The Dark King's Bride (6 page)

             
And that is proof enough for me to have her as my bride…my wife…and my lover.

             
The noise of the hooves of horses heading in a direction away from the front of his home with Richard’s feet heading towards him brought him back to reality, and snapped himself out of the gaze he was under with Lily’s curvaceous body and angelic face. Daniel took in a breath of air as he moved away from the wall he was against it, and opened up the double doors of his home.

             
Stepping up to the open doorway, a middle aged woman dressed in a black short sleeved gown with a white apron tied around her waist and a white head rag tied around the top of her head, moved outside with a calm, motherly expression to her face, as well as the rest of her body.

             
“My Lord Willows,” the maid said, gentle yet firmly, “this is not the type of weather for you to be out and about. You will either catch something horrendous if someone doesn’t try to attack you in your carriage first.”

             
Oh my dear, sweet Magdalene…You are like the mother that I never had the privilege in my life as a vampire.

             
His smile widened a bit from the only maid he had lecturing at him for being out in the storm that was currently ravaging the land around his home, as well as towards the direction of the woods and town. Managing to suppress the chuckle that was dying to come out of his strong mouth, Daniel spoke to her in a calm, friendly manner that seemed to be more noticeable in his deep voice.

             
“Magdalene, I wish to introduce you to someone very special.” Looking over to Lily, Daniel showed his hand towards her while he smiled at her. He waited for her to take his hand, and move towards him before he focused back on her. “Magdalene…This is Lily. She will be staying here with me…until the storm passes.”

             
His eyes caught a small glimmer of hope and happiness within her eyes at seeing a beautiful, young mortal woman at his side, matching the own delight he had when he first saw Lily walking along the side of the dirt road near her family’s home. Daniel watched her show his companion a warm, friendly smile before using one of her hands to motion to the stairs and bow her head, slightly.

             
“Welcome to Willows Manor, my lady.” Magdalene said, speaking directly towards Lily. “If you will follow me, I will take you upstairs, and run you a hot bath to warm your body up from the cold weather that has plagued you outside.”

             
Daniel moved his eyes over towards Lily, and noticed her possessing an expression that would be similar to a child showing it to their mother. He watched her flash Magdalene a smile similar to the one she had given her prior to moving towards her. His ears picked up on the sound of Richard stepping in and closing the door behind while he watched her moving across the foyer to the stairs. He waited for her to head towards his grand staircase before he turned to Richard, and flashed him a dark, serious expression on his face and within his gaze prior before speaking to him with a similar tone to his deep voice.

             
“Richard…We need to talk about some things that have come up in my den…Now.”

Chapter Seven

             
Walking across the hard, stone floor of Daniel’s foyer, Lily followed Magdalene in the direction of the stairs. Her eyes noticed how the steps, as well as the floor and walls, were made of the same black and dark gray stones that she had seen outside of his home on the outer walls of his home as she started to slow her movement at the bottom of the stairs without her knowledge.

             
“If you will follow me, Lily,” Magdalene said, calling over to her over her shoulder, “I will lead you to a room that you can stay in during the storm, as well as get dressed in something warmer as opposed to that dress you have on.”

             
She snapped her gaze away from the stone work and focused on that of Daniel’s maid already moving up the stairs without her following her. Lily gave her a gentle nod a few moments before she proceeded to move up the stairs at a pace in an attempt to catch up with her. The bottom of her dress hovered over each step her feet moved her past, giving her enough room to keep going without tripping or stepping on the white fabric of it.

             
How are you feeling, Lily?
Her conscience asked. It’s tone had changed to one that was more calm and motherly in comparison to how it had sounded earlier to her.
How does it feel to be in the home of your King?

             
It feels…amazing.
Lily silently replied to her conscience as she was reaching the middle of the stairs.
I can’t really explain it, but in a way…I feel a strong sense of belonging here.

             
There be something else at work here that you can’t see, Lily.

             
What do you mean?

             
Look over at the entrance to the castle.

             
Taking heed of what her conscience said to her, Lily turned her attention over towards the front doors to the massive home. She caught sight of Daniel’s face harboring a look of dark seriousness upon it in the direction of Richard, his royal advisor, as they headed out of sight.

             
Her body stopped abruptly on the middle of the stairs from having seen him leave her sights. She could tell from the pace he was moving at that something had either happened…or was fixing to happen.

             
“My lady…”

             
Before her mind could start to come up with ideas as to why he was rushing out, the soft sound of Magdalene’s voice echoing to her ears caused her to snap out of the momentary trance she had fallen into. Lily looked up to the top of the stairs only to find Daniel’s maid waiting for her with her hands at her sides. The discovery caused her to pick the pace up much more, erasing the distance that lingered between the two of them.

