The Cursed Prince

Icecube breathed down on the elf and the arrows didn't actually swerve away from Harlow or at the ice dragon at all. A flash of impatience became visible on the elf and an ear twitched in annoyance.

"By my will and order as the sixth prince of Cyprian, the most beautiful and majestic kingdom in the elven realm. Stand down!"

All of the arrows finally vanished from the forest and it almost seemed like there were no elves whatsoever.

Harlow would later learn that she entered into one of the sacred forests of the elven people. It was true that the elves chased out humans who trespassed into the area.

While that didn't sit well with her, she finally accepted why the elves did what they did. Harlow decided to approach the man who called himself the sixth prince of Cyprian.

"Apologies for our Wild Hunt, young maiden," said the man with a grin on his face. "We thought you are one of our targets."

"Wild Hunt? What is it?" Harlow narrowed her eyes on their surroundings. She couldn't see any elves now. It seemed like they were either so great at blending in with the natural backdrop of the forest. 

Or they used magic.

Perhaps, it was a little bit of both.

"The Wild Hunt is something that our younglings have to participate in as part of their coming of age process. It is held by a legendary group of people in our elven race," the prince explained. "They bring judgement, order and sometimes war to those they encounter. There is the thrill of the chase too and inflicting terror to those who sees them."

"And so in order to become a grown-up elf, you have to do some type of… hunting?" Harlow frowned a little. "What about those who aren't so physically inclined? Do they not become adults?"

"We have the Enchantress, Morigiana, from whom those who wish to pursue magic take after from," the elf laughed. "Honestly, there's a lot of paths to take for an elf, but those are the popular ones."

Even after the man repeated his words, Harlow still didn't understand what he meant. He spoke too fast and without context. Wild hunt? Enchantress? 

"What's your name?" Seeing Harlow furrow her brows, the man decided to change the topic and introduced himself. "My name is Nieven. You can call me Prince Nieven or Your Grace."

Harlow wanted tor roll her eyes at that man's statement. Well.. she was a royalty herself, but she never emphasized on her title and intentionally asked other people to call her Princess Harlow…. unlike this guy.

"My name is Harlow Strongmoor," the princess introduced herself. She intentionally didn't say anything about her background. What's the point anyway? She came from the human realm. Her kingdom and family name might mean nothing here.

"That is a lovely name, I should say," Nieven said with a smile. His handsome face was decorated with a big smile. 

The elven prince who introduced himself as Nieven was a young, hundred and twenty year old elf, who was going through his rites of passage of becoming an adult. He was the youngest prince in their kingdom.

"I have every reason to believe that my brothers and sisters will like you." Nieven said. "You didn't even flinch when a hundred arrows were trained on you. That's incredibly gutsy… plus you also do archery?"

Harlow shrugged. "I was trained by the best archer in our kingdom, my uncle, Lord Gewen Athibaud."

"Hmmm… not bad. If you came here to learn archery, then you also came to the right place," the sixth prince chuckled. "Perhaps I could also offer my hand to teach you, but I am not a veteran so perhaps we can actually train together."

"I didn't come here for that…" Harlow said. "But I think I will explain everything once I meet your brothers. Perhaps they will be more knowledgeable as to the whereabouts of this person that I'm seeking for."

"Mayhaps." Nieven motioned Harlow to follow him. They flew to the south and soon Harlow saw a beautiful castle after they got out of the forest. Nieven brought Harlow to meet his older siblings.

If Harlow thought that Prince Nieven was at least somewhat tolerable, only making innocent comments and thinking that surprising a random human was funny… his siblings were less lovable.

They started to grate on Harlow's nerves when she arrived in the palace. She was brought to the royal court and was soon rained down with dozens of questions from all of the princes.

"What is your bloodline, princess?" One of the older elves looked down at her with a scrutinizing gaze. "I do not think that a pure blooded human is able to produce such a fine specimen."

Harlow's smile was twitching slightly as she shrugged. "I'm not so sure… I've never really asked them such things."

"Pity. You must ask and take pride in your family bloodline," the fourth prince said. "I truly believe that you have even a fourth of our blood because you are enchanting."

"Is that so? I guess... thank you?" Harlow replied half-heartedly.

She really had no interest in explaining anything to these people and only wanted to leave. Sure, her grandmother was half elf, but that wasn't the only reason why Harlow was attractive or beautiful.

"I have heard that my brother Nieven encountered you in the Forests of Fortitude. Perhaps, it is fated that we meet today." the fifth prince gallantly bowed and then looked up to her. "My younger brother is still a child at heart, but perhaps, the two of us could have a more mature conversation."

Harlow wished that Icecube was with her and froze this guy's ears. Preferably his whole head so he could stop talking. 

This prince had an air of arrogance about him. Harlow faked a smile, curtsied, and then walked past the man as she approached closer to the throne.

The king and queen of the kingdom were absent because they seem to have been conducting trade with another elven kingdom so it left the first prince to greet her. Unfortunately, age truly didn't mean anything for these long-lived people.

"Fair maiden, welcome to our beautiful and majestic kingdom." There was a proud smile on the First Prince as he greeted her. "What honors you to have stepped in our lands?"

Did they think it was an honor for Harlow to arrive in the elven realm? She didn't even want to be here in the first place! If she had a choice, she would have wanted to be anywhere but her. However, she held her tongue.

The Crown Princess of Draec was out of her territory and turf. She must keep being respectful.

This was a good way for her to truly practice diplomacy despite wanting to be anywhere else. Harlow took a deep breath and then slowly spoke. "I've come to this majestic kingdom…"

"And beautiful." The first prince helpfully added.

"Resplendent or exalted works as well," the second prince said with a smile.

"I have come here to this place in order to search for someone who is said to be a frequent traveler in your lands," Harlow said at last. If they wanted to be pompous about it, then they could say whatever they wanted.

"Frequent traveler?" The third prince raised a brow. "We have many guests who come and visit this kingdom. Do you have a name for this person?"

"Raphael, the Ice Prince."

The joyous and merry atmosphere suddenly changed and darkened.