Tymir's mouth fell open. He hadn't anticipated that question. He hadn't thought that Bianca would catch him so easily. How could he leave this detail? "I saw your mother coming. You— you changed the plans at the last minute. You went to free them."

"You do know that you are accusing the queen, Tymir. If the accusations are found false, I will pull your tongue out and feed you to Rirsyr," said Brantley. "Right now I am holding on to the thin thread that you served the royal palace for over a thousand years."

​​

Tymir shuddered. "I understand, Your Highness. After all, I have remained the royal housekeeper ever since you were a child." He said that to remind Brantley that he was too important and too old for going against his position, as compared to the new queen who was barely a few weeks old.

Bianca's brows shot up to the ceiling. "I went to free them? Are you sure?" She asked in a gritty voice. "A few moments back you said you weren't sure whether it was me or the guard. In fact a few moments back you went to accuse the guard and said that you believe it was the guard who freed the slaves!"

Tymir's blood drained from his face. Maintaining his stoic image, he said, "I was vacillating about my suspicion."

The guard who was on his knees, looked up at him and squealed, "How could you suspect me, Tymir?"

"Shut up!" Tymir shouted, hoping he didn't speak a word. He glared at him for daring him to speak a word.

But Bianca was quick to judge the situation. "Why are you shutting him up? He has as much right to save his ass as you have." She crossed her hands across her chest.

"What?" Tymir glowered at her. Pointing to the guard he said, "That measly guard is no comparison to me. I am so much higher in position than him. I have been in this palace for so long that you can't imagine. And you are saying that this guard is above me? He is nothing in front of me." He chuckled and looked at the ceiling. "Doom is coming! I pray to you oh our ancestors, I pray to you. Forgive us!"

The guard looked at Tymir with bewilderment.

"Good theatrics," said Bianca with a deadpan look. Shrugging nonchalantly, she turned her gaze to the guard and said, "Do you want to say something in your defense before I ask the king to interrogate you further?"

The man shuddered and knew that it meant more whipping. He couldn't believe that after what he had done for Tymir, after he had taken the whipping for Tymir, the man insulted him.

"Who freed the slaves?" Bianca prodded.

The guard pointed at Tymir. His shoulders quivered as he started crying. "I am sorry Your Highness, I am sorry!" He fell on Brantley's feet. "It was— it was—"

Tymir stepped forward and kicked the guard heavily on his side. With a loud painful cry, the guard fell and looked unbelievingly at Tymir.

"He is a traitor, Your Highness!" Tymir shouted. "It was him who freed the slaves!"

The guard shook his head. "No Your Highness. Why would I? I don't even understand all this. It was Tymir who asked me to let them loose." He started to cry uncontrollably.

Filled with rage Tymir walked to him to kick again but as soon as he lifted his leg, he found strong arms around him, which restrained his movement. "Arnik?" he rasped.

"Tell me everything," said Brantley in a voice that was filled with murderous energy.

The guard managed to sit up. He said, "Three days back, Tymir had come to the dungeons to talk to the slaves. Since he is one person who can freely go around anywhere in the palace, I didn't stop him. A few hours back, he came again and asked me to open the doors of the cell, which contained the blood slaves. I protested, but he bribed me with a hundred gold coins to keep my mouth shut."

"You liar!" Tymir shouted as he struggled to free himself from Arnik.

The guard cowered. "I am not lying, Your Highness." He dug under his tunic and took out a bag of gold coins. "This is what he offered me. Where will I get a bag of hundred gold coins otherwise?"

Brantley looked at Tymir with expressions as if he would rip him apart limb by limb. "You dared to accuse the queen? You dared to set her up in a trap?" He bared his fangs.

Tymir's body quivered like a dry leaf in a storm. "Y—Your Highness, you must ask her about her sacks of grains. She sabotaged it all!"

Brantley couldn't hold himself any longer. He leapt at him and raked his face with his claws. Horrifying shrieks echoed in the main hall, as Tymir's face was filled with blood. Pink flesh hung from his face as blood dripped from the gashes.

The king of Aztec was shaking with anger. "The sacks of grain that you had so grandly hid in your stores were discovered by Arnik. It took me two minutes to bring them back to the royal grounds with a flick of my fingers. It was you who broke the stores in a way that it was flooded badly. It was you who had ignited fire in the makeshift stores. Because of Bianca's suggestion, we moved the sacks to a secure location, away from your prying eyes. And if it hadn't been for her intelligent idea of conducting a contest or saving whatever was left, we would have embarrassed ourselves completely. We were so focused on how you stole the grain sacks that we didn't know this is what you were doing!"

Tymir was leaning on Arnik's arms, feeling half-dead. He laughed. "No one can challenge my authority. This bitch, who has just come can never take my place. She is nothing but an eighteen year old whose body you should use for restoring nature in Aztec and then discard her. She is nothing in front of me!"

Brantley roared. His anger was beyond limits.

Another slice in the stomach.

Tymir shrieked with pain. When he started heaving in pain, he laughed.

Brantley was about to kill him when a chilly voice stopped him.

"Since he was the one who freed my slaves, it is fair that he replaced them," said Lazarus in a calm voice that had an icy chill. He got up from the sofa and as if intoxicated by the smell of blood, walked up to him. He wiped a blood drop from his face and tasted it. "It should do," he remarked.

Tymir shook his head. "No! No! You can't do this to me!" He looked at Brantley to save him.

Brantley narrowed his eyes. "I think it is fair. You may take him Lazarus, and enjoy him till he lives!"

"Take him to my chambers," said the vampire king.

Arnik dragged him from there against his protests. Tymir yelled and begged and kicked with whatever energy he was left with, but Brantley didn't listen to him. Curling his arms around Bianca he said, "I am sorry, sweetheart."

Dawn was watching the entire scene with Tymir, and the way Bianca handled, she felt proud. She got up to go to her. Holding her hand, she said, "You both are very tired. Go to sleep. We will talk tomorrow." She kissed her daughter. "I am proud of you, Bia."