mind but it was simply not enough to explain his sombre state of mind regarding her demise.
"Lauden will tend to that,"
Darrick’s voice pierced the many layers of noise that riddled Lauden’s brain at that moment.
"Yes? What do I need to tend to?" he straightened up and marched towards the maid that held a golden platter carrying a stack of papers.
"The new contracts for the mines. I don’t have the mind for that," Dragomir waved his way.
Lauden stepped towards the maid and took the platter out of her hands, but not without looking her dead in the eyes, "Your shift has been over for hours now. Head back to your quarters and instruct the rest of the daytime staff to do the same. Should the Lady break free tonight there is a high risk she wouldn’t be so easily contained so, heed this warning well,"
The silence that followed his words was... Not deafening, but on the contrary, so quiet it had them begging for a sound.
The maid maintained eye contact, but seemingly not out of confidence, but sheer loss of words instead.
Though, not so long after that, she nodded profusely before scampering out of the room.
By the time his eyes landed back on his Lord, the man hadn’t stopped staring as though Lauden had grown a second head on his shoulders.
"Right, well, deal with it for now," he cleared his throat, "I trust you’ll take the right steps,"
They didn’t get to dwell on that last exchange as both of their attention was syphoned upwards following the screams that arose from the upper floor.
"Is it time?" it was Reubon that broke the muteness in the room.
"You too should head to a safer place," said Darrik while unbuttoning the cuffs around his wrists and folding his sleeves up his arms, "I can’t guarantee anyone’s survival should she get loose,"
Without another word, the Lord flashed out of there, null doubt heading for the delivery room where his wife was about to give birth.
Left alone with none other than Reubon, Lauden felt no need to keep the conversation going and reverted back to his inner thoughts for company.
By all accounts, it was odd to see Dragomir so worried about something. That went to show, he truly cared for his family.
But then, what was Lauden to make of his recent discovery?
The birthmark on Allegra’s neck lived rent free in his head. Was she perhaps a lost relative or child of his?
If yes, then why was he putting her in harms’ way like that? Did she not matter to him all that much?
Did she, just like Lauden, just like Edna, have an expiration date on her back that Dragomir couldn’t peel fast enough to stick onto his next puppet?
It made sense for servants to mean very little but someone like Allegra? Really...?
Nevertheless, the first question that needed to be answered about her was her true identity.
Was she truly who he thought she was? Was she Dragomir’s inside eyes in the Eleazar’s manor? Or was he just delusional...?
For that, Lauden had a simple but effective plan to find the answer. All he needed were a few drops of blood and a witch.
"I can’t say, I’ve ever witnessed the birth of a vampire," Reubon’s chuckle brought Lauden back out to the world around him.
"Count your blessings for that,"
"Is it truly that intense?"
The smirk on the human prompted Lauden to retort without giving it much thought, "If you want to give it a try, be my guest,"
"You would love that, wouldn’t you?"
"Not that it matters," Lauden didn’t back down as he saw no upside to it, "In any case, it seems the Lady still hasn’t broken out of her chains, but when you start hearing the screams and crashing of people and furniture, it is probably too late for your sake,"
"Chains? Crashing? Is the pain that great that they go insane?" Reubon’s intonation indicated interest but the look on his face displayed anything but that.
"Pain?" Lauden chuckled, "No, but their cognitive abilities become severely impaired during pregnancy already, let alone delivery, and as a result they won’t see the difference between you, me, and a cockroach,"