Chapter 173 - Always

"Gavriel!!!" Evie screamed as her eyes flew open. She looked around wildly, eyes full of confusion.

The first thing she saw was Elias crouching down at her side with worry plastered all over his face. "Princess! Are you okay?" the vampire asked as he helped her to sit up.

Evie did not respond. Her eyes wandered around the area in confusion. They were currently in a forest, a beautiful forest filled with otherworldly things, strange ice-blue colored trees and colorful stones and glass-like flowers. The scenery was so beautiful, and everything looked as though it belonged in a dream.

"Elias…" Evie managed a hoarse voice, "Am I dreaming? Am I still asleep?"

The vampire's eyes became sullen, and it took him a while to give an answer. "You're not dreaming, Princess. We're now in the forbidden land." He said and Evie began to feel her heart ache. Her eyes could not help but tear up. But she held back those tears from falling from her eyes.

Everything that had happened before she passed out came rushing back to her and she could not help but feel like breaking down.

"Where is Gavriel?" she asked Elias in a broken voice, "he's here now, right?"

Elias looked down and could not bring himself to look at her or speak, causing Evie's lips to tremble. "A-answer me… where is he?" Evie's voice trembled at the end and sounded like she was choking on her tears.

"We don't know, Princess." The one who spoke was Zolan. His face was quite passive as Evie looked at him. But one look into his dark eyes made Evie tremble.

"W-what do you mean you don't know?" she asked nonetheless, clenching her fists tight.

"Go prepare the princess' food and everything she needs," Zolan told Elias and when the butler nodded and left, Zolan slowly knelt on one knee before Evie. He took a few seconds before looking up at Evie from his kneeling position.

He stared at Evie intently and she knew he was hesitant on telling her whatever he was going to say.

"Speak," Evie demanded, knowing fully well that what she will be hearing might break her.

"We waited for him the entire night and the entire morning too. But he did not come, princess." Zolan said in an incredibly careful manner. His voice was as neutral as he could make it, but his expression became so emotional for a moment. However, after a few moments, his expression hardened as he looked at Evie with so much worry. "There are…" he paused as if struggling whether or not to keep on talking.

"Go on…" the princess demanded and Zolan was surprised that the princess was yet to shed tears. He knew this news would break her heart all over again. So he and the others had already debated for quite a while on whether to tell her about this or not. In the end, Zolan had decided to tell her the truth. He knew now that the princess was not just a normal human, she was not as fragile as they had initially thought she was. And most importantly, he felt that hiding the truth from her would not help in the least.

Thus, he could only spill everything out. "There are soldiers who managed to escape alive. They had reported that the entire city was burned to the ground and even the castle was reduced to ashes. None of them saw Prince Gavriel… but they saw the amber-eyed dragon die." Zolan's voice was becoming smaller as he continued especially when he spoke about the prince. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, princess. Though we are still holding out hope that Prince Gavriel is out there somewhere… we need to be prepared to accept that he… might never return to us. That he might be forever lost to us…"

While they waited for Gavriel last night, the men were losing hope when the prince was taking too long to arrive. They all believed their prince would definitely be able to escape and find them. But he never did come to find them. And they could only think of one sensible reason why. Their prince must have lost the battle against the dark fae, and he might already be…

They refuse to believe it but that was the only reason they could come up with for now. That conclusion was made with the knowledge that their prince would always come to them and pursue his wife no matter what, if he survived.

"Princess…" Zolan struggled to keep his voice even. "The prince might be –"

"No." Evie suddenly cut him off and Zolan was stunned at the intensity that was blazing in her eyes.

He watched her rise and stand. She squared her shoulders back as she clenched both her fists. After breathing in and out for a few moments, she looked straight ahead. The men were all awed at the look she was sporting on her face.

"He's not dead." She continued and her voice was firm and filled with confidence. "My husband is not dead. Your Lord and prince is NOT dead!"

Zolan's jaws clenched. Seeing the princess' confidence flare up so brightly when he fully expected her to crumble and go into an emotional breakdown was such an incredible surprise. It was not just Zolan who felt that way, but the rest of the men too. Elias included. However, he was a little afraid that this show of bravado was only her way of being in utter denial due to her not being able to accept the truth.

"I… I receive a report saying that the dragon guardian is still alive. He had gone back with Caius and the imperial army to the capital." Zolan added on. He hated saying all these, but it was better to lay all his cards on the table than having her cling on helplessly onto a false hope.

"I saw him in my dream…" Evie said suddenly, then she turned and looked down at Zolan. "And he's alive…" she added, her face so strangely serene. "This is my family's secret which we are not allowed to expose to anyone else. But due to the circumstances, I'll let you in on the secret, Zolan… our dreams will always come true." Evie's eyes sparkled with confidence. "Always."