Chapter 25 

I never expected to miss the fairy realm more than ever. Seeing the Unseelie Palace before me, surrounded by dry, leafless trees of everlasting fall, I thought that it was the most beautiful scenery. I almost cried. Who can blame me when we were tossed into a wild Alice in Wonderland kind of world? Compared to that, I would always pick the fairy realm rather than go back to the distorted world.

"We're back." I let out a sigh of relief, staring at the gloomy palace shrouded in dark clouds. I turn to Klovis, who hasn't said anything for a while now. He seems to be staring at the palace with a doubtful gaze. "Klovis?" I wave my hand in front of his face to catch his attention. "Are you alright?" He snaps out of whatever trance he was in and looks at me.

"Yes? Oh, um...what were you saying?" He was obviously distracted and worried about something that he tried to hide by trying to act nonchalant. He is being suspicious.

I gently poked the middle of his brows with my pointer finger. "You're frowning. What's up?"

Klovis blinks and touches the spot where my finger left. "It's probably nothing. Perhaps I am just being paranoid because of how I am supposed to explain to Grignel where we've been."

"Oh." I give him my most sincere look of pity. "Don't worry. I'll explain with you. He'll probably let you off the hook if you have a witness." My sentence brings a smile to his lips, making me raise a brow. "Why are you smiling?"

"It's endearing how you are worried for me."

I sometimes hate it that he is a fairy. He can be very honest and say that it is embarrassing—at least for me.

"What's up with you? You sound melancholic all of a sudden." I looked away and decided to watch Jade try to wake Gem, who has been sleeping since we arrived back in the fairy realm. They were such good distractions from looking at Klovis right now.

"That's because you'll be leaving soon. I just want to be more honest and open to you starting now." His words felt like they were weighing on me. I feel sad and lonely because I know that he's right. The small bottle of sap in my pocket feels heavier than it actually is.

I close my eyes and turn to Klovis with a cheery expression. "You have to know that it is not that soon. We still have to fix the mirror and the realm." I say. "Besides, won't you just visit me again in the human realm or in my dreams, Steve?" Calling Klovis by the name that I used to call him when he was visiting my dream earned a laugh from him.

"Yes, of course." He chuckles. "At least you are more sweet in your dreams compared to when you were awake."

I wanted to complain to him about his wording, but he is already walking to the front of his palace with Jade and Gem, who are being carried by a fully grown emerald beast. I guess Jade decided to give up on waking the slumbering Cockatrice.

When we reach the door, Klovis pauses. His face contorts into worry and suspicion. "Something's wrong." He whispers. "Stay close to me." Whenever Klovis becomes serious, I know that something bad must have happened. I didn't dare question his intuition and I quickly did as I was told. The guards being absent from the gates is already alarming enough.

Klovis begins to open the door of his palace and it lets out a horrible creak. I notice Jade perking up and letting out a low growl in warning when facing the door. Turns out, Zhier is standing there, waiting as soon as the doors are fully opened.

"Surprise." His low and rusty, cold voice, paired with a cheery grin, made me cower, especially when he was looking at me when he said it. "Where were you? I was waiting for you."

Klovis and I quickly retreated from the door. Jade even moved back to follow us. His abrupt action causes Gem to fall off his back and wake up from his sleep. The small cockatrice looks around in confusion before letting out a loud shriek and running to hide behind me. I realize that Gen wasn't screaming at Zhier, but at our surroundings. I follow his gaze and realize that fairy sentinels have surrounded us.

Zhier moves aside, dragging a tied up Grignel with him. The elf assistant of Klovis looks so badly beaten up that I was afraid that he wasn't breathing for a second. He was bleeding from his forehead, ears, and lips. I can't say much about the state of his body, but from how he is hunching, he probably has a few wounds and bruises underneath.

"Grignel!" Klovis yells, unable to move from his position, even though he wants to head over to his friend's side.

"Your highness, I'm sorry." Grignel's monocle hangs from the side of his coat, broken and useless. Blood streamed from above his left eyebrow, forcing him to shut his eye. "I was so concerned that you and the lady never returned. I...I dispatched the sentinels. The palace was unguarded. I'm sorry." Grignel sounded like he was having trouble relaying his words through the pain and guilt of speaking in short sentences.

