“Tomorrow?”
“That’s right. Ralph is going to depart for the south tomorrow morning. I think that would be an ideal option,” Katie looked at the Lord’s grim expression, his eyebrows contracted slightly.
“But I don’t belong to the class you mentioned so I can stay, can’t I?” she asked, her voice pleading him. She didn’t want to leave the mansion or Valeria.
Lord Alexander walked to his desk, picking up the parchment the council member had given him to give it to Katie.
“What’s this?” she asked taking it from him.
“It’s the clause and terms the council has come up with regarding the trial for dividing the creatures,” unrolling it, she began to read what was written in it.
Council Edict No. 352
‘Taking consideration of the recent activities that has caused disruption for both the creatures of our lands, the council has decided to have a trial run by having a temporary division between them which will be for a period of a month.
Clause 1. Human families who have been residing in the empires for more more than five years will be permitted to stay while families less than the mentioned span are ordered to go to the south empire during the trial period.
Clause 2. The council will be responsible in allotting new residence for them to assure a comfortable stay. For further queries and negotiations write to the council.
Clause 3. Clause 1 and 2 holds for the vampires in the human lands.
Clause 4. Maids and servants serving the families for three years will continue their work without any disruption.
Clause 5. All the creatures who recently moved to another land are instructed to go back to their empires.
Clause 6. Respective Lords of the four empires will assist the council in helping the safety trial the council has decided.
Clause 7. Any man or woman not abiding the clauses mentioned above will be held guilty and will be charged under the Edict No. 228.
Clause 8. Higher authorities in the empire are allowed to visit lands with the permission from the Lords and a council official.’
“What’s Edict No. 228?” Katie asked after reading the parchment and handing it back to him.
“It’s a decree that talks about the involvement in the witches activities,”Lord Alexander answered her, “When a person falls into that contempt, he or she is taken in for trial of court with the councils. Depending on whether the person is guilty or not the council members will decide what to do next.”
After reading the contents of the parchment and listening to Lord Alexander, she realized that she had to accompany Ralph back to the south empire. Staying here would only cause the Lord and her problems which she didn’t want. She didn’t want to leave him and go but she didn’t want to put Lord Alexander in a troublesome situation either.
She stood still biting her lip in silence as she thought about it.
Was he alright with it? Unlike her feeling unsettled and her expressions giving away what she felt at the moment, Lord Alexander was calm, the crease between his brows had vanished.
“It’ll be alright,” he said placing his hand on her cheek, “It is only for a month. It’ll pass sooner than you know.”
“Hmm,” Katie responded feeling her chest grow heavier with every second that passed.
“Katie,” she saw the concern in his eyes as he spoke to her seriously, “I need you to be careful for the next few days while you are in the south empire. I want you to have faith in what I do and it is very important because things might turn difficult or you might start doubting things but I need you to be strong.”
“I believe you, Lord Alexander,” her words were firm and unwavering.
She felt him pull her towards him for a hug. Lord Alexander wasn’t one to show his feelings or thoughts to anyone but the sudden hug made Katie wonder if Lord Alexander was feeling the same way she did right now. She returned the embrace nuzzling herself as he held her.
“I know you have Ralph to protect and keep you safe there but I would like to send someone from my side,” she heard him speak.
Pulling back she said, “I don’t think that would be necessary. The village Ralph is going to is a small one and I’ve been there once myself.”
“There’s no harm in it. And I believe precaution is better than cure. It would make me feel better,” Lord Alexander gave her a sweet smile that melted her heart.
A knock on the door interrupted them and Katie saw Malphus enter the room and greet the man with a small bow.
“You have come on an opportune time, Malphus. I think you are already aware of the council’s visit,” he asked to which Malphus responded with a yes, “Good. You will be accompanying Katherine and Ralph tomorrow to the south. I’ll have Martin prepare a carriage for your journey to the south.”
“Can’t you revoke the order?”
“Right now I hold no power to do so. I am sure there is a link we are missing with what happened today and the murder of a council murder,” Alexander murmured thoughtfully.
“But the man who was murdered was a vampire,” Malphus stated with what information he had retrieved after a few rounds of the man’s house and the council.
“Precisely,” Malphus looked at the Lord confused.
“I don’t understand,” said Katie as confused as the ghost.
“All this time it has been spoken of how vampires have always killed humans for their need to survive and we know it is the vampire’s nature to take blood. The council is made up of both the humans as well as vampires. If you would oppose one, it would raise mutiny with the other, which would then slowly spread to all the four empires leading to bloodshed. Unfortunate for them, my assassination didn’t go according to their devised plan and they picked the council member who was a vampire to be murdered. Many questions were raised about the security of not just the humans but also the vampires,”the Valerian Lord explained to them.
“Seems that Norman has more strings to play with than I thought,” the Lord chuckled amused with it, “We don’t have enough evidence on the culprit and for that it is necessary that you are there to observe things that go in and out of their mansion.”
“I’ll make sure to keep an eye and report to you without delay…” Malphus replied and saw the Lord’s lips set in thin line.
The Lord then turned to Katie and spoke, “Go pack your things, you wouldn’t want leaving anything important now would you.”
When Katie left the room, Lord Alexander and Malphus were the only ones in the study.
Like the spirit he was, who could turn to a solid human form or a ghost anytime he wanted he had stayed outside the door when the council members visited the Lord of Valeria. Even though Malphus was a human before he died, he wasn’t keen on going to the south empire. He knew about the deeds the south lord part took in, and the thought of him meeting anyone connected to the Norman brought an acidic taste to his mouth.
But now that he was back from the dead he had nothing else to do but serve the Lord of Valeria as he was indebted with the gift he was given where he could choose to be seen by others.
The humans and vampires had finally began to trust each other, making families but with the new rule there was no doubt that it would cause an unwanted rift between them. With the days that had passed, he had seen Katie and the Lord get closer to each other. He looked at the Lord who had his back facing him now, looking outside as birds chirped in the nearby tree.
The Lord then turned around to pick the glass that was on the table, emptying it in two sips and not a few seconds later it shattered in his hand in fragments of delicate pieces.
“…” Malphus’s eyes widened at the sight of it but the Lord held the same unchanging expression as ever.
Letting go of his hand, few glass pieces colored with red fell down on the floor while two shards of glass pieces had pierced through the palm of his skin, blood dripping down his hand as he removed the pieces of his hand.