Chapter 48

48 Tradition

Caspian, Zenon, and Vincent walked outside the entrance of the mansion. They stood at the side of the porch.

Zenon glanced at Elias and gave him a slight nod, gesturing to the prisoner that Beth would soon come out.

They were soon followed by Lord Bartholomew and Lady Beth.

The moment Elias’ eyes fell on the Turners, he pointed at Beth and shouted at the top of his voice, “She is the one who threatened me into poisoning our Queen. She is the main perpetrator.”

“What?” Beth had a shocked expression on her face when she turned to look at Caspian. “I haven’t even seen him before,” she instantly denied the accusation.

Elias was quick to provide more information, “She’s lying. We met during your wedding ball, Your Majesty.”

He turned his gaze at the King and pleaded after falling down on his knees, “Your Majesty, I was just a na?ve man who was threatened into following her orders. Please punish her. She’s the one who tried to assassinate the Queen.”

“Impudence!” Bartholomew slammed his cane on the floor so hard that he left a crack on the tile. “How dare you put the blame on my innocent daughter? Why would she try to harm anyone from the castle?”

Elias pointed at Beth again and shouted, “Because she wants to steal the position of the Queen! She told me herse-”

.....

Sling! Slash!

Before anyone could react, Bartholomew ran down and slashed Elias’ throat with the pointy blade that was hidden in his cane.

Thankfully, one of the Royal Guards was quick enough to hit Bartholomew’s arm and prevented him from beheading Elias. However, he did manage to cut Elias’ throat.

Two of the Royal Guards immediately held Bartholomew and another took his blade away from him.

“Don’t hold me. I will kill this Vampire right here for pinning the blame on my daughter,” Bartholomew tried to fight off the guards but they were among the strongest of the Vampires. Lord Turner was unable to get out of their hold even though he was also one of the strongest Vampires.

Caspian frowned at Bartholomew and warned him in a cold voice, “You shouldn’t act so rashly, Lord Bartholomew. You are making your daughter look like a real criminal by trying to kill her accuser without going through a proper trial.”

Bartholomew calmed down a bit after hearing the King. And the guards didn’t restrain him anymore.

Beth, on the other hand, was acting like a damsel in distress. She was covering her mouth with one of her palms while she was leaning on a pillar as if she was having difficulty holding her ground.

“Is he alright?” Caspian glanced at Elias and asked the guards without showing much change in his expression.

It almost looked as if he had expected Bartholomew to act like that.

“He should be alright after a while, Your Majesty,” one of the guards replied.

Elias was holding his neck and was trying to stay still so that his muscles would reattach properly. He hadn’t thought that Bartholomew would try to kill him right in front of the King and all the Royal Guards.

He was deeply shocked after getting a relatively deep cut on his neck. He was filled with rage towards Bartholomew as well as Beth. Thus, he was even more motivated to do as the King had asked him.

After the situation calmed down a bit, Elias threw the bomb that had been planted in his mind, “I demand trial by blood duel.”

Everyone who heard him was dumbfounded, especially the Turners and their servants and maids.

“That is ridiculous!” Bartholomew shouted and was ready to strike Elias with his fist.

However, he was instantly stopped by the Royal Guards who were standing behind him.

Even though he was restrained by the guards, he shouted at the King, “Blood Duel was the thing of the past. Let’s not go there. Let’s take the modern route.”

Beth glanced at Caspian hoping he wouldn’t allow something like that to take place. This time she was seriously scared of what was about to happen.

And she pleaded to the King while shedding tears, “Your Majesty, please don’t allow it. Those days are long gone. Besides, I am not even a criminal here. He is obviously trying to frame me. Why would I try to kill your wife? The real culprit might be wandering freely while you all waste your time here.”

Caspian was, however, unaffected by those tears and that shameless denial.

He replied to the Turners with a straight face, “I agree that Vampires have stopped demanding a trial by blood duel in the recent years. However, let’s not forget that even a King has no right to stop it.”

“That’s unfair!” Beth ran and stood in front of the King. Her wet eyes glared at the King’s emotionless face. And she shouted again, “He is a man and I am a woman. I will obviously be the one to die!”

According to Vampire tradition, a blood duel was allowed between the accuser and the accused. And if one party demanded trial by blood duel then the other party had no privilege to decline it.

And as the name suggested, the duel would be bloody and ruthless. It would only stop when one of the parties died.

Caspian felt satisfied to finally see fears in Beth’s eyes.

However, he pretended to support Beth and said in a whisper, “Beth, think about it. It’s not that difficult and it’s not unfair. You have the noble blood in you. You are stronger than you think. All you have to do is win the duel and you are free.”

Beth, the fool, was a little touched by that ‘kind’ gesture of Caspian.

And she nodded her head. “Yes, you are right. He is merely a servant with thinner blood. I can easily win against him.”

“Beth! Are you out of your mind?” Bartholomew shouted from below. “A lady doesn’t need to fight to prove her innocence. I will have someone fight in your stead.”

Elias was quick to refuse in a mocking tone, “You know that’s not how it works, Lord.”

“You!” Bartholomew tried to jump at Elias yet again while screaming in fury, “Don’t you think that you can talk to me in that tone after accusing my daughter of being an instigator of the assassination attempt. And don’t you think that you are going to get away with your crime by asking for a blood duel.”

Elias glared at Bartholomew without any fear in his eyes. He was backed by the King himself, no matter what he was saying to Beth at the moment.

Bartholomew looked in the direction of the King and this time, he pleaded while showing some respect, “Your Majesty, if you cannot stop the trial then please, allow me to choose one of my servants to fight in place of Beth.”

Sadness took over him when he further said in a low voice, “She is the only family I have. I cannot lose her as well.”

Vincent looked at Caspian’s face, trying to read his friend’s mind. He wondered if he would spare Beth’s life since Bartholomew was pleading so much.

However, Caspian proved him wrong. “I am extremely sorry, Lord Bartholomew. We all know the rules. It’s the tradition set by our ancestors. Who am I to step on the tradition that was passed down from one century to another?”

Bartholomew understood that Caspian was not going to back down. Now, he could only trust the skills of his daughter.

Elias wiped the blood from his neck to reveal his healed neck. He got up on his feet and glared at Beth. And he said in a stern voice, “We are going to have a blood duel right here and right now.”