SPELLBOUND

"Are… they coming?" Evie asked, her heartbeat beginning to thump and speed up inside her ribcage as she followed Gavriel's line of sight. For now, she still could not see anything, but she knew that Gavriel and Zolan were seeing something right then. "Have they finally… arrived?"

"Most probably," Gavriel responded without averting his gaze from the farthest end of the meadow, "but there is no hurry for now. We still have to hear what our messenger has to say first." He added and the three of them waited for a few more moments until someone landed before them like a blur.

It was the young vampire named Reed.

"Your Highness," the man immediately fell to his knees in a salute before quickly getting to his feet and rattled off his findings. "As per your instructions, we secretly surveyed the situation at the border but until now, there are still no signs of Caius' army approaching us." Reed reported and Gavriel's eyes twitched before narrowing into slits.

According to their calculations, Caius and the dragon guardian should have long crossed the borders of the Forbidden Land and Dacria by now.

"Are you certain? Did any of the spies miss out anything during their scouting mission?" Zolan piped in, wearing the same curious expression.

Reed nodded. "Definitely not. All of us have been extra careful in our duties. I've even crossed the border to make absolutely certain but strangely, there are still no signs of them." Reed continued in his reporting. However, after a few seconds of reflecting, he added, "In fact, the forbidden forests seemed to be unusually quiet."

This news made Gavriel's brows creased into a hard knot. What was going on? Could it be that the dark Fae did not find them and that was why Caius still have not yet heard about what happened to his father emperor back in the castle?

"That's fine for now. Go back to your post and keep watching," Gavriel then ordered. "They might be planning something to surprise us. When you or any of your team notices anything that is out of the norm, immediately send word to me. You're dismissed for now."

"Yes, Your Highness." Reed bowed and without wasting a moment, he was gone.

"Now this is strange," Zolan mumbled as he rubbed his chin, "did the dark fae fail to inform Caius?"

Zolan thought that there would be no way that the dark Fae could possibly fail! Why would he? They had found out from the emperor that the dark fae had the ability to teleport wherever and whenever he wanted. So why? What was Caius up to? Or perhaps the dark fae himself has his own agenda to carry out? Zolan was contemplating all the possible scenarios that could play out.

"And why would you think such a creature would fail?" Gavriel questioned, making Zolan ponder deeply again. "There should be no way it's because he couldn't find Caius or something like that."

"What if…" Evie suddenly piped in, "what if it's because the dark fae cannot enter the forbidden land? And that's the reason why he could not inform Caius?"

Zolan and Gavriel simultaneously fixed their eyes on Evie.

"Why would you think of that, wife?" Gavriel asked, curious.

"I just thought that if the presence outside my room was the dark fae, the only reason I could think about on why he only stayed outside my door was probably because he just couldn't enter. Maybe, there's a certain barrier or something else that's stopping him. Maybe this is the same reasoning? Maybe the dark Fae cannot enter the forbidden land and that could be the reason why he could not get to Caius to inform him of the happenings here?" Evie explained.

Her explanation did make sense. In fact, Gavriel and Zolan were awed at the way she thought about this. Because there was truly no other reason they could think of. Unless Caius already knew but was purposely delaying his attack because he has another plan up his sleeves.

However, Gavriel felt that his wife's theory was probably the closest reason behind this strange occurrence. Caius was an impulsive man. He was not the calculative type nor was he good at patiently waiting to get things done as well. So, the chance of him delaying the attack because he had another plan was quite low.

"Maybe you're right, Princess. But no matter what the reason, all we have to do now is stay alert." Zolan said. "They could probably just come out of nowhere so we cannot let our guard down."

Time passed and afternoon came and went, but not even the shadows of the enemy they were waiting for appeared. All the troops that were stationed were fidgety and wondering on what was actually happening. All of them were briefed that the enemy would be attacking them. However, they have seen neither hair no hide of the enemy troops.

For the vampires who were used to attacking, the waiting was excruciating, especially when they had to stay alert because they do not have any idea now if the enemy would be attacking them or not.

Evie was stuck in the watch tower with Leon when Gavriel and Zolan left. Then after a few hours, Gavriel sent her word to go back to her quarters to rest. But Evie refused and instead, she started to wield her bow.

"I am going to practice, instead." She had said and then aimed at the space.

Leon delivered the message and Gavriel who was now at the front smirked and sent back word to her.

"Princess, His Highness said, you should aim your arrows at him, and he'll catch them as practice too." Leon said and Evie's eyes widened.

"W-what?"

"He wanted to know if your arrows would be able to reach where he is right now. It'll be good to test your archery reach."

Evie pressed her lips tight. Was her husband testing her? But it seemed that this would not be a bad idea after all. She could practice with this.