A MAZE OF GREED

Hilton walked into the parlour of the Garfield mansion, where Ambrose and Aurora sat with worry etched on their faces. Aurora was only worried, but Ambrose was both worried and angry.

"Good morning, My Lord!" Hilton bowed in respect. "Good morning Lady Aurora!" He then greeted her.

Hilton waited for any response from Ambrose, but when he did not make any move regarding it, Aurora jumped in to save the awkwardness.

"Good morning Mr Hilton! Please have a seat." She gestured for him to sit down with them.

Hilton removed his coat, and Marcus stepped ahead to take it from him. While Hilton sat down after removing his hat, Marcus hung his coat on the coat stand that was placed in one corner of the parlour.

Marcus then poured a glass of freshly squeezed blood and offered it to Hilton.

"Lady Aurora, you both look stressed. May I know the reason?" Hilton asked while resting his one leg on the other.

Aurora passed a sideways glance to her husband before opening her mouth.

"Mr Hilton, we are actually worried about Darius." She told.

"Darius? What has he done now?" Hilton asked as if he was genuinely concerned.

"He is not at home. Nobody knows where he has gone." Aurora was genuinely worried for her son.

Unlike Ambrose, she had an emotional side. She loved her son dearly although, she did not show it often.

Hilton creased his brows in thoughtfulness. "Have you asked that pet of his? That human?" He asked after a few moments.

"Yes. Marcus asked her in the morning but she said she has no idea of where Darius is."

Darius could have made an excuse of visiting a friend or something like that. But the Vampires had no friends. They only made allies, yet they did not trust them completely or, got closer to them.

Yet Hilton thought that Darius should have told his parents some believable excuse. If he had done that then Hilton would not have needed to face Lord ambrose in such a situation.

Had that man ever listened to others?!!

Ambrose was silent this whole time. His darkened eyes were fixated on the glass of blood in front of him.

"Do not worry Lady Aurora. I am sure he must be somehwere in Kinsville only. He must be enjoying a good chase now. You know he has this habit of disappearing for days without informing anyone." Hilton reasoned, hoping it would do the trick.

He realised his hopes were false when Aurora shook her head. "No Mr Hilton. Darius's favourite horse that he uses for the far away journeys is also missing from the stable. Marcus himself has checked it in the early morning."

Hilton's jaw ticked hearing that. He watched Marcus's eyes trained on his from the corner of his eyes. Darius had never shared a healthy relationship with Marcus and Hilton was aware of it. Now, he wondered Marcus would try to find things that he could use against Darius.

"Okay. I will see what I can do about it. You both do not worry!" Hilton tried wrapping up the conversation before it got too deep.

"I will take your leave then Lady Aurora." Hilton then said.

"Oh, my apologies Mr Hilton. I should have asked you this before but with the matter of Darius... anyways. What has brought you here?" Aurora asked, taking her out of worrying for Darius.

Hilton glanced at Ambrose, who had not moved even an inch from his position. "I actually wanted to discuss something with Lord Ambrose. But I think I will come later as he does not seem like in a mood for those things."

"I am all ears Mr Hilton."

Ambrose finally broke his silence. He turned his head to look at him with his cold dark eyes. Hilton shifted uncomfortably under his uncanny gaze.

Hilton cleared his throat. "My Lord, we sent a message to Ripon on behalf of the Garfield family. We wanted to establish the same relationships with him as Barret Addington."

"But he has not responded to our letter yet. Right?"

Hilton nodded his head in a yes.

"No wonder Mr Hilton. I expected the same from him. Ripon is a smart man, unlike Barret who could be easily manipulated. Ripon will not shake hands with any party before he strengthens his position as a Chairman of the Council." Ambrose said.

Aurora agreed with his opinion. "Yes. Ripon is concerned only about humans and does not want to get involved in the tussles of the supernatural world. Barret joined us only because he was envied of the O'Dells. But Ripon has no such motive."

Hilton also agreed with them.

"Then what should be our next step?" He asked.

Ambrose thought about it for a minute.

"We will wait and watch. That is all we can do for now."

That was the very reason Hilton got involved in Darius's plan. Ambrose was always calculative and waiting for the right opportunity. On the other hand. Darius was impatient and created opportunities on his own.

That was why Hilton was convinced that only Darius could get him his revenge on Edwin O'Dell sooner than Ambrose.

"Alright, My Lord!" Hilton said. He was then about to ask for taking a leave when Ambrose's next question stilled him momentarily.

"Is there any news from Crinudel Mr Hilton?"

Ambrose looked straight into Hilton's eyes. His gaze was inspecting and unnerving.

"C-Crinudel?"

"We have not heard from them recently. That is why I asked." Ambrose said.

Hilton inserted his first finger in the collar of his shirt to loosen it.

"Erm... no My Lord. At least I am not aware of it."

Ambrose nodded his head after a long look. "Fine."

"I will see you later My Lord, My lady. And do not worry about Darius. I will send our men in search of any news of him."

Hilton rushed out of the Garfield mansion as quickly as possible.

*

*

*

Theodora was restless and fuming with anger. She expected that Mrs Payne's medicine would create some problem for Edwin, instead, it had fastened his recovery. He was more active than before.

"Theodora"

She was broken out of her thoughts by Augustus's voice.

He walked to where she sat. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead before he ran his thumb on her forehead to smoothen the creases.

"You look tensed." He noted.

Theodora swatted away his hand and stood up in rage.

"Of course I am tensed Augustus. Can you guess why?" She spat in ager.

It was rare to see Theodora expressing her emotions like this. As her husband, Augustus understood why she was so distressed.

"Calm down darling. I know why you are so upset. I heard what happened yesterday. Edwin should not have humiliated you like that in front of that maid." Augustus had his eyes and ears everywhere.

He just chose to bring out the topic only when he saw it was profitable for him.

"I swear Augutus, I will kill that bitch with my bare hands one day!"

Augustus frowned at her. "Theodora. You do not need to stain your hands with such low blood. That maid is not our problem. Our problem is Edwin!" He reminded her before she distracted from the track.

Theodora shrieked in anger. Her face contorted in a disturbance with lines of age on her face.

"I thought he would not return from the wildline pack. But he did. I just do not understand how he got lucky every time?!" Theodora shook her head in disappointment.

"Let him be Theodora. We have already discussed this. We can not afford to lose Edwin just now. If the prophecy written in the black book turned out to be true then we need him. The whole world needs him!" Augustus reminded her of the very reason why Edwin was still alive.

"But how long we are going to live like this Augustus? I am tired of bowing down in front of him!" She looked up at her husband with affection in her eyes.

Taking a step closer to him, she held his face between her palms.

"It is you who have warn out your life for this town, for your breed. It is you who deserves this legacy and the title of the leader."

Theodora was the only person who had faith in him from the very beginning. They had been through many ups and downs together but never once did her faith waver.

That attracted Augustus towards her. He was oblivious to the fact that Theodora used his insecurities to her advantage and had captured his mind completely, that he turned blind eye to many of her wrongdoings.

"Life has always been unfair with you my love! And it pains me. People call you Lord, but when you turn your back, I hear them whispering that you are just Edwin's guardian and no Lord.

I... I can not describe how it breaks my heart over and over."

She hugged him tightly as the crocodile tears gathered in her eyes.

Augustus was so moved by her love for him. He pulled her away and ran his hand on her face adoringly.

"Do not worry Theodora. I am looking for a way to get rid of Edwin. It will happen soon... vey soon!"

And that was exactly what Theodora wanted to hear!