Chapter 6: CHAPTER SIX

~Viserryan~

Andreus arrived at the dinning hall after he was done dressing up, he looked at his sleeves to fix a button when he felt something wrong with the atmosphere.

It felt as if the air was still, not a single sound was heard except the rhythmical clinking of a single cutlery hitting a plate.

There were ten nobles in total standing beside the long table looking at Alexavian who was busy eating his meal without a care.

He looked around the dining hall trying to spot Jules but he was nowhere to be found. He shook his head and continued walking towards the table.

“Are we playing a game or something? Why is everyone standing?” Andreus joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

Alexavian raised his head and grabbed a wine glass filled with human blood beside him, twirled it before drinking from it. His cherry lips upturned into a smile as his eyes glanced at Andreus “Yes. We are playing a game called ‘Watch me eat’. It’s quite fun I would say”.

Andreus’s lips twitched at his brother’s words. He was just trying to lighten the tense atmosphere, who knew that there was actually something like that.

He glanced at the nobles, most of them were very much older than Alexavian, just three of them were younger or same age.

The nobles were seething in anger when they heard Alexavian’s words. ‘who was playing a game with this psycho? he definitely has a fetish for people watching him eat’.

They were already waiting in the throne room when a low ranked vampire appeared before them, notifying them that Alexavian wanted to see them in the dining room.

“What sort of mockery is this?” A male vampire who looks like he is in his sixties said as soon as the guard left.

“Duke Wilston, I suggest you tone down your voice. We are still in the castle” Edmund, another vampire said as he tried to get him to reduce his voice.

“I am still a duke, and I refuse to be disrespected as such”. Duke Wilston said with his dark eyes fuming with anger.

“I agree with Duke Wilston, we have been waiting for the king only to be invited to the dining hall without acknowledging us here. If that’s not blatant disrespect I don’t know what it is”. Countess Elle said as she waved her fan elegantly.

“He has been willful for far too long, we just have to wait till the former king comes back. That’s the only way to put him in his place”. Duke wilston said after collecting his thoughts.

“The only problem is that, we don’t know how soon the former king will be back. If he is too late, we can only kiss our comfortable homes goodbye since Alexavian is fond of throwing nobles in the dungeon. It is only a matter of time before one of us will be sent there”. Henley, a younger vampire said calmly.

That seems to calm everyone down as they contemplated. The former king has been gone for fifteen years and no one knows when he will be back either.

“He left the kingdom for Alexavian to handle while no one knows where he disappeared to with the former queen. Now that Alexavian is already used to the state affairs, I fear that he might not return anytime soon” Countess Elle said as she gritted her teeth in anger.

She felt that the previous king made a huge mistake when he left Viserryan in Alexavian’s care. The nobles no longer had much freedom as before. They were being suppressed by Alexavian.

“What about the scouts you sent to search for the former king? Any lead of whatsoever?” Duke Wilston asked a male vampire that was standing quietly at the corner.

“They were found dead, without any news about the cause of their deaths” Edric said quietly but audible enough for everyone to hear.

They shivered silently as they listened to Edric. The number of vampires they have sent to look for the former king could measure up to thirty and they were all found dead.

“Call off the scouts and let’s wait patiently till the former king comes back. We can’t risk loosing any more underling” Edmund said tiredly.

Loosing people like this is a huge loss on their side and it won’t end well for them if Alexavian finds out that they were trying to remove him from the throne by looking for the former king.

“I agree, I wouldn't want to stay in the dungeon either”. The countess chipped in.

Throwing nobles in the dungeon seems to be Alexavian’s favorite hobby recently and she wouldn’t want to participate in it.

“Let’s do that then. Edric call off the search”. Duke Wilston agreed to their suggestion. Alexavian was too unpredictable to be provoked openly. They can only try opposing him in the dark.

Edric nodded after Duke Wilston told him to call of the search, It was meaningless anyway. The earlier they call it off the better.

“We should head to the dining hall now”. Edmund said as he got up.

“He probably won’t be there anyway”. Countess Elle said nonchalantly. Alexavian was never the one to make an appearance early.

“We still have to be there before him. Keeping us waiting in the throne room and the dining hall should be something good to spread into the town. It will give him a little trouble in the mean time when the news spread out”. Duke Wilston replied in a sinister manner.

They all got up and walked out of the throne room while heading to the dining hall.

Behind them, Edric shook his head at their ignorance as he smiled lazily.

Though he saw Alexavian for the first time in the town when he came to inspect the corpses, he was sure that Alexavian was not afraid of little rumors because he openly killed a vampire in a room full of vampires with indifference.

Edric smiled slyly as he looked forward to what will unfold in the dining hall.

The nobles arrived at the the dining hall and to their utmost dismay, Alexavian was already seated, eating quietly.

He looked ethereal as he sat quietly, the beautiful garden outside the dining hall served as a beautiful backdrop to his frame. It was like a beautiful painting.

Duke wilston gulped as the looked at the beautiful demon before him. He took a bow as he called out to get his attention. “My lord”.

The others behind him followed suit and took a bow.

But the large dining hall was filled with dead silence except for the clinking of cutlery hitting the plates.

The nobles stood as they watched him eat, they dared not sit as he as has not acknowledged them.

Halfway through the meal, Andreus walked in and duke Wilston secretly smiled as he knew that they would be sitting down soon as Andreus arrived. Andreus was one of the few royals that was easygoing and amiable.

Andreus stood beside the table and asked a question. Alexavian replied and said that they were playing a game called ‘watch me eat'. Duke wilston’s face grimaced into a frown.

Who was playing a game with him?. He is simply having fun toying with them!

Andreus looked at them and shook his head in disapproval “I have never liked participating in silly games. I will just watch from the sidelines”. He chuckled as he drew out a chair, sat down and took a knife to cut a steak.

Duke Wilston stared at Andreus as he ate while trying to signal him to tell his brother to allow them eat.

Feeling a stare on him, Andreus looked up and noticed Duke Wilston staring hard at him with his eyes blinking and his lips moving silently. “Why are you blinking your eyes so hard duke, is there something in your eyes?”.

Duke Wilston’s heart almost dropped when Alexavian stared at him with dark eyes after Andreus said those words. He was so sure Andreus said those words on purpose, feigning ignorance.

He glanced at Andreus only to see that Andreus looked truly confused and then he frowned ‘Was Andreus really so stupid that he couldn’t decipher what he meant?“.

“I think Duke Wilston is so excited to play a game with me. His eyes blinks fast when he is very excited”. Alexavian said with hidden sarcasm while staring at Duke Wilston.

Duke Wilston was so angry that he almost coughed out blood. One brother was pretending to be ignorant while the other was truly ignorant.