Blood And Milk
Lady Emily told Elinda that Victoria knew their secret and was using it to blackmail her. Elinda was terrified.
"What do we do now? If Victoria exposes us, I won't be able to handle it," she said with her voice shaking. But Lady Emily was calm and confident.
"Don't worry, dear friend, I have a plan," she said with a reassuring smile.
"A plan? What kind of plan? Will it even work? I'm so scared. My heart is about to fall out of my chest. What's your plan?" Elinda asked, her fear evident. Lady Emily comforted her,
"When I put my plan into action, Victoria will be too busy to think about our secret or her marriage to Daemon." Meanwhile, Victoria visited Joanne, still determined to kill Eleanor. But Joanne was no longer interested in helping her.
"You shouldn't be here, Victoria," Joanne said firmly but softly. Victoria wondered why Joanne's tone and demeanor had changed.
"Our first plan failed, but we need to come up with another one. I can't risk Eleanor being alive," Victoria said. Joanne's expression turned angry.
"Daemon had a gun pointed at my little boy's head," she said with a trembling voice.
"He wanted to know where Eleanor was. Why is everyone so obsessed with that woman? Everywhere I turn, it's Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor. My son would have been killed because of her." Victoria felt sorry for Joanne, but she had her own concerns.
"You didn't tell him where Eleanor was, did you? You wouldn't betray me like that," she asked accusingly. But Joanne laughed.
"That's your concern? Daemon was going to kill my child. Victoria, it was nice seeing you, but you need to leave my house." She demanded with a firm tone. Victoria tried to apologize, but Joanne wouldn't listen or accept her apology. She threw Victoria out of her house.
In the courtyard, Daemon was speaking with a mysterious person about Eleanor's whereabouts. He had sent someone to find her exact location in Yarnton. Suddenly, Lady Emily called out to her son, demanding his immediate attention. Daemon quickly dismissed the man and walked to his mother.
"Who was that? A new friend of yours?" Lady Emily asked, eyeing him curiously. Daemon scoffed,
"No one important to you, Mother. What do you want? I'm busy." Lady Emily took a deep breath and smiled sweetly.
"We're going to visit your soon-to-be bride in 7 days. We need to get you two acquainted and prepared for marriage. It's not your first marriage, but it's hers, so we must make it special for her." Daemon looked at her with disdain.
"How many times do I have to say it? I don't want to marry another woman. I only want Eleanor, and I know where she is. I'll find her and bring her back. The Catwrights can find another suitor for their daughter, instead of a married man."
Lady Emily's blood boiled, but she remained calm, trying to extract more information from Daemon, and bend him to her will.
"You know where she is? How? Where is she?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity. Daemon turned to face her.
"You claimed to love her, but you never looked for her. You hid yourself and came out to replace her." Lady Emily gazed at him deeply, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions.
"You claimed to love her more than I did, but shall I remind you of what you did to her? Here you are, being a father to another man's child." She said, her voice dripping with anger. Lady Emily insinuated that Daerion wasn't Daemon's child, trying to plant a seed of doubt in his mind.
"Of all the women, you chose one from the pleasure house. Imagine how heartbroken I was when I found out Daerion wasn't yours." She continued, feigning sadness. Daemon whispered,
"Lies!" and walked away before she could finish. Lady Emily smiled wickedly, knowing she had successfully planted a seed of doubt in Daemon's mind. She walked back to her bedroom, where Elinda was waiting for her.
"Did it work? Did you convince him?" Elinda asked. Lady Emily chuckled.
"I didn't convince him, but I planted a seed, and that seed will grow into a tree by the end of the day. I've successfully tilted him in that direction." They exchanged a knowing grin, pleased with their plan's progress. Daemon went out with his friends to have a drink, something he often did to unwind.
But the night took a surprising turn when a strange man approached him. The man introduced himself as the master of the pleasure house down the road, a place known for its illicit activities. He offered Daemon a woman for the night, but Daemon declined, saying he wanted to head home early.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested," Daemon said. "Suit yourself," the master replied.
"But I have to say, it must be hard for you, fathering the child of another man. Victoria played a good card and had the Windsors fooled." Daemon's eyes narrowed.
"What did you just say?" he asked in a deep, menacing voice. "Your bastard is not yours, he is another man's bastard," the master repeated. Daemon was furious and grabbed the master by the collar.
"How dare you! That boy is my son, how dare you?" he growled. His friends held him back, trying to calm him down.
"It's true!" the master continued.
"Victoria wanted her status elevated, the child was her trump card, and you fell for it, you all fell for it. You even threw a grand party in celebration of another man's bastard." During the confrontation, a stranger slipped something into Daemon's drink and left quickly.
Daemon pushed the master away and drank the tainted wine without knowing.
"You're a dead man," Daemon spat at the master before slamming the glass down and leaving the place. Meanwhile, Victoria was threatening Lady Emily, saying she would reveal her secret about Daemon's true heritage if she didn't arrange their marriage within three days.
"If you do not set my marriage with Daemon within three days, I will tell him the truth about his heritage," Victoria threatened. Lady Emily was unfazed.
"Go ahead. No one is stopping you. But I have a question, how long do you think you'd last in this house? I'd start packing if I were you." Victoria scoffed.
"I am the mother to the heir of this family, Daemon has accepted me, and I will not go anywhere. I will do as I please. If I lose, we both lose. Get us married, and none of us would have to lose." Lady Emily ignored her words and started humming while rocking her chair. As Victoria left in a huff, Lady Emily let out a loud, evil laugh, hinting that she had something up her sleeve.
Victoria tried to run upstairs, but Daemon burst into the house, his eyes blazing with anger. He stared at Victoria like she was his worst enemy.
"Who is Daerion's father?" he thundered, his voice making Victoria tremble. Victoria was confused and stayed silent, unsure of what to say. Daemon's face turned red with rage.
"Answer me!" he bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls. Victoria cowered,
"Daerion is yours... I don't understand. Why are you asking such a question?" Daemon's eyes narrowed, and he staggered closer to Victoria, his movements menacing. He pushed her aside and stomped upstairs to Daerion's room.
"Today, you will tell me the truth!" he roared, bursting into the room. He grabbed the sleeping child, waking him with a start. Victoria pleaded,
"He is your son, please put him down." But Daemon's grip only tightened.
"Prove it! Prove he is my son," he snarled, his eyes wild. Victoria fell to her knees, shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. She begged Daemon to hand her the child, but he just laughed, a cold, mirthless sound, looking down on her.
"If you insist, he is my son, then, prove it to me. Prove to me that he is truly my son, my blood." He said looking at the crying child with scorn. Victoria couldn't do anything more but plead with him. Daemon first put the child down and let out an evil laugh. In a flash, Daemon flung the child out the window.
Victoria screamed through her lungs, her voice shattering the night air. She rushed downstairs, into the heavy rain, and found her child lifeless, broken, and bleeding. She held her child in her arms, screaming curses at Daemon. Lady Emily watched from her window, a victorious smirk spreading across her face.
She closed her curtain, her eyes sparkling with triumph. Daemon stumbled to the stable, his eyes blinded by tears and rage. He destroyed everything in his path, killing horses and throwing himself on top of a dead animal. He lay there, soaked in blood and rain with a shattered heart and a broken mind.
Lady Emily turned to Elinda, and they shared a soft, victorious smile. Their plan had worked, and Daemon had fallen into their trap. Victoria was finally out of the picture, her only trump card was bleeding in her arms, completely lifeless.