"It's fine, Grignel. You're not at fault." Klovis reassures his friend.

"You were just back in the other realm with us." I take the turn to speak to Zhier, swallowing when the Seelie prince turns his gaze on me. "How...how were you able to return?"

Zhier smiles, seemingly pleased that I was paying attention to him. "I headed back to the previous floor. Let's just say a mermaid struck a deal with me after I cut a few scales from her tail. Oh, don't worry. I wasn't doing anything other than that. I just wanted to return home and wait for you."

"But this isn't your home; it's Klovis's home." It seems like dragging Klovis into the conversation puts Zhier in a sour mood because of how abruptly his brows are drawn together.

"Ah, yes. That reminds me that I have to take care of a certain pest." When Zhier turns to Klovis and snaps his fingers, Jade moves in to block an arrow aimed at Klovis's head. At the same time, Klovis pushes us to the ground before summoning roots from the ground that knock out the archer targeting us.

Gem flees from my arms, shifting to adult form and using his tail as a whip to protect our rear from the other fairies charging us. Klovis looks back at Gem with a grin.

"Seems like our new ally is quick on his feet. That's reassuring." Klovis tries to joke, but the beads of sweat on his forehead are making it difficult to hide his nervousness. "Livia, stay down." He ruffled my hair and got up, blasting wind at the other seelie sentinels. Most of them were thrown back. The others who weren't were dealing with Jade while Gem was dragging Grignel towards us—and he wasn't so gentle about it. The dark elf lies face first on the dirt in front of me, letting out a pained moan.

"Why...where did the cockatrice even come from?" Grignel groans from the harsh treatment.

Klovis left, turning to face Zhier, who wasn't blown away by his magic. The fake Seelie prince merely brandishes his sword, smiling like he has already won.

"Leave." Klovis tells him coldly. "You know that there's an agreement between the two kingdoms not to mess with each other."

Zhier guffaws. "You and I both know that the agreement has long been compromised." Zhier swings his sword, but Klovis manages to summon roots from the ground and deflect what would be a heavy blow. Zhier extends a hand, summoning a fire that is aimed at Klovis. Klovis deflected and extinguished the fire with wind before creating a makeshift sword out of wood.

The two princes clashed and I could only look at them helplessly. What am I supposed to do? Stop them? I'd obviously die if I tried.

"Lady." Grignel suddenly grabs my wrist, giving it a light pull and beckoning me to move closer. At least, that's what I thought he wanted, until he slips a small pouch on my hand. "Take care of it for me." The pouch is as wide as my whole hand. From the weight of it, it feels empty, making me puzzled as to why Grignel would want me to take care of an empty pouch.

Before I could ask, Grignel managed to grab Jade's attention, whispering something to him. The emerald beast didn't hesitate, as it quickly headed over, breaking apart Zhier and Klovis. Once they were apart, Grignel mustered up enough of his strength so he could head over to Zhier and stab the Seelie Prince's arm with a dagger that he hid in his coat. Zhier doubles back, looking conflicted with pain. The dagger was small enough that the injury it would have caused wouldn't have any effect on Zhier, but looking at how the spot where the dagger is embedded seemed to darken the skin, I suspect that the dagger was laced with poison.

"Your highness, take Lady Livia and leave! I gave it to her."

Klovis must have at least prepared himself for situations like this because, even though he looked pained, he still followed Grignel's instructions.

Seeing Klovis's grim and regretful expression, I didn't bother to stop or try to convince him to reconsider. They obviously had a pact in situations like these. It's also not my part to intervene, as I am an outsider and they clearly know their world better than I do. I didn't even say anything when he mounted me on Jade's back first before following to sit at the spot behind me. Gem seemed to understand what was going on and immediately cleared the path for Jade.

"No!" Hearing Zhier bellow, I turn in his direction. He is kneeling on the ground, looking pale from the work of the poison. Grignel is nowhere near him, making me think that he must have thrown his somewhere out of rage. He was looking at us with blazing anger as he pulled out the dagger from his arm.

"Rengar, go!" Klovis used Jade's real name, which in itself speaks of urgency. Jade immediately runs, following the path that Gem created for us.

