SPELLBOUND

"My, my… busted already…" Azrael murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. They had already expected that it would be almost impossible to conceal the presence of the light fae queen for long as Queen Beatrice was always very sharp. Even Gideon had decided to leave the great city just so he could hide his secrets from her. Queen Beatrice has always been such an observant woman and not to mention her exceptional senses to catch on and dig out anything remotely fishy in one's actions.

However, they had not expected her to pick up on it almost right off the bat. She did not even have the chance to see nor hear anything. How did she even managed to notice her just by walking past her?! And now, she even recognized Evie as though she had already seen her before! 

 "A beautiful lady with silvery locks… tantalizing amber eyes… looking like a moon goddess… it's definitely you! Right?!" Beatrice exclaimed again, grasping Evie's hands tightly as she waited almost impatiently for Evie to give her confirmation on her own identity. 

Evie glanced over at Gideon for a moment and when the man's expression did not change, Evie looked at the queen again and nodded. The queen literally beamed in excitement and pleasure after confirming that this lady before her truly is her younger daughter-in-law.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Queen Beatrice," Evie gracefully stepped back and Beatrice reluctantly let go of her hands. 

"I am Evielyn. And yes, I am Gav's, your son's wife." She smiled and Beatrice's eyes immediately became emotional. She had been dreaming of the day when this could happen. Who knew that it would be today of all days? Her heart sped up in anticipation to get to know this daughter-in-law of hers.

Beatrice's hands flew to her mouth as her eyes moistened, looking at Evie in disbelief. Then she hugged her, squeezing Evie so tightly yet ever so lovingly. It was as if she was the son who had long since left her, the son she was longing to see and hug, for many years. 

Everyone at the scene were silenced as the two queens embraced each other. Queen Beatrice was the one being so emotional between the two. Until a female dark fae, one of the ones clad in purple cloak, approached them. 

"Excuse me, My Queen," she politely interrupted them. "Forgive me, but I need to remind you to control your emotions. I'm afraid King Belial will feel your currents of strong emotion where he'd mistaken it as you being in trouble." 

At those words, Beatrice immediately let go of Evie and struggled to calm herself and her emotions down, while Evie looked at her questioningly, wondering what the lady meant with those words. 

Noticing the questioning look in Evie's eyes, Beatrice reached out for Evie's hands again as she spoke. "The King, my husband and I can feel each other's intense emotion no matter how far we are from each other," Beatrice graciously explained to her fondly what she meant by those words, followed by a smile. "That's why I must make sure not to be too emotional or else he'll think I'm in trouble. If that happens, he'd drop everything and come running over. Now Evie dearest, how are you? My god, I never expected this. I can't believe I am meeting you right now. What are you doing here? Wait… could it be that Gavrael is back?!" her grey moon-like eyes widened again. "He's the one who brought you here!" she truly had gotten ahead of herself, assuming that it was Gav who had brought Evie here.

Evie blinked, feeling hesitant and sorry to disappoint her joy and expectations. 

Shaking her head apologetically, Evie answered her in a soft voice. "Gav's not with me." 

Beatrice stilled after hearing those words before her shoulders slowly dropped. Even though she tried hard not to be too affected by that, Evie saw the painful disappointment glimmering in her eyes. But she smiled through it all. 

"I see… why is he not with you my dear?"

"Mother," Gideon piped in. "Didn't you want to rest?" he was trying to prevent Beatrice from digging further on certain matters he did not want her finding out.

Beatrice looked at her eldest son. "Alright, but my son, don't think you will get away from my questionings just because Evielyn is here. Prepare yourself and..." her gaze flew to Azrael and the man straightened. "You and that infamous Lord of the Rakes as well."

After saying those words with a slightly strict voice, Beatrice looked at Evie and her face turned into nothing but sugary sweet again. The difference was truly like night and day, causing Evie to almost laugh out at the bizarreness of it. Poor guys, now she had an inkling on why the three men dread it when they heard that she had arrived.

They then travelled back to the castle with Beatrice never letting go of Evie's hand as they talked while moving forward. Mainly it was just Beatrice speaking, asking about her son, on what he was doing at the moment, and where is he and how has he been faring. 

…

Meanwhile, Leon and Zanya were still right at the entrance of the portal. They were delayed due to the monsters that were now roaming just in front of the portal as if they had been ordered to guard it. Who had put them here? Leon was certain these monsters were not here when he had entered it not too long already! 

The duo did not expect to fight monsters first before crossing it. But they had no choice but to fight their way out. And thus, the pair found themselves in a battle once again, back-to-back and supporting the other. 

Thankfully, fighting alongside each other felt different for the two of. Not only because they were so synchronized with each other, but because they were relaxed and calm, making them fight with their full potential. 

However, the duo had decided not to fight until they could bring all the monsters down. They did not have much time to do that. They must cross the portal as soon as possible so what they had planned, was for an attack that would make them go past the monster fast.

Thankfully, their plan worked out smoothly and they were finally reaching the wall of dark shadows. 

Leon grabbed Zanya around her waist and leapt towards the vortex as Zanya was facing behind Leon, her hands stretched forward and her magic hitting the monsters that were coming after them. 

When Zanya's vision darkened, indicating that they were finally crossing the portal, she dropped her hands and held onto Leon's neck. 

He landed on the ground with her, both panting hard as he let go of her. Their eyes met and they both suddenly stilled with an awkward silence hanging between them. 

But too soon, both of their heads swung to the front, and they froze at the sight that welcomed them.

"How sweet… damn, why are you two doing this to me?" Levy's dramatic voice echoed teasingly from the side as Gavriel stood before them with a severe expression. 

____

Thanls for the patience spellbounders! Don't forget to vote ^^