             
“I am so sorry about that, Magdalene.” Lily said, apologizing and erasing the last bit of distance that was between the two of them. “Something caught my attention and caused my eyes to drift away towards it instead of being focused on following you.”

             
“It is quite all right, my lady.” Magdalene maintained a motherly vibe about her as she spoke to her with her head slightly bent and possessing a smile to it. “You are in a new place, and it is understandable that you might feel a little uneasy or curious of your surroundings.”

             
“It is not that…”

             
“What is the issue then?”

             
“Well…I saw Daniel heading in a direction with his advisor, and he looked really serious…and upset about something. Do you think…that I-“

             
“You have no need to be concerned with what Lord Willows has on his mind, my lady, and I am sure that it is not because of something you might have said or done. There is no reason why you should worry about such matters.”

             
Even though Lily wanted Magdalene’s words to ease the tension away from her mind, she couldn’t help but feel something was indeed fixing to happen and it involved her.

             
She managed to give a nod of her head to the middle aged woman that reminded her so much of her mother back in the woodland area. Her eyes watched Magdalene’s stare soften a bit while she listened to her speaking up.

             
“Very well then…If you will follow me this way then, I will show you to your room and start your bath for you.”

             
Lily watched Daniel’s maid take a few steps away from her before she looked back down the stairs. There was an intense unsettling need to go, and see what was troubling her host, as well as erase this tension from her that had started to wash over her entire body.

             
Everything is okay…Nothing is wrong…There is no reason for me to be worried.

             
She told herself those words over and over, silently, to herself as her body started to move away from the top of the very steps she had just climbed, and headed down the long stretch of hallway in the direction of where Magdalene was leading her in.

*                            *                            *

              Daniel moved around a corridor in his lavish home with his eyes locking in on a set of black double doors at the end of a hallway that was lit by two rows of torches. His piercing emerald green eyes had a fierce expression of frustration and anger lingering on the surface of them. As he kept on moving, he listened to the sounds of his advisor struggling to move at the pace he was moving at due to his weight, and his voice coming out in a similar tone that showed how much he was struggling.

             
“My lord…” Richard said. His voice came out of his mouth a bit soft and short of breath. “My lord, what has troubled you so?”

             
“You are about to find out, Richard.” Daniel replied, seriously. “You are about to find out…”

             
Having spoken to his advisor with a razor sharp, firm voice, Daniel lifted his hands up to have his palms facing outward, and grabbed onto the double doors black door knobs in a fluid, single motion. He pulled them wide open, and walked himself right across the arched entranceway. He moved himself across the floor made out of onyx crystals to where a large window stood with black drapes hanging from the top of his ten foot tall ceiling to the floor in front of his feet. His hands grabbed onto the separate panels, and shoved them away from one another, exposing the large window and bringing some light into his darkened study that was like a private library with books littering it all the way around the circular area aside from the roaring fireplace where a small cage was nestled with a black drape on top of it.

             
You need to calm yourself down, Daniel.
His rational side of his conscience spoke to him in a way to extinguish the fire that was fueling the rage inside.
Right now is not the best time to let your hatred come to the surface, and reach out to its fullest extent.

             
I have been lied to…by someone that I thought I could trust and believe in.
Daniel pressed his forehead against the cold glass of the large window, and let a heated breath seep out of his strong lips and hit the glass pane of it.
No one lies and deceives me without paying the price for it.

             
Don’t do this, Daniel. Don’t-

             
The sound of his den doors shutting in the distance behind him echoed to his ears, and brought him back to reality, leaving the conversation with his conscience behind. He lifted his head up, slightly, and looked at his confidant’s chubby reflection in the window while he was busy catching his own breath, and leaning against the doors.

             
“M-My lord…” Richard said, softly, in a whispery tone. “Perhaps you can tell me what it is that has unsettled you so that I might be able to fix the situation.”

             
“This is something that is beyond your ability to fix, Richard.” Daniel spoke to him with a dark, lethal sound to his voice. Straightening his body, he turned around, and showed the intense expression on his face that exposed all the dark anger that had started to rise to the surface. “I have been lied to, and deceived by someone that I thought I could trust and talk to about anything.”

             
“Who…Who was it, my lord?”

             
“Radcliff…”

             
“Radcliff?” Richard’s right eyebrow arched at the answer he had received from his master. Keeping his eyes on him, his voice started to return to its normal sound as he spoke to him. “Are you talking about the same man who is the farmer the lives nearby with his wife, Marigold?”

             
“That is right…” Daniel moved himself over to where a small cage was on top of a waist high black roman column, and removed the cover from it, revealing a small, black bat to be hanging from a perch. “For the last three years that I have been ruling over these lands and talked with them on many occasions…They have kept a fact from me that I just found out on the trip to the castle.”

             
“What is that, Lord Willows?”