Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 202: After The Funeral At Brackenwell

"...and we commit his body to the ground. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

The priest’s voice drifted over the cemetery, steady and practised, while Ruelle watched the ropes slacken little by little until her father’s coffin disappeared into the grave. The mourning clothes she wore softly ruffled because of the breeze.

Lucian stood on one side of her, while Lachlan, Lord Azriel and Dane on the other. Behind them a few members of the courthouse were present and they were mostly acquainted with Lord Azriel or Lucian. Mrs. Belmont and Caroline were absent, as both had taken ill during the night, their bodies weakened by relentless vomiting, leaving Maude and Hailey to care for them back at the Slater mansion.

The priest stepped aside and instructed, "Please come forward and pay your last respects."

Before Ruelle realised everyone had begun moving, she felt a familiar warmth settle lightly against the small of her back. Lucian guided her and her eyes dropped to the open grave.

She bent, gathering a small handful of loose earth between her fingers. When she let it fall, the soil struck the polished wood with a dull thud that disappeared into the silence almost immediately.

How pitiful, the thought came quietly. Her father had spent his entire life hating and belittling her existence. Yet she was the only family member standing here.

"What a tragedy for him to have passed like this."

"A terrible loss."

The condolences came one after another. One of the men who had once mocked her now removed his hat before talking to her.

An officer approached Lucian, bowing before quietly asking if he might spare a moment. But before he left, his eyes sought hers. She gave him a nod to assure him she would be alright.

"Before travelling back," Lachlan suddenly said behind, amusement finding its way into his voice, "I had prepared a rather lengthy lecture for the man you were going to marry."

Ruelle turned towards him.

The corners of his mouth had lifted into a crooked smile she hadn’t seen in a long time. He offered his arm and she wrapped her hand around his, and together they wandered farther down the stone path where the voices from the funeral faded beneath the rustling trees.

"You still can," Ruelle replied looking at her cousin. "I don’t think Lucian would mind."

"I suppose I should..." Lachlan looked ahead as though genuinely weighing the idea. He added, "I am your brother, even if only distantly. It would be improper if I didn’t threaten the man who intends to marry you."

Ruelle let out a small laugh beneath her breath.

Lachlan’s gaze drifted toward the little crowd gathered near the grave where Lucian stood talking. Even from where they were, he noticed the pureblooded vampire’s eyes look for Ruelle.

Ruelle heard her cousin let out a quiet breath and he murmured, "I don’t think I’ll be needing that lecture after all."

Another woman from Brackenwell came to pay her condolences. "I am sorry about what happened. I know how much your father loved you and how close you were."

This seemed to have struck a nerve in her cousin, who stopped and opened his mouth to respond. But she tightened her hand around his arm and replied,

"Excuse us."

"How annoying," Lachlan muttered, glancing over his shoulder. His mouth twisted with open displeasure. "All these rats wanting to get close to you know when they don’t know a thing."

"It is okay. It is almost done," Ruelle murmured with a shake of her head.

Lachlan’s jaw tightened and he said, "He was a terrible man. He should have known that love isn’t measured by obedience or by fear. But it was only directed at you."

"Thank you for looking out for me those years," Ruelle murmured, as her cousin had been a light in the darkness that she been placed in.

Ruelle remembered a year ago, when Lachlan had found her in the market with black and blue marks on her hands. It had made him upset and he had told her to come along with him, to leave Brackenwell. But she wasn’t able to, as she had been mentally a prisoner of her family. Unable to let go of them.

you. This... This, what Uncle is doing, is not right. This isn’t how love looks like!’ her cousin’s

barely did anything," Lachlan murmured, disappointment weighing every word. "When your engagement

looked at him, before a small smile found its way onto her lips. She let him

meet her eyes, she continued, "You were the first person

not understood it then and it had taken Lucian’s support for her

stood with the minister, listening more than speaking. His expression gave little away,

was now surrounded by people who

their carriages. The murmurs that had filled the grounds only moments earlier drifted farther away until they became little more

Minister Carnifex. He stood beside one of them with Peyton, the two appearing to exchange a few quiet words. Though Peyton spoke, the minister’s eyes

his gaze almost

to notice where he had

and then made

minister approaching, said quietly, "I’ll be nearby," before stepping away

she lowered her head in greeting. She would have addressed him as minister, but after knowing he was her father, it felt

then cleared his throat quietly when two

"How are you doing?"

am fine..." Ruelle

away, speaking to another official, yet she had the unmistakable feeling that he had been watching them for far longer than

concern

was calm, yet there was a firmness to it that drew Ruelle’s attention away from

followed Sylvan’s carriage for only a brief moment before returning to her. "I have men watching his every movement. Whatever he intends

it

buried now,

quiet for another moment, as though

discovered something else. The money your father kept borrowing..." his hands disappeared into the pockets of his dark overcoat, "...Sylvan was the one

had believed it was because they expected repayment with interest. Because that was what lenders

Men like Harold seldom stop gambling once they have convinced

more to

the one giving the men the money, while letting them collect the interest. He

where we lived," Ruelle muttered. "If he wanted to make us suffer,

say anything for a moment. Ruelle saw the priest offer a bow to Lord Azriel when she heard the minister beside her say, "He wanted to keep you alive so that

don’t think I understand what you mean," it was the strangest thing Ruelle had heard, but what he said

hair and brown eyes. Raising her exactly to behave, talk and move like you. The unfortunate child

eyes

Fortunately, the plan never survived for long. Lucian almost snapped her neck and the girl was forced to wait until the right time came," Carnifex explained with a solemn expression. "With everything we have gathered Sylvan will not

something like that have repercussions?" she asked, the question escaping before she had

a man like Sylvan quietly waiting for an opportunity to strike back. Someone like him who

not. But this is not merely corruption or political rivalry. Did you think one could break the treaty and one could walk away unharmed?" Carnifex’s gaze drifted towards Harold Belmont’s grave before returning to her. He continued, "He attempted to undermine the treaty itself. Men have been executed for less. The entire household will be

true, then there would be nothing to worry. Perhaps

a comfortable silence settled between them, she found herself asking, "Do you

man. "I didn’t know Harold moved your mother’s grave here. Not until the treaty came

at the elder minister now, she had the quiet feeling that he wasn’t here to offer condolences. She said, "You don’t have to worry about what I heard

the words seemed to weigh upon him. Carnifex’s brows drew together, his lips pressing into a thin line as though her answer had only made whatever burden

will keep you occupied in the coming days. But when you are

all the things she had expected him to

"Okay."

that she almost missed it, like a man who had prepared himself to

them heard us today..." she had forgotten they were in the company of