He suspects

Alistair's lips were about to graze Theodore's lips when they heard a knock on the door. They sprung apart immediately.

"come in", Alistair hollered. A servant came inside. "lunch is served my lord", he announced.

"I will be inside shortly", Alistair told the servant. The servant bowed and left.

He turned to Theodore. "hungry?", Theodore nodded. Alistair grabbed his hand and led him inside the house.

They sat at the dining table and ate lunch. As they ate, Theodore sneaked glances at Alistair. Had Alistair really been about to kiss him or was it just his imaginations. He concluded that he had obviously been imagining things. There was no way Alistair wanted to kiss him, men weren't supposed to do those things together. A little voice reminded him of the fantasies he had about Alistair. He pushed it away firmly. Nothing of that sort could happen between him and Alistair, absolutely nothing.

Alistair watched him as he played with his food absent mindedly, Theodore looked deep in thought. He wondered what he could be thinking about.

"Theo, are you okay?", Theodore jerked like he was awoken from sleep.

"I am okay", he answered.

"are you sure?",

"absolutely, I am fine". He started eating his food earnestly. Alistair smiled at him and focused his attention on his own food.

At the palace......

The king read the letter and folded it back, placing it on the table before him. "I have just got a reply from my friend who promised to make enquiries about the Vampire kingdom for me. He said he has sent the message to them and they have promised to look into it". He informed the council before him.

"that's good to hear your highness, but we have to do something until they act. We can't just sit still waiting for them", one of the members of the council said.

"I know, I am currently making enquiries to find out it's weaknesses so we can try to entrap it". The king assured them.

"the situation is becoming worse, the commoners have become more afraid, there have been talks of a protest if nothing is done about the beast", one of the members informed the king.

"I have assigned some of the soldiers to keep watch during the night, the curfew would have to be enforced more strictly", the king announced.

"that's a very good move, your highness". The council applauded him.

The meeting ended and the council members left.

The king called for one of his guards, the guard presented himself before the king. "your highness", he said as he bowed before the king.

"tell me exactly what happened in the garden", the king ordered.

"sir Theodore was seated on a bench waiting for lord Fife when the princess came up to him, as you instructed, I told the guards not to intrude. I hid and listened to their conversation. The princess kept insisting that he calls her mother". The guard reported.

"hmmm, that's quite strange, go and call me the chief commander", the king commanded. The guard bowed and left.

Some few minutes later, the chief commander came in with the guard. He bowed before the king.

"look me in the eyes", the king commanded. The chief commander raised his face up to look at the king squarely. "what happened to that child twenty three years ago?",

"he was killed just as you commanded your highness".

"are you sure?",

"yes my lord, I killed him personally. Is there a problem my lord", the chief commander asked.

"no there isn't, you may go", the chief commander bowed and left the palace.

The king turned to the guard. "I want you to find out everything about Theodore",

"yes your highness", the guard bowed and left.

The princess was in the room where she was confined. Her food was brought to her. She took the tray from the guard and sat down to eat.

She lifted the plate up from the tray, hidden under the plate was a note. She lifted up the note. 'he suspects' was written on the note. She read the note and folded it into her mouth. She chewed it and swallowed it, washing it down with water.

At the Vampire kingdom.........

The queen sat on her throne listening to the report of the men she had sent out to make enquiries.

"My queen. The kingdom has had just two new faces recently. A Lord Alistair and Count Soren". The names were foreign to the queen. Her son wasn't named any of those names. Of course, there was also the possibility that he could be using a fake name too.

"get the guards ready and prepare to go down there". She turned to Calix, "you shall lead them".

Calix was stunned by his mother's request. "you want me to lead them?".

"yes, I do. Please Calix I beg of you, don't hurt him, if he is there, just follow procedure and bring him back". She pulled off her locket and gave it to him. "if he is proving difficult. give this to him".

"do I have to go?", Calix asked.

"yes, you do. I can't leave the kingdom and someone has to lead the guards. Please Calix, I am not asking you as a queen but as a mother. Go and bring your brother home", Calix sighed. Despite all the misgivings he had towards his mother, he hated making her feel sad.

"fine, I will go and if he happens to be the one, I will bring him home", he assured her.

She kissed his forehead. "thanks a lot Calix",

"you are welcome mother".

He left to start making preparations for his journey. He was going to bring that annoying brat home.