SPELLBOUND

"Vera!" Evie exclaimed, shocked at the realization that the girl Gideon was holding captive was no other than a friend she had met when she visited the Eastern empire years ago. Evie and her family were guests in the Ansley's Castle, one of the biggest and most luxurious castles in the Eastern empire. So, Evie and Vera had spent quite a while together in the duration that she was there. They had immediately formed quite a close friendship in the short time and Vera even promised to come to the south to visit Evie again. 

But she had never followed up on her promise and came to visit Evie. Vera had also stopped responding her letters and until Evie left home after her marriage to Gavriel, she had received no news nor letters from Vera. She had thought that perhaps Vera just got tired of her and had said all those things as a matter of being courteous while she was still in Ansley Castle.

However, now they were meeting each other again and Evie could not believe they were having their meet up reunion this way. And for Vera to be in such a situation was beyond comprehension. What had happened to her? How did a human even get so deeply entangled with creatures such as the dark faes?

"Vera…" Evie called again as she approached her. "… what are you even doing here?"

"E-evie?" Vera uttered, shock etched on her face. Why was Evie here? She still remembered that Gideon brought them through a portal. Was this a place where normal people could just walk in so casually?

"What are you… what happened to you?!" Evie's eyes flew to glare at Gideon, full of censure and anger. "Is he the one who –" 

"No…No!" Frantically, Vera shook her head. She quickly cleared the misunderstanding before it grew even larger. She could not allow her saviour to shoulder this blame. "He's actually the one who came to my rescue." Vera looked at Evie, as she said simply. "He saved me." 

Hearing her words, Evie breathed out in relief and calmed down. However, she worriedly scanned her again after remembering the state Vera was in. "You're full of wounds… and still bleeding. My god Vera, what had happened to you? Look at you, you're so pale!" Evie exclaimed with so much worry. Her hands had already clasped Vera's and she felt the clamminess of her skin.

"I'm fine," Vera said but Evie shook her head. The temperature of her skin alone told Evie that Vera was far from being fine.

"No. You're not." Evie said firmly before looking at Gideon. "We need to treat her as soon as possible. She must have lost so much blood already if she is in this state. Bed… let's put her in bed."

It did not take long for Evie's request to be fulfilled and Vera was finally lying on a bed inside a large room that was being warmed with comforting heat coming from the large fireplace. 

"She cannot be treated with magic, so we need to treat her wounds the human way." Evie said as she faced Gideon and Kione. Evie was still feeling worried for Vera as she saw the girl's complexion being too waxy and pale.

"Human way?" Kione asked, not quite understanding what Evie meant. 

Evie knew she needed to be clearer as she knew these dark faes do not come in contact with humans much, if at all. "I need clean water, bandages and a few particular herbs." 

"Herbs…?" 

Evie remembered that this is the Under Lands and the herbs that she needed might not be easily acquired here. Worse case was, there might be no herbs growing here at all! 

"Alright, for now… we need clean water and bandages." She compromised on her requirements for now and Kione immediately disappeared upon Gideon's nod. 

When Evie turned around, Vera had already dozed off without changing her position from earlier. Evie could only hope it was not because of excessive blood loss. She quickly approached the bed and pity filled her eyes as she looked at her frail and battered body. Never in her dreams would she have thought that she would be seeing this person like this of all people. 

There was little to no resemblance to the old Vera that she knew and remembered in her mind. When Evie first met her, Evie thought she was such a graceful and feisty young lady. Being born as one of the wealthiest young noble lady within the human lands, and one of the most beautiful as well – if not the most beautiful human lady in Evie's opinion – Vera was the kind of lady human men called the ultimate trophy. 

As her mind wandered back to their first meeting, Evie remembered how she had gotten lost in Ansley's castle's garden one night and ended up in the woods. She encountered intruders but thankfully, Vera appeared just on time, looking for her, riding her black horse along with her guards and went after the intruders fully looking the part of a brave young lady warrior to the frightened Evie. 

Evie had always admired her since then. She had thought Vera was such a cool lady because she truly was. She even had the thought back then that Vera would be fitting to be one feisty and brave queen one day. So, looking at how she was right now just breaks her heart. This was not the situation she imagined Vera to end up being in.

Evie saw the haunted and defeated look lingering in her eyes a while ago. It was not the eyes of that fiery and spunky lady she used to know. Even the way she spoke was so different now. Back then, Evie was the one who was lacking the confidence when she spoke, and Vera was always the confident one. It seemed that they had changed their roles upon meeting again now.

"What happened to her?" Evie asked Gideon and the man thankfully answered her, shocking Evie again. 

"She had been sold off?!" She hissed out in anger. "How could lady Ansley do that to her only daughter?" Evie was appalled at how Vera had been treated.

Now Evie had a clearer picture on how Vera ended up like this. She was a lady who grew up with literally everything any lady could dream of, lacking nothing. But sadly, she had lost it all and no one had been there to aid her to survive the fall. Her mother who was supposed to be the one who stood by her side was even the one who single-handedly pushed her into the current hell that was her life. She knew very well how going through pain and suffering would change someone into an entirely different person. Looking down again at a sleeping Vera, her heart just broke all over again, thinking on how Vera had to go through this. 

"Thank you for saving her," Evie looked at Gideon, smiling with genuine gratitude. "She is a friend of mine and she's dear to me –" her voice softened as she spoke of Vera.

"I didn't save her." Gideon cut her off. His face was a little dark. But Evie did not pay much attention to his expression anymore. To Evie, no matter how much this man tries to make himself appear to be the villain, she would not be able to buy it as easily anymore. She somehow is more certain that he was the type whose bark was worse than his bite.. Therefore, she only smiled knowingly and did not push the issue any further.