"Urgh!" I feel Klovis flinch behind me. When I turned back, I saw him biting his lower lip and knitting his brows. When he catches me looking, he smiles, making me question if he just flinches for nothing.

***

We stop after a while from Klovis's orders. Klovis seems a little stiff with his movements when he helps me down Jade's back.

"Livia, can you do me a favor? Can you drink the sap?" He suddenly says it, making me blink. "I'm sorry, but I think I have to send you back early." He sounds to be in a hurry because, without even asking if I'd agree, he opens up a portal before us, smiling sadly when he meets my gaze.

He sounds defeated and remorseful, and I could feel the weight of his situation. Zhier was after me, so it was probably for the best that I leave. I won't lie when I say that I didn't want to leave like this, but I just kept the words in. Klovis might be right. It would be best for me to go back to the human realm. Here, I am just a liability, a distraction that needs to be protected.

"Right." I nod, getting the bottle from my pocket and drinking the sap in large gulps. My chest burns with the liquid and it warms up my body. Klovis holds my hand and instead of feeling the warmth in his hands, it feels cold.

"I'm sorry for saying goodbye like this." His gaze is on the ground as he escorts me to the portal.

"Don't be. I understand. You'll see me in my dreams, right?"

A pause.

"I'm...sorry." There was something weird about the way he was breathing, making me stop in my tracks so I could look at him properly.

"Klovis?"

Klovis is panting at this point. His drawing was in and out of focus before his legs gave in and he fell to the ground. He was too heavy for me to catch, but I managed to at least soften his fall. Jade and Gem surround us immediately, whining in concern when looking at Klovis.

As the Unseelie Prince lay on the ground, I could see the source of Klovis's sudden fall. It was the dagger that Grignel used to poison Zhier. Is this why Klovis flinched earlier!? Did Zhier throw it at him?!

"Klovis, stay with me!" Klovis' head is in my arms. I want to shake him awake, but I am afraid that it might worsen the poison. "Klovis, do you know the cure? Klovis, wake up! Don't go like this. Don't go!" I was screaming. I didn't know what to do. I don't know what type of poison was used so I don't know how to cure it. Pulling out the dagger is also out of the question. I wouldn't want him to die of bleeding aside from poisoning.

What to do? What to do!? I am so desperate about the situation that I was unconsciously calling for help—any help at all.

Someone...please. We need help!

"Geez. Out of all the genes that she passed on, it had to be her hysterical side."

I turned in surprise to see the direction of the portal, where I heard someone talk. Jade and Gem are standing in front and guarding Klovis and me when a hooded man enters the portal. I hold onto Klovis while glaring at the strange man. The man catches me giving him a scowl and his posture shifts like he is offended.

"You were asking for help and this is the thanks I get?" Looking at the beasts guarding us, he glower at them. "Down, both of you." Gem and Jade whimper and slump to the floor as if the man's voice were resonating in the room. Something at the back of my mind was itching about the voice of this man, like I had heard it before. It wasn't until he pulled his hood back that I realized why it sounded so familiar. "How can one of my descendants not even recognize me?"

Back in the strange realm, I heard his voice through memories of the book of Joanah.

"Kvahein." I whisper the name of the first fairy ruler of the realm. He was still as beautiful and as young as he was back in the memories of the books—a pristine and clear face with long, luscious silver hair. If I found Klovis having an out of this world good looks, well, I guess Kvahein's face must be something that shouldn't exist in any realm or universe.

The elf smirks, his features softening a bit and seemingly pleased that I recognize him before his eyes lay on Klovis. He heads over to him, picking him up with ease and being careful not to touch the blade between his shoulders.

"Let's go." He ordered, and I immediately got on my feet, like my legs acted on his orders.

"To where?"

With his body facing the portal, he looks back at me with a gaze that seems to be questioning my intellect. "Where else? Back to the human realm, of course."

~*~*~*END OF CHAPTER*~*~*~

Merry Christmas, dear readers! This is the end of book two of Marked By An Unseelie. The third book, "Reversing Fae", will start mid January 2024!

Stay tunned for the return of Klovis and Livia, along with her great great(something) grandfather. Will she learn magic in the third book? Perhaps~😶

See you guys next year!

~Kiraran