SPELLBOUND

Elias had bustled about serving Evie a cup of warm tea from a flask as Zolan draped a thick blanket over her shoulders to warm her up, obviously prepared for her as they found her outer gown having been discarded at the library door to indicate her presence there. After a long while and with the help of the warming tea and thick comforting blanket, Evie was breathing fine again. However, she was still dazed from the earlier encounter and attempting to get control of herself, in trying to make sense of all the things she had seen and everything that had happened. Her hands were still shaking lightly but her mind was clearer now.

When she finally lifted her face to look at the men who were surrounding her, Elias knelt before her. His face showed how worried he was over her condition. "Are you alright now, My Lady? Is there anything that I can get for you? Are you hurting anywhere?" he fussed about her like a mother hen and Evie could tell just how much the butler had feared for her. She looked at the other men and even though they looked calm and collected, she could tell they were all worried as well. Evie gave a small gentle smile as she looked around at the men.

Finally letting out a deep sigh, Evie tried her best to collect herself, even though it felt impossible. After all, this was related to her husband – which she truly thought was injured on a secret mission out there somewhere – who now suddenly was found within the depths of a secret passageway hidden beneath the library! She was bursting with questions inside despite the shock and fright that she had just recently experienced.

"Gavriel… he's down there, in that dark and dreary dungeon. Alone." she managed to say. And her heart suddenly started to ache at the mention of the word 'dungeon'. She suddenly remembered what Elias had told her on how during his childhood, Gavriel had grown up hiding away in a dungeon as well – perhaps not unlike this one? – and the pain in her heart grew to an unbearable measure. Refusing to shed tears for now, Evie took a few more deep breaths. This was not the time to cry. She needed to be strong and find out on what was going on with her husband and his men! Why the deception and lies?

"Tell me, what's going on? Why…" her voice shook and then she paused and composed herself again. "Why is he down there? Please… answer me."

The men looked at each other. There seemed to be a message being conveyed between them that she could not seem to follow nor understand. But as Evie looked at them with pleading eyes, the men shifted their gazes to one man, and it was towards the braided blond, Zolan. The other men all looked like they were giving the final decision to Zolan.

Letting out a sigh, Zolan sat across Evie. "You really terrified us, Princess." He started out with this statement. Evie could see a trace of anger in his expression. "We wouldn't be able to face His Highness if something bad did really happen to you. You could have…" he paused and sighed again. "How did you even find out about the –"

"It was unintentional. I was browsing and just so happened I noticed traces of blood on the books and got curious." She cut him off with a matter-of-fact explanation.

"I see. So, this is all because of my recklessness, huh –"

"No. You're not to blame for any of this Zolan. I was the one who made the decision to enter through the secret door."

A short silence reigned amongst them. All the men had the same thought. They would never had expected for this small and fragile-looking human girl to be so brave. How could a defenceless woman simply enter into an uncharted and unknown territory, one so dark and dangerous, just like that? They truly wondered how brave was this princess. It seemed like she was not afraid to die at all! Which they knew was not the case because they could see how terrified she was when she was brought out by Samuel earlier.

"Gavriel…" Evie broke the silence as her gaze fell on her hands clasped lightly together on her lap. "He's not himself."

Staring at her still slightly trembling hands, Zolan made a decision. Apart from the shock that she was still alive and unharmed, Zolan was surprised that she was still asking about His Highness. She was obviously terrified with what she had seen. And they all understood very well why because even they had gone through a similar kind of primal fear the first and the next couple of times that they had witnessed their master in that state. How much more terrifying was it for this human woman?

They had thought she would have ran away screaming all the way back to her room and locked herself up like a child who had seen something impossibly daunting. They thought she would not be able to speak at all today and needed time to sort herself out.

But here she was, already asking questions and despite her fear, the worried and pinched look on her face was all for the prince.

It was very hard for them to figure her out. It was obvious that the current condition their prince is in had scared her to her core and no one would blame her if she began to see her husband as nothing but a terrifying creature – a monster. She was terrified of him but at the same time worried for him?

"His eyes…" Evie continued. "I think there is something wrong with him." she lifted her gaze and looked at Zolan.

And at that moment, the man had finally decided to spill the truth. He told her about what happened after the war, and how that the prince was poisoned and that was why he was inside the dungeon now.

Evie's hands flew to her mouth, looking at Zolan with wide eyes. "Then… why… if he's poisoned. Why did you guys put him in the dungeon?!"