Chapter 5 Madly. Badly. Desperately.

Two days back.

Prince Lazarus was the first born of his father. His heir to the throne, but his father had ensured that ascension to the throne wasn't easy. He had produced numerous children from his other wives and concubines. Overall, Lazarus was contending with a dozen or so brothers and sisters.

"I want this rebellion to be crushed!" King Victor roared in the throne hall as he pounded the armrest of his throne, the splinters flying on all sides. "If necessary, kill all the blood vassals and drain them dry!"

His siblings roared with his father in unison. His second brother, Anton, who was next to him in the line to ascend the throne, said, "Give us the order to march over there, father! Your wish is our command!" Anton glanced at Lazarus, who was watching all of them with his arms crossed across his chest, seated on the first chair of the throne hall, a coveted chair and position for all the princes. "It seems our brother doesn't agree with us," he challenged Lazarus in an insulting manner.

Victor stared at his oldest. "Do you disagree with me, Lazarus?" he dared him.

"Yes," he replied coldly, bluntly.

There was a stunned silence in the throne hall. Lazarus was known to defy his father and he made no secret of it.

Anton scoffed. "This is what you expect from a weak prince. Are you scared of those vassals, brother? Have you forgotten that they are in our lands under our protection? And now they are lifting their heads to go against us? They want our land. We are going to kill all of them and show who is the owner of this kingdom!"

Lazarus stopped an urge to roll his eyes. He knew that Anton was provoking him. He continued to sit in his chair and crossed his legs over his ankle slowly. "Only a dullard would kill all the vassals to claim your own land," he said, inviting grunts and growls from his brothers. Lazarus looked at Anton and smirked, "Once you will kill them where will you get your daily blood from? And after this carnage, will anyone else even dare to migrate to Wilyra?"

"We will capture people from other kingdoms and bring them as our blood bags!" Anton snarled. "But we won't be scared of the vassals!"

Lazarus got up from his chair and closed the gap between him and Anton like a predator. Standing a few inches tall, he was intimidating. His powerful aura was undeniable. "Only a fool like you could say that," he said in a guttural voice. And a chill ran down Anton's spine.

Lazarus knew that his brothers were big sycophants of the king in order to show their support to him. The problem was that King Victor was getting old. He was looking for heirs and Lazarus was his least favored. He didn't want to quit the throne till the last day of his life. So if Lazarus had to snatch the throne from his brothers, then so be it. He had his plans.

"Then do you have an option, son?" Victor roared. He hated Lazarus because he was aware that Lazarus was stronger than him, stronger than all his brothers and sisters. Anytime, he could take over his throne, his rule and his kingdom. Lazarus was like a thorn in his eyes. One he had to remove as soon as possible.

Lazarus turned to his father and covered the distance between them in long strides. "I do have one, Your Highness," he said coldly. "But that needs to be carried out discreetly."

"What is it?" Victor demanded. "Tell me now!"

"I would like a private audience to talk about it, Your Highness," he remarked, his eyes boring into his fathers. He knew that his father was looking for an opportunity to remove him from the line of those who were contesting for his place.

"Oh, so Prince Lazarus deigns to obey my command," Vitor called from his throne. His eyes grew redder, their crimson standing out against his pale face and his light silvery hair that fell over his forehead from beneath his crown.

His brothers and sisters that were seated stared at Lazarus with malice evident on their faces. Feeling their malice thickening in the air, Lazarus turned to look at them sharply and drew his lips back to flash his sharp fangs at them. He found all of them beneath him in power, strength and intelligence and he didn't hide his feelings from them.

He turned to face his father. "I am not disobeying your command, Your Highness," Lazarus reasoned. "I am merely asking you for a private audience."

Victor scoffed. "You are too weak, Lazarus! Your mother was weak and she was never up to the standards of my family. See what she produced. If you are not afraid that you won't be able to execute your plan efficiently after revealing it here, then I believe that you don't trust your brothers and sisters. And that is a punishable offense. I can send you to the gallows."

Lazarus smirked. This wasn't the first time his father had threatened him about sending him to the gallows.

Victor stared at him long enough, his hatred evident. Ultimately, he broke his silence and continued with irritation, "So what is your plan?"

Lazarus knew what was going on. "My plan is simple," he said, conceding to his father's demand.

And right now Lazarus was staring at his plan in the carriage who was huddled up in the corner and staring, rather glaring at him with her clear blue eyes. Because he had revealed his plan to his brothers and sisters, they had come after her. He had killed two of his brothers to save the girl seated in front of him and she was running away? And that too from vampires? If he had been a few minutes late, she would have become the feast of one of his dimwit brothers. He sucked in a sharp breath.

In all his life, Lazarus was not easily surprised, but Emma's actions surprised the hell out of him. Running through an attack by blood vassals was one thing, but plotting to run away from him was quite another thing. He was unable to come to a conclusion about her: whether she was suicidal or she was plain crazy.

Either way, he decided that the girl was going to be nothing but a pain in the neck. And through all the madness he went through because of her, he was still unable to understand as to why his instincts flared up when she was running away. All he wanted was to protect her until…

Lazarus was known in the Lore as being the most cunning and evil vampire, battering or breaking his enemies in time with his shrewdness and sheer power. Yet, this mortal, who was beneath him in all standards, was confusing him, surprising him and above all… luring him.

Madly. Badly. Desperately.

And this wasn't the first time.