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“Are you alright?” Damien asked his little cousin upon noticing she had abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway.

The red haired princess shook her head and gave Damien a smile. “I’m alright, just felt a tad strange for a moment.”

Damien walked towards Eira and gently cupped her forehead with his hand. “You don’t have a fever, which is good, but your face seems a little flushed. We can cancel today’s meeting with your suitors if you don’t feel too well, there is absolutely no reason to push yourself.”

Eira shook her head and continued walking forward, “I’m fine Damien, it’s probably nothing.”

“Zhelimir told me you fell asleep on the carraige,” Damien spoke as he caught up to the princess who was now walking a little faster. “Are you sure this isn’t taking a toll on you? Your father would understand if you took a break.”

“I already told you Damien,” Eira responded with a smile. “I’m fine, now can we just meet these men so I can get today over and done with?”

They made a turn towards the royal library where that day’s suitors would be waiting to meet the princess, and a few feet away from the door of the library, stood their uncle William.

“Good morning princess Eira and prince Damien,” William greeted the pair and walked towards them. “You both look well, and now that I’m seeing you up close, I can see you both have grown a great deal.”

.....

“Good morning uncle William,” Eira responded with a curtsy.

“Good morning,” Damien said with a slight bow. “Why are you here? Is there something wrong?”

“No no, nothing wrong at all,” William responded. “I just thought of joining you when meeting today’s set of suitors. A beautiful young lady like yourself can never be too safe with these men you know.”

Damien and Eira glanced at each other and then looked back at their uncle. The sudden involvement was a little surprising, but there was no harm in letting him tag along if he really wanted to.

“Well come on,” William spoke with the wave of his hand and turned towards the library entrance. “We can’t keep your possible future husband waiting now can we?”

Eira rolled her eyes at her uncle’s words. Future husband? What a joke, she was one hundred and ten percent sure that none of the men she would meet within these thirty days would be able to attain that title. She had agreed to meet with a bunch of worthy suitors yes, but she did not say she would ageee to marrying any one of them if she didn’t love them, or if non conquered her in battle.

Damien pushed open the door of the library and they all walked in, the men within standing and bowing at the sight of them.

“Good morning princess Eira..” they all spoke in unison just like the others had done the past few days.

Eira could sense the tension in the room, it was quite evident that her father had been here earlier to threaten them like he always did every set of suitors that came over. She scanned the men’s faces before curtsying.

“Good morning,” she responded.

When her amythest eyes landed on Jacob, she felt her heart skip a beat. Of course he would be here, I mean he had asked to court her a few weeks back and she had told him she would think about it, so he was probably here hoping he would finally cash in his proposal. Gods this was going to be so awkward, Eira had no romantic feelings of any sort for Jacob, as a matter of fact, she found him a little annoying. But breaking his heart would mean losing him as a friend, and possibly losing Janis as well. Why was he making things so complicated? Couldn’t he see they were better off as friends?

William sensed his niece’s tension and knew immediately that Jacob was the cause. This situation was proving to be more and more tricky the more he learned about it. So Jacob had an obsessive attraction to Eira, and unfortunately for the young elf, she did not reciprocate those feelings in the slightest. Actually, looking at how she had reacted to his presence, William could tell there was some unspoken awkwardness between them, maybe William had already asked the princess for her hand, and Eira either rejected... no, he didn’t look like a man who would handle rejection well. Eira probably gave an excuse to think about it or something of that sort, and now, the young Jacob was here hoping this would be his chance to get an answer.

William looked to Ivan’s son, his eyes were fixated on Eira and he had somewhat of a nervous smile tugging his lips. This boy could prove to problematic if not dealt with early.

“Jacob!” William called the the young elven man. “Step forward please.”

Jacob stepped out of line and bowed at Eira’s uncle, who if he played his cards right, may become his uncle in law as well.

“Son of lord Ivan,” William spoke to the young man. “You will be the first to spend the day with the princess.”

Jacob’s eyes glimmered with excitement while Eira’s were filled with worry. Why would her uncle ask Jacob to be the first?! If anything, she wanted the most awkward of encounters to be the last she would have to deal with today.

“Thank you,” Jacob responded excitedly.

“Very well, let’s get on with it,” William spoke and headed towards the exit.

Jacob walked to Eira with a beaming smile, he reached for her hand and kissed it gently before offering to lead her out of the library.

“Right this way princess,” he spoke in a calm voice. “I have quite the hour planned for the two of us.”

*

“Wait! What do you mean?! What curse are you talking about?!”

Elric rushed towards the hooded man who was slowly fading away and reached for him.

“Wait a minute! Are you talking about Eira?!” The silver haired lycan called out. “Is something wrong?! Hold on!”

“You will soon know Elric...” the man mumbled as he faded away.

“Elric...”

“Elric...”

“ELRIC!!”

The lycan prince jolted upright and shot his eyes open. His breathing was heavy and he felt a little disoriented from the strange dream he was having. Was that even a dream? Or some strange vision.

“You were having a nightmare, calm down,” Edron spoke.

Elric looked across the carriage and saw his father staring at him worriedly.

“You were practically screaming and yelling in your sleep,” the alpha explained. He pointed and Elric’s mouth and gave him a concerned gaze. “You almost turned, if I didn’t wake you up in time you would have probably clawed my eyes out.”

“I’m sorry,” Elric responded while receding his claws and protruding fangs. “I haven’t had a dream like that in quite some time.”

“It must have been bad for you to react physically,” Edron pointed out. “What was it about?”

A few flashes of the mage in the white cloak appeared in his mind, and he could hear his words clearly. ‘A curse like that you once experienced, will befall the one you love’.

“Just some incomprehensible things I can’t fully remember at the moment,” Elric lied. “It nothing to worry about.”

Edron looked at his son, he knew Elric was lying to him, but he didn’t want to pry so he let it go.

The alpha then turned to look outside the carriage window and smiled slightly.

“Well get yourself together then,” he stated. “We are almost home.” He turned to his son, who was looking out the window as well. “Your mother will worry if she sees you looking so distraught. She has waited a long time to see you, so put on the happiest face that you possibly can.”

Elric was astonished by what he saw outside the carriage window. Outside, covered in a thick blanket of snow, where hundreds, no thousands, of burrow shaped homes as far as the eye could see, built on the sides of cliffs and small hills.

There were shops and a different array of other buildings as well, alit by lamps stationed on the doors, windows and within.

Outside in the streets, were people, lycans of all ages who, despite the snowfall, were going about their evening without a care in the world. Children in both their human and wolf form were running around playing, and men were busy shoveling out the snow from pathways while women served them with hot beverages and loving smiles.

“Welcome to the snowlands Elric,” Edron spoke with a proud smile. “Welcome home.”

The entire place was like a winter wonderland, like a place straight out of a fairytale. The snow, the lights, the children, it was all so beautiful. The entire time Elric was watching the awe worthy view, he couldn’t help but think how much Eira would love it here.