SPELLBOUND

Claudius scratched his head as he laughed a little sheepishly. "Of course not, Queen. I just thought that it wasn't quite the right time for me to show up and introduce myself to you at that time." His smile widened. "After all, you needed to meet with Queen Beatrice first, right? How could I jump the queue?"

"And you think that this is now the right time for you to finally show up?"

"Yes, since I saw you looking quite a bit troubled. May I know what's causing you to be so vexed, Young Queen?" Claudius asked in a calm and unhurried manner.

Suddenly, Evie looked at Claudius like she had found the answer to her dilemma. She looked around and her expression became serious. "I have something very important to tell you. I believe King Belial needs to know about this as well, as soon as possible." She lowered her voice and spoke to Claudius gravely, her face and tone immediately alerting Claudius to the fact that Evie was not joking and was extremely serious about this matter.

The expression on Claudius face quickly changed as well, immediately understanding the severity of what she was going to say next. He could sense and see it in her intense amber eyes. 

"Do you need me to put up a sound barrier, my queen?" Claudius asked and Evie gave a quick nod. 

When the barrier was finally set up around them, Evie began to speak. "I had a terrible nightmare…" She told him everything that she saw in her dream. She knew from experience that this man was someone she could fully trust. And she also knew King Belial trusted him. As such, he could act as the messenger to deliver this pressing matter directly to the king.

Unlike Gideon, Claudius was clearly shocked and extremely disturbed at the things she had said. His reaction was normal. Anyone, except Gideon of course, who would have heard of such a thing would react like this. In fact, many others would react much worse than how Claudius did. 

A long silence passed by as Evie let Claudius process everything he had just heard. Evie had also thought of telling him about Gideon, but for some reason, Evie felt incredibly hesitant in mentioning him and the things that she had heard about him. It was as if something was telling her that mentioning anything about Gideon to Claudius or King Belial was going to be a bad idea. So in the end she listened to her instincts and only told Claudius about the nightmare she had. 

With a troubled look, Claudius finally spoke. "I don't know how to thank you enough for revealing this, Queen Evielyn," Claudius said. "This definitely needs to reach the king's ear as soon as possible. I need to go back now and report this to His Majesty."

"Can't you use that same magic which you used to communicate with me back then?"

"I can't as my king isn't using his magic right now, and this is definitely not something just anyone else should be listening in to. So there is no choice but for me to go back as fast as I can." Claudius's tone was urgent now, as if he was now more than ready to bolt away as soon as Evie allowed him to go.

"I see… I believe that's the best way too." Evie agreed and nodded her assent.

Claudius nodded at her. "I am going to leave immediately. If I am not able to return here in time and Queen Beatrice comes looking for me, don't answer for me. I'll have Alvion to cook up an alibi for me." Claudius did not forget to remind Evie of this matter. The queen must absolutely not be allowed to know this as of now.

Evie creased her brows. "Wait, you don't want me to tell this to Queen Beatrice?" 

The dark fae nodded. 

"Why? Don't tell me I must avoid mentioning my nightmare to her too." Evie was puzzled at why this should be kept a secret.

"That's right Queen Evielyn." 

Evie's eyes widened as she looked at him questioningly. 

"The truth is, King Belial had finally agreed to let the queen travel here so he could send her away from the Great City for a period of time. The king had sensed an unrest stirring up and he believes that whatever is coming would be something huge. This city where we are right now is the farthest one from the Great City and the Great City is one of the nearest cities to the Abyss of Darkness." Claudius explained. 

"So he actually sent the queen here because he wanted to protect her, under the guise of visiting her eldest son?" Evie said and when Claudius nodded in confirmation, Evie smirked. "Like father like son, indeed." She muttered, shaking her head as she remembered how Gav always does the same to her even back then. 

"So please don't let the queen know about this matter for now. Of course, I know we would not be able to hide this forever. But please just for now, keep it a secret. I'm afraid that if she over worries and tries to do something on her own to help the king, the king might get distracted. He is trying to focus on this problem so as much as possible, we want to help him maintain his focus. I know I shouldn't be telling you this but… Queen Beatrice is our King's greatest weakness. She is his only weakness. Therefore, I am hoping that you will understand my stand on this, Queen Evielyn." Claudius smiled apologetically to Evie.

 A small smile curved across those luscious red lips of hers. Of course, she understood! In fact, she understood it very well! She knew just how much they loved each other as well as that special bond between them.

"I understand, Claudius. I will do my best not to say anything to her." Evie said and Claudius flashed a relieved smile before bowing low to her. 

"Thank you, Queen. Now I need to make a move and return to my king. We don't have much time to waste." 

Evie nodded at him and as soon as the barrier was dissolved, Claudius disappeared before her. 

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