SPELLBOUND

Unease and dread immediately replaced the intrigue and curiosity that filled Evie's eyes when Gavriel was talking about the lost empire of the fairies. She could not help but feel the fear creeping up on her and was now worrying about her father. Especially now that she had heard from Gavriel on how the dragon guardians were killed and their blood was used. She suspected that by now, the dark faery must have already left Dacria and was now with them.

"Gav…is my father going to be alright?" she asked Gavriel. The dread was evident in her voice.

Gavriel turned her to face him before cupping her face gently in his palms, resting his hands below her ears. "Don't worry, Evie…" he assured as he stared into her eyes, "If this dark faery wanted your father's blood, he'd have already done something to him when your father is still in the imperial palace. But he didn't do anything to him, right? Maybe because of the fact that he is already freed and that he does not need the blood of another guardian now."

Her husband's words immediately made Evie feel better. What Gavriel said made a lot of sense. Her father was alright all this time, even when this dark faery was probably with them as they travelled together all the way from the imperial capital to the time that he arrived in Dacria.

"I believe this dark faery is definitely aiming for something, but I don't think its aim is to kill the dragon guardian. So, you can be rest assured wife, your father will be alright." Gavriel added and Evie hugged him tightly, both in relief and with some slight fear as well.

"What are we going to do now?" she then asked in a soft voice after a long while of silence between them.

"We will wait for them here. If our prediction is right, they should be able to arrive back at the fortress by daylight." Gavriel had already done his predictions and calculations.

Evie nibbled on the inside of her lips. 'Already? Isn't that a little too fast?', she thought to herself and her grip on him tightened again. "Gavriel…" he called out as she looked up at him. Her large eyes filled with determination.

"Hmm?" Gavriel raised his brow, knowing that she must be about to tell him something. And this something must be a huge deal because he could tell just by the way she looked at him.

"I want to join in the battle, too." She declared and Gavriel froze in utter shock. He did not expect her to spout this. But knowing his wife, he should have known better.

Gavriel rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath before he replied. "No, wife. I can't –"

"I don't want to stay in the castle and stand there all day and night waiting and worrying..." she cut him off, shaking her head. "I don't want to go through that again." Though her voice was gentle and soft, he could hear the underlying steel in them and knew that she was going to fight him on this matter.

"Evie, listen. I can't possibly put you in any more danger –"

"Gavriel." She suddenly caught his face with her two delicate hands and made him meet her intent gaze. "With the existence of this dark faery, being in the castle is a moot point right now. I believe I am not safe in the castle anymore. To be precise, I think I might be more at risk being here." She firmly argued her point, then her voice softened as her thumbs caressed his cheeks. "I believe the safest place for me now is by your side. Don't you agree, husband?"

Her words made Gavriel's eyes widen. Good lord, this was trouble. Now that she mentioned it, he could not possibly leave her all alone anymore. If he leaves her with his men during the war, would his men be strong enough to go against this faery? No… this was the same faery that must be behind the annihilation of the royal family, none of his men could possibly stand against such a creature. But how could he even fight when Evie was in the battlefield with him?

The thought of Evie standing next to him in the middle of the battle made Gavriel's stomach churn. Never in his worst nightmares did he ever imagined that his beloved wife would be joining him in a war. No… he cannot accept this. He just cannot … Damn it all! He growled inside his mind. Knowing that at this point, he could not even think about another way out. He cannot leave Evie now because of this damned dark faery! But there lies his agony. He could not leave her. But neither could he bring her to war.

Gavriel had been feeling a little uneasy about his wife since he heard about the dark faery from Lorcan. He grew even more uneasy after listening to his wife and Elias' story and that made him think that what if, this dark faery's actual aim was his wife? He tried to tell himself that he was wrong or perhaps he was just overly paranoid. Because if this faery truly was after Evie, should it not have already done something to her? If this same faery was the one Elias felt hanging around her room, why did it stay just outside of Evie's door? And why was it that his wife never felt any danger from it when it had come that close to her?

However, despite all these thoughts, and no matter how Gavriel try to reason things out that the dark faery might not be after Evie, he could just not stop the unease that kept bubbling up within him.

"I really understand why you don't want me to be there," Evie continued, noticing the turmoil on his face. "But I just feel like this is the best choice for us. I never wanted to be the cause of your distraction. I know why you're worried, and I can't deny that with my mstrength, I might just end up becoming the damsel in distress again, in need of your rescue in the middle of the fight… but I just thought that maybe, being rescued like that is better than being used as a hostage?" she explained almost in a panic, ending in a question. "I might be just overthinking things but what if the dark faery did sneak into the castle and take me hostage? What if by taking me hostage, they end up using me to take you down?"