SPELLBOUND

"No, Princess!" Three of the men shouted simultaneously. "That will not do! You can't possibly do that!" Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets, totally shaken at the sudden statement that the princess had made. Just the mere thought of what Evie just said earlier caused another round of shivers to wreck through their bodies. No! They absolutely must not let it happen.

Pressing his fingers to his already throbbing temples, Zolan stood and blocked Evie's way. "We can never let you do that. Wait here, My Lady. Levy and Luc will definitely be able to find and bring a human girl here before midnight."

Evie shook her head. "That's still half a day away, Zolan. That means it is another half a day that Gavriel need to suffer… It's alright. I can handle it –" she looked up at Zolan and smiled reassuringly.

"No. Please. His Highness will never forgive himself if he accidentally kills you in the process." Zolan needed to use whatever angle he could to stop this. "Not to mention how he'd not forgive us for allowing you to do this. We're literally dead if you go ahead." Zolan inwardly muttered to himself, hoping that the princess would just be obedient and comply.

"He will never kill me." She grinned up at him, that posture and statement showed her confidence in her husband.

"Princess! He ended up killing the human girl the empress brought to him the last time." Zolan blurted out in a solemn tone and Evie froze. "You don't know how much he had loathed himself because of that. That girl was the very first and only human he killed."

The shock made Evie unable to say a word for a long while. "Then why –"

"We don't have a choice, Princess. We cannot let him continue on in that state for long. We don't know how long it will take for him to recover this time around. But back then, he was still weak even after five days until he drunk a human's pure blood. Even five more days is too long. We don't know if Caius will suddenly return. He might even return tomorrow with more of his troops. We can't afford to waste time in this urgent situation. Moreover, we cannot reveal anything to the duke and anyone else apart from all of us here. The duke's already getting mad looking for him just like you are." Zolan then nodded to towards Samuel and Reed when Evie spoke.

"Wait." She put up her hand to stall the men. Evie did not know why but their decision just somehow does not sit quite right with her even though in her mind, she understood their point very well. But what nagged at her was the aftereffects. What would happen to Gavriel if he found out afterwards that he had killed and spilt the blood of another innocent human again?

Evie could not explain it properly, but she definitely did not want something like that happening. It is not just because of the innocent life that would be lost but more importantly to her, it is due to Gavriel. Gavriel was never a monster – had never been one. He had always cared for her, never hurting her even once. He had been nothing but kind and caring to her ever since they first met. She just knew that he might never forgive himself when he killed an innocent person even if it was against his will or when he has no control over it. He had loathed himself in the past when that happened. How would it impact him this time if he were to realise that he had done the same thing … again?

The thought of putting Gavriel through that just served to make Evie shiver. Her heart already ached for him and it was getting worse. She knew what was at stake currently with the situation between the two opposing sides and she also remembered her dream, which was for the time being, pushed to the back of her mind. That vision of how Dacria was going up in flames. The fear crept back and began to grip her heart. What if that actually happened because Gavriel was in his current predicament? Then would this be her fault ultimately? She should not have gone down into the dungeon!

At that same moment, Evie also remembered the dream she just had a few hours ago. She had heard him call out her name as if he needed her to be there. That particular recollection calmed her a little. There must be a reason why she had that dream. But what was it? Why did she have that dream? Could it be that it was related to something that she could do?

"You don't need to go anymore." Evie suddenly said in a commanding tone, causing the men to frown. "I'm not going to let him loath himself for killing someone innocent again." She added and confusion filled everyone's eyes.

She stood up, took a deep breath, and squared her shoulders as she smiled at them. "I'll go. I believe I'm the one he needs right now, not some random human girl. I'm his wife after all."

Everyone was mesmerized by that smile and the confidence and determination blazing in those clear amber eyes.

"Do not worry, Gavriel will never hurt me. I can assure you of that. He must have killed that girl because he was unable to stop himself from sucking her dry. I'll be able to stop him before something happens to me." Everyone blinked seeing her exhibit such resolution in the face of imminent death.

No one could even make a sound. They were like deer caught in the headlights and speechless as can be. Not just because of what she was saying but also with her certainty and faith in their prince. That she could make it work.

"I believe in him. And I know you all believe in him too." She looked at the direction of the secret door and her eyes glimmered. There were no more traces of her fear. "So please open the door and let me go see him. I will bring my husband back. Trust me,."