SPELLBOUND

Evie's eyes flung open. She was sweating and breathing hard as her wide opened eyes stared fixedly at the ceiling until she managed to get her breathing stabilized. How long had it been since she last had a nightmare? She could not even remember anymore.

To the members of the house of Ylvia, nightmares were not just some random or normal occurrence. For them, these were taken seriously and were messages of forewarning or signs of things to come.

Strangely, it was very rare for the members of the family to ever have nightmares. She heard that there were even some members who had never experienced having nightmares in their lifetime. Evie however had experienced it once, but that was when she was still a child, so she already knew how it felt.

Back home, if one of them would ever have a nightmare, they were required to immediately confess everything that they saw to the head of the family, the dragon keeper. This was a rule of the house that must not be broken, and everyone could only take it seriously because they knew that their nightmares had a very high chance of coming true in reality. They must never hide it if they ever had a disturbing nightmare especially the ones related to upcoming disasters – be it natural or manmade. The reason was because there would still have the chance to do something to stop the disaster from happening. She remembered her mother telling her, there have been many times they were able to stop the nightmares from becoming reality in the past all thanks to everyone playing their part in reporting whenever someone had a bad bream.

The still fresh images from the nightmare terrified Evie. Why was it that she saw a dragon burning Dacria down? The presence of the dragon could only mean one thing – that her father would be present here in Dacria.

A gasp escaped from Evie's mouth as she sat stiffly on the bed. She was supposed to be rejoicing with the knowledge that she was now certain her father would come for her. But instead, she was feeling the complete opposite. Instead of rejoicing in happiness, she was terrified and worried to death.

Remembering from her nightmare on how Dacria was set ablaze, Evie shivered, feeling frozen and apprehensive inside. Why did he need to burn the entire city just to get her? Is that truly necessary?

Suddenly, she remembered how she was screaming out Gavriel's name with such desperation and terror. And she felt the fear in her intensified and multiplied greatly. What would happen to her husband? Why couldn't she see him in her nightmare? Why was she looking so distraughtly for him? Could it be that…

The door opened and Evie was pulled from her horrible thoughts. She had been so caught up in her worrying thoughts that she did not hear the sounds of knocking.

"My Lady…" Elias carefully stepped through the doors after peeking his head through to check if Evie was awake. He was a little surprised that she was still on the bed and in her nightclothes. She usually wakes earlier and does not usually dawdle in getting ready.

Evie climbed off the bed. "Where is Gavriel?" she asked. Elias picked up the hint of desperation that tinged her voice and wondered what the matter was.

"His Highness is waiting for you in the watchtower, Your Highness." Also noticing that she seemed to be behaving oddly, Elias tilted his head slightly. "Are you alright, My Lady?"

"I…" Evie swallowed, and then fought for calm. "I'm fine. Give me a moment to get changed."

"Alright my lady. I shall be waiting for you outside." He bowed and stepped out the door, closing it behind him.

She hastily headed to the washstand and washed her face. Closing her eyes, she took few deep breaths to stabilise her emotions. She must stop being easily overwhelmed and think properly. What should she do?

When she came out of their quarters, Evie somehow looked better. Elias then escorted her to the watchtower. Along the way, he told Evie that Gavriel woke up earlier to check on some things with his men and had just returned.

Gavriel was already standing at attention when she finally saw him, as though he had already sensed her presence before he could even see her from the stairs. Flashing his heart-stopping smile, he eyed her with a gleaming stare as he pulled her chair out for her.

Evie could not help but be momentarily distracted from all her troubling thoughts and feelings. It was impossible for her not to be side-tracked whenever she was looking at him.

At first, she was struggling to act as she normally do but eventually, Gavriel managed to keep her focus on him as they ate and talked to each other.

"Last night…" Gavriel started just as they were finishing their supper. His gaze suddenly turned intense and deep as his hand which was about to wipe the corner of her lips with his thumb froze, suspended in mid-air. "You had allowed me to touch you." he added with a low voice and Evie finally remembered everything that happened while they were in the bath. Describing it as hot and steamy was literally putting it lightly. Evie could feel her heart picking up speed and her mind starting to whirl.

Her cheeks flushed hard. She began to recall the indescribable pleasure he had made her feel last night. She could remember and picture everything so vividly in her mind's eye.

Seeing her reaction, Gavriel rose from his seat and loomed over her. "You remembered." He breathed, suddenly looking very thrilled and incredibly intense. "Tell me something, did you allow it just due to the influence of the wine…? Evie?" he asked, his eyes blazing, looking at her as though he would devour her right there and then if she said no.

Evie's heart began to thump. She really did not know if the wine had been the main factor influencing her to finally let him touch her. But deep within, Evie just knew that the wine might even had nothing to do with it. Though she was certain the wine had lent her courage and bravery and perhaps killed her shyness in the process, she did not know when it started but she had been wanting – no – needing him to touch her. She had been desperately longing to know how his touches felt, and now that she has had the experience of being held by him, touched by him, she knew it was no longer possible for her to say no. Because even at this very moment, she was still wanting and craving for him to touch her again. The only difference was that now, she wants to feel him while she was completely sober and was not under the influence of any form of wine, drugs, or aphrodisiacs.

Looking at him with her own eyes glimmering, Evie swallowed and then opened her lips to answer.

But before any word could leave her lips, one of his men, the big fellow named Luc, landed before them, giving Evie quite a shock.

"Pardon me Your Highness. But My Prince, you must hear this. Caius and his army are approaching!"