How was she feeling?
Was she feeling betrayed that Lucius kept such a secret from her or was she happy that he was her only friend that she had in her childhood days?
A warm shiver made its way through her at the thought of Lucius loving her. He had been fond of her even when they were young and that alone caused a kin of butterflies to stroll inside her stomach.
She loved it.
She loved when she had a person that loves her. It made her experience plethora of emotions.
No wonder why Lucius was Orla's son. Both the mother and son are royally outfitted when it came to providing love. She could not show enough gratitude to Orla for sending Lucius to play with her when she was all alone and depressed.
Her respect for Orla intensified with the norms of affection she held for her friend and her daughter.
Madonna looked over to the span of vast greenery that spread around the Emor manor. Standing in the gallery of her bedchamber, she looked over to Lucius who was showing some great swordsmanship while practicing with few of his men.
She was watching him swing his sword swiftly as he singlehandedly defended himself from six men who were attacking him. He swung the sword again in a whirling manner like a whirlpool of sandstorm knocking the swords of other men in a matter of moments.
She gasped dreamily as her eyes trailed over the hard length of his body with sweat trickling like a stream of waterfall.
How magnificent!
She could not help but run her tongue over her lips as she felt them dry. If not for the stressing conditions they were going through, she would have kissed him.
If not for the damned curse on her head, she would have spend most of her nights and possibly days in his arms.
But now that the situations had escalated for them, they were trying to stay low and act as necessary rather than going for attacks mindlessly.
After the attack on west troop, they had taken benefit of the chaos in Alder's army and attacked chiefs of their troops and their general.
While they had victoriously ended all the chiefs, they could only hurt the general severely with the lack of time on their hands. They made certain to weaken the army by with the general still alive and in comatose, Alder was getting his act together as he started preparing for the Dark moon ritual which was only two days later.
Keeping the general breathing is no more than suicidal for Madonna and her people. The general had seen Lucius and her on the attacking side and if he was still breathing, then it shall be a great danger for them.
But not just that, they also have another issue on their head.
Alder had notified Lucius of his supposed army with the similar tale he had narrated to Orla and asked Lucius to head his army like a general.
If it was not for the request coming from Alder himself without intervention of any advice from his council members, then it is ought to be a trap.
Alder never trusted Lucius which was more reason to doubt his intents behind his decision.
Although they were getting close to eliminate the each of the soldiers of Alder's army, they were still mindful of Alder's devices for the Dark Moon ritual.
He was not preparing for acquiring the ultimate power for himself and that was positive. The question that was still not answered was, who shall be the bearer of such Ultimate power?
Who was the person that he trusts so much, enough to go through with the ritual?
"Had any leads, Son?" Madonna was jerked back from her trance when he heard the hoarse throaty voice of Alder.
The warrior men Lucius was sparring with were not there. Lucius was in a long robe as Alder walked to him.
Madonna inched back to the shadows of the curtains as she focused on the conversation.
"I had sent one of my special acquaintances over to look for any traces behind the attacks. He shall be here with some details in two days." Lucius answered like a filial son. His tone was polite and his words sounded serious.
Madonna bent down from her hiding place to watch both the men from the small pillars of the wall.
Alder nodded his head curtly while his eyes trailed over Lucius who was cleaning his sword.
"If you have to suspect someone, then who shall you?" Alder, although, worded it as a part of normal inquiry one would do with a general, his tone was another story.
He tried except could not hide the suspicion in his tone fully but Lucius paid no heed to it. Madonna wondered what it that made Alder had suspicion on Lucius was.
The only living person who knew of their motives against Alder was the general who was in comatose. If Alder was not there at the place of attacks, General was not conscious, the other chiefs and soldiers who saw them were dead, then what made him doubt Lucius.
Madonna saw Lucius shrugging at his father before answering assertively, "Rest assured, I still has my guard against mother. It might not be that she was behind the attacks but her sudden involvement in our lives is absolutely not usual." Madonna's lips turned upwards as Lucius expressed his qualms on Orla as always.
If Alder was testing Lucius, then Lucius was not backing away as well. He was giving Alder all the more reason to be suspicious of him by pointing a finger towards Orla because the whole of Emor manor know of Alder's growing faith on his wife.
Surprisingly, after Alder faced disappointment on the attack on west troop, he did not blame Orla for giving the idea of ensnaring the attackers with bait.
Alder did thought that there may be a spy among them however, he doubted every other person other than Orla. He thought Orla was genuine in helping him with the trap as it was them who asked her for an idea.
"Your mother had seen great pain and lonesomeness, son. She just got here after keeping us protected for years. I was also furious on the person who was obliquely the cause of Alys death however; Orla did not know that would happen." Alder affirmed.
She could hear the definitive trust he had on Orla which choked a snicker out of Madonna.
How wonderful of Alder to trust the very woman who was right on to destroy him beyond resurrection.
"I am still surprised at the influence you hold on the army you made. All these long years, I did not even know of what had been doing with the likes of your friends while I was spent on looking after the region." Madonna could see the raise of an eyebrow on Alder.
She was stunned herself at the sudden statement from Lucius. Why was he saying that?
"I had to take down the evil one who was the reason for breaking the Emors, who was behind our misery. Also, the last of the energy left in me, I spent on influencing the soldiers." In the name of the Almighty, what great person he was to think of ending the evil.
Such a loyal spouse and a father; all if they didn't knew of him!
"That was very well; father and I really do appreciate your affection towards us. I just do not wish to see you hurt." Lucius said in a pained voice, "Also, I suspect the amount of influence you have on the warriors."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Alder questioned as he patted Lucius back, giving him the tumbler of water.
Lucius nodded in gratitude whilst he drank his water. "There could be spies in your warriors as well, Father. You have your control on their minds and as a warlock, you have your magic or not, one cannot be influenced for a longer time. At one point the magic and the control wears off whatsoever. Isn't that the basic norms we follow as magic wielders?" Lucius enlightened putting Alder in thoughts.
Madonna then empathized what Lucius was attempting on. He was making a way to make his warriors fight amongst themselves.
There were few more of the strong warriors whose previous tribes disagreed to take them down. He had rejected the alliance Madonna had offer with the fear of having to pay the price later. So it was only better when they fight among themselves.
"They were in the absolute spell of my control. It is not likely for them to be out of it." Alder spoke but the hesitation in his words was clear. He has started to think of what Lucius had mentioned.
"You are Alder Emor, one of the greatest warlocks the humanity has seen, yet someone outsmarted you and stripped you of your magic, father. Seeing at the things in that manner, it is possible for the influence to wear off. You asked me whom I suspect, then as a recently chosen general of the army, I suggest you to keep an eye on your own warriors, father."
Lucius nodded lightly and left Alder to mull over what he said. If he was not wrong, Alder would be suspecting the people that Lucius lead to in the next couple of days.
It was just two more days that the whole fiasco would either end on a good note or on their death note for Lucius and tribe.
~*~*~*~*~*~
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