As the carriage rolled towards the village, Avice was thinking of ways on how to combat her husband. The women traveling with her were chatting amongst themselves as to how good the prince was. They were talking continuously about Lazarus, Emma, the palace and what a beautiful place it was. Avice wanted to shut them off but she knew that if she did that, they would think that she hated Lazarus.
If they came to know that she actually hated Lazarus and Emma, they would spread the rumor in the whole village that despite what Prince Lazarus did for her children, she was finding faults.
Vice looked out of the window of the carriage and ignored the women. She thought about plans to save herself from her husband's wrath and also from the rumor that was about to be spread in the village that the rebel leader's wife went to meet the prince.
They reached the village late in the evening. As the carriage rolled on the streets of the village, everyone looked curiously at the royal carriage. The street lamp posts were on and soft lights of candles and lamps filtered through the curtains of the houses.
"You can drop us at one place," Marie said to the carriage man. "We will go to our houses."
"No, m'lady," the carriage man replied. "The prince has asked me to drop all of you at your individual homes."
Avice gulped. She didn't want to be seen with these women in a royal carriage, at least to her husband. "In that case, please drop me in the end," she requested. "My husband mustn't have come home."
"It is pretty late, Avice," Audrey remarked. "I am sure that he is home."
Avice gritted her teeth as she glared at Audrey. "It seems you know better about my husband!"
Audrey gasped and then became quiet. Others too went quiet at her words. However, the carriage man said, "You will be dropped first, Lady Avice. Those are the instructions of the prince Lazarus." And so the carriage turned towards Avice's home first.
She was horrified. Lazarus made sure that she was doomed.
Drogo was sitting out and smoking tobacco. When he saw the royal carriage, he got up, shock etched on his face. When the carriage stopped, and the coachman opened the door, Drogo's mouth fell to the floor when he saw Avice stepping out of it. Other ladies looked at him and greeted him with a smile.
There was a stunned silence between the couple. The coachman bowed to him and hurried away.
"Wh—what is going on?" Drogo asked as he followed a disgruntled Avice inside home, snuffing his tobacco leaf.
Avice didn't reply and just walked all the way to her room where she slumped on her bed and started wailing.
"Avice?" Drogo said. "Where is Angus?"
She didn't reply and continued to sob loudly. Drogo got too nervous about his son's safety. He was the rebel leader and there was a chance that his son would get kidnapped by his enemies. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Where is Angus and why are you coming in a royal carriage? What the hell happened? Tell me, will you? Did you leave Angus at your sister's place?"
Avice cried loudly. "Nooo!"
"Then where is he?" Drogo asked, blood draining from his face.
Avice looked at him with trembling lips. "He is in the palace with Emma and Lord Lazarus."
For a long moment Drogo didn't understand what she meant. "With Lord Lazarus?" He stood there frozen. "How?" He couldn't believe what she said. "You went to your sister's place?" Suddenly, everything made sense. She stepped out of the royal carriage. "You lied to me!" he said, his voice too calm, his anger simmering. It was like a calm before a storm. Avice scrambled away from him. He took a step towards her. "You fucking bitch! You lied to me about going to your sister's place when you actually went to visit the palace?"
She shook her head as she scrambled further back. "It was— it was a mistake, Drogo!"
"A mistake?" He was so angry that he slapped her tight across her face. Her lip split open and she shrieked in pain. "You went to the palace to mock me?" His face had become red with anger. "I am the rebel leader and you went there against my wishes?" He slapped her again and she fell on the mattress with a scream. "You have created the worst possible scenario for me. I will become a laughing stock in the village! My prestige will go down in dust!" He kicked her, his rage going out of control.
Drogo had been extremely vociferous about his revolt against the king and that was why he was chosen as a leader of the rebels. He had built this reputation over years and years of strategy and hard work. He had sold his daughter to the prince to save his son and kept that a secret. And what did his wife do? She went there and destroyed all that he had fought for or stood for, in less than a day.
"Drogo I—" Avice covered her face as she tried to explain herself.
He grabbed her wrists and pinned them up with one hand as he slapped her again. "Why is Angus with him? What made you leave our son in the palace?"
Avice's nose started bleeding. She cried incessantly. "I will tell you everything. Please, please, just listen to me."
Drogo was so disgusted that he left her, shoved her on the bed and stood at the edge of the bed. He stabbed his fingers in his head and closed his eyes as tears of humiliation stung his eyes. He had never felt this humiliated in all his life. "Tell me everything. If you will leave even a single detail, you know that I will hear it from others." Drogo was intelligent. It didn't take science to understand that Avice had come with so many ladies from the palace and that meant that they all accompanied her over there."
She sobbed uncontrollably as she narrated the sequence of events. "I was sure that they would allow me in the palace, but they kept me and Angus in the dungeons," she accused Lazarus. "He is so cruel and cunning that you won't believe it."
Drogo turned sharply towards her. "You gave him a reason to do that! Do you know what you have done? With Emma and Angus under his protection, he has gained super control over the rebellion. In no time, we will be laughing stocks of the village. Even if I concede to stopping the rebellion, they will all say that I stopped because I have given Angus to the palace for a better life. That is kind of a bribe! Do you understand you wretched woman?"
"But it was Lord Lazarus who took him!" she cried in defense.
"It doesn't matter!" he yelled. "That is how the rumor mill works!"
Avice didn't know what to say. She curled up her knees and placed her head on them. She couldn't stop crying. Revenge served cold.
Drogo was so disgusted that he left the house and went straight to an alehouse. Two drinks later, he heard the murmurs.
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