Lazarus and Magnus traced Emma and Olya to Emma's father's house. It was evening and only Emma's mother was there in the house. They were in Emma's former bedroom.
As soon as they were inside, Emma asked them to stay quiet and keep hiding over there. She tiptoed her way out and saw that Avice was blowing air in the fire pit to ignite air. Her brother wasn't at home and she was sure that he must have gone to play with his friends. Her lips curved up thinking that he must have healed.
Avice turned her head over her shoulder and her eyes became wide with surprise. "You!' She was shocked to see Emma. Hatred filled her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she spat. "Did you run away from the palace? How dare you? Do you want us to get killed?"
Emma's mouth fell open. "Aren't you happy even one bit to see me, mother?" she asked, her chest hurting.
"Happy to see you?" Avice got up and wiped her hands on her apron. "Your father had sent you away. I was sure that you would never be able to come out of that palace. And you managed to run from there? It was Lord Lazarus who took you over there. You must have become his concubine. Bloody whore!" Avice shouted. "You have come back to us? Do you want the community to look down upon us?"
"But mother--" Emma couldn't believe her ears. Her cheeks became red, not out of shame, but out of pure embarrassment about the way her stepmother was behaving.
"Shut up!" Avice sneered. "You have no right to come back. I want you out of this house and out of our life. For us you are already dead. Your father and I are very happy without your presence. You are as good as dead to us!" With long strides she closed the gap between her and Emma and grabbed her hand, but as soon as she did that, electricity burst on fingertips and she shrieked in pain. "What kind of dark magic are you using, you dimwit?" she shrieked. "You want to scare us with your magic?"
"Hold on, mother!" Emma said with a snarl. "You are being rude and obnoxious!"
Avice was so enraged that she picked up her hand and was about to slap Emma hard, when she heard a loud growl. The growl was so menacing that the windows and the doors of the house started shaking and her legs started shaking with fear. She whipped her head around to see if there was a wolf around but her eyes came to rest upon the prince of Wilyra, Lord Lazarus. "Lord Lazarus!" she exclaimed. She slapped her hands on her mouth when she realized that he was standing at the door of Emma's bedroom and looked menacing. "When did you all come?" Her voice had gone low. She bowed to him.
As if that wasn't all, Magnus came out to stand behind his brother and then Olya walked past them and stood along with Emma. "So what were you saying?" said Olya, narrowing her eyes on Avice.
Avice gulped audibly. "I-- I--"
"Shut that trashy mouth of yours, Avice," Olya snapped. "One more word and I am going to ask my man to rip you into pieces."
Magnus looked at Olya, his chest swelling in pride. He whispered to Lazarus, "She said, 'my man'."
"Yes, I heard," Lazarus gritted.
Avice was dumbfounded.
Lazarus came to stand next to Emma and curled his arm around her shoulder. "Come love," he said. "Sit down. You must be tired." He walked her back to a cot in the corner of the room. Then he looked at Olya and Magnus. "Get some chairs in here, will you Avice?" he said to Avice as if ordering her.
Avice was so flabbergasted that she nodded dumbly and rushed out to get two chairs. As soon as she arranged the chairs for the royalty to sit, Lazarus said, "What are you preparing, Avice?"
"R--rabbit stew and bread," she stuttered.
"Good, then serve it to all of us," Lazarus said as he leaned back on the wall and Emma sat next to him, watching her stepmother dance to his tunes.
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm Avice winced. "Th--there is not enough..." she said in a low voice, scared that the prince would kill her if she didn't make enough food. And she still couldn't understand why they had come here. But the fact that he was sitting with Emma meant that he really liked her as his concubine.
"Then make more," Lazarus said with a shrug. When she didn't move and continued to see him stupidly, he added, "Quick. We don't have all the time in the world."
Avice snapped out of her thoughts, shocked further. She turned to the fire pit and became busy with making food, feeling like their servant. Ever since Emma had left, she was so happy. But now she wanted to wring her neck.
Had the prince come to return her? She really wanted to ask this because if he returned Emma back, she was going to toss her right back out of this house. She had to ask this question in as subtle a manner as possible.
As Avice prepared food and brought out more rations for it, she cursed Emma more. The four were talking amongst themselves about some ritual that was about to take place in the evening. The prince wasn't happy with a woman called Maeve. Who was Olya and what was she doing with prince Magnus? Was she also his concubine?
When she finally prepared food, she set it in front of them and said politely, "Please eat as much as you possibly can, Lord Lazarus. Emma can also eat later. She is going to stay here now, I guess."
Lazarus glared at her. "Are you asking whether Emma will go back with me or not, then the answer is simple. I will tell you after I eat food."
While she waited with anticipation and anger, they all ate heartily. When the food was over, Lazarus said, "So you were saying that Emma was already dead to you and you didn't want her here? Guess what--"
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