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“Are the men awaiting me inside that repulsive?” Eira teased.

Zhelimir smiled slightly before bowing to the princess. “I sure hope not, this is the second last batch of suitors. If you don’t like any of these we may have a problem.”

“Why so downcast Zhel? Has Janis gone out on another romantic get away with some random lord?”

Zhelimir shook his head, “are you trying to drive me to murder dear cousin?”

Eira smiled slightly. “Alright, if that’s not the case then what’s the matter?”

“It’s Jacob,” Zhelimir admitted, “he is being a spiteful prick. He says because he cannot see you, I too cannot see his sister. He is a massive cockblocker.”

Eira rolled her eyes, “leave it to Jacob to be as childish as ever..” she pat Zhelimir’s shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. “How about I invite Janis to the palace and the two of you can spend a bit of time together? It’s the least I can do after dragging you along on these ridiculous meetings with random men.”

“Would you?” Zhelimir asked excitedly. “That prick has been standing at their gates demanding I show up with you or not show up at all. I think your uncle was right when he said Jacob was a little obsessed, he’s acting like a maniac.”

.....

“Don’t worry,” Eira assured her cousin. “I’ll send a carraige for her, Jacob won’t be the wiser. At least one of us should end up with the one they love.”

Eira’s words made Zhelimir feel a little more downcast. He felt guilty that things were actually starting to fall into place with him and Janis, meanwhile she had to go through all of this. Maybe Isabella was right, putting himself in Elric’s shoes, Zhelimir would have probably been acting as reckless as Jacob if he was not allowed to be with Janis.

“Eira-”

“Come on now,” Eira interrupted him. “Let’s get this over and done with shall we?”

“Oh.. yes of course...”

*

Maxim ordered another cup of ale and studied the man who was sitting beside him. Jacob was a very handsome man who seemed strong willed and determined, if the princess did not fancy him, then what chance could he possibly have?

“I promise you she will pick me,” Jacob spoke in a slurred tone. “It’s just that we had a little misunderstanding is all-”

The dark haired elf took another large sip of his alcohol and turned to look at Maxim. “You’re new around here aren’t you?”

“No,” Maxim responded. “I just don’t move around much, and I’m mostly away. My father, lord Bertram Adalbert, mostly has me running errands for him all over the continent.”

“Oh I see,” Jacob responded. “There is a man I’m looking for, he is new in town and he may pause a threat to my happiness. I hear he is trying to steal Eira from me! Imagine that!”

Even though Jacob was very drunk and incredibly annoying, Maxim needed him. He had received a tip that a man who had known the princess since childhood was having a drink at the local bar, and Maxim didn’t waste time to find him.

Maxim had been gathering information about princess Eira, carefully studying her so as to know how best to get her to trust him and lower her gaurd. This Jacob man would be the final peice of the puzzle, given he did not pass out, he would be a fountain of information regarding his beautiful little target.

“How is this man trying to steal her?” Maxim asked Jacob. “If you know him why not just confront him?”

“You see... Eira is not interested in any of these random men she is meeting, that much I know,” Jacob explained. “But there is a man who I’m not certain of, who I hear caught her fancy somehow. I’m just speculating, if I knew who it was I would have gotten rid of him already, Eira is mine!”

Maxim noted that Jacob was a little crazed when it came to the princess, must be why he was banned from being around her until the final list of suitors was announced.

“But I’m sure you have a better chance of being with her,” Maxim spoke, “you’ve known her since she was young have you not?”

“Not only have I known her, I have loved her! I know all the ways to please her, I am the only man worthy of her hand!”

“And how exactly do you please a princess like Eira?” Maxim added on. “I think you don’t know her as much as you think you do, in truth, you’re just like all the other candidates..”

Jacob turned to look at Maxim with a scowl on his handsome face.

“I know Eira, I know every little thing about her!” Jacob declared. “In fact, after much research, I even know why her father is putting a deadline on her marriage!”

Bingo... Maxim smiled to himself, he thought that maybe Jacob would be a bit smarter than this. He had fallen for classic reverse psychology and was about to give him the most potent tool used to win a woman’s trust, to be a woman’s shoulder to cry on.

*

After the meeting with his father and council members, Elric decided to take a walk through the snow covered gardens and gather his thoughts.

It had been a few weeks since he had come to the snowlands, and in those weeks he had been physically and mentally preparing to return to Gavaria, to return to Eira. He of all people knew to trust reoccurring dreams, especially like the one he was having, Eira was in danger, and even though there was very little chance of them being together, he still had to protect her.

The law of mates had not come to be respected in such a way from without, it was a bond between two individuals said to be created by the gods themselves. The bond was so strong that it transcended distance, time, and now looking at recent events, race as well. It was so strong that if one of those individuals was to die, the other would surely follow not long after.

“You’re thinking about her, aren’t you?”

Elric turned around and found his mother reaching for a snow blossom that hang low from the tree. He walked to where she was and plucked it for her.

“I’m sorry, it’s something I cannot control,” Elric responded.

Layla put the small flower in her hair and looked up at her son. “And you are certain she is your mate? Are you sure you just-”

Elric arched his eyebrow skeptically at the woman. “Am I sure I’m just what mother?”

“Are you sure you’re not just projecting your lingering feelings for Melissa onto her daughter?” Layla replied. “I mean, from your description, the resemblance is uncanny.”

Elric looked away, “I did consider that as a possibility,” he responded in a low awkward tone. “But I had a long time to self reflect, I feel nothing for Melissa, well, nothing romantically. I had noticed my feelings for her dwindling rapidly when I retrieved her from Ervelon all those years ago, the strong urge to keep her close was still there but that was it. It confused me at first, until I found out she was pregnant. Those feelings of possession, they were never directed to Melissa-”

“But to the child she was carrying,” Layla finished her son’s statement.

“Yes...”

“The gods work in strange ways,” Layla sighed. “You wish to go to her? Back to Gavaria? You know your father will be against it.”

“I am aware, but I really have no choice.”

The two began to walk slowly through the gardens, the crunching of the snow beneath their feet filling the air.

“I’ve been having dreams,” Elric explained. “Dreams that she may be in danger. And you know what that means for me don’t you? If my mate is in danger, then-”

“Its means you may be in danger as well,” Layla responded. “But how are you so sure? These may merely be dreams stemming from your constant thinking about her.”

“I have had such dreams before mother,” Elric explained. “And they’ve always been right. Long before Eira was born, I could see her in my dreams, so much so that I could even see her in real life. And after the man with the white cloak appeared at the battle of the mages, the visions became even more vivid.”

“A man with a white cloak?”

“Yes, I can never see his face, so I did not recognize him at first,” Elric spoke. “But then I remembered I had seen him at the battle of the mages, and he had told me about Eira then, I was just too stubborn to listen.”

Layla stopped in her tracks and looked up at her son. A man with a white cloak? Appears in dreams? His face always hidden? Could it be? Was it the same man who had been there when she had to plunge a dagger through her son’s heart all those years ago?