The cemetery
"So familiar that I can feel the words just at the tip of my tongue." Jack paused as a thoughtful look crossed his face. He said, "But it disperses when I try to say it."
Theodore nodded in understanding. "I think that would be all for now." Jack bowed again before he left.
Just as Jack left, Ralph walked in. "Was he able to find anything about the boy?" Ralph asked curiously.
"Nothing yet," Theodore replied as they started walking towards his study.
"If I may ask, why are you suddenly interested in finding the girl's brother?"
There was a calm silence in the air, with only their shoes making clicking sounds, and Theodore said, "There was something odd about him that night."
Ralph wondered what could have been odd with the young boy when the witch also confirmed for herself that it was indeed her brother.
But then, nothing ever easily surpassed the king's eyes, and it was sometimes true about how looks can be deceiving to the eyes.
His brows drew together. "Do you think he had a hand in the massacre of his town?"
"That could be a possibility." Theodore shrugged.
Once they stepped inside Theodore's study room, he ordered, "Tell the coachman to prepare the carriage. I would be going out." And without questioning, Ralph went on to carry out the order.
After some time, King Theodore also stepped out. But instead of heading straight for where the carriage was parked and ready to be used, he strolled towards the garden.
He stared at the flowers before picking a black rose from the lot and placing it inside his coat.
Walking back, he stepped inside the waiting carriage, where the coachman held the door open for him. "To the cemetery." He ordered him.
The coachman bowed before closing the door of the carriage to run to the driver's seat in front. And just before the carriage left the castle, Theodore moved his gaze to look outside the window, catching his maid staring at him.
Vanessa, who had initially been staring at the king without him knowing, found his bright red eyes now trained on her as if he had known all along.
Having been caught, she tried to take her eyes off him, but she couldn't. A knowing smile appeared on his lips, making her frown.
When the carriage left the castle grounds, Vanessa turned around to walk inside, but as she continued, she suddenly felt as if she was being watched.
"Did he perhaps place someone to watch me?" she murmured to herself, her eyebrows slightly creased in thought. She walked to her room in the servant's quarter without pondering too much about it.
Shutting her room's door behind her once she was inside, she walked to her bed and fell flat on her stomach before a sigh escaped her lips.
'At least there was one good thing about being the king's personal maid.' She thought at the feeling of being able to rest now while the other servants were still working.
For a moment only her breathing filled the room, and all of a sudden she said in a whisper, "What a beautiful weird rose," but who gifts a black rose to a lady? She thought.
The first impression she got when she saw Theodore staring at the flowers was that he was looking for one to gift the lady that left, and she was surprised with the color of the rose he picked. It was nothing like the red roses she had seen.
Though it looked as beautiful as it was, Vanessa doubted that any elite lady would accept it with a full heart. Not that she had met too many of them, but she had heard a lot about them and seen a few.
Once, she had heard two of her townswomen talking about how proudly the vampires carried themselves.
A yawn escaped as she finally closed her eyes to sleep.
Away from the castle, the royal carriage that Theodore had left in traveled on the path heading for the cemetery.
His eyes were fixated on the outside of the window, and his body relaxed. Even without closing his eyes, images from the past crossed his vision.
'Drink from me.' The little boy looked away from his mother's hand, which she had offered him to drink from.
His fangs ached so much that he felt the need to sink them into one of the villagers' necks. He shook his head at her offer. "I would rather drink from one of the villagers until they drop dead." The woman frowned at her son's words. He said, 'After all, they need to be punished for not treating you well.' His words were unfeeling.
Smiling at his words, she brought up her hand to raise his face so that he was looking right at her.
'Silly boy. Just because they don't treat me well doesn't mean they deserve to die.'
Though young, little Theo was not oblivious to the way the villagers were hostile towards him. Not that it ever bothered him, but he could not say the same for his mother.
'It was the same kind she spoke of that still led her to an early grave.' His lips twisted in distaste at the thought.
The coachman pulled the carriage to a stop just before the cemetery gate. He jumped down from the carriage to open the door for King Theodore to step out.
Theodore's eyes looked up at the sky, which was forming a dark cloud. Turning to his coachman, he said, "You can leave. I will find another way back."
Bowing his head, the coachman watched Theodore stride inside the cemetery. His eyes also moved to look up at the dark, cloudy sky that appeared as if it was going to rain anytime before climbing back on the carriage to go back to the castle.
Stopping in front of one of the many tombstones, Theodore brought out the rose before placing it on the ground.
The rain didn't wait for King Theodore to end his visit before it started to pour.
Unbothered by the current weather change, he continued to stand there with his hands placed inside his trouser pocket and his eyes staring down blankly at the tombstone that had his mother's name engraved on it.
It read, 'Hilda Pegg Erasmus'
Hours passed quickly while he just stood without uttering a word. By the time he left, it was already even, and his clothes were already drenched in the rain, but he couldn't care less.
As if knowing the king would be wet, Ralph appeared at the castle's double doors with a towel in his hand just before Theodore entered.
"Get the girl to come help with my bath." Came his order.