Dark hour- Part 1

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The guards dragged the elderly maid out of the room as she begged for forgiveness for a mistake she didn't commit. But the royal families often did what they thought to be right, suppressing others' lives while fulfilling their own wishes.

"Let this be an example," stated Morganna with little to no sympathy for the maid, who could be heard begging for her life that was going to end, where she would not be able to see the sunrise again.

Lady Samara looked extremely pleased with Queen Morganna's order, and she held her head higher in arrogance. She had given enough chances to the maid, but the woman continued to cross the line.

"And Samara," Morganna called her daughter-in-law, "This time make sure to spend enough time with Lucy before blaming it on someone else. Just because you are the King's wife doesn't mean you forget to control your child. Look at me, Laurence loves me dearly and you should work on creating the same rapport with Lucy. She's a good child, she will listen to you."

"Of course, my Queen," Lady Samara bowed her head in acknowledgement.

"How are things going on with the suitors? Any news from them or from Lucy?" questioned Morganna before picking up the teacup that was filled with a mixture of blood and milk in it. They were vampires and not humans to drink the normal stale tea, instead, they preferred blood in their cups.

Lady Samara replied to the Queen's question, "So far Lucy has met six of them, and I think only two of them caught hold of her interest, talking to her. Mr. Vinter and Mr. Gerville."

"Hm," responded Morganna. "I like Mr. Vinter. He seems to be a suitable man, doesn't he? Did Lucy mention anything about them?"

"I haven't asked her yet, my Queen. I wanted her to feel comfortable with them before I asked her," and on Lady Samara's words, Morganna shook her head.

"This is the season of weddings and you have decided to leave the matters in Lucy's hands. Forget it, I will ask her myself. She's turned to a fine young lady with the assistance of the governess, we should arrange the wedding in a month or two's time," said Morganna, taking a sip from her teacup before swallowing the liquid down her throat.

Lady Samara didn't say anything but only bowed her head as if she obliged every word that the Queen said. Now that she had gotten rid of the maid from the castle, Samara believed her daughter would turn to her for comfort or any advice instead of going to the lowly maid who knew nothing about how one should live in high society.

Outside, the clouds had turned thick and dark in the sky, but it still didn't start to rain. The movement of the wind had turned fast, and when Lucy came to know about Ruby being taken away from the castle, she didn't go to see her mother or her grandmother.

"Do you know where Ruby was taken? The elderly maid? Take me to the place where she is now," said Lucy in a hurried tone to the coachman.

Her maid, Amice, was the one who had informed her about what just happened, and without any delay, Lucy had decided to find Ruby and bring her back. They couldn't exile Ruby out of the castle without proper reason! She would not allow it, thought Lucy to herself.

"They went to the Broadeux town, milady," informed one of the coachmen while the others looked sceptical to answer her questions.

"Take me there right this instance," commanded Lucy, but when Lucy went to one of the carriage doors, the coachmen didn't make an effort to move. "What is it?" she asked in question.

The coachman who had answered her earlier deeply bowed his head and said, "Princess, Queen Morganna has ordered us to not allow you to use the carriage unless the word personally comes from her or King Laurence permits it."

"What?" Lucy questioned, even though she heard his words quite clearly. "But this is an emergency. Please Fredrick," she pleaded.

The coachman continued to bow his head, not meeting her eyes to let her know that it was the Queen's word against hers.

Lucy looked away, exhaling out, and she then looked back at Fredrick, "Broadeux is the town that is deserted from the others, right?"

"Yes, milady. That is the one," he dutifully answered her question.

"Okay," she nodded her head and left the shed. Even though it wasn't the time of the evening, the atmosphere had turned dark. But that didn't matter to Lucy. If her grandmother and parents were trying to restrict her movements from using the coach, it didn't matter. She would go there by herself without anyone's help.

Using her vampire abilities, she ran away from the castle by using secret passages that she knew of. She made her way to the town, clutching the front of her dress so that she wouldn't trip by stepping on her dress. When she reached the road, she caught sight of a local carriage and offered the person a coin when she got down and caught another moving carriage.

While Lucy was making her way through the castle's hidden passages, Calhoun, who had stepped outside the castle, had caught sight of Lucy. It made him wonder where she was going. He went back inside to hear the maids working in the corners whispering to each other while thinking no one was eavesdropping on them.

"I cannot believe she would be executed," whispered one of the maids in the softest way possible.

"What did she do?" asked another one, "I don't think she would ever do anything wrong. She might have been framed."

"You think so?" asked the first one. "Poor thing, this is what happens when you get too close to any of the royal family members. Though I do wonder what she did to receive the Queen's ire."