Chapter 290: Chapter 290

290 Chapter 290 : Intrusion

Elric stood up and whipped away the blood that trickled down his cheek from the slash inflicted by one of the men he was fighting.

The rest of them were unconscious on floor, only one was left and he had managed to injure the lycan. Fighting off these men without killing them was definitely going to get harder, especially if more kept standing in Elric’s way.

Elric’s eyes glowed yellow and the man gulped before trembling in fear, what sort of monster was this man? Just the look on his face was enough to send shivered down his spine. The soldier held the hilt of his sword firmly and fought back his fears, he had orders from the queen not to let this man pass, and he would adhere to them.

“This is where you die lycan!” The man yelled before charging towards Elric.

The silver haired lycan simply moved aside and dodged the blade, before using his elbow to knock the man on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious.

He turned to his men who rushed to his side.

“Your grace, it seems our journey to the capital my be slowed down,” one of Elric’s men pointed out. “These Gavarian soldiers keep showing up and slowing us down. We may not be able to take them alone.”

“Yes your grace,” the second man spoke, “we may have to go back and return with reinforcements, because at this rate we will never reach the capital in time.”

Elric took a deep breath to control his raising anger. His men were right, this was going to slow them down exponentially and he may arrive in the capital a little too late. But at the same time, riding back to the snowlands would waste even more time, he had to come up with a way to moved across the shires unnoticed.

.....

“The unconscious men,” Elric commanded, “strip them of their clothing.”

Elric’s men glanced at each other feeling a little confused and uncomfortable.

“Hurry!” Elric roared making the two men jump and start undressing the unconscious soldiers.

“If you don’t mind me asking your grace,” one of Elric’s men mumbled as he pulled off the helmet of one of the soldiers. “Why are we leaving these poor men in the nude? Are you trying to teach them a lesson?”

Elric walked over and took the helmet from the man’s hands. “Don’t get excited, this is not for your amusement.” He put on the helmet and then proceeded to taking off his shoes. “We will use their clothing to disguise ourselves until we reach the capital, that way we will avoid any unnecessary confrontations and move quicker.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Of course, how smart. The young prince indeed was as quick witted as they said, he would make a fine alpha indeed.

*

When the carraige carrying the princess and Maxim made a stop outside the palace doors, it was already dusk. Eira had been having so much fun that she had completely lost track of time, if it had not been for Maxim insisting that he take her home, they would have probably still been in the forest.

Maxim stepped out first and helped Eira off before walking with her to the palace doors. As they walked up the staircase to the entrance, Maxim couldn’t help but notice the prying eyes of different maids from the widows of the palace.

He halted at the door and released Eira’s arm before bowing. “I should leave now princess, I don’t want people around to get the wrong impression.”

Eira blinked a few times trying to understand what Maxim meant, but then she noticed the maids who were peeping through the windows that immediately scattered when they saw her looking their way.

“There will always be gossip,” Eira reassured the elven man. “Don’t worry about it too much. Besides, it’s almost dinner time, you can’t just leave, please join us for supper.”

Maxim smiled but shook his head. “Thank you for the kind offer Eira, but I wouldn’t want to intrude-”

Without warning, Eira grabbed Maxim’s hand and began dragging him into the palace.

“Oh don’t be so uptight Maxim,” she spoke with a chuckle, “you and I are friends now, if I invite you to join us for dinner, then you will join us for dinner.”

“But Eira I...” Maxim looked to the side and saw the same maids who had been peeping out the windows giggling and pointing. “I really feel like I am intruding.”

“You are joining us for supper and that’s final Maxim, as princess of Gavaria, you shall heed my wish.”

A smile tugged the man’s lips. Ah, she was as feisty as she was beautiful, truly this woman was a gem. And even after a whole afternoon with her, he could not see any reason why someone would want her dead, but it was not in Maxim’s place to question Ronda’s motives.

*

Zhelimir hopped off his horse and then proceeded to helping Janis off with his magic. He floated her off the animal and down into her arms, making the young elven woman blush.

“You need to stop doing that Zhel,” Janis spoke with a chuckle. “I could have gotten off on my own.”

“I know that,” Zhelimir responded. “I just wanted an excuse to hold you in my arms.”

He put Janis down and tucked her hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek. Zhelimir could not believe that after years of yearning for her, he could finally be with her.. Her, the woman he loved oh so dearly.

“Why are you looking at me like that Zhel? You’re embarrassing me.”

“I’m just in awe at how the gods took their time to curve this beautiful face of yours..” Zhelimir mumbled.

“You are such a sweet talker you know that?” Janis responded with an eye roll, but her little gesture could not hide the thumping of her heart as the blonde elf inched his face closer to hers.

“There are other things I can do that are much sweeter than just talk...” Zhelimir whispered as his lips brushed against Janis’.

An electric wave flowed from the elven woman’s head to her legs, making her stagger and hold onto the blonde for support. “Zhel... I should get inside..” the woman whispered as she too drew nearer to him.

“In a moment,” Zhelimir whispered as his eyes closed.

Inches before their lips locked, a portal opened up beside them and Damien stepped out. The red head proceeded to clearing his throat, making the two move apart.

“Damien,” Zhelimir spoke with an irritated smile and twitching eyebrow. “Your inability to read situations is uncanny as usual.”

“You can get intimate any time, right now I have something of importance to discuss with you,” Damien responded nonchalantly.

Zhelimir sighed and gave Janis an apologetic kiss on the forehead. “You should go in before your brother knows you are with me.”

“Alright,” she responded, still trying to catch her breath. “Don’t forget what we talked about Zhel.. okay?”

“Of course,” Zhelimir responded awkwardly. “Now go on, have a good night.”

“Good night,” Janis replied before disappearing into the gates of lord Ivan’s manor.

“That was to be our first kiss,” Zhelimir spoke irascibly as he turned to his cousin. “This better be important. Someone better be dying or dead Damien, or you and I will have a problem.”

“It’s Eira..” Damien responded flatly.

Zhelimir’s heart dropped. “Eira?! What happened?!”

“She invited one of her suitors for dinner at the palace,” Damien responded.

“What?...” Zhelimir cupped his forehead and sighed heavily. “Damn it Damien! Don’t mention Eira’s name after the mention of death! Gods you are so hard to read sometimes you know that..”

The blonde walked to his horse and grabbed its reins. “So Eira found a man who is a little tolerable, did you have to come all the way here to tell me about it?”

“This elf she has brought,” Damien added on. “There’s something about him, something off that I do not trust.”

“Are you sure you’re not just being an overprotective older brother?” Zhelimir asked while mounting his steed. “Or are you worried she may derail from Elric?”

“Elric is her bloodhalf, I know that now,” Damien responded. “So I know she cannot develop any type of romantic feelings for another. I suppose I am being overprotective, but you have to understand Zhelimir, I am good at reading people, there is something about the man that does not sit well with me.”

With a sigh, Zhelimir pulled the reins of his horse in readiness to leave. “Alright, I will join you all for dinner, and then we’ll take a look at the strange suitor who managed to actually hold Eira’s attention.”

“That would be wise. Keeping an eye on him is critical, Eira’s trust in him is blossoming a little to quickly, it isn’t normal.” Damien opened a portal leading back to the palace, “he is good at manipulating the naive, and that is what makes me not trust his intentions towards Eira.”