SPELLBOUND

"Yes, that's what I am saying." Zolan nodded at Levy. And the frustrated man then slowly backed off and leaned his back against the bars and let out a long and heavy sigh. "Though this is just my theory, I still think it's the most probable explanation on why the prince is somewhat himself but not at the same time. Also, let us not eliminate the possibility that we could be totally wrong and there is another reason altogether that things are happening this way."

"Zolan is right. We might have missed out on something important." Samuel said, and the look on his face was hard. "I know all of us have fought with him before being caught. His abilities this time are very uncanny… it's something all of us had never seen or experienced before. Even during those time when he had lost himself and was lost to the influence of the monster within him, he had never had these very strange and deadly powers."

"Now that you mention that… damn, I thought that he was going to kill us." Levy chimed in again, remembering the gruesome fight that even sent shivers down his spine. "You guys felt it too, didn't you? Right at that moment, he felt as though he were something else… what I meant is… like he did not feel anything like a vampire at all!" Levy then shivered that it was visibly noticeable to the rest of them.

The men all agreed silently as they all nodded. Zanya nodded as well. Then she looked at Evie as though there was something that she had wanted to say but was not that certain if it was alright for her to say it out loud or not.

Leon who had noticed the peculiar look on Zanya's face and the way she was hesitating for a while now then looked around at the others. But when he saw that they did not notice anything out of the particular with the light fae's expression, and neither were they giving her the chance to speak, Leon was then forced to join in the chat.

"I think…" Leon piped in, and everyone's heads turned to looked at him. He blinked a couple of times before he continued after clearing his throat, "I think, Zanya has something important to say."

Zanya's eyes widened slightly as she looked at him. She could not believe that this man had noticed her hesitation in wanting to say out what was on her mind.

"What is it, Zanya?" Evie pulled her attention back to her and Zanya faced Evie again. She smiled at Zanya's slightly shocked face. "Don't hesitate to speak up. This might be the only chance that we are able to speak openly like this right now so please don't hold back."

The light fae nodded after she heard Evie's reasoning. "I also think the man is different." Zanya started. "But what I can assure you is that he has been using dark magic." Zanya's statement dropped on all of them like a massive boulder, rendering all of them silent for a few seconds. Everyone's mind was ringing with the word 'dark' magic' that had been brought up.

"D-dark magic?" Evie stammered, being the first one to break the silence. "You mean the same dark magic that Thundrann has?"

Zanya nodded. "Yes, and only the dark faes are able to access and use dark magic." This statement caused another explosion in the minds of those who heard it. The implications of this were huge! It was almost unacceptable to the minds of Evie and the men who were loyal to Gavriel.

Evie was so shocked her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words nor sound came out of it.

"Wait… didn't you say, our prince isn't possessed?" Levy blurted out.

"That's right." Zanya nodded at him. "That's why I said he is different. He is… something else."

"You're saying that our prince or that monster inside him is a dark fae?!" Levy exclaimed, utterly shocked.

"That… I cannot say that I am certain of." Zanya creased her brows, hard in thought before raising her eyes to everyone looking at her. "All I can confidently say is that what he had used earlier was a form of dark magic. But the strangest thing to me is that his dark magic is somehow different from the ones typically used by the dark fae. Dark faes usually produce a combination of black and greenish lights when using their magic, but his was… pitch dark. And it's something I have never seen before even in the thousands of years I have been around."

Zanya even felt the chills that crawled over her entire being when she stood before him. She remembered that she did not even cower that way when she had faced Thundrann back in the past. She was not certain if it was because she had suppressed her powers when facing him but all she knew was that she had never feared anyone like how she had feared him then even though he did not even hurt her at all.

"It seems we need to figure that out too." Zolan's voice broke the silence. "But for now," he looked at Evie, "Princess, what do you want to do?" Zolan looked at Evie's pensive face, wondering what was on the princess' mind. He felt bad for her as he knew how much she had wanted to meet up with His Highness. And now that this issue had crept up, it not only put more strain on her, but she had to think on how best to move forward if that person really was Prince Gavriel. The responsibility on her shoulders have only increased rather than decreased.

Evie was silent, realizing that it was time for her to make a decision for their next move. Now that they had found Gavriel, what next? It seems to be about 80 percent sure that the person was Gavriel, just that they needed to figure out why he was behaving differently. She already knew what she needed and wanted to do and that was to bring back the Gavriel she knew and had fallen in love with, the Gavriel she had married, and the Gavriel who cared for his men and his people.