SPELLBOUND

Gideon narrowed his eyes a little at the strange occurrence. Why did he feel as though the soldiers were not actually clearing this path for him?

Everyone else were also so incredibly silent. This was just a bit too unusual as Gideon expected some of the soldiers to murmur like what had happened a while back. He knew they would be curious of the person next to him. He was also actually expecting some of the lords and the other generals to approach him instantly. But surprisingly, no one came forward.

Everyone just opened a path much wider than usual. And the most intriguing thing was that their eyes were not fixed on him but… on Vera? Why were they so interested in his little sweet mate?

He felt Vera's grip on his hand tightened again and he could only deduce that she must have felt their heavy stares on her as well. Though she was covered by her cloak, and no one could clearly make out her face, Gideon was still incredibly bothered by this now. The only thing that was keeping him from letting his aura blaze out to warn everyone was the fact that their gazes seemed to be filled with anticipation and was not hostile at all. And it was not the type that was offending or disgusting. It almost looked as though they were looking at something very precious and to be cherished.

"Is… everything okay?" Vera asked in a whisper as they continued walking forward.

"Yes, don't worry." Gideon assured her as his gaze fell to his mother and then to the light fae queen who was right ahead of them.

Gideon nearly halted the moment his gaze met Evie's. The look in Evie's eyes shocked him. No, it was not just that. Something was totally different with her now. He was certain that this light fae queen was nowhere near as intimidating nor imposing as how she was now, the last time he had seen her. And that had been just not too long ago, during their mating ceremony. What… what had happened? And what was with this strange amount of power coming from her?

The expression in Gideon's face was slowly becoming more severe as he got closer to Evie. Something strange was happening. It was like… it was like something in him was afraid of her. What? Him? Afraid? Of Evie? That made Gideon's eyes widen, and he quickly shook his head to dispel that weird feeling. That was just plain ridiculous!

"Gideon?" Vera called his name out again and Gideon cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

Her leaned over and smiled. "I'm alright, Vera."

"Are you sure?" She felt that there were some fluctuations with his emotions.

"Very sure…" he trailed off when he saw Evie walking towards them. What… is wrong with his sister-in-law?

Gideon found himself freezing up as soon as Evie stood before them. "I'm so glad the two of you are finally here." Evie told them with a smile and Vera immediately step forward to hug her.

"Evie…" Vera uttered as Evie hugged her back. For some reason, Evie felt Vera's body shake as little as she embraced her in a tight grip.

That mere gesture made Evie feel that something seemed off with Vera or something was really bothering her and that just like her, Vera seemed to be wanting to meet her as bad as she did. Now this was getting a bit more than what she had expected. What could be the problem with Vera? Why did she feel as though she was even a bit scared?

When they pulled away, Evie immediately noticed that she was very calm again. As if Vera only let that fear out for that brief moment when Evie had hugged her. Now Evie really could not wait to talk to her now. But she still needed to deal with this matter at hand for now.

Evie held Vera's hand and looked at Gideon this time.

"My dear big brother-in-law, I'll need to borrow your mate for a moment, okay?" Evie smiled at Gideon and without waiting for his answer Evie turned towards where Queen Beatrice was standing.

Vera followed Evie without question and when the two of them were there, Evie whispered to Vera.

"I promise I will explain everything to you after this. So just go with the flow for now, okay?" she then squeezed Vera's hand in hers reassuringly.

Vera blinked at Evie, then she looked at Gideon who was still standing in that same spot as though he was rooted in there before she nodded at Evie.

"Alright."

Evie then stepped forward and her voice echoed. "She's right here now."

Still, no one made a sound. Queen Beatrice who was finally snapping out from the shock. She already had a hunch earlier on that Evie might be talking about Vera when she had suddenly made that announcement. But she still was quite shocked when Evie confirmed it. Now she could not even find a word to say at this moment.

"She… she's the ice-dragon keeper?" Lord Argus was the first to break the silence and both Gideon and Vera widened their eyes in utter shock and confusion at what they just heard.

When the light fae queen just looked at them with that familiar gaze of hers, that gaze she always gives when her answer was a 'yes', a commotion occurred. Everyone could not seem to believe it and they could not say anything.

They were all filled with doubt, especially for the fact that they had felt not even an ounce of magic coming from the lady beside the light fae queen at all. However, the dark faes had already learned their lesson when they were underestimating the light faes, the vampires, and even this light fae queen just a few days ago. This light fae queen did not feel very strong at first too, didn't she? However, she had really shown them what true power was, that they had nothing to say and were rendered speechless.

They all have this one same thought, so none of them dared to ask as to why she felt so powerless.

"Please… let us just see her face!" one of them asked and everyone agreed, causing a bit of a commotion.

Evie smiled and was about to tell them 'not now' when King Belial and Gav materialized before them as well.

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