A couple of hours after Lucius and Abarxas had dressed himself in his Death Eater attire, the first guest arrived.
"Lord Malfoy," the man greeted Abraxas with a small bow as he entered the main hall of the Malfoy manor. Abaraxas had already allowed everyone supposed to attend the gathering entry through his wards.
"Lord Goyle," Abraxas nodded politely. The man was none other than his most faithful lackey, Lord George Goyle.
"Am I the first?" George asked in his slow tone.
"Yes," Abraxas replied, gesturing for George to take a seat.
"Lord Malfoy," George said hesitantly once seated, "I do not know if I should say this, but my loyalty to you and the connection between our families, which goes back generations, outweighs everything else."
"Say it without hesitation, Lord Goyle," Abraxas encouraged. "I doubt there is any opinion you could give that I would dislike."
"Yes, Lord Malfoy," George said. "I do not like this concept of hosting meetings in someone's manor. Especially yours."
"When things were safe and going smoothly, we assembled at the Dark Lord's stronghold. And now, when matters have turned rough, it is you who is being forced to take the risk," he continued. "The Ministry has been under tremendous pressure in these last few days. They are frantically searching for even one or two Death Eaters to capture. At such a time, holding a gathering in your home is not safe."
"This was a time when the dark lord should have taken the lead, the responsibility and should have gotten us out of the setback but instead he is pushing his responsibilities towards us. I do not like this feeling. It is not inducing any kind of confidence."
Abraxas sighed. "I understand what you mean, Lord George. And I agree with your line of thought, to some extent."
"But," he added, "it is better if we do not voice such thoughts just before the gathering. We must be careful. These are matters best spoken of in private, and in complete isolation. We do not want any other person to hear our conversation."
George nodded and said nothing further. He understood this as well. It was just that he could not hold himself back from voicing his thoughts. That was the very reason he had arrived a little earlier than the scheduled time.
"Dobby," Abraxas snapped, and the Malfoy house elf appeared with a pop.
"Yes, Master," Dobby replied with a bow.
"Serve Lord Goyle some drinks," Abraxas ordered, and the elf obeyed without a word. A glass of wine appeared on the table in front of George Goyle.
Around half an hour later, the other guests began to arrive, and within that half hour, all the expected people had gathered in the Malfoy Manor.
"When will the Dark Lord arrive?" someone mumbled out of pure instinct.
Almost everyone stiffened at the question and instinctively distanced themselves from the speaker. No one, no one… was permitted to question the Dark Lord's actions. He came and went as he pleased, and he owed no explanations. Questioning when the dark lord would do something was blasphemy and was punished stringently by the dark lord.
The man quickly realized his mistake, lowered his head, and slipped into a corner of the hall, hoping to draw no further attention. Better to remain quiet for the remainder of the evening.
"Lord Malfoy," Rodolphus greeted, drawing Abraxas' attention from his conversation with another lord.
"Lord Lestrange," Abraxas acknowledged. Rodolphus winced at the title. That had been his father's title before he was slain before Edmund Bones. "Oddly enough, the title feels uncomfortable," Rodolphus admitted, shaking his head. "It is not something I do want to hear."
"Get used to it, Lord Lestrange," Abraxas said, resting a firm hand on Rodolphus' shoulder. "I understand your loss, and you have my condolences. But this is inevitable. You must accept your role and your responsibility."
"You do not understand, Lord Malfoy," Rodolphus shook his head. "It all happened because of me. Because of the mistake I had made, my father was forced to take part in that assault. If not for me, he would have been absolutely fine."
"Take it easy, young man," Abaraxas shook his head. "Take it easy."
Rodolphus nodded and shifted the topic.
"Any news from the Black family?" He questioned. "Does Cygnus even want to get his daughter married to me now?"
Abaraxas smiled, "Oh! He surely does."
"And I have had a little chat with him," he continued. "You can expect him to contact you in a few days."
Rodolphus raised his eyebrows in doubt.
"You can trust me on this," Abaraxas responded, reading his expression. He gave a couple of pats on Rodolphus' shoulders and walked away to attend to some other lords.
A couple of hours had passed since the brief conversation between Rodolphus and Abraxas. The Dark Lord had still not arrived, and the gathering was growing more restless by the minute. Though no one dared to voice their thoughts or question when he would appear, anxiety was palpable in the room. As host, Abraxas was expected to have answers, but like everyone else, he knew nothing.
Fortunately, the wait did not last much longer. The space began to twist in the centre of the hall, and the atmosphere in the manor grew suffocating as every Death Eater tensed. With the Dark Lord already having seized control of the wards, he could Apparate directly into the house unhindered.
His arrival was not dramatic in itself, but the sheer weight of anticipation made his presence overwhelming. Such was the Dark Lord's power in the minds of his slaves. Moments later, Voldemort materialized inside Malfoy Manor.
"It seems everyone has been waiting for me," he chuckled in his hissing voice.
"And it seems you are all enjoying yourselves," he added, his gaze sliding to the glasses of wine in their hands.
The words had barely left his mouth before every Death Eater dropped to their knees in unison.
"My Lord!" they cried, their voices echoing together.
Voldemort let them kneel. He was in no hurry to raise them. With a flick of his wand, the largest sofa in the hall slid across the floor and stopped behind him. Casting a single glance at the bowed heads, the Dark Lord lowered himself into the seat with unhurried grace.
#
#
#
[Add the book to your collection. Send it some power stones. Leave a rating and a review.]
[Access advanced chapter on P@treon. Replace @ with a. One additional advanced chapter each week on P@treon. ]
[email protected]/imaginarywriter